Abbey Wood is a place to live when having kids?

[tontondtl]

My husband and I are looking at Abbey Wood for buying a house before my baby is born. It seems like a good investment potential but what I care more is how it is like to live there and the schools there?
Any mums out there who could give me your opinion?
Thank you so much.

Rough as bumholes

I wouldn't live there if you paid me.

I would never live there not a nice area imo.

Otherwise known as Scabby Wood

I assume by the replies we aren't talking about the Abbey Wood near Bristol?

If you mean Abbey Wood in SE London then no, absolutely not

Thanks everyone. I would consider another area 🙏

Prime investment opportunity in Abbey Wood passed with the arrival of Elizabeth Line. So not from that perspective. But fab for commuting to city/canary wharf.

Assuming you can make it to the tube in one piece.

A real dump and feels like it's in the middle of nowhere even though its close to Woolwich. It's a hell hole. Rough, grubby filthy blocks of flats and rough, grubby thugs on every doorstep.

Safer than Bexleyheath town centre on a Saturday night....

Bexleyheath is fine during the day though. Abbey Wood is rough AF at all times.

Is it? Am scared to go out with my handbag down there what with the organized groups of thieves I keep hearing about ....

On a serious note, ABW definitely could look a lot better, being on the boundary between two councils has hampered progress and Peabody moves so incredibly slowly in the regeneration.

I'd much rather take a stroll though Bexleyheath at night than Abbey Wood at lunchtime.

@ginasevern

Thinking the same thing, Bristol one is pretty safe, full of trained military!

That's true, the MOD is there. It's safe but the traffic can be a right pain!

I stay at the caravan site sometimes and never had an issue walking from the station/tube back to the site even late in the evening and on my own. Maybe I just give off crazy country bumpkin vibe though. 😆. There are certainly some dodgy looking people lurking around.

If you’d like an area near there, apparently Eltham and Shooters Hill are good. Latter when I was there has nice houses, green spaces and 10-15 min walk to Woolwich train station. Slight issue is schools are currently oversubscribed but estate agent said nurseries ok.

Im a bit late to this thread but the views here are really outdated and really not at all representative of Abbey Wood.

We moved from a tiny (trendy) flat in Peckham to Abbey Wood/Plumstead and have met lots of lovely friends and neighbours with young children. We’re expecting our little one later this year too.

Firstly, for London the area is really affordable. We live in a Victorian terrace on a tree lined street for approx £400k.

The Victorian and Edwardian houses in Co-op estate in Abbey Wood are lovely. The homes just over in Plumstead SE18 near the church and going up (and around the common) are fantastic.

In terms of activities for young kids - there’s loads. Look up the forest school in Lesnes Abbey Wood, for example.

I would be wary of taking advice from people on here who snobbishly write off an area they probably have little to do with. You don’t know their budget or preferences - and I suspect they would have said (and may still say) similar things about Hackney or Walthamstow.

Best of luck!

Other things to research if considering the area - Bostall Woods, Acosta Dance Centre in Woolwich, the brand new leisure centre currently being built, The Slade and Plumstead Pantry, soft play at the Plumstead Centre, farmers market at Lesnes Abbey, Sitopia Farm, The Woodland Trust.

I live in Abbey Wood and absolutely love it! I live close to Lesnes wood (beautiful ancient woodland which is rare in most of outer London) and Lesnes Abbey with its monthly farmers market. The Elizabeth Line is relatively new (and therefore one of the nicer underground stations to commute from) - get to my job in central London in less than half an hour. Great bus service too. It's 'up and coming' which you can't say about most London suburbs. December 2025

Absolutely agree with you "the views here are really outdated and really not at all representative of Abbey Wood" Mumsnet should delete comments more than a year old on threads - places change quickly (for better or worse)

Ah this post again. @KateCookson glad to hear you like Abbey Wood. I think many more people should be seriously considering this area. Truly great price point for housing considering the excellent commuting times, grammar school proximity, decent primaries, day nurseries....

Like I said further up- thread, the time to truly invest was prior to the opening of the Elizabeth Line. But it is still a sound long-term investment especially for a reasonable quality of life if you have young kids and need to commute.

There are issues here, but which place doesn't have some? It has never impacted my enjoyment of our home.

I stay frequently in Abbeywood at the motorhome club campsite … walk to the tube day and night . Never had any issues .