Renting in SW/SE London for commute to London Bridge

[PinkPoniez]

Hi all,

I have been offered a job in London Bridge so we will soon be relocating to London from Cheshire. I will need to commute to London Bridge 3x per week, DH works from home and we have a 7 year old son who will be going into year 3 in September.

We are looking to rent a 2 bedroom property, budget is around £2,300 pm (not including tax, utilities etc) but we could stretch a bit further if need be. Happy with terraced housing or an apartment and not fussed on a garden. Would rather be closer to a park or two. Our main priorities are safety, good schools (we are not religious but DS currently attends a CofE school), local amenities we could walk to (restaurants, cafes, gym, lido, pictures, library, playground etc). Prefer wide open (green spaces) which is why I have focused my search south of the river.

I have narrowed down our search to the following areas - Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Chiswick, Dulwich, Herne Hill. Does anyone have any insight into any of these? Or any other areas that we should consider? Would prefer to keep my commute time under 45 minutes.

We will be able to spend a few weeks getting a feel for the different areas but would appreciate if anyone has any insight.

Just off quite a busy road but very close to the centre of Herne Hill, the station, the market, the shops and Brockwell Park, which is all good. No idea if you’re in the catchment of Charter North though, if that’s where you’d be aiming for secondary.

@MitchamMum I thought Harris was the only option and as you say very Marnite. I have some friends who are very happy, some who hated them. I don't think the OP is catholic though so probably rules out the best faith ones.

Bullying and SEN provision is what I hear complaints about too.

Harris creative offer is also limited.

North Dulwich

We're in East Dulwich/Peckham and I think you could find what you want here. Our local schools (St John's and St Clements and The Belham) are both outstanding. There are loads of parks, cafes and restaurants nearby, 2 cinemas, about 4 gyms, including a good LA Leisure Centre and Brockwell Lido is 1.5 miles away. Straight trains into L Bridge and in zone 2.

Try to get son into the Charter School North Dulwich

Herne Hill is not on a train line to London Bridge - only goes to Blackfriars or Victoria. Good Herne Hill schools are Rosendale, Judith Kerr and St Judes.

Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Chiswick are all lovely areas- relatively safe however trains go into Waterloo so you’d have to change each day to another train or tube to London Bridge I think whereas Herne Hill goes to Victoria. I think from your list only East Dulwich and North Dulwich go directly to London Bridge. I’d avoid changing trains if you can. Dulwich is nice and probably a fair bit cheaper than SW London prices.

Wimbledon is lovely but a long way from London Bridge.

Also the Dulwich to LB services have air con! Definitely worth considering that!

Kingsdale is another popular secondary option for the Herne Hill/Dulwich area. No catchment but unusual admissions arrangements- worth reading up.

Charlton! Dead easy to London Bridge. Much more central than Chiswick. Dulwich is nice but very expensive.

I lived in Dulwich for a long time and it is gorgeous- pricey though, as others have said you wont get much for your money. Herne hill also great and also expensive. It really depends what sort of 'vibe' you are after. For example chistlehurst has fairly quick trains to LB, brilliant secondary schools but a very different sort of thing to Dulwich/herne hill (chistlehurst is very much suburbia where as WD/HH is london). You really need to start narrowing down based on your budget as it isn't big for London unfortunately

Secondaries are a challenge if you can’t get into Charter East, though. But yes, plenty of good primaries.

I wouldn’t depend on kingsdale as it’s a lottery and has kids from 3 different boroughs applying. Only one kids from DD’s primary got a place there - and she lived in Elephant & Castle!

I was going to say that, it’s pretty impossible to get in, so not one to bank on. I live pretty close to it and the only kids I know who have got in in the last few years had siblings already there!

That's why I didn't mention Kingsdale 😆

You can get the riverboat straight to London Bridge from Wandsworth if you are the town side rather than common.

@PinkPoniez Two nice options here in good streets

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/163589210#/?channel=RES_LET

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145870883#/?channel=RES_LET

You can take the northern line straight to London Bridge!

Thank you for all your help so far! It is definitely the secondary schools that are proving to be challenging! We are not religious. Would be fine with single sex school. I have also just found out my work will be moving offices at the end of the year. They haven't announced where yet but have said it will be within the City of London area. My top picks (before I found this out) were South Wimbledon, Herne Hill, East Dulwich and Forest Hill. Do you think I need to shift my seach area based on this new information?

Would not rely on riverboat for commuting. Coats a fortune and really busy in summer.

City would put me off Beckenham/Orpington despite London Bridge being quick. North Dulwich is surprisingly fast to the City via Peckham though.

Something to bear in mind right now is primary school pickup. I worked in the West End for 5 years and needed to leave by 4.30 to reliably reach school for 5.30 and had to leave a car nearby in the morning as it was too far to walk especially at that time of day. The City would have been worse.

Thanks. Luckily DH works from home and can take care of drop off/pick up (very lucky!)