littledaisy

@Passiflora, unfortunately my circumstances have changed so we are no longer actively looking to move. But I still really like the Herne Hill/Dulwich area. They would still be one of my preferred locations when we are ready and (hopefully have saved enough money by then...)Having said that, I would never want to buy something on Red Post Hill for exactly the same reasons the OP mentioned... I don't know why most of the replies here are so hostile to OP who is raising a very legitimate concern. No one is doubting the usefulness of the buses in London. OP is simply questioning the wisdom of adding one more double decker bus to a small narrow residential road which already have two buses running day and night. As someone who have done some serious house hunting in the area in the past, I feel it is perfectly understandable that if people have the choice,they would much rather rent or buy on a road without loads of buses going through...

I suspect none of the replies above are from people who actually live on the Red Post Hill like OP does...I don't live locally but have done house hunting in the area. I remeber seeing a house on Red Post Hill and bus noises are very obvious when I stood in the master bedroom which actually have double glazing windows already!! We actually liked the house but quickly decided against it given the bus noises and busy traffic as we feel it would have a very negative impact on our quality of life. My advice to OP is to move to a quieter residential road especially if you are considering buying and plan to stay for long-term.

Thank you, hpsaucey! Do you have any views on the village schools or other schools nearby?

Thanks a lot everyone! It is great to see such an active and helpful community here :-) In terms of school, I have to say that I am really torn at the moment. On one hand, I feel that it is absolutely absurd that we have to take catchment area into consideration when we only actually need the school in a few years. On the other hand, with London house price/stamp duty at where it is, it is hard to imagine that we will be able to afford to move twice. We have thought about selling and then renting for say two years before buying again to reduce the risk of shrinking catchment or school going downhill, but then the risks are that we will be priced out of the market if London house price keeps going up. The alternative is to squeeze a baby and four adults in a small two bed/1 bath flat (my parents plan to move in with us for a few years) for at least two years before looking to move which does not sound very appealing either. Sorry for the rambling? but long story short, after much debate, my husband and I decide that it is probably still a better option if we sell and buy into a catchment area now. But for all the above mentioned reasons, we feel that we really need to do our homework to make sure what we buy safely falls within the catchment area of a good primary state school that has low likelihood of deteriorating in the coming years. Obviously future is always hard to tell but hopefully Dulwich village schools and Bessemer Granger may fall into this category? Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot Cora! I will check out Bessemer Grange. Any thoughts on the commute journey?

Hi, we are a professional couple thinking of starting a family. Having looking around for a few areas in London, we feel that Dulwich/Herne Hill best fits our criteria. We still have some lingering doubts though so really appreciate any thoughts here! - Diversity: both my husband and I are of Chinese descent and we moved to London about 10 years ago. I couldn't help but noticed that Dulwich/Herne Hill is predominantly British white community. Frankly I am a little concerned if we would fit in especially considering we are hoping to set up our future home and bringing up our kids here. Can any non-British or non-white parents please share your experiences living in the area? - School: I know it is probably too early to think about the schools but I honestly don't think we can afford to move twice so getting it right this time is very important to us. At the moment we are hoping for state primary followed by independent day school for the secondary. Is it fair to say that if we buy within 500m of Dulwich infant and Dulwich Hamlet, we should have a very high certainty of getting into both schools? (We are not religious so will be after the non-faith based school places at Dulwich Infant). - Commute: I need to catch the train from Herne Hill to Farringdon whereas my husband needs to get the train from Herne Hill to either Victoria or Elephant and Castle to change to tube. Are the trains from Herne Hill generally reliable? How crowded is it during rush hour and do people have problems getting onto the train at around 7:45 or 8am? And thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!!!