Moving from S London to Alton/Petersfield?

[kiltedsheep]

Hello all,

This is a deeply unoriginal thread, but am hoping to tap into the MN hive mind for some insider knowledge.

We're a young family (DS1 is nearly 4; DS2 is 8 weeks) and our house in Sarf London is feeling very small. We're hoping we can get £400K for it so we can move out to Hampshire so that we could get somewhere bigger, be closer to the in-laws and have countryside on our doorstep, whilst still being able to commute to our Central London jobs.

We're very interested in Alton or Petersfield. The schools look great in both. I think we could get more for our money in Alton, but then again, Petersfield seems really lovely. Does anyone live in either town? What's it like for young families? Is there much to do? What's great/crap about the area?

Any and all info much appreciated. Cheers!

[kiltedsheep]

Bump! Can anyone help?

[Ionacat]

Alton is lovely. It is friendly and you will get much more for your money here mainly as we are on the branch line to London not the main line. The schools are amazing in Alton - we get plenty of choice both at primary and secondary - there are catchments but the vast majority get their first choice of school. Lots of groups for children, plenty of things to do - we have Alice Holt nearby and the Hogmoor Inclosure. Negatives - lots of building at the moment as we’re just outside the South Downs National Park, also considered the ‘naughty’ part of East Hants and therefore get less money spent on us than Petersfield. (So we voted out all bar one or two of the conservative councillors at town and district level!) I don’t know Petersfield that well except for occasionally visits to their leisure centre and the pond.