The area around the Kingston Gate of RiP nice place to live?

Anyone live in the area around the Kingston gate of RiP? We are idly looking at moving options and it would seem there are nicely sized properties that we could afford in that area. Raynes Park has gone bonkers and despite it making our house shoot up in value, it means anything that would be a decent improvement is unaffordable.
Good schools? At the moment the boy is in a private school but we are not adverse to him going to a state school. Transport links? Don't look great on maps but then we are used to the great links from Raynes Park. Amenities? Decent local shops etc or is it a trip into Kingston?
Good schools? At the moment the boy is in a private school but we are not adverse to him going to a state school. Transport links? Don't look great on maps but then we are used to the great links from Raynes Park. Amenities? Decent local shops etc or is it a trip into Kingston?
RIP commute...
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
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Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
Otherwise a trip into Kingston... which is walking distance, kind of a long walk
Thought that might be the case. Hopefully the wife won't stab me but it might be nice for her if she is assigned a clinic at Kingston when she becomes a consultant...
Anyone with kids in the area with school experience?
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
We've lived in our house for 18 years now and have no desire to live anywhere else. I know several people that rented in the area and wound up buying a house just down the road.
Did I mention that I like it round there?
How old are your kids regarding schools?
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
Sounds like you might like living in the area!
My son is in reception at present (4 1/2) so it would not be a great trauma to move him. We also have no realt aversion to paying for education so secondary schools being not so great could be seen past.
We don't really want to leave Raynes Park as it is also a great place to live but it looks like we can't afford the jump in house size here that would be meaningfully different.
How are transport links to get into town (apart from bike obviously!)?
I will look into the possibilities for next thursday, although the diary does look a little full already...
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Secondary schools are good, just massively oversubscribed and not as local. Tiffin is the nearest and is a grammar school so entry is only by entrance exam results. Kingston Grammar is fee paying.
Trains to Waterloo are not as frequent as from Raynes Park, the line splits a couple of times as you head out towards Norbiton. But they are still often enough not to be a problem. Kingston Station is a similar distance to walk, but is one zone further out I believe.
There is another Genesis Equilibrium in the area, but it's red so inevitably faster.
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
Thanks for that. I live in the apostles at present and the house prices have gone crazy- they have gone up at least 50% since we bought 5 years ago. Looking on rightmove etc houses of a decent size are cheaper in Kingston etc than Raynes Park. I think its probably due to the knock on effect from wimbledon, the transport links we have being so good (trains to Waterloo every 3-5 minutes during the week) and the regeneration that is going on. Still, the price increases are crazy!
Much to think about and consider!
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Surbiton houses tend to be larger than Kingston ones for the same money. Surbiton also keeps you out of the shopping related traffic jams of Kingston when going about daily life, but remains close enough for you to pop into Kingston easily.
I'd say that if schools were something on your wishlist then you need to be aware that catchment areas are down to metres in the borough for primary schools. High schools less so as the borough doesn't actually have many of them, and it seems that those with money opt out of using them.
For the record, yes, I think most of it around there is lovely, and priced accordingly.
Hmm. Less so if you decide to stab your wife, I suppose.
Bike 1
Bike 2-A
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Prices in Surbiton have also gone mental, though.
You cannot seem to get much house in Surbiton worth living in for less than £700k.
The reason I went to the area between Tolworth and Surbiton (Ellerton Rd area) is because its slightly more affordable and still easy to get to the station, and there is a decent housing stock for when I may want to move from maisonette to house but even there now, is bordering silly, 2 beds flats going for over £360k, any 3 bed semi is £500k minimum, and for that its going to be 1k sq ft, there are now I think two properties on those roads over £1million, staggering considering Tolworth is a total dump and that is what is on the road signs.
