Help please!! Moving to London

[A.karim]

Dear All,
I was wondering if some of you could help me please.
My husband has a job at St George’s hospital London (Tooting) so we are on the move again.
We need somewhere which is a easy commute upto half an hour be will be getting a motorbike.
So far we have know clues on any areas etc so any help will really help!
We’ve seen a flat in the CR4 (Mitchum I think)area but it’s a lot cheaper than others we’ve seen so not sure if that is because it’s genuinely cheap or it’s not a desirable area?
I hope someone can help. Many thanks in advance :-)

[tomsugden]

I lived in Mitcham years ago, it's not a great area. If your budget can take it I'd be looking in South wimbledon or Earlsfield. Council tax is about the cheapest in the country anywhere in Wandsworth borough, and there are lots of good bars and restaurants, as well as mainline trains into Waterloo.

[Dg504]

As above, Mitcham can be hit and miss but you could do a lot worse. Colliers Wood has changed a lot over the past few years if affordable (for the better). Balham, Wandsworth common over to earlsfield and up to Southfields area are all nice

[//j17]

Personally I wouldn't pin too much on a London area's reputation - visit it yourself and see what you think/how safe or otherwise you feel.

In London 'nice' areas are often right next to 'not nice' ones and the nicest parts of a 'not nice' area will be nicer and cheaper than the worst parts of the neightbouring 'nice' area - and you can be talking about just 1 or 2 streets.

I live in Lewisham which would generally be considered 'not as nice' as neighbouring Bromley - but the fence between my place and my neighbours runs down the border, me in Lewisham/them in Bromley. Based on reputation there should be a big difference. On the ground the main way you can tell you've 'crossed the border' is that the speed limit changes from 20MPH in Lewisham to 30MPH in Bromley!

[lobster940]

//j17 said:

Personally I wouldn't pin too much on a London area's reputation - visit it yourself and see what you think/how safe or otherwise you feel.

In London 'nice' areas are often right next to 'not nice' ones and the nicest parts of a 'not nice' area will be nicer and cheaper than the worst parts of the neightbouring 'nice' area - and you can be talking about just 1 or 2 streets.

I live in Lewisham which would generally be considered 'not as nice' as neighbouring Bromley - but the fence between my place and my neighbours runs down the border, me in Lewisham/them in Bromley. Based on reputation there should be a big difference. On the ground the main way you can tell you've 'crossed the border' is that the speed limit changes from 20MPH in Lewisham to 30MPH in Bromley!

Sydenham?

[Hoofy]

A.karim said:

will be getting a motorbike.

Not sure what the bike crime rate is at the moment as you hardly hear anything (well, I've heard nothing) but at one point, you could almost guarantee to come back to find your bike not where you securely parked it OR expect to get your face smashed in because you're riding "their" bike.

[Timberwolf]

Hoofy said:

Not sure what the bike crime rate is at the moment as you hardly hear anything (well, I've heard nothing) but at one point, you could almost guarantee to come back to find your bike not where you securely parked it OR expect to get your face smashed in because you're riding "their" bike.

I think it has improved quite a bit since the Met started making it very public that they will knock riders off a moped during a pursuit, even if they're not wearing a helmet. The really bad bike crime was at a point people believed that once you were on one, you were immune from law enforcement. Once it became clear that wasn't the case the attraction of them waned.

From what I've heard a few still get nicked but it's more to rip the numberplates off them and joyride around or travel without being traceable on ANPR, rather than grabbing some poor delivery rider's moped at knifepoint and ride around lifting mobile phones until the police turn up.

[Hoofy]

Timberwolf said:

Hoofy said:

Not sure what the bike crime rate is at the moment as you hardly hear anything (well, I've heard nothing) but at one point, you could almost guarantee to come back to find your bike not where you securely parked it OR expect to get your face smashed in because you're riding "their" bike.

I think it has improved quite a bit since the Met started making it very public that they will knock riders off a moped during a pursuit, even if they're not wearing a helmet. The really bad bike crime was at a point people believed that once you were on one, you were immune from law enforcement. Once it became clear that wasn't the case the attraction of them waned.

From what I've heard a few still get nicked but it's more to rip the numberplates off them and joyride around or travel without being traceable on ANPR, rather than grabbing some poor delivery rider's moped at knifepoint and ride around lifting mobile phones until the police turn up.

Good to hear it.

[A.karim]

Thank you all for your replies :-) really helpful, so sounds like mitcham isn’t too great and maybe if we stretch our budget to look in another area?
Also Not sure the motorbike is a good idea now, It will only be a 1.2 nothing fancy but if mopeds get stolen… goodness feel a bit scared about the move now :-(

[Hoofy]

A.karim said:

Thank you all for your replies :-) really helpful, so sounds like mitcham isn’t too great and maybe if we stretch our budget to look in another area?
Also Not sure the motorbike is a good idea now, It will only be a 1.2 nothing fancy but if mopeds get stolen… goodness feel a bit scared about the move now :-(

Expect bicycles to be stolen, too. Have a look at the latest stats, though. As mentioned above, it may not be as bad as it used to be by a long shot due to police tactics.
If I were asked where to live, I'd suggest Wimbledon Village but that may be too far. Could move further out to say Motspur Park or New Malden. Longer journey to St George's, though.

