Win the race for a prized primary place: how to guarantee your home is in the catchment area of a London school in every Tube zone

Cure the primary catchment headache. Buy a new home in a scheme that has a new school on site.
1/10
Anna White27 April 2018

London’s swelling population is piling pressure on primary school places, sending young couples scrambling to buy a house in shrinking catchment areas before their children are even born.

The number of families moving area with under-fours in tow dwarfs transaction levels involving parents of older children.

Rightmove data reveals that homes in the catchment areas of primary schools with “outstanding” Ofsted ratings cost on average £80,000 more than those close to schools that “require improvement”.

The issue intensifies in the dense core of the capital and eases in the outer boroughs.

BEST BOROUGHS FOR SCHOOL ENTRY

New research reveals Haringey as joint best London borough for availability of primary school places: only 1.6 per cent of parents missed out on getting their child into one of their top three choices there last year.

Barking & Dagenham, also on 1.6 per cent, Bexley (1.7 per cent), Newham (two per cent) and Croydon (2.3 per cent) complete the top five favourable boroughs, according to the Savills research. In Kensington & Chelsea, by stark contrast, 15.3 per cent were disappointed.

The Top 10 boroughs for availability of primary school places Percentage of families that didn’t get into their top three school choices
Haringey 1.6
Barking & Dagenham 1.6
Bexley 1.7
Newham 2.0
Croydon 2.3
Enfield 2.4
Hillingdon 2.5
Southwark 2.5
Waltham Forest 2.6
Redbridge 3.1

Source: Savills

With catchment boundaries changing size each year, buying a home even on the edge of one is a risky business but it is possible to guarantee a place.

Here’s Homes & Property’s pick of new developments from Zones 1 to 6 with both homes and primary schools on the same site.

ZONE 1: VAUXHALL

The 561-acre Nine Elms regeneration site stretching from Battersea Power Station to Vauxhall has 20,000 homes in the pipeline and will create a surge in demand for schools in Battersea and Clapham.

Mount Anvil is building a new 360-place primary school at its Keybridge scheme in Vauxhall, SW8, with 595 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats priced from £555,000.

There’s also a swimming pool, spa and concierge. Call 020 3930 4759.

ZONE 2: BOW

Bow Garden Square in E3 consists of 83 homes above a new primary school, ranging from studios to three-bedroom flats and penthouse duplexes, all with private outside space.

One-bedroom flats are priced from £390,000. Call 020 8023 8751.

ZONE 3: GREENWICH

Near Blackheath in Greenwich SE3, the £1 billion Kidbrooke Village regeneration scheme is made up of four mini districts, 136 acres of open space and a new station.

Developer Berkeley Homes is expanding the existing primary school to three classes per year.

Prices range from £420,000 for a one-bedroom flat to £1,075,000 for three-bedroom townhouses. Call 020 8108 3977.

ZONE 4: BARNET

Barnet needs eight new primary schools by 2021, and one is being delivered by Redrow as part of Colindale Gardens.

The 47-acre site in NW9 will be home to about 6,000 people, nine acres of parkland and a three-form entry primary school. From £395,000.

ZONE 5: TWICKENHAM

Twickenham has a cluster of “outstanding” primary schools but last year 5.4 per cent of families didn’t get into their top three preferences.

University College London researcher Sissy Li and her trader husband Heran bought a five-bedroom townhouse at Brewery Gate in the town centre when their son, now one, was on the way.

“We knew we needed to look ahead,” says Sissy. “Twickenham offered good nursery, primary and secondary schools, all in close proximity.”

A gated mews of four- and five-bedroom villas, the scheme has private gardens and the entrance is across the road from the train station, with 23-minute trains to Waterloo.

There’s a 320-seat theatre and a residents’ room service app allowing homeowners to order takeaway from on-site restaurant M Bar & Grill. Four-bedroom homes from £1.5 million. Call 020 3813 5159.

ZONE 6: BARKING RIVERSIDE

With 10,800 homes, the Barking Riverside scheme will get seven new schools — four are already built and open including a primary school and a special educational needs school — as well as sports pitches and dance studios.

New homes prices have yet to be released.

PERIOD HOMES

For period property, north Kingston has an abundance of “outstanding” schools surrounded by Victorian and Edwardian housing.

On the doorstep of Richmond Park, a starter home will cost about £550,000. “It’s on the river, there’s a large town centre and great schools, and it’s seen as offering an unpretentious upbringing,” says Matt Aboud from Featherstone Leigh.

Planning ahead, chef and cookery book author Sophie Wright left London for more space and a choice of schools a few years ago.

With her husband Tom and their children Bertie, three, and Betsie, aged one, she moved into a lovely five-bedroom detached house on the outskirts of Welwyn village in Hertfordshire, buying in the catchment area of the local school.

Moving out: Tom and Sophie Wright with children Bertie and Betsie

It seemed perfect but the couple, who travel into Battersea and Oxford Street for work, have decided to move again, to the affluent nearby town of Harpenden.

“We want to live in a bustling town with good transport links and Harpenden has the right market for my catering company,” explains Sophie.

Harpenden is a schooling hotspot and to ensure the kids get into their first choice, Sophie and Tom are moving to a new-build Jarvis Home just a few doors from the local primary school.

“We have seen the proportion of our London buyers rise from 40 per cent to 60 per cent in the past year, many being young families attracted by Harpenden’s top-rated education system,” says Strutt & Parker’s Lyn Compton-Harris.

“First-time buyers are major players right now and as the average buying age rises, many have kids and are attracted to the commuter belt for better lifestyle, value for money and schools.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in