Give me ideas for where to live - London/surrounds affordable, leafy, hipster vibes

[CharlotteB94]

Good evening all,

I'm looking for ideas for places to move to later this year with DH and new baby when born.

We currently live in Battersea, budget up to £600k max, want something 2 bed, modern, outside space.

Area is important to us, location is flexible though - DH works in the City and we want to move further out for more affordability.

The type of area we're looking for is somewhere buzzing, with trendy cafes and brunch spots. The type of vibe I have in mind, is a more affordable alternative to to places like De Beauvoir, Hackney Wick, Walthamstow Village, or (much more affordable!) places like Fulham, Dulwich village, Richmond, etc. Hipster cafes, boutique gyms, yoga studios, nice little local restaurants, breweries etc. Safe and community feel. Some places we've looked at like Surbiton/Weybridge do feel a little 'suburban' and not much going on as we're used to. (NO shade to anyone who lives there just us!)

Would be open to a village within 1 hr of London where there is the above trendy 'ex-Londoner' things existing e.g. we were looking at Godalming which does seem to have more trendy / boutiquey places to eat etc. My parents live in Oxfordshire, so not too far in the other direction.

Looked at the likes of Guildford, Reigate, etc, definitely on the cards but still so expensive for what you get. I'm sure there are places that exist that we've never heard of so not considering!

If anywhere rings a bell, let me know!

Why would anyone want to live in places similar to De Beauvoir, Hackney Wick, Walthamstow Village is beyond me.

I lived in Hackney Wick nearly a year and was followed 3 times coming back home from work, it's truly horrible and unsafe.

Lol at Clapham Junction being hipster

Take a look at Merton Abbey Mills, SW19. Very modern 2-bed flats with balconies in the Abbey Wall development are about £500k and there are other interesting options in the area.

Abbey Mills is still on the up. It's a historical location, on the river, plenty of parks and a nature reserve nearby, stacks of creative action, and still has gritty London edges. Very good transport, supermarkets, etc.

(Yes, I used to live there and wish I still did!)

And under £600k!

Because the vast majority don’t have this sort of issue?

Still I am surprised that OP does not find a flat for that budget on the stretch from Islington to Victoria Park, adding Stock Newington slightly further North. Plenty of new built along the canal for instance, I guess it might take a bit of a compromise with outside space, a large balcony or a roof top if other compromise are being made.

I don’t recommend Chingford or Highams Park as being hipster. Chingford is nice enough as you are near the forest, but those places are definitely not hipster.

If you like Walthamstow, are you sure you couldn’t afford it with your budget? Blackhorse Road and around Hale are also becoming very hipster with all the breweries full of babies and toddlers and vintage markets at the weekend! You also have the area around the canal and lots of green space with a short walk to Springfield Park and all the amenities there.

Highams Park isn't bad, there are quite a few friendly little cafes but in that area I'd recommend South Woodford which has vg shopping and more going on.
The places mentioned outside London are nice but hardly hipsterish. Farnham's an atrractive town too has a slightly younger feel because of the arts university there.

Forest Hill, Crystal Palace

You'd get a roomy flat with outdoor space for 600 I reckon.

It's green, arty and with quick links into East London for the proper hipster experience.

Maze Hill, Charlton all very good transport links and Greenwich has lots of great coffee shops, market, the park, museum etc

Leyton/Leytonstone! Very hipster with lots of cafes/brunch spots, thousands of young families, surrounded by green space and half an hour into the City - tops.

No it isn't.

Try Beckenham. You'll get a whole house for that. There are lots if cafes, some with tables outside, hot yoga place, some gyms. Might not be 'hip' but lovely enough.

Although I notice your baby hasn't been born yet, so it also has great parks, great schools, swimming pool, soft play, good playgroups and all the other things that will soon be your priority.

You can easily afford Tooting/Earlsfield/Furzedown.

eg: this is a conversion, but nice, with a large garden:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145374287#/?channel=RES_BUY

Not sure about price but kentish town, crouch end and muswell hill in North London. Outside London, Lewes?

St Albans
Harpenden
Guildford
Goldalming
Cranleigh
Cobham

All nice places to bring up a family - but hipster? LOL, no way!

You might manage to get a 2 bed house on the Dover House estate in Putney for your budget, but it will need work. Won't meet "hipster" but a nice neighbour village feel, lots of young families, nice community and walking distance to Putney/Barnes/East Sheen and close to Wimbledon village. Lots of green space very close too.

DB lives in Hackney with his young family. I visit a fair bit (they're moving soon). Where they are there are the rough parts and the nice parts but it's certainly not all lovely and hipster-ish. I suppose some areas near to where I live are the same. It just 'feels' rougher there if you see what I mean.

Beckenham isn't hip but is sort of up and coming. Also try Clock House and Kent House which are nearby and on Penge borders. The high street by Clock House station has a couple of hip venues, a craft beer bar and a coffee shop.

Houses do tend to be 1930s semis though.

I think there have been some good suggestions on this thread but St Albans, Harpenden and Cobham do not have a hipster vibe IMO are in NO WAY similar to de Beauvoir and Hackney Wick! You’re much more likely to see designer wellies and people discussing the over the counter detivatives market than a young 20 something with a top knot engaging in some chat about conceptual art. In fact I would probably go so far as to say that they are absolute polar opposites!

What people tend to have to do is weigh up how important it is to have a hipster vibe (tends to be a bit more urban and gritty), or whether they want things like a bigger garden, probably a bit safer, more established schools and decide which is more important. We decided we could cope with a market town which had a decent high street, but it’s far from hipster! Best thing to do is visit a few and see what you think of the vibe of the place.

Folkestone, Kent has been voted best place to live in SE
40 mins to Stratford; Kings x in under an hour
Very hip harbour area
You could buy a large house with a sea view
Hurry; every one is finding out this hidden gem

Also, 20 mins to Canterbury if you’re missing the city vibe!

@skippy67 Yes, it is, it's truly shit and rough, sorry if you live there and got offended but Hackney Wick is horrendous, I couldn't wait to move away from there. Besides being followed, a group of lovely teenagers tried to mug me at the bus stop, my luck was the bus was coming and driver saw what was going on from distance and opened the door so I could jump in straight away.

Also, transport links are awful, you have one train station and a few buses. Beyond bad, just horrible.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145953347#/?channel=RES_BUY

Needs work, but this is a ten minute walk from Blackhorse Road station, the breweries, wetlands etc. It's not the village, but it could work for you.

Forest Hill/Crystal Palace if you can't find what you want in East Dulwich/Peckham. big chunks of SE London down the Overground line are like what you're looking for, also Brockley, Honor Oak etc.