Where to live in london with a toddler and office in Liverpool st

[conflictedmama]

Hi We recently moved to london, and looking to rent a place under £3k. We are looking for a place with:

1. 2/3 Bed- preferably apartment since we are new here so i guess it will be safer and more convenient.
2. Safe
3. outstanding primary schools (govt schools preferably) -very important
4. around 40 minutes from Liverpool st will be a plus Please suggest the areas where we can find a place with above criteria.

Thanks!

Waltham Forest? Around 40/45 mins to Liverpool Street, lots of green spaces and good schools. You'd get a flat under budget there. London borough named the best place in the UK to raise a family | The Standard

Kentish Town, Highbury, Angel, Gospel Oak.

Go out into Essex. Great schools on line in

Wanstead. Lovely place, very safe, lots for small children and easy commute to Liverpool Street. Also South Woodforf is just up the road and also nice, although the high street isn't as good arguably.

Also Highams Park and Chingford (north, near the station). Have the advantage of being on the Overground. It's less frequent than the tube, but is much more pleasant and if you get on at Chingford you'll always get a seat.

You'd be well under budget in all those areas.

Don't worry whether schools are rated "outstanding" by Ofsted as that can be misleading. Be guided by reputation.

Look along the Overground lines into Liverpool Street. Hackney might be worth looking at though it's expensive now.

wanstead, Tottenham or Walthamstow (for young parents, very active community children’s day raves, breweries, craft markets, activities such as climbing and rowing in the canal if you like that sort of thing), broxbourne, Chingford, highams park. So many on the overground line. So quick to get in. There are so many outstanding primaries in London, it’s secondary when it becomes more difficult.

Honor Oak / Forest Hill in SELondon.
3 bed family houses rent for around £3k, haven’t looked at flats but assume they’d be a bit cheaper.
Theyre very residential, family friendly areas.
I work around Liverpool St and am door to door from this area in 30 mins. Overground train to Shoreditch then a short walk, or train to London Bridge and 15-20 min walk up.
Theres a lot of well rated primary schools around - good / outstanding. As another poster said though, don’t just assume Outstanding means it’s automatically the best. The one closest to us is ‘Good’ and it’s bloody brilliant, happy kids and happier parents.

What's the budget? That's crucial.

Walthamstow is ideal. The train into Liverpool St is fast and reliable and the primary schools are excellent. It's ideal for small kids; lots of playgrounds and activities.

I’d say for parents of young children as opposed to young parents….
given there are plenty of older parents in Walthamstow

£3k, its in the OP

Harrow on the Hill/Pinner- your choice of outstanding primary (and secondary) schools, lots of greenery and only 40 mins to Liverpool Street on the Met Line.

Yes, I'm sure OP agrees that it's crucial. That's why she wrote it in the first sentence of her post 🙄

I won’t advise on specific areas as I’ve been out of London a while, but do you plan to buy in future OP? If so, I’d be looking at house prices in the areas you consider as well. We got caught out putting roots down in an area we could easily afford to rent in, but not buy. Moving somewhere else once we wanted to buy wasn’t the end of the world, but it was an upset it would have been nice to avoid (and would have been worse if our kid was old enough to be in school etc).

Yes, sorry that’s exactly what I meant! I went to an event in Tottenham last month and it was full of 35-45yr olds with babies and toddlers.

Clapham south/balham? It’s teaming with young kids, the schools are good and the northern line to moorgate will have you in the liverpool st area in under 40 mins.

Highgate. We were Muswell hill and took the Highgate tube, I worked right next to Liverpool st station. Muswell hill / Highgate was a wonderful place to bring up small children, all the parks and woods and I put them in forest school a day a week, playgroups, music concerts for toddlers :)

Out of curiosity I had a look online - there are a few decent places in Walthamstow Village or environs within your budget.