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.

What made you think your budget doesn't stretch to Richmond?

4 beds and it's been on the market a while so likely overpriced.

Balham is a great shout. I certainly wouldn't live too far from a tube if I could afford £1.5m.

I grew up in Richmond and SW London always felt a bit suburban to me (which might or might not be a good thing depending on what you prefer). I live in Maida Vale now and that would tick your boxes albeit you'd probably have to go for a flat rather than a house. There are certainly some generous 3 beds in mansion blocks on sale for around the 1.5m mark.

These are worth a look OP in Highgate and south Hampstead

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148458965#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149521178

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149706407#/?channel=RES_BUY

With £1.5 mil to spend don't buy leasehold. Buy a house. It's lunacy not to.

Another vote for Ealing, especially Pitshanger Lane in North Ealing. Labour MP too!

Surprised no one has mentioned Stoke Newington. Only downside is that is a little far from the tube but there is OG.

think it’s closer to South Wimbledon tbh so a little worried about safety

lol! I agree with @Hello98765

Seriously OP do your homework carefully before considering buying a flat anywhere.

LOL at St John's Wood being diverse; it's just copy and paste rich people. Maybe having an American hedge fund manager next to a Canadian one is diverse though.

Absolutely this!

as I’ve said in previous posts, some of those old moneyed neighbourhoods definitely would not chime with us

Anywhere in London that has property for 1.5m will have people who have family money so I’m not sure how you avoid that & although London in general is diverse there are plenty of roads that aren’t particularly socio economically.

LOL at St John's Wood being diverse; it's just copy and paste rich people. Maybe having an American hedge fund manager next to a Canadian one is diverse though.

😆😆

@RosesAndHellebores can I ask what the best areas/roads in Epsom/Ewell. Family member looking around there.

Catchments for Glyn and Roseberry @Nanana1. If secondary schools are the motivator.

Richmond isn't cosmopolitan is it? And that whole area is very white especially Teddington.

@RosesAndHellebores thank you. Their dc is very bright so they are looking at the grammars too & potentially privates.

We are a few minutes walk from Chiswick Park tube station and 10 minutes walk from Turnham Green tube station so very far from where you'd be looking. I think it's actually quite diverse - my impression when going out is that there is a broad variety of languages / accents / backgrounds. We lived in hackney central for years and there was definitely less variety. There also seems to be more variety in terms of professional backgrounds - some people (including myself) commute to the City, but there are also the businesses at Chiswick Park, the numerous shops on the high street, and I think historically Chiswick was also a media heavy area. We were considering Balham / between the two commons but we felt it was too corporate heavy for us due to the northern line into the city.

How about Alexandra Palace - outstanding state schools plus you could sit 11+ entry for Latymer, Henrietta Barnett or QEBoys.
You could get a nice 3 bed house. The train from Alexandra Palace station goes to Moorgate but has easy changes to Victoria, Piccadilly and Northern line plus you can change for trains to south London at Finsbury Park and at Highbury and Islington for overground trains.

Thanks @RosesAndHellebores 🙄 That’ll teach me for trying to be helpful and self deprecating in one message.

I live in Ealing. Great schools, parks, excellent transport links and still feels urban diverse without compromising safety. Happy to answer Qs if you PM me

If you want a green liberal leafy area why don’t you try South East London.

I know what you say about working from home but since Khan and these labour councils installed these stupid LTNs, there is so much traffic funnelled onto a few main roads the traffic is horrific and getting around is very difficult.

I would start with looking at exactly where you need to get to for work, AND how likely you think you will be working there long term, then look at what you would be want to be doing leisure wise and schools.

Then look to find areas that are close as possible and minimise your travel.

Obviously this won't work if you have a short term job but honestly moving to somewhere close travelwise to work is a game changer in London now. Otherwise, the cost of travel (inevitable tube strikes means there are days when cabs/driving are the only real option) and it takes double time to get anywhere.

Start with the tube stops you need and work backwards/forwards along the tube lines to nearest nice areas with a tube stop.

I live in Wimbledon. Terraced house with three beds (technically four but at less than 6' wide it's my office). Walking distance to three primaries, one 'excellent', two 'good'. Five minutes to Thameslink trains, 15 min to SWestern trains and tube. Bus five minutes. Beautiful restored Victorian park at the end of the road with small café, and flower beds. Playing fields at other end with children's playground and workout area with table tennis! Loads of restaurants/shops etc.
prices in my grid of streets (late Victorian) about £1-1.2m, double fronted near park £2-3m.
Mixed nationalities- immediate neighbours are French, Greek, South African. There's a Hindu temple down the road which attracts a lot of Asians to the area.

@berthaofcalcutta @Nanana1 SJW is certainly affluent, but it has a wonderful mix of cultures - American, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Japanese, to name just a few. Perhaps you’ve never been as it’s pretty obvious to anyone who walks down the high street.