Hampton/ Esher/ Putney…any thoughts?

[LongbourneCat]

Hello!

we would love some insider experiences of living along the Thames as we have recently started house hunting and are feeling a little overwhelmed by the different areas. We are going down for day trips but usually have two under 5s in tow and it’s often hard to get a real feel for the places.

we’ve looked at the Doverhouse estate south of Barnes & are starting to look at Kingston/ Ham/ Hampton & Esher, but really are open to suggestions!

The most important thing for us is proximity to green space, quickly followed by not too far from a good cinema & swimming pool. We also prefer quieter locations, although accept this is hard with the flight paths. Good state schools are also important & my partner and I both need to commute into South Ken 2-3 times a week for work. A long wish list I know!

our children love outdoors & sporty activities, my partner and I are a bit more bookish.

We’re first time buyers and our budget is about 700k

any recommendations or thoughts would be massively appreciated! It’s exciting but hugely intimidating and we’re very aware of wanting the children to be happy with any move we make.

thank you! 🙂

I can tell you a bit about some of these areas:

Hampton: Really good primary schools, secondary is more variable but that could all change by the time your children are at secondary age. It's relatively quiet generally but also not many restaurants but curry, pizza and there's a little Waitrose. The local swimming pool is the open air pool which can get very busy in summer and unsurprisingly not so busy in winter! There's lots of child centred activities and parks, the largest being Bushy park so plenty of green space. Cinema would be Kingston Odeon so 15 mins on the train or longer on the bus/car depending on time of day. Budget wise you should get a family house there, and it's still in zone 6 for travel although the trains aren't very fast/frequent.

Esher is very expensive, good schools but not sure you'd get much for your budget there. Weybridge has good schools and slightly more reasonable than Esher but doesn't have a cinema. I'm not sure about Walton schools but has pool/leisure centre and an Everyman, shops and restaurants. Walton, Esher & Weybridge are all pretty close together so you could get to the leisure centre in Walton easily enough from Weybridge for example Also slightly cheaper than Weybridge/Esher. There are parks in all of these areas but nothing like the scale of Bushy Park. Esher/Walton and Weybridge have more frequent train services than Hampton but are outside the zones so you need tickets and the commute is much more expensive.

Hello! Sorry for the slow reply. For some reason this didn’t show up on my inbox and I’ve only just checked the thread. Thank you - this is really helpful 😊

How old are your children? Primary is fine in all those places. Secondary is trickier in Putney / Barnes (depending on your child).

Thank you. They are currently 3 and a baby although in theory we’d like to be able to stay put indefinitely. We’d be state school only unless our finances change radically

In that case I'd avoid The Dover House area (as much as I like it for many of your reasons). Richmond Park Academy is OK, Ark secondary in Putney should be avoided. Ashcroft is super strict - good for some, but not all. There are better schools in other areas.

Perhaps look at North Kingston, maybe Ham, and accept a cycle along the river path to Richmond station to commute or traffic delayed bus. South of the main flight path and easy access to both. Slightly hemmed in though. One of the disadvantages of the parks and river is the funnel affect on traffic! Great primary and secondary schools Kingston Academy, GreyCourt, Christ's, or even Orleans over the river. Tiffin a possibility if academic.

Hampton, Strawberry Hill are good options too.

Most of the areas you are looking at go into Waterloo, so you presumably would change at Clapham Junction to go into Victoria then pick up the tube. It can be quite difficult/uncomfortable to do that in the morning rush hour at CJ.

If you can get within striking distance of the District Line (e.g. bus or just a couple of train stops to Richmond) that would make the commute much better. Ham would work on that front, plus Teddington and Twickenham might be worth looking at. Kingston would not be an as easy commute.

Depending on what type of property you need (e..g would a 2-bed cottage or a maisonette suffice) somewhere like East Sheen/Mortlake/North Sheen could also be worth looking into. Those areas have great access to everything you seem to want while still being 'in London'. However, as another poster said, secondary schools become more difficult around there (but that seems to be at least 8 years away for you).

Going out further to places like Walton you really lose any feeling of being part of London. That may or may not matter to you.

Claygate, which adjoins Esher, is a little cheaper but ticks all your boxes. it also has a nice villagey feel. There is a huge common to ride or walk on, and a big rec ground. The nearest cinema would be the Esher Everyman , a mile or two away. The Hurst Pool at East Molesey is close, and Guildford Spectrum pool with slides and waves, ice rink, etc is 20-25 mins in the car. Schools are good.

Maybe look at North Kingston & places like Epsom. 700k won't go far in Esher or putney. As you are both travelling in I would look at the cheapest & quickest commutes.

Epsom has a picture house & a leisure centre (although not been there in yrs).

You should have a look at Molesey. It ticks lots of boxes for you as it's on the river, lots of green spaces, a swimming pool and close to Kingston, Esher or Walton for the cinema. Commute from Hampton Court station. There's a thriving community of young families and lots of activites on offer.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Hurst-Park.html