Best areas in South / West London for Good State Primary Schools

[EllaFitz]

Hello,

My DH and I are early 30s, professionals and looking to buy a house. Ideally 4 bedrooms if possible. We have family in South London.

We are hoping to start a family soon and obviously are trying to think ahead due to the high stamp duty as moving again in a few years would be a big financial hit. We also want to be near a good primary state school at least (and obviously ideally secondary schools). Catholic schools would actually work well.

We have considered moving to parts of South London (e.g. Sutton / Cheam) to be closer to family but I'm not sure we are so keen for that suburban life though having parents to help with childcare when and if the time comes would probably be very helpful. However, in this area we do not see many young couples around our age when walking around so are worried we will not be able to build a community easily and may feel isolated.

Other areas we have considered are Kew, Teddington, Crystal Palace, Earlsfield, Southfields, Raynes Park, Ealing, Dulwich, Surbiton....

We are obviously considering a wide range of areas and we are aware of some of the various pros and cons of each (plane noise for Kew/Teddington as an example). We are mainly trying to look South of the river to not be too far from parents.

Does anyone have any comments on how useful it has been to live near parents when starting a family and whether this should trump other things? Any experiences of young professionals (around 30 years old) living in Sutton / Cheam? Any other thoughts or suggestions of which areas could work well?

Thank you :)

Hi @EllaFitz i live in a neighbouring town to Sutton and cheam, and know both very well.

IMHO Cheam is a gorgeous village - a very good high street, lots of independent shops but still useful chains too. Lots of nice houses too and a very friendly vibe. Good transport links to London considering the type of place it is. You could likely find a house less than a 10 min walk from the station which is quite unusual for places like that Sutton probably has better transport links, but that does make it busier and the high street is much bigger - think multi story car parks and shopping centres. The area “south Sutton” has some gorgeous houses, but your budget might be a bit low but always worth checking (would involve getting a bus to the station). Sutton very useful in some ways but very different to Cheam.

in terms of schools, there are good local state schools in both areas but the real selling point of the Sutton borough are the grammar schools. Wilson’s (boys only) being one which I think is rated 2nd best in country in terms of results but generally secondary schools are very good. Sutton is a much bigger area so like all places there are different “sorts” of areas within an area, some suit some people and some suit others!

I was going to post saying the same. Lots of young families and close to Richmond for the district line.