Petts Wood vs Orpington

[Sloan23]

We are a young family, with a 2-year old daughter. We currently live in the North Greenwich area, but looking to move out for schools and of course more space.

Based on our research, two schools stand out: Crofton and Warren Road Primary School

Both seem good schools, but Warren Road seems to have really exceptional stats in terms of kids going to Grammar School.

Having said that, we are equally inclined to look for independent secondary options later on, and not so transfixed with Grammar schools alone but feel it’s a good signal.

I wanted to get your point of view particularly on:

(1) Crofton vs Warren School - which do you think is better, and if there are factors we should consider beyond grammar in take which make one better than the other?

(2) Surrounding areas which are basically between Petts Wood and Orpington.

What would you prefer and how much weightage / difference would you give to that? I suspect both areas have also evolved in recent years (looking at prior posts).

Having said that, I can see PW looks nicer overall - particularly some roads which brings me to…

(3) Any particularly good roads we should look out for in either Petts Wood or Orpington near the two schools.

We saw some good properties in Dale Wood Road and Fairway Road in PW, whereas Warren Road and Green Farm Close near Warren Road Primary school.

(4) Any other advice is more than welcome :)

Many thanks for your help, and apologies for the slightly long message.

@PettsWoodParadise I can see many have benefited from your advice over the years, and would love some input. Many thanks :)

Hello. I have friends with children at Warren Road and they love it. Have also known lots who went through Crofton and also liked it. Crofton is a large school but they work hard to make it feel more cosy. Petts Wood has a great community feel, Warren Road is neither Orpington or Chelsfield but does have lots of nesrby open spaces.

Dale Wood is technically Orpington. Also most of it is unadopted and so do check that out. I gather it can cause grumbles between neighbours. Fairway is very convenient for the station but gridlocked at school run time with traffic and you can also hear the train announcements from there.

i am assuming if you have the budget to look at those roads you have around 750 to 850k??? Try roads like St Georges and Princes Avenue and round there, a few minutes walk into Petts Wood but nicer and less traffic. If you want to share budget and rooms needed then I can suggest other roads. Happy to help

@PettsWoodParadise Thank you so much. That's very helpful feedback.

We will be going to the Summer Fairs tomorrow - both at Crofton and Warren Road.

You were right about Dale Wood Road. It is indeed an unadopted road when I enquired again from the agent (after you mentioned). He does claim that Local Authority has agreed to maintain and look after, without any excess charge. One to certainly watch out for :)

We are looking ideally for a 4 bed house, and have a budget up to 950k but of course ideally the lower the better given current interest rates. Anything you can point us to will indeed be very helpful. We have made notes for St George's Road and Princes Avenue.

Dale Wood Road although in Orpington seemed to give out a similar vibe to rest of Petts Wood. Petts Wood just seems like a nicer area and hence we are also gravitating towards Crofton (as opposed to Warren).

Thanks once again :)

Hope you've enjoyed the summer fairs, some thoughts on some current houses up for sale, you've probably seen them all on Rightmove etc but adding my thoughts on their pros and cons.

Just above your budget but could probably negotiate within your budget is this lovely house on St John's Road, it is a nice road, can be a rat run when there are road works elsewhere but also convenient for Crofton School. Very good size.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134756978#/?channel=RES_BUY

Homesdale Road, nice size, near allotments, convenient for Crofton School, could get within budget, compromise is the style of house if you are not into more modern and probably 15 mins walk to PW station but also 20 mins walking distance to Orpington
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126592967#/?channel=RES_BUY

Fairfield Road, about 15 mins walk to station, 4 bed, but again more modern like Homesdale Road
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134489210#/?channel=RES_BUY

Three houses here that are 3 beds but might be great if you were willing to do a project to extend:

Crossway is a nice road, near to the Willett Way recreation ground with tennis courts etc,
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132728408#/?channel=RES_BUY

Kingsway also a nice road, this is below budget and by the time you negotiated you would probably have enough left to extend to make it bigger, again currently three bed but potential
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133578707#/?channel=RES_BUY

The lovely Priory Avenue
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134489210#/?channel=RES_BUY

Some options below your budget:
Petts Wood West is often cheaper than Petts Wood East, but still lovely, this is a current 4 bed semi, but not massive kitchen
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133896104#/?channel=RES_BUY

Another PW West, slightly ugly extension with flat roof on side but four bedrooms plus downstairs study and really lovely garden so great option in my mind and a good price.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130940393#/?channel=RES_BUY

Beckford Drive is opposite Crofton School (was built on the land that used to have the Junior School huts and playing fields on and I remember as such!), there is the railway nearby a bit of a walk to PW station, probably 15 mins and modern, but well below budget: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131719931#/?channel=RES_BUY

I've discounted ones on Crofton Lane, Tudor Way and Chislehurst Road (fairly busy roads but if busy roads don't bother you do look at them)

Do feel free to ping me a PM if you are focusing in on any road or property in particular.

p.s. yes people do ask me if I have shares in Petts Wood, other than my home, nope, but do love to help people out.

