Sutton

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We are a gay Chinese couple with a 1yo DS and we are looking for our home for the next 20 years (moving from zone 3 London). We have a budget of £800k and want a 4 bed house in case our family grows. We are considering Sutton for the following reasons:

• Decent commute to work
• 5 grammar schools in the nearby area (we don't think we can afford private schools and the Sutton grammars have outstanding results anyway)
• Seems to be a good number of Chinese people in the area (when I went to school back in the day, I was the only Chinese person in my year and I don't want that same experience for DS)
• Cleaner air and safer than London

Where would you choose to live within Sutton bearing in mind that we need to be able near a good train station and want to be in a diverse and accepting area (we are a gay Chinese couple). It would probably be good to be in the catchment of good state primary schools and possibly non-selective secondary state schools in case the grammar route doesn't work out. We want to be around amenities like a supermarket, gym, activities for kids like sports and music lessons.

Thanks!

Sutton is fairly conservative imo

I don't know Sutton and I can't say how accepted you would be, but it looks like a good start if you choose the right post codes.

Area360 profile will show you the demographics (sadly not sexual orientation), but this post code is 8% Chinese so DS shouldn't feel too exposed.

https://area360.uk/postcode/SM14QH

My colleague is from Hong Kong and she said there is a large community in parts of Sutton. She is Catholic & has one dc in a catholic secondary and one in a grammar - she rates both highly. She moved from wandsworth for more school options and more house for the money and seems to like it. She is in the bit very close to the Kingston borough. Her dc do a lot of activities outside school which are all local.

One thing I would say about the grammars is that the competition is fierce. My colleague
says she is unusual in that she didn't do hours of tutoring a week for years particularly amongst other mums she knows.

Grammars there are highly competitive, need to start tutoring for the test early. I’d say all that area is pretty diverse. I am more Purley way and my DC go to a very multicultural secondary (with excellent results. DD turned down grammar place to stay at her 6th form).

The only thing I would say is that the grammars have high proportions of Asian children where family values may be more culturally conservative than those of the general population (just my experience). Hopefully your child wouldn’t be bullied due to you being a gay couple but it’s something to bear in mind.

I would aim for Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches or Cheam if I were you (we lived in Carshalton) rather than Central or West Sutton. Avoid North Cheam and the area near St Helier and Rose Hill.

For what the opinion of a white heterosexual is worth, we never noticed any discrimination although as one poster said it is a conservative area.

Thanks for the reply. Why would you recommend those three areas in particular?

Carshalton and Cheam are nice - they are known as villages and have quite a nice small centre. Cheam has a decent range of shops. Carshalton not quite so much.
Both have lovely parks, Carshalton has ‘the Ponds’ Carshalton Beeches to me has a little less of a centre.

Public transport wise I think Carshalton is the winner. You have the Thameslink trains as well as Victoria and an easy bus to Morden for the tube. Good choice of buses including the SL7 which will take you direct to Heathrow for £1.75!!!

There is also Wallington - larger town with more of a high street. Quick trains to London Bridge and a slower line to Victoria. Again on 2 direct bus links to Morden. I personally like the area between Carshalton and Wallington. Roads off Park Lane. You can walk to Carshalton or Wallington depending on if you want some practical shops or a nice trip to the park!

schools wise I only hear good things about Carshalton Boys. More mixed in the girls school. Cheam high school I have also heard good things in.

Glenthorne gets good results but have heard mixed reviews, similar for Harris Sutton.

Greenshaw is another grammar backup option - partially selective (20%)

I quite like South Sutton as well - walking distance to the centre but fairly leafy although doesn’t have the parks that you do in other areas so much.

There has been a big influx of people moving from Hong King to the area in the last few years - I think mainly due to the schools. My daughter is Y10 now but I think in her last 2 years at primary 4/5 joined in her year alone (2 form entry school) this has brought a number of restaurants and food shops.

There is also the large Wing Yip centre not far away.

Carshalton has large public Leisure centre with pool in centre of village.

If you want a 4 bed, you are likely to find more of them in Cheam, Carshalton and Carshalton Beeches anyway. Obviously there are larger houses in other areas, but some areas are mainly 3 bed semis or terraced.

The most popular comprehensive schools are generally (NB most are not true comprehensives due to their admissions policies):

• Glenthorne - complicated admissions policy so never really a 'safe bet'
• St Philomenas but you need to be Catholic
• Harris Belmont
• Greenshaw - some selective places
• Cheam High? My info is out of date on this

Other schools are becoming more popular e.g. the Carshalton schools and Oaks Park.

Areas to look at:
Poets Estate in Carshalton would likely put you into Greenshaw catchment. Good commuting options.
South Sutton/Belmont borders in the Harris catchment. Commuting not as convenient
Cheam - many desirable primaries, not sure on secondary. Expensive.
Carshalton Beeches - lots of bigger houses, decent commute, previously secondaries have been an issue but Oaks has improved lots and likely will in the next 10 years. Good primaries. Quite a few parents targeting grammars (possibly more pushy vibe?)

Glenthorne gets good results but have heard mixed reviews, similar for Harris Sutton.

