Areas to buy property near St Paul's School

[AAC18]

Hi All,

We are looking to move closer to St Paul's school in Barnes. We are looking for a 3/4 bed house within a budget of 1.25 mio.
Looking within Barnes - it seems like you get little value for money as for the above budget we are only able to find small terraced houses.

Therefore we started looking at the following areas:
Roehampton - Emarald Square
East Sheen- Lower Richmond Road etc

We have no prior knowledge or experience about the area hence looking for some advice on the above areas.

I hear Roehampton can be hit and miss as there are alot of council flats.
East Sheen can become a nightmare with traffic?

I would appreciate any opinions/advice from people who live/lived there.

Thanks so much

Emerald square is an enclave of middle class new builds. I know people there and it has a sense of community, it's not in the Alton estate which is the dodgy / run down part of roehampton.. But it is quite a long way from anywhere (shops, station) and as a private estate has a service charge and covenants that estate agents listings don't mention.
https://www.emeraldsquare.co.uk/blank

1.25m is an 'in the middle price' for the area, not quite enough for a nice spacious family home that isn't on a main road or overlooked, or about to be impacted by the mortlake brewery redevelopment (1000 flats going in) The area is very pricey!

What is more important to you? Size of house or location? Does car, plane or train noise annoy you? Or footpaths going past the side of back of the house? Parking?

Sone examples:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158814272#/?channel=RES_BUY
Lovely house but backs onto the train line and has the pedestrian footbridge access down there side, so likely to get antisocial behaviour and lack privacy.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158705063#/?channel=RES_BUY
Nice house, a bit far from the high street and station, plus getting to St Paul's would be a drive or cycle. But the roof terrace on the flats behind would put me off.

The smaller mid terrace houses are available on that priced range. Avoid the little Chelsea area if you value parking.

Beware the houses in castlenau that are non standard construction.

Traffic on the lower Richmond road and south circular is a pollution problem.

St Paul's fees are very high. Do you need to allow headroom for fee increases over the years? I think the houses you might have seen are at are £1m to 1.1m price rather than £1.25.. that's even harder. I'd suggest going for a terrace in a decent street in that case. But they sell quick so get on agents books.

@Rollercoaster1920 Thank you so much for such a detailed response to my question and this has provided me insights which i wouldn't have been able to get otherwise. All very useful.

May i please ask for your insight on the below houses please. These are some we have shortlisted. But given that we have no idea about the area not sure if we are missing any.
We are looking for a decent size house in a good location. Trying to avoid areas with plane or train noise.

This is in Little Chelsea- does that mean there is no offstreet parking even for residents?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159118367#/?channel=RES_BUY

This one in Boileau road. From the picture i can see the garden is overlooking into a sports field?
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156193802#/?channel=RES_BUY

The below is in Princess Road, East Sheen. Would morning commute to school drop off be a nightmare from here?
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158061728#/?channel=RES_BUY

This seems to be decent house for the price, but this is in Emarald Square.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159063293#/?channel=RES_BUY

Appreciate any caveats you see in the above houses.
Thanks so much in advance for your help.

The first and third will be a bun fight for parking. Look at the satellite view or street view. The yellow car in Princess road's satellite view looks boxed in.

Boileau road I prefer. It backs onto Lowther primary and is probably a refurbished council house. Hammersmith is the closest transport hub which is good, but beware the bridge is currently pedestrian only and could be completely closed at any time.

From East Sheen the 33 bus goes to SPS so you would not need to drive the DC.

Thats good to know thank you so much.

But in general due to the hammersmith bridge closure has there been heavy traffic flow in and out of East Sheen? thanks

Thank you so much. Yes i am aware of Hammersmith bridge closure and it being opened for pedestrians recently. Thanks for the tip on parking and i have checked those streets and they all seem to be roads with parking permits.

Also the house in Boileau road you had mentioned that it is refurbished council house. Is it a one off property or are there quite a few council houses in the same road? Thanks

Have you considered the other side of the river? Chiswick, Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith?
It’s an easy bus ride to Hammersmith station and then just walk over the bridge. Or walk whole way/ scooter if close enough

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/houses/chiswick/?price_max=1300000&property_sub_type=semi_detached&property_sub_type=detached&property_sub_type=terraced&property_sub_type=bungalow&feature=has_parking_garage&feature=has_garden

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/69126727/?search_identifier=b6815ee59020a9ae6de43daa7c3aac4fd0b563d22c7e2275ac0e20e964ed3ef8&featured=1&utm_content=featured_listing - this is a really good price

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/69380208/?search_identifier=b6815ee59020a9ae6de43daa7c3aac4fd0b563d22c7e2275ac0e20e964ed3ef8

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/69351097/?search_identifier=b6815ee59020a9ae6de43daa7c3aac4fd0b563d22c7e2275ac0e20e964ed3ef8

thanks. No we have not really considered the other side. But i will have a look.