London Areas--Harrow/Waltham Forest/Sutton?

[MrsMcDonald]

We currently live in Shoreditch and are looking to move further out into Greater London to get more bang for our buck. We like Waltham Forest (esp Leytonstone/Leyton), Harrow (have done less research here tbh), and Sutton (as a stretch--I really like area near Beddington Park but worry it might be too far out) for options, but are open to hearing suggestions as well. Our daughter is almost 5 months. Not sure if more kids are in the cards for us, but a good school for her is a must. Husband is not keen on areas with a grammar/sink school dynamic. We also don't have a car and don't want to have to get one. Cycling/good public transport is our bag. I've been looking through old threads and have been bookmarking advice for particularly good roads/pockets to look at within areas and neighbourhoods to avoid. More of this would be very welcome to help narrow our search. Husband is WFH, but I commute to Barts Hospital in CoL.

For commuting to Barts why not look down the Met line to Hertfordshire?

I have a friend in Worcester Park which has some very good primary schools apparently, her eldest goes to an amazing catholic secondary. I’m not sure if they come under Kingston or Sutton though but they live a short walk to the station. Sutton has the grammar schools but there are some good comps but I think Beddington Park area only has the grammars? Although parts may be in Croydon & I don’t know the schools there. Not sure about the other areas.

Have you looked at the gov schools data?

A lot of harrow is pretty crappy. I would look at eastcote or Ruislip instead.

for the Sutton grammars there are some very good schools around in the cheam area -Cheam high school and Glenthorne are highly rated.

Harrow is grotty

What’s your budget?

I lived in Harrow for the first 45 years of my life and brought up three children there. I still have family and friends in the area.

It really depends on what you are looking for and your budget. The transport links into London are great (friends living there could manage without cars) and the schools are good. I'm not aware that there's not much in the town centre for shopping and going out. There are various parts of Harrow, each with a different feel and property price and type (from Victorian/Edwardian villa style, 1930's terraces to post war semis). "The Hill" is the priciest (there's a public school there), then you have South, North and West Harrow - each with it's own station and much of which was developed as part of the Metroland initiative in the 1920s onwards.

Generally there's a great community feel and it was recently listed (can't remember where) as a good place for families. Around Harrow you have Pinner, Rayner Lane, Eastcote, Ruislip and Wealdstone - all very different. The nearest hospital is Northwick Park Hospital.

Good Luck with your search.

How about Wansted - Central Line.
I lived there about 15 years ago, had a lovely village feel and an amazing park mearby. Not sure about schools, you'd have to look into that.

I know houses can be pricey (for my standards) - we only rented a small flat.
We chose it for good transport links both public and road connections.

£700k max preferably

Lots of people have made to move from Hackney/Tower Hamlets to Waltham Forest (so you won’t feel out of place). I’m in leytonstone and v happy here. Green spaces, cafes, restaurants, good cycling routes through Olympic park, decent community and schools.

Harrow is 2nd safest borough (low crime rates) in London.
Very good schools too.
Excellent transport links.
Shopping and eating out in Harrow town centre isn't great but there's Watford, Pinner, Ruislip and Uxbridge nearby.

flat only or grotty house for that in Waltham Forest

Whitmore High School in Harrow is rated outstanding and is near more than one tube station. You should be able to get something decent for 700k

For example https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143322494

Near beddington park I think you would only be in catchment for carshalton boys / girls unless you went the 11+ route. Maybe Overton but don't think that's the best (which is why catchment extends so far)

The other side of the borough is a little stronger for non selective I think with glenthorne / cheam.