Where to buy a house - South West / West / North West London

anuk

Hi,

My husband and I are looking to buy a house.
Our ideal requirement for the house (do not mind a ground floor flat) itself:
1. 2-3 bedrooms (atleast 2 well sized rooms, would prefer to have a 3rd smaller 'study')
2. Private garden (not too picky on the size of garden, but would definitely want one)

Requirement from the location:
1. Safe
2. Easy access to public transport
3. Decent schooling within catchment

Our workplaces:
1. London City
2. Docklands
Do not mind a total travel time of 45min - 1 hr (door-to-door)

I know it probably makes sense to move East, but we have lived in South West London, and have gone East / South East to explore areas and would prefer to stick to the SW/W/NW of London.

Our budget would be between £270,000 - £310,000 for the house.

Can you suggest where best to look? We have been looking in and around Clapham Junction (where we live now), Earsfield and Battersea, but nothing seems to fit the bill - either seen nice house / bad location or bad house / bad location or not great house / good location.

Any input will be helpful as we are drawing a blank!

thanks!

GDB2222

I'd have thought you would struggle to get to docklands inside 60 mins if you live in North West London, unless you find somewhere very central.

LadyBrunello

Hello,

Have you tried East Dulwich in the SE. I think it will be difficult to get something for your budget in SW. I am actually moving from SW to SE as I prefer East Dulwich to Wandsworth.

LadyB:money:

hazyjo

Agree, really can't see that you'll get anything with a garden in budget that ticks all those boxes.

I've just come from East (Highams Park) and know plenty of families over there still. Overhead trains straight into Liverpool Street. Highams Park School (senior) is very good (to excellent) and the primary schools are okay too. This first house is opposite a primary (that used to be round the corner to me). The others are in the adjoining roads (always very popular and usually sell fairly quickly):

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18352848.html

Nearby: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34027814.html

Nearby still: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33705992.html

Again: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34353083.html

The roads around here are nice enough, bit of forest nearby http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32253887.html

Not your first choice, I know, but it might be worth considering as you get a lot of space for your money, and there are some lovely areas nearby (Epping Forest, lake in Highams Park, and nice areas like Wanstead and Woodford, and nice parts of Essex etc).

Jx

savingmummy

I`m in Essex.
Nice surrounding, family friendly, nice areas especially loughton and buckhurst hill.
Tubes in easy reach by foot/bus if need be and lots of good schools and colleges.

House prices: 250-350k for 3 bed semi.

nakiwala123

savingmummy wrote: »

I`m in Essex.
Nice surrounding, family friendly, nice areas especially loughton and buckhurst hill.
Tubes in easy reach by foot/bus if need be and lots of good schools and colleges.

House prices: 250-350k for 3 bed semi.

I second this! Buckhurst Hill, Wanstead, etc.... in fact if you follow the Central line all the way to Epping. This patch does have really nice areas and you have Epping Forest on that patch - very good for weekend walks, etc. The area also has some really good schools. Good luck with your search.

anuk

Thanks for all your replies, will keep looking!
Is East Dulwich safe though? One of my colleagues moved there recently and is regretting the move...or is that West Dulwich which we should avoid? I do get confused

How is South Woodford as an area?

anuk

How are Rayne's Park / New Malden / Motspur Park? Are they relatively safe to live in and nice areas? I have seen some properties advertised that are close to Cannon Hill, Wimbledon Chase Station, Morden station etc.

Any thoughts?

abankerbutnotafatcat

How are Rayne's Park / New Malden / Motspur Park? Are they relatively safe to live in and nice areas? I have seen some properties advertised that are close to Cannon Hill, Wimbledon Chase Station, Morden station etc.

Yes, they are nice areas - sleepier than CJ (where i bought as a FTB) and more family-oriented. I also work in The City and have a preference for SW London. However, I've always thought that with areas like these (including Worcester Park), because the train service is a stopping one into Waterloo, I was better off either living in a smaller place right in the Zone 2/3 buzz or moving a bit further out but to an area with a better train service where I can afford a bigger place. Saying that, Surbiton in that area you've mentioned, has a good train service. Wimbledon does too but it will be too expensive.

I chose Redhill, Surrey. It's a bit boring but you could get an extremely nice 3 bed house for your budget and be at London Bridge for a walk to The City or the Jubilee line to Docklands in 35 mins. I'm 10 mins from Redhill Station so my door to door journey to Bank is around an hour.

anuk

Thanks, that is useful

hazyjo

anuk wrote: »

How is South Woodford as an area?

Generally considered very nice. Couple of trendy bars, restaurants, a cinema, pubs, mixture of shops (not many), Waitrose, etc.

Maybe get the tube there one weekend and take a wander round, go to the cinema or something...

There are better roads than others (and the railway line acts as a bit of a divide), so worth asking opinions on any properties you find.

Jx