Where to live

inbike

She who must be obeyed has decided we are going to move out of central London. :arrow:

I'm more or less ok with this plan if it means I can commute in by bike along a nice route.

10-15 miles should be ok - I was thinking of East Moseley or something like that, since Bushy Park/RP/Embankment is pretty fast.

Does anyone have recommendations of where to look?

cjcp

Depends on budget, whether you have an eye on schools now or in the future, etc.

East Moseley is a nice area, but no idea what the schools are like.

Lower Sunbury is also nice: bit further out, but a nice feel to it.

Teddington/Hampton (both Hill and Wick) also good.

inbike

Yes, I'm looking for a good primary and secondary school - 1 child but the hope is that he grows up eventually.

The going rate for a three bed house in a good school area seems to basically be the same everywhere in London - the only difference is that in Central London you are lucky to get bike parking, in South London you get car parking, and in West London you get Boat Parking* :-)

Will take a look at the areas you suggest, cheers.

*Genuinely, really, not kidding. Wonder how often those boats get used?

cjcp

For the purposes of a comparison, also have a look at Thames Ditton, Long Ditton, Hinchley Wood and North Kingston. Rightmove will give you details of the nearby schools and their Ofsted ratings.

asprilla

inbike wrote:

*Genuinely, really, not kidding. Wonder how often those boats get used?

Between Hampton and Weybridge I'd say they get used quite a bit based on walking the dog along the Thames Path. Its also rowing country.

tgotb

How much of a priority is easy access to train/tube? If it's not, there are some nice areas further away from stations where you can get quite a bit more for your money.

milemuncher1

East Molesey is quite nice as well.

roger_merriman

TGOTB wrote:

How much of a priority is easy access to train/tube? If it's not, there are some nice areas further away from stations where you can get quite a bit more for your money.

It is staggering how much access to trains increases value.

inbike

TGOTB wrote:

How much of a priority is easy access to train/tube? If it's not, there are some nice areas further away from stations where you can get quite a bit more for your money.

Ideally easy access to King's Cross by PT. Have been looking at Herne Hill/Stockwell because of that, but both places involve a lot of compromises so have been looking wider.

Ben6899

inbike wrote:

Ideally easy access to King's Cross by PT.

Is St Albans too far? It's a bit vanilla, but nice enough.

rhodrich

I live in Thames Ditton (as recommended by cjcp above). Good schools at both Primary and Secondary level, decent commute by either train or bike, nice village feel. Lots of green space. Easy access to the Surrey Hills at the weekend.
Despite not being in London, the train is still in the travelcard area (Zone 6), so it's not too bad price wise for train commuting either, and Surbiton Station is only a mile and a half away if you want to get on a fast train.
Recommended!

keef66

Son and GF used to rent in Epping cos she works in London and wanted a flat near the tube. He was driving 40 mins in the other direction. They've now bought a house in Royston, also walking distance from the station. His commute is shorter, her season ticket's nearly doubled.

You're right about the price of property near a station :shock:

Neither of these are any use for a cycle commute into central London though.

(I was amused to find that one of my colleagues has taken advantage of our recent Cycle to Work scheme. She lives in Epping and the Office is in Cambridge. And there's no cycle lane on the M11... )

warreng

Avoid Epsom. On paper it looks good - good transport links and schools but dismal boozers and the joys of the A24 for commuting

inbike

Cheers. Places to avoid are the most useful to know about!

(Even down to the street level...)

vimfuego

Oi, I live in Epsom - love the place (though clearly not the shivering f*cknut of an MP) & I don;t find dear old CS7 too bad at all.

That and you're clearly frequenting the wrong boozers. :-)

smokey_bacon

No love for Surbiton? quite like the place.

hopkinb

Wimbledon/Raynes Park/Cottenham Park ("West Wimbledon" in estate agent speak) are all good areas. Good rail links to London Waterloo. You can choose between various cycle commute routes as well.

veronese68

hopkinb wrote:

Cottenham Park ("West Wimbledon" in estate agent speak)

That's still Raynes Park, at least we always used to say we lived in Raynes Park growing up there.
If train travel is a factor bear in mind that the tracks split at Raynes Park and again at New Malden so there are much fewer trains going through Norbiton even though it is only a couple of stops from Raynes Park. I have walked home from both of the above having got on one of the last trains out of Waterloo.

anonymousblackfg

I am now back in Surbiton but looking for a 3 bed house was hard, everything is too small or too big. We stumped for New Malden with this requirement a few years ago. We've been pained to move away as it worked so well plus were gearing up for mini ABFG1 to go to the local school which is good (but still there was one better).

I am biased as I can sell you a 3 bed with luxury Turbo dungeon I built but had to abandon before use there if you're seriously in the market...

warreng

vimfuego wrote:

Oi, I live in Epsom - love the place (though clearly not the shivering f*cknut of an MP) & I don;t find dear old CS7 too bad at all.