[A.karim]

Thanks again for your reply.
Oh dear, no bikes for us! He has three bikes stolen from his hospital in notts !! Nightmare!
How about the area near wandle meadow nature park it’s classified as Wimbledon and very close to the hospital?

[Silvanus]

Woking, slightly further out but easy 30 minutes on a motorbike. You ill get more for your money and its way nicer than quite a few places mentioned (ignore anyone who talk about a bad rep as that's not the case). Loads of commuters are living there and the town has been totally redeveloped. I had to make a similar choice and lived in Woking for 5 years and took the 25 minute train to Waterloo. The town itself is surrounded by lovely countryside, it now has lots of individual restaurants as well as the usual chains. Housing can be anything from brand new apartments to period family homes to multi million pound pads. I was in Horsell which has a great village feel very similar to the west London (Surrey) villages. Although its a busy town its far less claustrophobic than places inside the M25. There are a couple of smaller places just east of Woking too such as West Byfleet.

Leatherhead could be another good shout, again fantastic countryside nearby and underv30 minutes on a bike, not sure on the town these days as not been for a while but was OK when I lived there in 2006.

[Hoofy]

Woking!? Well, I suppose it's doable by bike but they could still find many nicer places closer to St George's eg New Malden.

[Arnold Cunningham]

Woking certainly is a commuter town - but usually by train, I thought.

[A.karim]

Thank you for replies! Is there good and bad areas is woking?

[Silvanus]

Hoofy said:

Woking!? Well, I suppose it's doable by bike but they could still find many nicer places closer to St George's eg New Malden.

I looked at new Malden, would much rather be in around Woking. Decided I'd never want to live somewhere that busy or surrounded. I guess we all have a different definition of nice, Horsell on the edge of Woking is far nicer in my eyes.

[Hoofy]

Silvanus said:

Hoofy said:

Woking!? Well, I suppose it's doable by bike but they could still find many nicer places closer to St George's eg New Malden.

I looked at new Malden, would much rather be in around Woking. Decided I'd never want to live somewhere that busy or surrounded. I guess we all have a different definition of nice, Horsell on the edge of Woking is far nicer in my eyes.

You misunderstand. I would rather live in Woking but it's a lot further from Tooting than New Malden.

[Timberwolf]

The northeast side of Woking around the station and up into Eve Road used to be pretty grim, ditto Sheerwater centre was generally a place not to go. Some bits of Goldsworth Park were rough as well. That said I'm talking about 5+ years ago, there's been a lot of investment in the area since then so I don't know how much those have (or haven't) improved.

Horsell was always a bit more villagey and pleasant, similar with Send although you're starting to get a long distance from convenient rail links at that point. Go the other side and it starts to feel more like the edges of the southwest London sprawl. One thing to watch with West Byfleet is the peak time commuter timetable is not the same as the off-peak and weekend one, you only get stopping services in the morning and there's a big gap between fast services back in the evening.

One thing with Surrey as compared to London is bad areas and crime "spread" more - in London if you're in a crap area you'll know it, but two streets away people leave their back doors unlocked and bikes in their front gardens without a care in the world. Whereas further out you can be several miles from the nearest pit of iniquity and still find someone's tried to break into your outbuildings while you were out.

[tomsugden]

Hoofy said:

A.karim said:

Thank you all for your replies :-) really helpful, so sounds like mitcham isn’t too great and maybe if we stretch our budget to look in another area?
Also Not sure the motorbike is a good idea now, It will only be a 1.2 nothing fancy but if mopeds get stolen… goodness feel a bit scared about the move now :-(

Expect bicycles to be stolen, too. Have a look at the latest stats, though. As mentioned above, it may not be as bad as it used to be by a long shot due to police tactics.
If I were asked where to live, I'd suggest Wimbledon Village but that may be too far. Could move further out to say Motspur Park or New Malden. Longer journey to St George's, though.

Wimbledon Village wouldn't just be stretching the Mitcham budget, I'd be surprised if it wouldn't at least quadruple it.

[Silvanus]

Hoofy said:

Silvanus said:

Hoofy said:

Woking!? Well, I suppose it's doable by bike but they could still find many nicer places closer to St George's eg New Malden.

I looked at new Malden, would much rather be in around Woking. Decided I'd never want to live somewhere that busy or surrounded. I guess we all have a different definition of nice, Horsell on the edge of Woking is far nicer in my eyes.

You misunderstand. I would rather live in Woking but it's a lot further from Tooting than New Malden.

Apologies, I misread, currently in hospital on some very strong painkillers haha