Where to look in London?

[Coronet08]

Merry Christmas everyone!
After some advise from a brilliant hive mind, as we are looking to upgrade our 2 bed flat in North London to a 4/5 bed house anywhere in zones 1-4. We have 2 small children now, so really need more space and (state) schools are key!
Our budget would stretch to £1.3m but probably not beyond, and where we live now we would not be able to afford a decent family home for this, despite both of us being high earners.
Not looking to move for secondary schools, so both excellent primary and secondary need to be close by (we qualify for Catholic schools, too). Also not looking for a project, so the budget is for a "done up" property really.
Good transport links are vital (tube/Elizabeth line), as both me and DH will need to travel to work several days a week.
So far we are looking at Ealing and maybe Muswell Hill (nearer to East Finchley station). Any other areas we are missing where one can bag £1.3m house with 4/5 beds?
Thank you so much in advance!!

Wanstead

Where’s work?

Work is in Canary Wharf!

Wanstead - I'm on it, thank you! Never been

Kennington? - don’t discount south of the river!

Not at all, considering anywhere with great schools, amenities and reasonable commute!
Thanks! Which secondary is highly rated in Kennington, all I've spotted so far is Lilian Baylis Technology School nearby which doesn't seem to have stellar results

SE18

Herne Hill/North Dulwich although £1.3m doesn't go that far any more. There are trains from north dulwich to London Bridge to pick up the jubilee line to CW and trains to Farringdon from Herne Hill for the Elizabeth line. Also trains from Herne Hill to Victoria in 10 mins. Great primary schools and Charter North Dulwich is an excellent secondary.

Plenty available for your budget in Ealing. On the Elizabeth line. Excellent primaries and some amazing secondaries (especially if you’re Catholic).

You could probably squeeze a 4 bed terraced house in Tufnell Park for that if you wanted to stay north but you’d get bigger in some of the further out areas mentioned

Tufnell Park

West Norwood, SE27.

Great primaries - Julian's, Hitherfield, Dunraven

Great secondaries- Dunraven, Elmgreen, Kingswood

Wanstead, South Woodford, Buckhurst Hill, parts of Woodford Green are all really nice and on the Central line. You can change for the Jubilee line or DLR at Stratford I think for Canary Wharf.

Beckenham also very nice but trains to Victoria station.

Have you also looked at St Albans and Hitchin? obviously not London, but short commute :) and nice locations.

Crystal Palace, Penge...

Bishop Thomas Grant is supposed to be a good secondary - if you chose your location carefully, you might be able to be in catchment of Dunraven or Graveney and also have BTG as an option if you're catholic. Your budget would get you a lovely house - commute to Canary Wharf perhaps a pain though

I would definitely check south of the river - lots of great places in SE London.
I would aim for somewhere with multiple train lines and decent parking near the station if need be.

Penge/Beckenham (Beckenham Junction,Clock House, Kent House stations)/Sydenham have between them trains on the London Overground and national rail to Victoria, London Bridge, Charing Cross, Blackfriars.

You could live within walking distance of one or two stations and could easily park at others, potentially for free.

Somewhere near New Malden for Richard Challoner/Holy Cross?

New Malden to Canary Wharf would be an awful journey unless I’m missing something?

Not an amazing journey but could be worse - train to Waterloo and then Jubilee line

Telegraph Hill, New Cross Gate would get you a 4 bedder, 200 sqm for that price. Commute to CW is about 30-35 minutes

Point taken re New Malden commute! Woodford mentioned above also has the excellent Trinity Catholic High School, plus access to grammars if that’s your thing

Another vote for Wanstead

What are the good state options in/near Wanstead out of interest?

I used to live in Wanstead and liked it, but I don’t think it is known for having particularly good state secondary options, although I’ve heard that Wanstead High School is on the up and the new headteacher seems popular. I have a couple of friends with children at Woodbridge and they are positive about it.

Trinity in Woodford Green might be an option for the OP as she is Catholic. The grammars get excellent results as you would expect (particularly the girls school) although they don’t appeal to everyone.

When I lived in Wanstead I had the impression that a relatively high proportion of people went private for secondary but I don’t know if the stats actually reflect that.

The primaries are generally all pretty good.

Beckenham might work, if you're willing to deal with national rail trains.

Also East Dulwich (commute not ideal), or some parts of Honor Oak /Forest Hill area.

Eltham