Blackheath / Greenwich / Kidbrooke - good places to live?

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We need to move back to London for family reasons and it will be a shock after living in a small, very quiet seaside town for many years. With a budget of around 700K we are wondering about Blackheath or Greenwich; we could just afford a small terraced house or flat round there. Does anyone know them well and feel able to recommend particular street or area? We are attracted by all the greenery and parks and the village feeling, but put off by the A2 road which looks huge. Kidbrooke looks more affordable but possibly not as pleasant to live in? Thanks for any thoughts.
Moving further out isn't an option because we need to be in reach of family in both South East and North London.

Look at Hither Green and Lee too for that budget which is definitely tight especially if you are hoping for a house. Blackheath and Greenwich are lovely and yes the A2 is busy as is the Blackwall tunnel approach so you’ll want to be a few streets away - some of the cheaper (less terrifyingly expensive) houses are very near the sun in the sands roundabout.

You should go and have a look around, and then decide what your priorities are: space, location, quiet or whatever. Do you have DC still at home, so are schools an issue?

For your budget in Blackheath you could get a compact 3-bed terrace in a lovely location on the private Cator Estate, which is very green and quiet, like this (in need of a bit of updating), or a bigger terrace on a more normal street possibly in East Greenwich or somewhere like Lee or Hither Green. Kidbrooke feels a lot more suburban than the other places. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159488801#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or for the same sort of money you could get a bigger flat in better condition, (eg this one https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87270669#/?channel=RES_BUY
but you would have to factor in service charges and so on.

Charlton? Don't think it's super popular on Mumsnet, but I used to quite like it when I lived on the 'good' side of the A2. Depending on where you are it's walkable to Blackheath Standard/Greenwich Park and more 'villagey' feeling and leafy than Kidbrooke. You'd need to look at whether the transport options would work for you, though. 3 bedroom terraced house for sale in Inverine Road, Charlton, SE7

Thanks, that is a good idea. I had a friend in Charlton decades ago and used to like it.

Nice house, that estate looks amazing. Thanks.
Just me and DH, so schools are not an issue, but leafiness and quietness and being able to walk to a station and shops, are.
We will be looking around the area in person; I was hoping on here to find some tips from people who know it well. For example, if anyone was thinking of moving to my town, I would advise them that the walking routes into town from some otherwise desirable roads regularly get flooded, and that there are literally no ubers or reliable taxies in the area so you need to either drive or be a good walker, and that houses next to the railway line are surprisingly quiet. Things that you can't easily find out by exploring or googling.

Know it well. The westcombe park area (bordered by maze hill, the Heath, Trafalgar Road and the A2) is lovely and cheaper than greenwich or blackheath. Lovely community feel and easy access to the park and greenwich (you can get a bus down trafalgar road easily or from blackheath standard). Blackheath is also nice and handy to be close to the shops. The A2 is very useful as you can get out of London very quickly and easily.

Not especially leafy but I love the Kidbrooke Village development and would happily live there if the kids weren’t settled in schools elsewhere. It’s relatively new, perhaps have a look and see if it works for your budget.

The Cator Estate in Blackheath will tick all your boxes for leafiness and quiet and walking to the station and shops/restaurants in Blackheath Village. Village has Sunday farmers market. Taxi driver was driving through the Cator estate, looked around and said "are we in London"? It is a beautiful green private estate, much loved by dog walkers. The trees are protected.

The estate fees depend on the frontage and seem reasonable (less than 500 a year I think). The estate never floods. It is high ground. The Keep is a 10 min walk to Blackheath station which has reliable train lines to Cannon Street (20 min), Charing Cross (22 min) and London Bridge (15 min) and Victoria (30 min). Walking distance to the Heath (15 min), Royal Greenwich Park (30 min). North Greenwich station (Jubilee line) is about a 10 min ride away on a bus.

It is near to Lewisham which is less bijoux but has the grit and colour of South London and a big shopping centre.

The Keep is set in an estate within the Cator estate which tends to have a great mini-community, popular with families. Span houses are an architectural feature of the Cator estate, small but perfectly formed houses and well designed.

Worth a viewing.

I agree that the Cator Estate would definitely tick all your boxes for peace and quiet balanced with access to amenities. There's a great community spirit in some of the little enclaves too (I know a few people who live there). If it is just the two of you, there are various little groups of 2/3 bed houses and low-rise apartment blocks dotted around the estate, in between the larger houses. They are mostly mid-century Span designs and very popular with architects!

Blackheath Village is now mostly cafes, restaurants & boutiques rather than more practical everyday shops, but you can definitely still pop out for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. Blackheath Concert Halls does some good events, and there is a theatre and cinema down the hill in Greenwich, as well as easy access to the O2 and big cinemas round there. There are big supermarkets down the hill in Lewisham or Lee (Tesco and Sainsburys), and pretty much all the big name shops in the commercial area of Charlton near the Blackwall Tunnel approach (Ikea, B&Q, M&S, Primark, several supermarkets etc).

This is the kind of flat you might get for around your budget on/just off the Cator Estate

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/168420980#/?channel=RES_BUY
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158644796#/?channel=RES_BUY

the comment about “good” side of A2 is a bit outdated as the area around Blackheath Leigh academy is becoming very popular since the school got rated outstanding (one of few outstanding secondary schools in Blackheath/Kidbrooke/charlton), there’re lovely red brick Victorian houses on old Dover road/shooters hill road end with very decent garden, good transport links going to Woolwich which is currently going through a major redevelopment and woolwich Elizabeth line. It’s within 500 meters to Blackheath standard and it’s less expensive as it stands now but doubt it will be the case in couple of years time.

Avoid Kidbrooke.

Blackheath and Greenwich are very nice though, like all towns, there are bits on the outskirts not so good. They are expensive!

Chislehurst, just a bit further away, is lovely.

Maze Hill. We lived there when we lived in London and loved it. Close to Greenwich park and the river, good transport links, Meridian primary school, and good housing stock. Lovely community too.

some part of Kidbrooke is not nice, Hervey road is the cut off line, I wouldn’t go too much further down from there.

have a look around British oak pub, it used to be Blackheath election ward but changed in recent years. I heard Blackheath Leigh academy has teeny catchment which would be good opportunity for value gain.

Agree with all the comments about the Cator estate. I used to visit a friend who lived there very regular and it didn’t feel at all like London and had such a nice community. The houses don’t look much from the outside for today’s tastes perhaps but inside the design is lovely.

We live in Ireland but recently bought a flat in Blackheath near the the aforementioned sun in the sands round about. we previously lived for many years in the other side of London so this area is quite new to us.

We love Blackheath village and the Westcombe Park area. It feels safe. Great shops, restaurants and green spaces. The compromise with our place is the busy road but it's a nice mansion block with off street parking, numerous bus routes a minutes walk away and you can't hear the traffic indoors. The compromise on the busy road allowed us to afford a 2 bed place with garden access for our grandson to stay over.

Kidbroke Park and Maze Hill are also nice - pretty bougie.