That and you're clearly frequenting the wrong boozers. :-)

Recommendations? I like the Barley Mow but can't be arsed to haul my carcass that far. I live near the Cricketers and had a downer on the boozers since the Jolly Cooper turned into some godawful identipub. If I can persuade Mrs G out we normally end up in the Marquis which is a compromise

I think I've just been living there too long - bored of it

elbowloh

We're looking also. Currently in Wallington (18miles to work), looking to move a little closer in (more like 15 miles max to work). So Kingston and Surbiton are on our list. Also thinking about Twickenham. I work in Kentish Town, wife is in Hammersmith 3 days and week and 2 in Morden, so South/West London is our target area.

cjcp

elbowloh wrote:

We're looking also. Currently in Wallington (18miles to work), looking to move a little closer in (more like 15 miles max to work). So Kingston and Surbiton are on our list. Also thinking about Twickenham. I work in Kentish Town, wife is in Hammersmith 3 days and week and 2 in Morden, so South/West London is our target area.

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

elbowloh

cjcp wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

We're looking also. Currently in Wallington (18miles to work), looking to move a little closer in (more like 15 miles max to work). So Kingston and Surbiton are on our list. Also thinking about Twickenham. I work in Kentish Town, wife is in Hammersmith 3 days and week and 2 in Morden, so South/West London is our target area.

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

Cheers cjcp.
No kids at the moment. We are trying now, which is more exhausting than commuting! :shock:

surrey_commuter

elbowloh wrote:

We're looking also. Currently in Wallington (18miles to work), looking to move a little closer in (more like 15 miles max to work). So Kingston and Surbiton are on our list. Also thinking about Twickenham. I work in Kentish Town, wife is in Hammersmith 3 days and week and 2 in Morden, so South/West London is our target area.

a route you wanted to cycle from Surbiton would be more than 15 miles

elbowloh

Surrey Commuter wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

We're looking also. Currently in Wallington (18miles to work), looking to move a little closer in (more like 15 miles max to work). So Kingston and Surbiton are on our list. Also thinking about Twickenham. I work in Kentish Town, wife is in Hammersmith 3 days and week and 2 in Morden, so South/West London is our target area.

a route you wanted to cycle from Surbiton would be more than 15 miles

Yeah probably, the commuting distance for me is not a problem, the main point of the move is to go to a nice area and easier for the wife to get to Hammersmith.

veronese68

cjcp wrote:

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

The house on the corner across from us is up for sale. Only £850,000! Although it is detached, not a semi, which you'd think they would correct.

elbowloh

Veronese68 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

The house on the corner across from us is up for sale. Only £850,000! Although it is detached, not a semi, which you'd think they would correct.

Nice house, but out of our price range! Clearly stated as being in a catchment area for "outstanding schools".
Another limiting factor for us, is that the wife is demanding a house in a cul-de-sac / no through road, as we have a house full of cats that have no experience of dealing with cars as we currently live in a cul-de-sac and next to a park.

Personally, i'd leave the cats in the place we're selling...

asprilla

Veronese68 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

The house on the corner across from us is up for sale. Only £850,000! Although it is detached, not a semi, which you'd think they would correct.

£10,000 per square metre. Bargain. Anyone Kingstonians want to buy 4 square metres of my property so I can get a new kitchen and utility room?

anonymousblackfg

Asprilla wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Do you have kids to get into schools etc? I'm in Kingston, so happy to share some thoughts.

The house on the corner across from us is up for sale. Only £850,000! Although it is detached, not a semi, which you'd think they would correct.

£10,000 per square metre. Bargain. Anyone Kingstonians want to buy 4 square metres of my property so I can get a new kitchen and utility room?

That's cheap for north Kingston, note the F on the EPC which will get you into issues ever selling it one without throwing money at it. I could do you a bigger extended fully refurbished similar house for less in New Malden with a 60 ft south facing garden and a new Turbo Dungeon/bike store building at the end, no cul de sac though but lots of other local cats.

veronese68

anonymousblackfg wrote:

That's cheap for north Kingston, note the F on the EPC...

Victorian house with solid brick walls, very difficult to improve thermal efficiency. When they first moved in they were battling condensation and we told them it was an issue with Victorian houses and they needed to improve ventilation rather than block everything up. They said they didn't have the problem in their previous house which was Victorian because it had cavity wall insulation. Pretty sure that wasn't a thing in Victorian times.
There is one house down the road that has an insulating render on the side wall. They didn't put it on the front as it would ruin the look of the house.

tgotb

I used to rent a Victorian cottage in Richmond (The Alberts) that definitely had a cavity wall. I know, because the dodgy landlord had put in a bathroom extractor that vented into the cavity...