One of surbiton's issues is that actually, there are not that many houses there when you think about it. House wise - anything down a river road over 2 bed is going to be near a million if not over, most are small cottages less than 1k sq ft, anything bigger down the Mall etc will be £1million+, anything down roads like Victoria Avenue where there is some central housing stock is over a million now, 4 bed semi down there on at £1.25 million currently. Anything in the Southborough area is usually large and over a million if not 2-3.
So options wise (unless you have near a million) you are kind of pinched towards where I am, or Berrylands which is not to my tastes (not period). I may be stating something you already know, but I am very much always looking at the market as I want to buy a house, and its rocketing. The rises you mention in Raynes Park are happening in Surbiton and surrounding areas, in some cases there are 100% prices rises in less than 5 years. 15-20% in my area is common for last year - 18 months.
I would wait a bit to be honest, it cannot continue like this. And nobody wants to buy at the top of the market!
Prices are no longer cheap though. North Kingston has been well and truly discovered. And with the influx of young families there has been tremendous pressure on school places. When my kids attended their local primary school it had three classes in each year. It has since gone up to four, and I now hear it is to increase to five classes a year. With that number of children, you begin to wonder whether the school may be losing its soul; it is much more difficult for teachers to know all of the kids and for their individual needs to be focused on and catered for. So I wouldn't move for the state schools, whether at primary or secondary level.
We won't move for the money but for living needs. We bought at the top of the last boom, extended out back and did the loft and the place has still gained >50% of the money we put into it.
Also, the London market (more specifically the West London market) has its own protections built in- its simply a desirable place to live in a world city that is very close to the major airport hub- its never going to suffer the fluctuations seen elsewhere in the country.
I think the transport links hold the key really and are influential on the price rises that are seen in certain areas. I know Surbiton has gone crazy, my brother moved there a couple of years ago and their flat has really jumped in value.
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Thanks, will bear that in mind re: schools. More than happy to pay for the small class size and more intimate feel as he has at the moment. It may even be possible for him to stay where he is as its only in Wimbledon.
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
I read Tiffin has 10 applicants for each place, and some kids travel for over an hour to get there as they don't have a catchment and its based on merit.
Its like my old school was even back when I left (1996). Sutton Grammar may as well have been called most of west and south London grammar!
I may send the wife onto mumsnet- not sure I can go there since I read that thread with the proctological holiday camp fixation.
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
Mumsnet is also handy if trying to decide if to book a holiday at Centreparcs just to get some censored .
And there was me trying to be subtle.
I quite like New Malden- it has the benefit of a good mix of housing, a decent Hifi shop and lots of awesome Korean food. Then again we never get that far as Cah Chi in Raynes P is absolutely awesome.
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
I know the one you mean, may give it a go. In fact I could do with one of those fantastic pancakes right now...
Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
One of my neighbours kids goes to Tiffin. She leaves at about the same time in the morning as me; 7.30. The other daughter didn't get in.
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
My son did the exam and didn't get in, I think it was nerves on the day. He did the Sutton Grammar exam as a practice run and easily got in, but it was too far to send him in our opinion. We wound up playing the RC card and he goes to a good school Worcester Park way, cycles there most days.
Saying all that I think the entry criteria may be changing slightly in future so distance may become a factor.
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
I wouldn't say that is true at all. Around the high street and riverside is old Surbiton and people pay a premium for location and ye olde housing. Around the library you have the 1920s stock, which becomes 1930s as you go into Berrylands. The houses in the Berrylands come in all sorts of sizes and prices vary dramatically depending on size, and walk to the station (Berrylands is divided into areas once you know it). Some of the gardens come in at 120+ feet, which is rare in North Kingston.
In the end it comes down to budget.
Ye Olde housing always costs more as people like the look, but as it was built before the modern era the room layouts rarely fit with modern life so you need places that have had lots of work done otherwise you are stuck in small home cleverly called a villa.
Roman Catholic
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Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
Roman Catholic I assume.
In order to avoid the crappy school round our way I've doubled my mortgage and I help out at Sunday School.
I'm such a cliche.
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
Cliches are us.
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris