Need to relocate from Cambridgeshire - but where to?! Hove or Farnham?

[actiongirl1978]

We have been living overseas and we are about to move back however now we have school age children we have realised we are living too far from the good schools in Cambridge (think morning and evening on the A14, 45 mins minimum commute for a 4&6 yr old).

So given that we can't find a comparable house to the one we own near to Cambridge we are considering moving. We will be sending the children to prep schools and I would like to be in walking/scooting distance if at all possible though 15 minute drive would be nice.

We have so far arrived at either Hove (St Christophers) or Farnham (Edgeborough).

We have a fairly good budget so if you had a choice, where would you go?!

Oh and DH needs a commute to the city as well!

Thanks!

[LIZS]

I can't imagine the equivalent home will be any cheaper in those areas tbh. Hove much more urban than Farnham. Personally love the seaside though !

[actiongirl1978]

Thanks LIZS! Actually we are not struggling with the budget, more the available housing stock. There is hardly anything in our price range in Cambridge or the villages, whereas in Surrey there is a lot in our range, ditto the south coast!

Do you know Farnham? Is it very 'surrey' or more countryfied?

[LIZS]

Farnham is rather more Surrey than rural although I guess it depends where you live in relation to the school. tbh I know Hove rather better although not recently.

[actiongirl1978]

Thanks for posting Lizs, any help is very welcome. Everything we thought would happen when we return to the UK is being turned on its head at the moment!

[Helish]

We made the move from near Farnham to Hove, haven't regretted it at all. Love the lifestyle down here, but we're urbanites who love living by the sea. I've found more to do down here compared to Surrey and house prices are better for our budget. Commute to London would be longer though.

[actiongirl1978]

Thanks Helish. My DH would go for Surrey everytime, but I think I am leaning to the beach. We have been living next to the sea for two years, I think I would like to live by the sea again.

Any idea what those schools are like?

[Helish]

Not sure re schools as mine aren't at that age yet. Try the local boards, I know the brighton one has a few threads on private schools which may be helpful.

[actiongirl1978]

Thanks Helish

[greyvix]

Farnham is very nice, and has great state schools as well as private. Edgeborough is in a good position, and you would not have traffic problems getting there from the south of town. Farnham as a town is lovely. It's quite a long way from the sea though. I was brought up on the coast and really miss it.
Lots of people commute from Farnham; it's less than an hour.

[BellaI]

The problem with commute from Farnham was the frequency of the trains. If you just miss one in the evening it's half an hour to wait.