Where would you live in London/surrounding?

[SallyCinnamon92]

Hi all,
Hoping to get some honest and wise Mumsnet wisdom!

My partner and I (mid-30s, northern expats down south for work!) have been living centrally for a few years now — small but nice 2 bed zone 2 flat, zero outside space but close to a park. It’s been great, but… we’re getting married next year and hoping to start a family not too long after.

We’ve got a max budget of around £775k and we’re looking for somewhere that could tick the following boxes:

• Ideally 3 beds (or 2 plus a study/nursery/flex space)
• Commutable to Bank (me) and Stratford (him)
• Somewhere that still has a bit of life to it — we still love a good coffee/brunch/wine bar, but trying to be realistic about future nurseries, soft play, etc!
• Would love green space, and a bit of a community feel — maybe somewhere we could actually know our neighbours??
• Happy to look outside of Zone 2 (we know we’ll have to) and would love to explore areas in a bit more depth over weekends.

Basically looking for that magical unicorn spot that’s fun now, family-friendly later.

Would love any and all suggestions — we’re planning to spend a few weekends “dating” different areas to get a feel for them, so please hit me with your favourites (and why you love/hate them).

Thanks so much!

What is your max commute time?

Somewhere on the central line, east, between Bethnal Green and Wanstead/ Woodford. Different vibes though so depends what you're after.

Presently it’s 25 mins so I know it will have to go up! 3 days a week in the office presently (never know if that will go up again) so probably an hour? Is that sensible?

An hour was always my max commute time when I lived in outter London. Some days it'd be 45 mins, others an hour and a half. But an hour is sensible.

I agree that out East makes sense, I know several people who love living in Walthamstow.

It's 45 mins to Bank and 40 mins to Stratford at rushhour on a week day (source: citymapper).

Woolwich/plumstead/Abbey Wood.
DLR to Statford and Bank both 30 minutes.
Lods of green spaces. Family friendly. Good housing stock.
Look at Plumstead/Winns common/Shooters Hill area.

Greenwich? 15 minute train to cannon street, dlr to Stratford. Huge park, lots going on, even more nearby in Deptford. Great for kids.

Just seen the last two posts- if you're planning on having kids (and you're not planning on moving jobs) I would stick east so that home, nursery/ school and work are all in the same area. This will facilitate not only school drop off and pick up but also the school plays, sports days, parents evenings etc etc. Just much easier!

I genuinely had not considered this! So glad I posted lol seems so obvious now! Thank you

I slightly disagree in that train/tube times trump geography in London. Parts of SE London will be quicker commute by train/DLR than tubing from E London.

Wanstead sounds like it would tick all of your boxes.

Wanstead was my first thought.

East Upminster end of district line ( change at Mile End for central line) or Theydon Bois central line.
West Ruilslip area served by Central line and Metropolitan Line

Penge. Where I live, is very well connected. So, including walking time to station, I can do Bank in 45 minutes and Stratford in 1 hour. Trains are every 15 minutes on three different lines so multiple options if any disruption:
For your work days:
Windrush Line (Penge West) to Canada Water then change for Jubilee to Stratford is 45 minutes,
New Beckenham to Bank (via Northern Line change at London Bridge) is 35 minutes.
For West End/Socials:
Penge East to Victoria Rail station is 18 minutes or Brixton in 10 mins (for change to Victoria Line)
New Beckenham to London Bridge is 22 mins, 25 to Waterloo East, 28 to Charing Cross.

You could find a very nice 3 bed house in Penge, Kent House or Clock House, with garden for £775k

We live in a 3 bed house with dcs in Mile End, it's a buzzy diverse area with a creative feel and a great sense of community. Big park nearby with an art pavilion and great playgrounds, the canal, leisure centre with soft play and pool, a climbing wall . Bank and Stratford awoyld be under 20 mins cycle (I cycle to work in 17 mins and it's great not to have to care about train delays, fare rises and tube strikes) . The tube has the Central, H&C and Circle lines so it's easy to spend weekends doing fun stuff in London with the dcs. Our local primary school is Outstanding.

This house is on for £775k near me.

I agree with others that East would be good like wanstead, Walthamstow, highams park.
Greenwich is gorgeous and easy commute for both of you.
What area are you currently in?

Go west - Ruislip

How often do you go back up north? Is being near the train or roads also important for that

As a pair of midlanders now settled in SW London (with aging parents) I would think about how you can make your journeys back to family as easy as possible too. Look NE london to be near A1 for instance?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160641254#/?channel=RES_BUY

YY to thinking about journey times back north - we were just south of the Blackwall Tunnel but could easily lose an hour of journey time just getting north of the river. It’s an irritating way to start a journey, and exhausting end to it.

Also v good point about nursery locations. We lived in Lee, near Lewisham/Blackheath which would work for your commutes (with a walk/change to the tube) but it meant our daughter was doing really long nursery days which I felt so, so guilty about.

Thank you all. We are in Wapping at the moment - love the flat but it’s top floor warehouse conversion with no lift and as I mentioned, no outside space. Also the overground in Wapping is not step free - it’s quite a steep and windy staircase which would be a nightmare alone with a pram.

Love Greenwich park but haven’t explored much outside the village which is quite £££, will add to my list to research. Also heard lots of good things about Wanstead! I am noting all your suggestions down for a busy few weekends (trying pubs and parks haha).

Close to a tube would be the dream but overground still good.

You are right about going back up north - my sister also lives in London (SW) so my mum tends to come down here quite a bit, more than us going up there, for her mini holidays but obviously that will change as she gets older.

Thanks all I’m in deep in RightMove right now - so great to have someone who’s actually LIVED there tell you rather than estate agents:

I would pick an area you want to live in and buy the best property you can there. In London, a 2-bed flat in an area you want to live in trumps a 3-bed house in a horrible area.

I compromised on area when I used to live in London and although the area turned out to be nice, I really wished I’d stuck to my guns and bought a smaller property in my preferred area (which at the time was West Hampstead).

This is LOVELY thank you

And this is what you get in Plumstead Common on a quiet residential road

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160272269?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

I know this road very well. If I had the money this would be my choosing

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87122325#/?channel=RES_BUY