Where to live in London?

[ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit]

We recently got married and are looking to buy in a family friendly area of London. Our budget is £1.5m. These are some of our non-negotiables:

• Near exceptional state schools
• Safe for raising children
• Cosmopolitan and liberal community with an international feel (eg St John’s Wood or Richmond)
• Three bedrooms minimum
• 0.5 or less to convenient transport links (ideally tube, but buses and ginger line doable)
• Leafy, green spaces (either private garden or near a park)

These are some nice-to-have bonuses:

• A house (but happy with a big maisonette or flat)
• Good secondary schools (can go private for sec school)
• Off street parking

Our work is accessible via Northern and District line, but we work remotely fairly often so commute isn’t too much of a consideration.

If you can work remotely, have you thought about moving a bit further out? Your money will go a lot further and it could still be easy to get into London when needed.

Regarding ‘demographics’ and somewhere international… I think you’ll find that anywhere in London just by the nature of it being a global city.

Wherever I’ve lived I’ve had neighbours from all over the world - and due to the cost of housing having changed so much over the years, people from all walks of life too.

What a fantastic position to be in, OP, I’m envious!

Do keep this thread updated with where your search takes you and where you end up buying.

London is a fabulous city, I love living here, and you’re lucky enough to have the budget to live in a great part of it.

Just to add, with your budget, I wouldn’t go any further out than zone 2.

Definitely don’t move far out and commute in, you won’t get the same experience as actually living in London proper.

Best of luck!

@Hello98765 What an ignorant comment. I don’t appreciate words being put into my mouth. I’m not even white myself, so your assumption on what I believe to be a ‘safe’ neighbourhood says more about your own personal biases than it does mine.

Thank you @Crushed23, you are too lovely!!

@RoseUnder Thank you for correcting me, I’m sorry if I used a pejorative term - it wasn’t my intention at all. Perhaps my networks and knowledge are the outdated! But one only has to visit the Sloaney Pony or Hurlingham Club especially during Polo in the Park to come across the demographic that I’m thinking of. I have lovely friends who live there but yes, I would classify them as old money types who have inherited their homes.

@Hello98765 rather mean but you are probably right - i suspect OP wants very comfortably off people who keep their places nice of any race though - not sure race always comes into it- I lived in a very affluent bit of Windsor at one point ( rented) and it was full of affluent Asians and Russians - I hated it but not for that reason- more for the reason no bugger actually spoke to you and there was no neighbourhood vibe at all- OP probably just wants to feel she has like minded people around her patch

Personally @ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit I would with that budget go for Wimbledon, north Kingston, Teddington, Chiswick or Putney - going north Hampstead great but would be a flat , same in Belsize Park, - Crouch End, Highgate , Dartmouth park or Muswell Hill

We moved to Chiswick last year (very close to Chiswick Park station) and we love it. District line at doorstep, Heathrow super close (can take as little as 14 minutes by taxi), close to the river, the museums in Kensington, Richmond and Notting Hills, lots of shops, pubs and restaurants on the high street. Wide pavement on the high street so there is a nice vibe in summer. Cheese market, flower market and vintage market on three different Sundays each month.

There seems to be a quite a few 3-4 bed houses on the market at the moment, after a quiet period with no new houses.

@CrazylazyJane this is so helpful, thank you! Never heard of Dickens Yard before, will check it out. My husband is a big fan of Ealing. What are the demographics like, does it feel liberal and diverse? I don’t know much about Acton but I’ve heard there are some pretty conservation areas and have heard that Twyford is an excellent local school.

@ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit I know exactly what you mean re being a lib dem, economically conservative but socially progressive.

BIWI called it earlier, the South Park Gardens area of SW19 would be perfect for you, but try and stay as close to South Park Gardens itself, rather than the Haydons Rd side. I would also look at the Ministers area, but only select roads.

Also try parts of Clapham and Battersea, but you are likely to only get a flat if you want to be close to the green bits in catchment of great schools.

I would avoid all east and south east based on what you have said so far. I would also avoid Richmond and surrounds as you may find pockets of not so socially progressive.

A flat in Hampstead may also work for you.

Teddington is lovely though a bit further out. Great community feel and the schools are great

Parts of Twickenham/St Margaret's

You should be able to get a 3 bed in Richmond for that if you want the tube

Otherwise Wimbledon for the northern/district line

I would also look at Greenwich/Blackheath - it's hard if you don't know which end of London you want to be :)

@Crikeyalmighty thank you for this balanced view! Indeed a mean comment, race has nothing to do with it given my own ethnicity. Not everything is about race. But yes, I concede that in saying I want a cosmopolitan, well travelled community, this might necessitate a certain level of wealth that not everybody has access to. By no means is this saying that living in a wealthy area is a prerequisite though - as I’ve said in previous posts, some of those old moneyed neighbourhoods definitely would not chime with us. It is more about the values of a community.

@ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit Ealing town is very diverse and as a borough more so. Ealing as a town can feel a bit 'yummy mummy' at times due to the house prices filtering some families out but it's ethnically very diverse. It has had a Labour council for as long as I can remember and I'm in my 40s. With a budget of £1.5 million you'll always get a few neighbours who are old school centre right but I have found it a very liberal place on the whole.
Twyford has a good reputation as does its sister schools Ada Lovelace, Ealing Fields and William Perkin.

Balham: on the Northern line and mainline (for quick trains to Clapham Junction), good cafes, Waitrose and Sainsburys, independent shops, excellent schools such as Bellevue and Honeywell on the Wandsworth side, Telferscott, Henry Cavendish.

Tooting Common (with Lido) Wandsworth Common.

You can afford a house in Balham.

Raynes Park

Islington, seven sisters? Tottenham, Kensal rise, Kilburn, cricklewood?

@ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit I totally get what you want- they are the areas I like too for similar reasons. I've lived in the 'old money' area as I described and it was not at all suited to us. Neighbour one side was a nasty elderly woman rattling round a huge 5 bed detached and putting notes through the door that it was 2 weeks since our front lawn was cut and being unpleasant to any workmen she had - ( she still had a sign saying 'tradesmen's entrance' - and another neighbour admonished me for walking straight past her house smoking a cigarette ( yes it's horrible habit I know) - just a really weird vibe.

Blackheath or Greenwich......but then I'm a Sarf Londoner 😄.

I think @BIWI got a bit muddled here!

Bishop Gilpin is a Church of England primary school but is next door to Ricard's Lodge which is a girls secondary (not church) 😊

I’m being pernickity

Yes you are being pernickety.

@Crikeyalmighty ‘Tradesmen’s entrance’! 🥴 Feels like you understand my exact vibe, maybe we can just be neighbours?!

I’ve never really thought we’d be able to afford Hampstead. I’m going to look at whether there are any family friendly flats there, thank you so much for your constructive and helpful suggestions!

@BIWI what a comprehensive breakdown of the area, thank you SO much!

@Femmefatality thanks so much! Do you think we’d get a family friendly 3 bed flat in Hampstead for our budget? I’m going to look as this as now got my hopes up… So pleased you understand what I’m looking for!

@EleMar I utterly adore Chiswick so it’s definitely up there. We’re interested in the Turnham Green / Stamford Brooke side. How would you describe the demographics if you don’t mind me asking?

@ThisJollyTaupeBiscuit sadly not as we live in Bath- we did live in Hampstead though when I met my husband- very gritty 1 bed flat but a beautiful street!!