Living in London with 3 children? (house, neighborhood, good schools)

[hutch5]

I have posted a similar thread on the UK Forum but with very little feedback and I really would like to hear your opinion and experience as we have to make a decision soon

My husband has been asked to apply for a job in London (Lambeth near Waterloo Station). There are two possible packages:

1. Set salary plus accomodation (4 bedroom house at Lambeth Palace)and utilities.

2. 20K added to the set salary without accomodation.

Were we just the two of us we would choose the first option as living in the centre of London is priceless.
However we have three children who at the time of the move, should my husband be offered the job, would be 13 (girl), 10(boy) and 2 (boy).

Our main concern is education and quality of life for the children.

We have a 3 bedroom house (no mortgage) in Chelmsford where we were living before moving to Spain. There are some excellent schools there but we would need to sell the house for a 4 bedroom (as we have one more child now)and the commute is quite long.

We are looking at other commuter belt towns such as Woking or Guildford (Surrey).

Our dilemma is: What would be the best choice for the children? Living in an inner city with not many good schools in the area where we would be living but with the cosmopolitan aspect and the incredible cultural richness of London or having a better quality of life and education in the suburbs?

Since I wrote the first thread we have discovered that there may be some good school opportunities for the children in Londonafter all. For Example Greycoat for girls (any experience?)

I would really appreciate your suggestions and ideas as many times when people are too involved in an issue they cannot see the full picture and they may miss important considerations.

Thank you for your time.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Hutch
I barely know London at all.
(Have been there many times, but only as a tourist.)
What an opportunity you have!
FWIW:
We raised our boys in a very nice neighborhood in the heart of Denver, Colorado. We had all of the problems that can be associated urban density, but we would not have traded it for anything. Our boys grew up riding their bikes to the main public library--downtown was just minutes away.
Quality of life is subjective, of course....how "safe" do you need to be?
A ship is safe in port, but that's not what it's built for.

[hutch5]

Thankyou BWP for your insight.

I, too, have visited London many times while I was living in the UK. I love the South Bank, it is my favourite part of London, but one thing is to go there as a tourist, another one is to live there.

I certainly think that on the one hand it would be a remarkanle experience for the whole family. On the other hand, we have been always living on the ouskirt of a great city with countryside and mountains within easy reach, a more gentle pace of life and a safer environment and I wonder if the change would be too drastic.

That is why I value the input of anybody who may have a better experience and more information.