Living in Tooting: transport links, parking, schools, best streets — and the average cost of monthly rent

A few years ago, the south London area of Tooting was caught up in an unexpected buzz, as local man Sadiq Khan frequently referenced his home town in the run-up to his election as Mayor of London in 2016.

The following year, the area was named one of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods by Lonely Planet, alongside Sunset Park in Brooklyn and Vesterbro in Copenhagen.

Come 2020, and the Zone 3 suburb has settled back out of the limelight.

However, a certain hipsterish sheen remains in the plethora of brunch spots that now sit alongside well-loved international foodie outlets, in particular the great-value Indian and Pakistani eateries for which the area is famed.

“Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway are both on the Northern line, which makes these areas particularly sought after for commuters into the City. There are many great schools as well as Tooting Common and Tooting Bec Lido which makes the area an obvious choice for families as well,” says George Ford, manager of Jacksons Estate Agents.

Residents parking in Wandsworth costs £161 per year, £79 for DVLA Band A, electric or biomethane-fuelled vehicles.

Crime in the area is below the average for London with five crimes per 1,000 residents.

The top reported crimes are harassment, miscellaneous theft and theft from a vehicle.

Tooting Leisure Centre has a gym, courts and pitches and a swimming pool but the real sporting jewel of the area is Tooting Bec Lido – the biggest freshwater swimming pool in the UK, complete with brightly coloured Thirties changing cubicles and cafés.

Source: Rightmove

“The Heaver Estate is always in demand, with its lovely, tree-lined roads, attractive period properties and the short walk to Tooting Bec Tube,” says George Ford, manager of Jacksons Estate Agents.

Primary schools serving Tooting and all rated “outstanding” by Ofsted are Hillbrook; Gatton Primary; St Boniface RC; Tooting Primary and St Anselm’s Catholic Primary School.

There are two branches of Lidl, one by Tooting train station and the other on the High Street, with Aldi and Iceland just across the road next to Broadway Market Tooting.

There’s a large Sainsbury’s next to Tooting Broadway station and several Polish shops.

“Tooting Broadway and Tooting Market along the High Street have become the place to be, particularly in the evenings and at weekends, but they can be noisier than some of neighbouring areas,” warns Mark Wiltshire, director of the local branch of estate agents Dexters.

Having grown up on a farm in Yorkshire, Vicky Lawrence was warned by friends that she’d miss the countryside when she moved to London three years ago.

In fact, living in Tooting means the 29-year-old youth worker is surrounded by green open space.

“There’s Tooting Common and Wimbledon Common is a 25-minute bus ride away. Or you can get a train completely out of London from Wimbledon,” she says.

Living in the area, dubbed one of the “world’s coolest neighbourhoods” by Lonely Planet also offers other compensations for its lack of actual fields.

“There’s enough to do that you don’t have to leave Tooting at the weekend and there’s quite a lot of people that are my age here, so if you do go to the pub on a Friday it’ll be full of twenty- and thirtysomethings,” says Vicky.

She lives with three other women in a house with a garden and she pays £650 per month plus bills.

Two of her housemates have en suite bathrooms and so pay slightly more rent but keen cyclist Vicky opted for the larger downstairs room so she could store her bike.

“We chose to live slightly further from Tooting Broadway station — about a 10-minute walk — so we could get a nice house with quite a lot of space.”

This means Vicky is also well-placed to pursue her “side hustle”, making scented candles in jars printed with feminist slogans, which she sells on Etsy as the Feminist Candle Club, and also at specialist London markets including Rare Birds Bohemian Market in Shoreditch, the Anti-Diet Riot Fest in Hoxton and the SoLo Craft Fair across south London.

She makes the candles on the hob in the kitchen.

“My housemates might moan a little bit about me using the kitchen but they all have a candle in their room. They’re my guinea pigs. They get to pick scents if they want specific ones.”

You can find Vicky on Instagram @feministcandleclub.

Vicky works in Morden and says she was “so happy” when she got a job commuting in the opposite direction to everyone else.

Her office is three stops south on the Northern line from Tooting Broadway. Tooting railway station is also served by Southern Railway with trains through London to St Albans and out to Sutton.

Vicky is trying to shop more in charity shops and says there are some good ones in the area but for the best selection of high street shops she heads to Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth.

“The food is the highlight in Tooting because there’s so much choice,” says Vicky, who recommends brunch at Milk Teeth or Mud and a browse of Tooting Market for all varieties of street food.

“I love Indian and Pakistani food, too, and Tooting is definitely the place for that, especially Lahore Karahi and Dosa n Chutny.”

The housemates’ go-to Friday night spot is The Castle pub, then Tooting Tram & Social is the inevitable final stop for dancing.

Dry January means Vicky and her housemates are trying Buzz Bingo in a Grade I-listed cinema, in the hunt for teetotal activities.

Tooting also hosts Tootopia, an annual three-day end-of-summer festival with local food, drink and culture.

Tooting Graveney and Tooting Bec Commons are the two remaining areas of common land that once stretched all the way to Mitcham but still offer a very welcome green lung for south London.