Folks: I am relocating to London as senior Manager for a Big4 office in London Bridge, to-date my experience of London is as Business traveller but never lived there , so it is a big move........ I am coming from industry ( lateral entry) to consulting, so not sure the depth or intensity of working from office for my role at London Bridge, can't imagine if travel will be one day or two days a week or if travel will be in london or Uk wide... that is unclear.family : 2 young kids , one just started school....other an infant..always lived in quiet and friendly towns/ sub-urbans in Italy, switzerland, ireland and belgium and had luxury of workplace with in reach of 30 mins commute to work, so want to lift those places and drop in London ....started to find ideal place of my profile..ideal place : affordable 4 bedroom house £1250/- per month, Good public schools for longterm stay, good housing estates for families to live long term( a crime free area) , leafy areas and friendly communities at the same have activities for kids (soccer, swimming pools), travel not more than 45 minutes to London Bridge....looks like a place exists only in dreams.. give me some ideas to work on , thanks in advance for help.

You’re probably correct that such places do not exist, so it may well be that the decision you really need to make is in which area to compromise. Consider the following....Easiest way to get in and out of London Bridge is via the mainline station, giving you a short walk to the surrounding offices. That means looking at areas in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. You should look online at the lines that terminate at Eastbourne, Hastings, Sevenoaks, Littlehampton and Brighton and work out where 45 minutes would get you.Most nice places in that 45 min arc will provide leafy suburbs, but I’d say 1250 is more three bed than four bed detached. However you will also find that most areas have a town just slightly shabbier than the rest where 1250 for four beds is possible, but for a reason.Beware – a season ticket from that far out will cost you about £3.5k

Be absolutely skeptical and suspicious of the houses you will see. Prepare a checklist of all the details and make sure you check them all as you see the house.The UK is great for a number of things, but when it comes to infrastructures such as houses and public transports, everything leaves a lot to be desired.Just to put it in context, I have seen1 - Extensive lack of doubleglazing (thin glass windows should simply be illegal in any European country northern than France...)2 - Houses in which you could either have heating or hot water on, not both at the same time3 - Flats where the hot water had to be charged up through an emergency boiler4 - Flats which only have a radiator in the sitting room, but not in the bedroomsOh, by the way, I wonder what made you leave Switzerland, I'm thinking about moving there myself...

Why not consider Wapping east of The Highway (E1W) or a flat in St Katherine's Docks? There are some nice houses along Spirit Quay and you could walk to work. A 3br on Spirit quay can be had for GBP 600. Try agency EA2, but you'll need to call, their online content is always out of date.

I can't verify the price range exactly as I have never shopped for a family, however if I was to aspire to a nice middle class suburban life in London, with great places to eat, parks and schools to send kids to: East Dulwich.It's a lovely little patch in South East London, 15 mins by train to London Bridge. Go on a Sat afternoon, have a walk down Lordship Lane, see the queues round the corner for the fishmongers and butchers, have some welsh rarebit and ale in Franklins Restaurant, and get the train back to central with the fresh taste of modern suburban family living lingering in your mouth.

[quote]I can't verify the price range exactly as I have never shopped for a family, however if I was to aspire to a nice middle class suburban life in London, with great places to eat, parks and schools to send kids to: East Dulwich.It's a lovely little patch in South East London, 15 mins by train to London Bridge. Go on a Sat afternoon, have a walk down Lordship Lane, see the queues round the corner for the fishmongers and butchers, have some welsh rarebit and ale in Franklins Restaurant, and get the train back to central with the fresh taste of modern suburban family living lingering in your mouth.[/quote]Nice thought, but the OP says his budget is £1250 pcm

I imagine it's doable. I lived in a 2 bed place for that, which was brand new and good location.I am sure you can get 4 bedroom place for similar in that massive swathe of older houses between lordship lane and barry road. lemme see, my friends live in a place on goose green ... 4 bedrooms, they pay 400-500 each, so ok, 1600-2000 pcm.As a starting point, that's a good place, dabbling with Peckham, Nunhead, Sydenham etc if a bit of flexibility around price is required.

Dulwich's gentrification is oozing out into Peckham via Bellenden Road... (with phallace shaped road bollards)

[quote]Why not consider Wapping east of The Highway (E1W) or a flat in St Katherine's Docks? There are some nice houses along Spirit Quay and you could walk to work. A 3br on Spirit quay can be had for GBP 600. Try agency EA2, but you'll need to call, their online content is always out of date.[/quote]Apologies, I misread your budget.