ok peeps. we are in the process of relocating to England and have been looking at different areas.. london being one of em
for the london guppies, what areas would you suggest we look into?
our requirements are good schools, access to public transport, mixed ethnicity (dont want a white out or curry corner) …
and safe neighbourhoods.
what would you guys suggest?
Re: Living in London
North London is really good. Most of the above or Kensington. If you want the suburbs, I love certain areas of Croydon.
Re: Living in London
If London you should decide if you want to be north or south of the river (depending on where you work etc).. that makes a big difference in commuting times and so on..
Are you wanting somewhere very exclusive, medium or more economical because prices vary a LOT and you’ll get a nasty shock if you’re comparing them to other parts of the UK (for ex for the price of a little 2-bed terraced house in a “medium” but ordinary part of London you can get a nice 5/6 bedroom house with pool/big garden in many other parts of the country further away)..
Many people with kids prefer to live a little bit in the suburbs.. In terms of cost, space and general quality of life it often works out better..
Most excusive: Knightsbridge, Chelsea, parts of the City, Hampstead, Highgate etc.. If you have time check out Bishop’s Avenue.. These are the biggest and most ostentatious houses mainly owned by foreign royalty, billionaires etc lol.. More impressive than Mayfair because these houses are more like palaces with amazing (if a bit gaudy lol) architecture, huge impressive driveways etc.
Medium: Islington, Golder’s Green (Jewish area but there are Muslims there as well, more commonly Arabs and yeah they actually get on with each other lol), Muswell Hill, Clapham and places a bit further out like Woodford Green in the North or Sevenoaks or Chislehurst in the South bordering the home counties like Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey (these also have VERY expensive small pockets where the people are spending as much as those in places like Mayfair but on the whole cheaper).. You’re more likely to find “proper” houses in the home counties and outer areas..
Cheaper/more economical: Eastern London (tho pockets of it can still be v.expensive), Hackney etc. and at the opposite end further out Slough etc. (these are traditionally desi areas.. there’s also Ilford which is more middle-class).. Some parts of North London or South London are cheaper as well but some are ghetto areas and not where you’d want to bring up kids..
Re: Living in London
Khawa, you are going to want to live in Greater London rather than ‘London the City’. That is, within but fairly close to the M25. As Deeba has said, North or South depending on where jobs are.
For your children and schooling, Northwest London or South London are your best options. Surrey is well known for it’s schools.
Re: Living in London
Lol I live in ilford bro, it’s not that middle class, there’s a lot of pakistanis here to.
Re: Living in London
^You’re from Essex as well? Ilford’s middle-class compared to Barking & Dagenham, Tower Hamlets etc :D(I’m not from there btw lol)..
OP, those are places you want to avoid as well..
Forgot to mention the congestion charge.. There’s a chunk of central London where you need to pay to drive into on weekdays.. Can you believe we get charged to drive into our own capital?!!
Re: Living in London
thanks so much @stoppit and @deeba… very detailed replies
mr tall will be working from home so we can pretty much live anywhere in england.. but we dont wanna be too far away from london.. just cuz. looking at the GLA (greater london area)…
so now to decide an area which is way too many choices 
Re: Living in London
so far we like
twickenham
teddington
watford
parts of surrey
parts of croydon
st albans
sutton
views?
Re: Living in London
@deeba deeba deeba… baby… im not rich yo.
affordable areas pls… i’ve never heard of ilford or barking being middle class or affordable areas. lol.
max rent we wanna spend is 1500 … cuz eventually we wanna buy…
Re: Living in London
These are all south of the river + closer together:
parts of surrey
parts of croydon
sutton
twickenham
teddington
These are north of the river + closer to each other:
st albans
watford
The places you mentioned are all nice Khawateen.. Suburban but sill fairly close to London.. If you have friends or relatives in any of those places maybe close to them so you have some support? Seems by your list your preference is south of the river.. There should be good schools nearby (the decent areas tend to have good schools + healthcare nearby anyway)..
Barking is a place you need to avoid seriously lol but it’s cheap for London, maybe the cheapest after Tower Hamlets? Not too sure but there are problems with racism and crime there.. (I mentioned the expensive areas cause eastern already mentioned Kensington :D)
It’s deffo good idea to limit the amount you spend on rent cause it’s just eating into the money you’ll need to buy.. What sort of place are you looking to rent? Apartment, semi-detached or a detached house cause again the price will vary a lot on how many bedrooms you need, if you want parking, garden area for the kids etc.
Re: Living in London
OP, check out websites like Rightmove, Primelocation and Zoopla.. A lot of people use them when looking for property to rent or buy..
Re: Living in London
Parts of Croydon would be my vote!