Decissions decissions - Living in St. Albans, Bromley or Harrow

[fullonrocknroll]

Hi All,

My partner and I have been living in hammersmith for over 20 years and love it. However, our 2 bedroom flat has become a little bit small and with the birth of our youngest daughter, we are looking to move (as we can't afford a house in hammersmith unfortunately).

We are looking for a place with outstanding secondaries, good connexion links to London and culturally diverse with nice independent restaurants, cafe's and sport activities to buy our forever 3/4 bedroom home for not more than £800k if possible.

We are now looking at St. Albans (primarily for schools), Bromley (good connexion to London) and Harrow (culturally diverse).

I was wondering if anyone could give an opinion/views

Hi @zoemelb thanks for your comment. Is Guildford in London?
Out of interest, what do you like about Guildford that was lacking in St. Albans?

We were in Jersey Farm, good schools, lovely area, with the Jersey park and verulamium, fast train connection. What we didnt like were - lack of good houses in the market at reasonable price (especially if you want catchment for good schools), bus transport is problematic (parking at the station can be expensive), food delivery is none-existence. Harpenden may meet your requirement.
We chose Guildford/Godalming - I found better houses available, the town/restaurants are nicer/busier, transport is good, schools are good, and can be near the stations, maybe better facility for family (sport parks, pools, playgrounds, greenery etc), surrounding towns in Surrey are generally nicer than Hertfordshire, whereas if you drive out of St Albans, it's a bit depressing. It's just based on my limited experience.

I live in Bromley and work in Herne Hill. I think Herne Hill would meet your requirements better!

Another place you could look at if you'd prefer a commuter town is Hitchin in Herts. Less pricey than St Albans.

@fullonrocknroll if you have girls, you will want to look at Guildford County School & George Abbot (state ), Broadwater & Rodborough is also good (which links to Godalming College - excellent 6th form) - also state. Most of nearby primary schools in those area are good. Lots of private girls schools - Guilford High School, Tormed (selective) - in top 100 league so you have lots of choices there.

Thanks @Phineyj
looks like a nice area but not sure if 800k would get far there. I just looked on rightmove and they are not many 3/4bed properties for that price.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E85409&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=800000&propertyTypes=detached%2Csemi-detached%2Cterraced&includeSSTC=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

I lived in Harrow my whole life until last year when we bought a house in Bushey (Watford). Altho there are some not so nice areas I would happily have stayed if we could have afforded it. The transport links are amazing . I lived in West Harrow and was in easy walking distance of 3 different tube lines and 2 different mainline stations. The other things we miss are the choice of authentic Indian/Sri Lankan restaurants and takeaways and the variety of grocery shops from different cultures. And all the parks and green spaces.
The nicest areas are Harrow on the Hill and Pinner. Hatch End is the place to go for restaurants.
There are a few properties that meet your budget in Harrow on the Hill. Harrow on the Hill is like a lovely little village hidden in zone 5!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125248520#/?channel=RES_BUY

Of those I'd definitely go for St Albans

@pimlicoanna thanks for your vote. Do you know all 3 areas?

thanks for your feedback and the link! really nice home actually

The catchment for Sandringham is very expensive- around 1.2M for a 4 bed semi detached in need of a bit of work. Beaumont possibly a bit less but not by much. Maybe prices will drop a bit now though.

And yes- the kids do lots of the things you mention- and holiday clubs tend to be of a really high standard too.

Lots of lovely surrounding areas to explore too- e.g Berkhamstead, Harpenden, and lots of variety for days out too.

Beware the catchments for Bullers, Langley and Hayes are tiny. I wouldn't want Harris.

I know both Harrow and st Albans fairly well.
Thet are obviously both very different. Harrow is (imo) a lot more diverse being a suburb of London. It has really good transport links in to London (multiple tube stations) and overground and is obviously much cheaper (but not necessarily quicker) to get into London because its within the tfl zones.
St Albans is obviously closer to countryside, but more expensive both for property and for train tickets. Schools are good but some areas are tricky for catchment to the secondary schools. Jersey Farm is more affordable than some other parts of St Albans but it's further from the station and city centre (but close to Sandringham secondary school)

There are loads of good schools in Bromley too, you just need to know which ones. Darrick Wood (coed) in Petts Wood, Hayes Secondary (coed) in Hayes, The Park Langley schools in Beckenham and now the Bullerswood Schools in Bickley. Actually, living between the 2 Bullerswood schools is a good bet. They are single sex though until sixth form. The Park Langley schools (also single sex) in Beckenham are very sought after and the house prices reflect that so if you want to make money look at the Bullerswood school catchments. From there, you also have access to grammar schools in Bexley (e.g. Chis&Sid if within 3-4 miles) and also the superselective grammars in Bromley.
Parts of Bromley are very diverse, other parts quite chi chi these days.

So my advice is you don’t move to an area for schools. You move to the particular safe catchment of a particular school.

"We were looking at Harris academy and Langley.
Are you familiar with Harris academy"

@fullonrocknroll Hiya, I live in Park Langley which is an area of Beckenham but was born and raised in Bromley (they're much of a muchness quite frankly) and went to one of the Grammar's nearby. If your major concern is secondaries then it's definitely worth considering Sidcup / Bexley as an area. Similar transport links as Bromley (if not more). There are a number of outstanding grammar schools (chis & sid, Townley grammar, Dartford Grammar, Beth's (for boys only though) and slightly further out are Wilmington boys / girls but they have a separate entrance exams. There are also good non selective schools within the area. There are also some great primaries (Chatsworth / Burnt Oak and Dulverton just so you can get an idea). Slightly less desirable as an area to live in admittedly than Bromley / Beckenham but therefore you do get more for your money when it comes to property. And not a "bad" area by any means!

Also you mention cultural diversity, we are a Cypriot / English family and have never had any issues whatsoever in Beckenham. Good luck wherever you choose!

Agree to some extent but grammar's are so ridiculously oversubscribed at the moment that's a risky bet. I went to Chis & Sid and am hoping our children will be able to go there as well, but all I keep hearing is that the catchment area is so small these days you need to do well in the 11+ and basically live on Hurst Road to guarantee a place! It's crazy

Apols the below comment was in response to you!

@fullonrocknroll in St Albans you would have to be very fortunate to get exactly the school you want in-year, as spaces are at a premium. Most schools are over-subscribed with large waiting lists. Not sure about the villages. Samuel Ryder is all-through and a good school, but people can be sniffy about it as it’s not in the most expensive part of town. It’s part of the Sir John Lawes academy group, who are excellent, and is an Apple partner school.

Agreed - Bromley is lovely but be very careful about picking an area that is well within the local non-selective catchment area (even if you think you will go the grammar route). I think the Bullers Wood Girls' catchment area has shrunk again to about 1 mile this year and no doubt the Boys' school will go the same way. The great thing with the BW catchment area is that you also have access to the Kent, Bexley and Bromley Super Selective Grammar schools (as well as being in the catchment of the excellent non-selective Bullers Wood comp schools and (I think Ravensbourne if you prefer mixed)). Plenty of houses within your budget in the area.

Look at boxmoor in Hemel Hempstead and berkhamsted xx

St Albans has all that except cultural diversity. In fact it's not a very cultural place really.

St Albans is actually fairly culturally diverse this days - in my kids' classes alone are children from China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, Greece, America, Canada and Columbia.

And as for not very cultural - it has four theatres, not including an actual Roman theatre which now holds an annual open-air drama festival; two museums; a couple of art galleries; an arena which hosts bands, opera and ballet companies and stand-up comics, and a gorgeous Art Deco cinema.

It is the home of CAMRA, so has lots of great pubs and hosts a beer festival. There's also a food festival every year, and in the last two years, a comedy festival. There are several large parks, and St Albans Cathedral itself, which as well hosting chamber and choral music events, has for the last three years shown incredible light shows.

Oh, and the local historical society has been very busy lately putting up blue plaques to commemorate the various historical figures who've lived here.

Not bad for a place with a population of less than 90,000.

I moved from Harrow to St Albans, admittedly a long time ago and all my experience of schools is in St Albans. You must live in catchment for Beaumont or Sandringham, but Stags (where DD is) works differently and the kids come from a range of places. I think you could get something for £800k - it might not be gigantic, ours certainly isn't.
The thing I miss about Harrow is the public transport. I don't drive and have never managed to fathom out the bus system here, whereas you could drop me in Harrow Bus Station right now and I would know which bus went where....sorry bit of a ramble. I actually miss the shopping centre too. Lot of shops here are a bit high end for me.

The problem is you can't possibly know what catchments for secondaries will be in an area nearly 10 years ahead of time. We moved to Bromley in 2002 and had our child in 2012. Due to population growth and lack of school building, the popular primary school at the end of our road had become completely oversubscribed by 2015 and remained so up to 2017 (Brexit). But by 2019 our neighbour had no problem getting places for her DC.

Similar with secondaries - catchments have shrunk to around a mile so our choice (as we are nearer 2 miles from the popular comps) is now Harris or Harris for secondary (and was Harris or private for primary, as we are not religious). The peak of the baby boom from 2012 is due to hit secondaries in 2024. On balance I'd say things would be better for OP as numbers of school age children are falling at primary and will fall at secondary from 2024 and additional schools have been built.

But it definitely merits further, detailed research to avoid a second house move later!

I know all 3 areas (but not to detail of knowing schools). I’d go for St A if your budget will allow, definitely not Harrow

Your budget is not enough for a decent 3 bed in a nice part of Harrow, & the area has a lot of problems