Best Locations for Families Living in London

When it comes to buying a home in London, choosing the right location for you and your family means considering a lot of different factors. Fortunately, London has many fantastic family-friendly areas to offer, with excellent schools, transport, parks, and attractions. 

Woolwich

Woolwich is the ideal location for riverside family living.
 
Once home to the 18th-century weapons factory, the site is now occupied by the innovative home and community development, Royal Arsenal Riverside. These state-of-the-art apartments in London provide all the essentials for family living, with the luxury of onsite amenities and convenient links to the Capital. 
 
Woolwich has plenty of outdoor space for the whole family to enjoy, including stunning riverside walks, making it easy to stay active! Children will especially love splashing around at Wet N Wild Waterfront Leisure Centre. 
 
There’s also a vast array of popular state-run and independent primary and secondary schools, many boasting ‘outstanding’ Ofsted ratings. 
 
Woolwich is also renowned for its fantastic transport links. The Thames Clipper riverboat service and DLR (Docklands Light Railway) quickly connects you to Greenwich, Canary Wharf and London Bridge. London City Airport is also just seven minutes away. 

Enfield

The London borough of Enfield is highly sought-after by families seeking an active outdoor lifestyle, while also being close to the city.  

Parents can choose from a wide selection of excellent primary, secondary, and independent schools, and when it comes to commuting, you’re only twenty-six minutes from Kings Cross St Pancras via tube and a short drive to the M25.

Enfield also provides an escape from the hustle and bustle of inner-city London thanks to Trent Country Park, home to 413 acres of open space, woodlands, and lakes. Whether you want to walk the dog, run, cycle, or catch a glimpse of wildlife, you can do it all in this magnificent green space.

If your children are sports enthusiasts, they will love the variety of activities that Enfield offers, from horse-riding at the local equestrian centre, to track and field at the athletics club. 

If you want to live somewhere that encourages an active and sustainable lifestyle for the entire family, the properties at Trent Park are a must-see. Not only do they have an on-site residents’ tennis court and swimming pool, but they have also recently planted over four hundred new trees to help encourage biodiversity.

Ealing

For a hive of outdoor activity, green spaces, and retail therapy, look no further than Ealing for your next family home.

Ealing provides a perfect mix of city and country life. Wander around the National Trust site of Osterley Park and House to be amazed at the tranquil park and farmland it has to offer. Or take the family for a walk or cycle ride around nearby Gunnersbury Park with over seventy-five hectares of land to explore. 

If you dream of living a more sustainable lifestyle, The Green Quarter is one of the most biodiverse developments in the UK, with remarkable wetlands and thirteen acres of new parkland.

For days out, young children will love petting the rabbits, guinea pigs and reptiles at Hanwell Zoo. For football fans, visit the neighbouring borough of Hounslow to visit the home of Premier League football team Brentford. If music is more for you, head to the Musical Museum, where you can have fun playing with instruments and learning about music history.

Parents will have difficulty choosing from one of the ninety-one incredible state-run nurseries and schools on offer.

Ealing has all the amenities a family needs, from a nearby Westfield shopping centre for all your retail needs, to a local train station that will get you to central London in seventeen minutes and to the West End in thirty minutes.

Kingston upon Thames

One of the Royal Boroughs of London, the medieval town of Kingston Upon Thames, is a stylish and vibrant location for families.

The area boasts a mix of high street shops and designer boutiques, cafes, and restaurants for adults. Or, if culture and history are more your thing, you have the stunning Rose Theatre and the many exhibitions at both the Kingston Museum and Dorich House Museum. Near the centre of town you’ll also find our Royal Exchange development, ideally located to make the most of this fantastic area, with resident-only facilities including courtyard gardens, gym, and cinema room. 

Getting outdoors and staying active with the kids is easy in Kingston, thanks to its vast amount of green space from the riverside Thames walk to Bushy Park – perfect for having a runabout with little ones. 

Frequent bus services and rail connections get you to Waterloo in just thirty minutes. For business travellers or family getaways, you'll be pleased to know that Heathrow Airport is also only half an hour away.

Plumstead

Located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Plumstead offers families wide-open green spaces on an idyllic riverside location. 

Unwind from the stresses of day-to-day life as you take the kids for a stroll through the numerous delightful parks in the local area, including Plumstead Common, Broadwater Green and Winn’s Common. Stay active by jogging the miles of footpaths that run alongside the Thames and be rewarded with stunning views over London.

The borough has a high population of under-15s, which will make it easy for your children to make new friends. Choosing a school might be difficult, thanks to the vast selection of high achieving schools in the area.

If a sense of community is essential to you, Lombard Square provides onsite spaces for residents to connect and even boasts a 1.8-acre four seasons park, which is ideal for playing with the kids or walking the dog. 

One of the big attractions to living in Plumstead is its railway station. With handy links to the city, you can be at London Bridge in twenty-six minutes! The area also has frequent local buses and convenient road links for commuting and days out

West Ham

Although West Ham may be more commonly known for its Premier League football team, this hidden gem is a fantastic location for families.

If your kids love rollercoasters, they will love living so close to The Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit – at 178m, it is the tallest and longest tunnel slide in the world! However, if you prefer for your feet to touch the Earth, then take the opportunity to visit the outdoor space at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (also home to West Ham United) to play outdoor games in the summer. 

Education in the area is excellent, with over fifty primary and twenty-five secondary schools, many rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. For commuting, transport couldn’t be more accessible. With five major transport links to all prominent London locations, you can be at Canary Wharf in under ten minutes!

If you are a food-lover, you will also love the diverse cuisines West Ham offers, from traditional pub food to mouth-watering flavours of India and the Caribbean. 

The outstanding homes at TwelveTrees Park offers families the opportunity to live in a community-centred development, with a range of hospitality venues, twelve acres of green space, and a 4.5-acre park with Wi-Fi connectivity – which means even the teens will love it!

Finsbury Park

Named after its famous park, this is an excellent location for families to settle down. 

The area has fast become known as one of the most biodiverse districts of London to live in, thanks to the award-winning regeneration project of Woodberry Down. The development offers residents fifteen acres of landscaped parkland and forty-two acres of tranquil open water to canoe or kayak through. 

Ofsted has awarded numerous schools in the area ‘outstanding’. What’s more, transport could not be easier. The Victoria and Piccadilly lines will get you to Leicester Square and Kings Cross in less than ten minutes. 

You will never be short of things to do with your children in Finsbury Park. The impressive forty-six-hectare park has a boating lake, sports ground, and vast amounts of greenery, making it the perfect place to walk the dog, play games or have a picnic with the family. For parents, you will enjoy trying out the incredible variety of top-quality coffee shops, cafes, and pubs in the area.

If you fancy a day trip, you could even catch the train from the local station to take you directly to Brighton for a day by the seaside.

To learn more about any of our family-friendly developments, browse our entire collection of London properties that are available in your ideal location.