A friend has dc at Harris Sutton & she is generally happy with it, although I know Harriis are a bit marmite.

I've only heard good things about Glenthorne, it gets very good results. Aforementioned colleague was debating between that & the catholic she chose as where she lives has a special catchment (?) for Glenthorne & Cheam high. Cheam high had a very good reputation when i was young but I think the results are only so so these days.

I think Worcester Park has ring fenced places for those schools. Another decent option with fast, regular trains into Waterloo.

Hi! I grew up in SM1 on a road with mainly 3 bed terraces, with a couple of 4 bed semi detched (so maybe not quite as big as you're looking for) but on my road of less than 50 houses there are two gay couples and to my knowledge they don't face any discrimination on our road. Saying this to let you know there is some diversity in Sutton, especially central.
We are less than a 10 minute walk from Sutton station which is definitely the best transport hub in sutton with a 30min train to london victoria (which you can also get from carshalton) and a 40min one to london bridge, and are 2 mins away from a bus to morden. We have great local corner shops a 3min walk away, and better supermarkets (sainsburys, asda, lidl, morrisons) a 10min walk away on sutton high street. You can also find lots of 2 or 3 asian markets on the high street.
There are also lots of extra curriculars, plenty of music teachers in the area (although you can usually get one through school), there's great sports facilities at westcroft leisure centre (in carshalton but only a 20min walk).
The only downside of the area is that there's very little green space. If you're looking for somewhere a bit more sparse and leafy I'd go with Carshalton or Cheam as lots of people have said. You have to sacrifice the number of supermarkets and sometimes a bit of convenience but in return you have a nice park to stroll in and maybe a slightly bigger house. You also might find it's a bit more conservative around those areas (just personal experience), and from what I hear it's not as racially diverse.
Central Sutton is also quite dense in population which some people don't like because it isn't as peaceful. This will only increase when they finish their development project of 8 tower blocks along the main road.
Although if, like me, you live a few of roads off the main road it's not noisy at all.
I went to St Philomenas and Nonsuch High School for girls and both were excellent schools, and it' quite unlikely your daughter would be on the only chinese girl in her class. St Phils is also amazing for extra curriculars.
St Philomena's does teach children that gay marriage is a sin so it's probably not the best school for your family, although they might have moved with the times by now (it is technically against the law). And they require you to be Catholic for the secondary school, but not the sixth form.
Nonsuch is a grammar school so it's quite competitive but it's well worth trying to get in to. I think it is also slightly better than Wallington High School for girls.
If you do end up considering private schools, Sutton High School for girls is supposed to be quite good and is at the lower end of cost as far as private schools go (to my knowledge). It is a lot smaller than the surrounding state schools so there may not be as many chinese students (the proportion I'm sure is roughly the same but there's just not as many students).

@CarshaltonMum yes, she's in Worcester Park (I forgot the name). She wanted to be close to Wimbledon/Kingston & New Malden has a large Korean population which suited her. She originally looked in New Malden for a house but the secondary options were not as good.

Thank you everyone for all the detailed and helpful replies - it's been great getting local knowledge of the different areas.

Sounds like Carshalton is probably the best fit given the transport options (train station has two lines into London and it's a short bus to Morden), proximity to amenities (park, large leisure centre) and availability of larger houses. I guess the cons are that it's not in the catchment of the better non-selective schools (Glenthorne, Greenshaw, Cheam High) and there's no big supermarket close by.

it's a short bus to Morden

I would check that. Some of my school friends lived in CB & getting the tube to their house was something i rarely did despite living on the tube line. The bus would take ages, traffic and very few bus lanes to escape it. I can't see why either will have improved.

It’s a bit better. There is a bus lane up st Helier Avenue now. Agree I would not choose to use it at rush hour. But free parking at Morden tube evenings and most weekend make it my preferred option for a night out either driving or knowing I can get back late by bus / tube. It’s also pretty quick if you are an early starter commuter. If it’s a train strike day also useful and is early enough to be able to get on the bus before it fills up completely.

157 is a lot quicker than the 154 route though.

Sutton has a non diverse population - they voted for Brexit - one of only three boroughs in london that did.

that said it’s not like Havering

great schools - high street is awful

I’d look at Purley (much greener) - Croydon is near by with plenty of diversity

@whatohwhattodo good it's a bit better.

@Doggielovecharlottewhen were you last in area. I wouldn’t say high street is awful. Far more shops than there used to be and some places like sound lounge, oru space have opened up. I’m not going to pretend it’s amazing but I would far rather go there than Croydon to shop. It may be diverse but nowdays I avoid going anywhere near it. Since Westfield didn’t open it has got more and more run down.

I personally don't like Sutton high street & find CB to quiet (I like shops on my doorstep) but I wouldn't chose Croydon. Yes, it has some overlooked nice parts but the state schools are not as good. I used to shop in Croydon all the time as a dc but wouldn't ever choose to go there now.

Sutton voting for Brexit is probably a result of more older people living there but that also is likely the same reason it's one of the safest boroughs 😆

It's always had a large Asian population due to the schools.

I would just have a look at their Facebook groups before you consider Carshalton…

Few weeks ago - lots of closed shops, it’s never been great