@PettsWoodParadise We are also looking near crofton area. We had a couple of viewings today, mostly around Gleneagles green, woodcote drive. I have seen many houses with "on sale" board there. Wondering if there is any specific reasons for people moving out of that area. Also, most of the houses I viewed today has not an allocated parking space. All houses have some area for parking, but shared by the houses there. Is that an issue here?

Hi @lj9 round there the properties are a lot closer together and don’t always have front gardens big enough to turn into a drive or have shared drive ways as they are closer together, or both. The 1960s properties are often terraced. I know many on the place farm estate have or used to have a garage ‘en-bloc’ but some of these sometimes got sold separately or the bloc got developed so the parking got lost. Some of the Place Farm houses are 1960s and seeing the work on them they don’t seem brilliantly built, the 1930s ones seem more solid. The gardens are often about 30 or 40ft and narrow, compared to the 100ft plus gardens in PW. More houses packed into a smaller area is going to cause parking issues.

You’ve got the small parade of shops opposite Crofton school and the small number of shops on Kelvin Parade but otherwise it doesn’t have a ‘hub’ and sort of bleeds into Petts Wood at one side and Orpington at the other, suffering from being neither and a good ish walk to either Orpington or Petts Wood. Saying that it is a good option if you can’t afford places like Petts Wood or The Knoll area of Orpington. It is often also better placed to cover for Secondary as often in catchment for Darrick Wood. Check if there is a Place Farm estate fee or similar, some have to pay this for upkeep on the estate. I don’t think it is massive but just something to bear in mind.

If you're moving for schools check out previous years secondary admissions data via the Bromley Borough schools admission information. Orpington has lots of good primary schools but secondary is more variable and catchments can be tricky for some areas.

With the budget that you have it may also be worth checking out Perry Hall primary as there are some lovely houses in the Knoll area of Orpington.

I live in Chislehurst - Petts Wood and Orpington are both nice areas. Petts Wood if often more pricey though, so might depend on your budget.

Hi,

We are in the process of moving to Orpington and made an offer to buy the property. We are filling out the In-year application form and got confused over the primary schools in the area(My DD will be going to Y3). We have below schools in mind and could any of you please suggest on how to prioritize the schools.

Warren Road Primary School - within catchment
Crofton Junior School - 1.33 miles
Tubbenden Primary School - within catchment
Farnborough Primary School - within catchment
Holy Innocents Catholic Primary School - within catchment

Also, if we want to get admission to Year3 in September, will that be considered as In-year application? Will the council consider our application if we submit it this week?

Good luck with the purchase.

There is minimal point in referencing catchment for an in-year application (any time outside of the usual entrance points like Reception and Y7) as it is a case of which schools have places. I know a family who moved to spitting distance of Warren Road and had their younger child with a space in the usual round at reception but had to wait over a year for a space for their older child for Y3. It is a case of which is best for you and which you are most likely to move faster up the waiting list, you can also go down if others move and are higher up the over subscription criteria (distance, siblings, ECHP etc).

If you are Catholic there is also St James in Petts Wood but with one class intake spaces come up quite rarely. There is also Darrick Wood primary in the vicinity.

Ones with spaces in the area usually seem to be Poverest or Southborough. Often it is a case of going to the school with spaces for a short while and then staying on waiting lists, but demographics and lowering birth rate may have changed that so you may be lucky.

good luck

Hi OP,

I appreciate this is not quite in keeping with your thread, but just a thought - have you considered other areas in Bromley such as Hayes, or near Bromley town centre itself?

I went to the 👧 grammar school I assume you are considering for your daughter and commuted in with a lot of other kids from
the more central Bromley area.

I (personally) think these areas have a bit more going on and are better located for a London commute than PW or Orpington. It could just be a bit of an easier adjustment with a move from Greenwich!

Hayes, for instance, has fantastic primary schools, a very decent state secondary school and is very easily commutable to local grammar and independent schools such as Newstead and Bromley High, respectively. One to consider perhaps?!

Dear OP

What did you finally go for, and your experience? We are also in North Greenwich with a 1yr DD, looking to move to Orpington for Warren Road primarily (that was until I stumbled on this thread).