DH and I have two little ones (both still in nursery), and we are bursting out of our current place so looking to upsize. Ideally we want this to be a house we are happy to commit to through our kids’ schooling so the next 10-15 years.. can’t face moving / stamp duty more than once..
While we seemingly have a healthy budget, DH and I each have different priorities which is making it difficult to land on an area. The main non negotiables are:
- Large (around 1900/2000sq ft min, 5 bed) - DH criteria
- Near nice high street / safe, family oriented, community vibe - my criteria
- Within 10 min walk of a station with quick, reliable and regular links to the city - we are both in the office full time so this is a non-negotiable for both of us.
- Good schools in the area - we are flexible on state vs private, ideally would start state primary and move private for secondary. But as long as there generally good private or state schools nearby we are fine. We’d factor having to go state or private in the budget.
- Budget - could go up to 1.7m, but ideally would stick in the region of 1.4-1.6m max.
So far we have looked SE, as we know it better and DH is convinced it’s better value. East Dulwich/Peckham rye borders is our frontrunner and fits the bill on nice high streets (lordship lane, bellenden road), family vibe and schools, but the houses near the stations are not “big” enough by DH’s criteria or if they are, totally out of budget. We’ve also looked at Forest Hill (better value, big houses, but lacking the “naice” high street vibe), West Dulwich / Norwood (some lovely streets and houses, but less going on and we’d need be near Tulse Hill for commuting which I wasn’t as keen on), Herne Hill / North Dulwich (love it but can’t afford it), Brockley (some very nice big houses but feels quite expensive for what you get in the area/high street).
We don’t want to go any further east than those areas due to family/friends being more west. Is there anywhere SW that might fit the bill? DH is convinced SW isn’t in budget but we’ve never actually looked properly. I was thinking we should look at places near a quick / frequent train to Waterloo (eg Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Putney, maybe even Surbiton or south of Clapham junction?) or possibly the Northern line. I don’t really know any of thsee areas that well though or if I’m being totally unrealistic with our budget. Anyone got a unicorn location they can recommend??