Earlsfield - best areas for young family

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246JS
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Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby 246JS » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:37 pm

Hi there. My husband and I are currently looking at properties in earlsfield. We are expecting our first baby in spring and are looking for somewhere we can settle for the next stage of our lives. We want a good community and access to a good state primary. We have looked around the area and generally like it, but is anyone able to give any local insight into which might be the "best" parts of Earlsfield for us? Is the area between the Spencer lawn tennis club and Wandsworth common generally seen as one of the nicest for young families? We've seen very little on the market there, and there seems to be more north of the cemetery around streets like Bucharest, Brocklebank, Bassingham Roads. I assume with those roads we would be more likely to be in the catchment for Swaffield than for BP or Earlsfield primary. Is that area still desirable and have a good reputation locally? Any other recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Htuts
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby Htuts » Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:27 pm

Earlsfield is a fantastic place to move to when starting a family so you’re spoilt for choice. I’ve lived on both sides of the railway line (tilehurst rd / Waldron rd & Wilna rd). We moved to Wilna rd because there was a better selection of properties and lots of great schools to choose from (a luxury in this area). We could have got into Floreat or Swaffield in our location, but chose Swaffield as our first choice. I have children in both yr2 and reception currently, and absolutely love the school. We’ve had a new Head and Deputy in the last year or so, and the school is thriving! So many exciting projects, superb teaching and a wonderful environment for your children to grow up in. You’re welcome to message me directly with any questions, but please feel confident that Earlsfield is an awesome place to live with your family 😀
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lemonzest
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby lemonzest » Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:39 pm

Hi there! We've lived off Swaffield Rd for 5 years now, and absolutely love the area and amenities. We were originally looking south of the station, particularly the Magdalen Estate/SW corner of Wandsworth Common, as have lots of friends there, but ended up here due to the vaguaries of house purchasing in the UK... and couldn't be happier. It's less than 10mins to King George's Park and Wandsworth Common Westside, less than 10mins to the station, 2 libraries, Southside, the Post Office parcel pick up, a hop and a skip to a GP surgery, pharmacy and loads of great schools.

We have children in year 5 and year 1 at Swaffield and they are thriving. It's a friendly, diverse community school with great teachers, loads of extra curricular activities and on site wraparound care (so handy). If you're interested in seeing the school, they're hosting an Open Morning this Thursday 28 November from 9.15am, and you're very welcome to rock up to that, or arrange a visit at another time.
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sw1234
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby sw1234 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:47 pm

I have lived both sides but moved from the earlsfield road side and now live on the Magdalen estate. We did it to be in the catchment area for BP and the bigger gardens on this side. Both areas are great but we love the Magdalen estate. Such a great community and feels so spacious with Spencer. The kids at BP are so lucky to have access to those facilities. We love it here but overall You won’t go wrong in earlsfield.
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Nikjanwri
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby Nikjanwri » Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:12 pm

Both my husband and I have lived in Earlsfield for over 12 years after moving from Clapham South and Putney respectively. When it came to starting a family we knew we wanted to stay in SW18. We chose the Area to the north of Earlsfield Rd (Vanderbilt/Wilna/Brocklebank as we felt it offered a great choice of schools (3 great ones - Allfarthing/Swaffield/Floreat) as well as a quick walk to Southside and King George’s Park, as well as still just an 8min wall to the station. It also means you can get onto the A3 really quickly for escaping London at the weekends (after moving from Putney, my husband wasn’t prepared to go past Earlsfield station as it added another 10 mins onto the time to get to the A3 on a Friday night ;-)
We love the area, and also chose Swaffield as the school. It’s such a warm, family orientated school with a great focus on individuality and for each student to reach their potential, which we really loved. My eldest is in Y3 and youngest in Y1 and they are thriving. There are so many extra clubs too that really surprised me - fencing, chess, songwriting, poetry as well as the more common football, band, French etc.
But as others have already said, you won’t go wrong where ever you choose in SW18!!
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246JS
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby 246JS » Mon Nov 25, 2019 8:34 pm

Thanks everyone for the helpful answers :) Much appreciated!
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SouthLondonDaddy
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Re: Earlsfield - best areas for young family

Postby SouthLondonDaddy » Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:46 am

OP, please take any feedback with a truckload of salt: I have very rarely, if ever, come across a reply to this type of questions that wasn’t along the lines of “wherever I live is best”. That’s not particularly useful – I think a list of pros and cons, of why some people may prefer one location while other people another one, etc, is way more useful.

From what I remember from our househunting, the area south of the Earlsfield station (eg Isis street etc) tends to be more expensive than the area north of the station (Vanderbilt road etc). Maybe because that’s where what little high street Earlsfield has is, or maybe because Earlsfield Primary is considered outstanding, but beware of paying too high a premium for an outstanding school: ratings change all the time, what if in 5 years’ time Floreat becomes outstanding and Earlsfield Primary good?

Houses along Earlsfield road, especially from Brocklebank road upwards, towards Wansworth Common, tend to be bigger, but of course you’re going farther from the station. Beware of houses overlooking the tracks: some are huge and beautiful, but good luck selling them: most people wouldn’t even view a property near the tracks, and I can’t blame them.

North of Swaffield / Kimber road it tends to be a bit cheaper. From there you can probably get into Swaffield or Floreat, but of course you are not too close to the station. Beware that Garrat lane is busy and the buses taking you from Southside to the train station are not the most reliable. Another slightly cheaper micro-area is that around Swaby gardens – understandable as most houses tend to look less nice.

The only criticism I have heard from Earlsfield parents is that the area doesn’t have a good state co-ed secondary. The Southfields Academy polarises opinions – not everyone seems to like it. Balham has Chestnut Grove, and Putney has Ashcroft.

Do you have a car? I wouldn’t recommend Earlsfield for a young family without a car. The high street is almost non-existent, the two supermarkets are very small, and going to the Southside by bus with a pram and lots of bags of groceries is not very convenient. By contrast, Balham or Putney are more convenient if you don’t have a car.

I’d say Earlsfield has less than areas like Putney, Balham, Northcote road (all more expensive) but more in the immediate vicinity, because it takes you a few minutes by train to get to Wimbledon, or a few minutes by car to get to the Southside mall.

Have you considered Southside? The high street isn't much but Wimbledon park nearby is lovely. There's a branch of the district line, which isn't the most reliable, so it depends on your commute - there are quite a few areas that are easier to reach by train from Earlsfield than by tube from Southside.

Are you looking to buy or to rent? What will your commute be like?
You may have heard about the South West Rail strikes so that’s something to keep an eye on.
Have you heard of this Chrome add-in which lets you track price changes on Rightmove? https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... d?hl=en-GB
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