putting a spanner in the works .

Have you ever thought about moving to West Norwood. It's a great area , very family friendly , great schools especially if you are in the catchment for Julians.

Huge community focus . Feast every month that takes place. A picture house cinema is being built and lots of nice restaurants and quirky gift shops /coffee shops are popping up. On the door stop of west dulwich , and Herne hill. So gorgeous parks on your door step.

Good transport links with options for West Norwood , Tulse and West Dulwick train stations.its a great place to live .

West Dulwich is too, great village feel, with two amazing primaries Elm Wood and Rosendale Primary. Gorgeous wide roads so parking your car is rarely an issue . The village part of Weet Dulwich is by any means "rough" but rather "posh looking " house prices are most probably less than Balham. Also on the door stop of amazing private secondary schools .

Where we are, equidistant to bellvue road and Balham high street, would work for you. If you get off at wandsworth common train station, then Bellevue road has restaurants and shops. Or if you get off at Balham tube station, you can pick up pretty much whatever you want from Balham high street and it's surrounding area. I find the area around Taybridge road has a lot less shops/ restaurants around it- its either a walk to Clapham old town (which admittedly has lovely places) or battersea rise....

actuallyadad wrote:I always think the problem with Abbeville area is that it's just a bit too close to Brixton...

Although if one is Catholic, Brixton has the Catholic primary school with the best results in all of London south of the river...

Incidentally, the great advantage of Catholic schools for Catholics is that because it's a minority religion you don't get the sort of house price premium effect for good state primary schools that you see BTC. More generally, if you want to get value for your money chasing the areas that are "naice" is never going to be a winning strategy. Much better to find something that works for your particular circumstances but is undesirable for many people, e.g. if you don't need to commute by train then a place well away from tube/train lines can offer better value.

Hiya, I'm a bit confused actually as the Nightingale triangle is quite a wide area and I thought it includes the areas near Waitrose and Hornsby house. I don't think you would be short of choices anyway in Balham or Clapham South and Abbeville village

actuallyadad wrote:I.

Is there some nice coffees / deli on/around Taybridge road? Some good quality shops?

We looked at the Nightingale triangle for instance but it's rather "dead" with no shops, no place to eat out.. etc. We are both working and it has to be convenient for us to pick up stuff of any kind when we come back home, including the kid!


Oh and sorry for mentioning rough patches in Balham, I was only asking. We lived in Camden and there is a few ones there so they do exist!

Not sure I follow your logic Actuallydad?!

I always think the problem with Abbeville area is that it's just a bit too close to Brixton...

Now is also an excellent time to buy if you can find a realistic seller who wants to get moving. An article on the front page of the Times this past Saturday puts it far more eloquently than I can (and with lots of back up figures), but in short the housing market is at a standstill. Prices are still pre-brexit, agents are overvaluing to win instructions this is leading, many sellers are still unrealistic about their property value (thanks in large part to the agents), first time buyers can't get credit stalling chains, mortgages much harder to come by (more hoops for everyone to jump through) AND fear is looming re article 20 trigger = a COMPLICATED property picture. As soon as sellers realise their houses are worth considerably less than they were this time last year (and certainly no more), and prices become realistic it'll be a good time to buy because everyone's ongoing purchases will have come down. I remember in 2009 we sold our flat for £100k less than it had been 'valued' at 6 months earlier, people thought we were mad. But we found a house where the sellers also really wanted to move so they dropped their price and so it went up the chain. Hooray - we all got moved, with small mortgages

I second Abbeville village, lovely little area, close to Clapham Common and High Street, plus much better transport links than BTC.

My kids attend Bonneville Primary, and whilst not Ofsted outstanding it is a great school, with wonderful teachers and Head. That it is just off Abbeville Road gives it extra appeal.

Houses are not cheap though and many of the Victorian houses have small gardens and are the typical narrowish terrace. Rodenhurst Road is lovely with bigger spaces. Towards Balham there are some 1930s houses that are bigger, cheaper and tend to have better gardens.

Back on to topic- have you looked at the area to the north of Clapham Common? Taybridge Road etc? Cheaper than BTC, near the common and nearish Northcote Rd and Clapham Old town. Also near Battersea Rise which is getting nice. Some good state schools there I think?

I never understand people who moan about areas changing for the better and becoming nicer. Beats me...

Is it only me that finds this conversation incredibly depressing? Between the Commons, as it is now called, used to be "very rough". The market was brilliant and the community was very mixed. I realise things have changed but I now hate going into the area and am glad that my little corner of Battersea isn't full of 'nice' little shops and wine bars (with customers who rudely block the pavements) and pushchairs used as battering rams.

Yes Balham is changing but, please, consider joining a community not shaping it to your wishes.

Balham rough?!!! That made me laugh out loud, that's hilarious! You'd have to have lived a pretty sheltered life to consider Balham rough.

Ok, so the High Street isn't packed to the gills with Gails Bakeries and suchlike but as a result it is a whole lot more useful, and cheaper, on a day-to-day basis than say Abbeville Road. Plus the transport links are far better than BTC.

If you would like cafes and more of a community feel have you looked around Ritherdon Road area of Balham? You would hopefully be in catchment for Rutherford House, or st anselms (if you are catholic and a regular mass goer there).

Balham, rough?!! I must have missed that period! If you are thinking if Balham then I would move soon as house prices are rising each month. You will find that the area is full of pretty cool parents who want to be away from the stereo typical NV area of bankers and such. Many media types live in the area, it's fun and people don't take themselves too seriously.
On each street you will find a real mixture of children that go to state schools to those who go to private schools.
Houses tend to be bigger the further you move away from Balham towards Streatham Hill and have much bigger gardens.
Whilst there are some not so great shops on the high street (the same as NC Road a few years back) I am sure that in time they will disappear due to rate increases.
If you're considering Henry Cavendish school then have a look at that area and in Streatham Hill - which is a 15 minute walk away from the school. A good example of a really nice road there is Criffel Avenue.