Surrey - it's over. Hello ?

[Timetogetserious]

Hi there

We're in Surrey renting. Kids are in a great junior school so that's definitely one box ticked.

However, after much soul searching we are going to move on. We are doing three school runs which is painful. The town is nice but I'm sure other places are as nice. The biggest reason for moving is housing. We would never be able to buy here. It would be a case of renting forever. And it's now or never time. Renting is fine but what happens when you retire? We're cracking on so need to tread carefully. We would be looking at 350k tops for a new build 4 bed detached house.

We have no idea where to go. Dh needs to get limited access to London. An hour to two is fine. We've ruled out Bucks and Winchester because they're too expensive. We've considered Suffolk and Sussex.

A great secondary school is a massive priority for us. With a good primary school. Also some new housing as we are keen to get on the help to buy scheme. We don't really want to be in a tiny quiet rural village either. Small market towns or larger towns are our aim.

If you can help us find the missing jigsaw piece we would be truly grateful.

[badgerhead]

Horsham has new housing being built around it with good secondary schools & up to an hour to London by train. Or slightly further south, Billingshurst with an outstanding secondary school (The Weald) and a station.

[Gunfleetsands]

How about Colchester, Essex.

[JWIM]

Try looking at four Marks and Alton Hampshire - lots of new builds not sure if within your price range but primary and secondary schools good/outstanding locally.

[Suffolkgirl1]

Woodbridge suffolk. Farlingaye High school gets excellent results. Small market town, but Ipswich close enough.

[LongPieceofString]

The midlands is an hour by train from euston/ kings x.

[happygardening]

Cirencester? We seriously considered it and the surrounding area last year.
Easy to commute to London from Swindon/Kemble although very expensive in the rush hour, 20 mins junction 15 M4, apparently Deer Park school is good, lovely busy, market town, nice shops, your not going to be over spoilt for house choices but there are newish built for your budget, nice ye olde cotswold cottages are significantly more expensive. Closeish to a Bath my favourite city and Bristol, a sort of mini London, if you want culture, Cheltenham not great apart the races, Oxford about an hour away and Swindon, a complete dump but excellent train links.
Friends like Royal Wotton Bassett I'm not that taken with it personally but apparently it has a good school, a sort of Market Town, property prices are cheaper than Cirencester junc 16 M4 nearest station Swindon again excellent for Bath and Bristol.
Malmesbury excellent schools, quite a small town but useful shops, junc 17 of M4 nearest station Kemble/Swindon even better for Bath/Bristol but obviously not so good for London. I think you can get a newish house for your budget Again ye olde cottages significantly more expensive.
Chippenham cheaper than Malmesbury has it's own station links with London Bath and Bristol, much bigger, lots of new build, apparently schools are getting better all the time, not my cup of tea as it's not rural enough.

[Needmoresleep]

Poole/Bournemouth. House prices aren't the lowest but good schools especially if your DC are Grammar school material. Train to London is only 2 hours and the quality of life if good.

I also remember an article suggested that Southampton provided the best value in terms of the London commuter belt. Not sure it would be much fun for a daily commute but both rail and road connections are good.

[TalkinPeace]

Petersfield
Fleet
Alton
Farnborough
South side of Basingstoke (avoid the Popley area)
in fact any of the Hampshire Market towns

Winohester is indeed killingly expensive

Romsey : I loathe the Abbotswood houses, but then I loathe new houses!

[zipzap]

We live in Milton Keynes and it's fantastic for families.

Lots going on, nice houses, train takes between 30 mins and an hour to Euston, some great schools (albeit also some to avoid), loads of parks and countryside integrated into the town, decent shops, big cinemas, good theatre, fabulous arts festival every other year (it's this year, woohoo), lots of sports and clubs and stuff to do for kids and adults, easy to drive around, definitely worth checking out.

Schools - think you can apply for the Bucks grammar schools (people go to them in both Buckingham and Aylesbury) but in MK there are some schools with good reputations. ds1 is at a fab junior school that regularly wins national awards for all sorts of different things they do, and most importantly he loves going there and seems to be thriving. It feeds into 2 good senior schools. ds2 is at a decent infant school, again, really enjoys it and has some nice staff, they've really helped with some stuff he's struggled with and he'll move on to the same junior school as ds1 in 18 months time.

Houses - have just had a quick look on rightmove for 4 bed detatched houses under £375K (on the basis that you can negotiate down!), not sure if you want brand new first ownership of a house or a new home that's up to 5/10 years old rather than 100 years old, but even at £300k there are plenty in decent areas. There are some nice older towns around - Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Olney, for example, but lots of the grid squares within MK itself are based on old existing villages so you have the best of both worlds. Where I live, I live opposite a park, have 2 more within 5 minutes walk, the station is a few minutes walk away, there's an old village green, a Norman church, things like toddlers groups and the WI locally - and yet 5 mins in the car and I can be in John Lewis and the shopping centre or Sainsburys (underground car park handy when it rains!), Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsburys/Tesco locals, and within 10 mins there's big Tescos x2, Costco, Waitrose, Ikea, Primark, loads of M&S, and more.

[ISingSoprano]

Alresford, near Winchester? Some new build recently.

[RiversideMum]

Why don't you do it the other way and have a look at big developers and where they are building? Someone major like David Wilson homes is likely to be doing several developments at any one time.

[michaelrB]

Try Ashford in Kent. Four bed house for £350k no trouble with good schools, good environment and easy access to London (35min).

[gardeningsarah]

I'll agree with Woodbridge, a very good high school (outstanding Ofsted)and also good primary schools as well

[TalkinPeace]

)))))))) Kent ((((((((
If you miss the cut for the grammar its Secondary Modern Land
The Marsh Academy anybody?

[LaceyLee]

Chelmsford and Southend area in Essex are both affordable, commutable & have good grammar schools. Surrey is soooo expensive!

[WaveorCheer]

We did surrey to Chelmsford last year, great decision.

[Timetogetserious]

Thank you so much for all these suggestions. Lots to look at. Some new suggestions, some already considered. I do know Circenster comes up a lot so will look into that. Have considered Kent but I grew up there and it feels like a step backwards. We also lived in Alresford for a while but found it a bit too small for us. Couldn't even get a pizza ; )). And thanks for the suggestion about looking at help to buy areas. Good idea. Keep the ideas coming. Oh, and I must visit Milton Keynes. I'm fascinated. It's come up a few times in the past but bad press put us off. Seems to be a bit like marmite!!

[TalkinPeace]

Grammars are fine if your kids ALL get in and a blerdy nightmare if they do not

come to Hampshire - we have comps that look after ALL of the kids

[JennyWren]

Didcot - South Oxfordshire. Lots of new-build housing, good secondary schools (single sex atm, but a co-ed is being built as part of the housing scheme; due to open 2016). Fast and frequent trains to Paddington plus easy access to the M4 and M40. Best of all, the power station is coming down fairly soon!

[BOFtastic]

Horsham seems lovely from when I've visited.

[Timetogetserious]

Didcot - I remember looking into there ages ago but got put off by the power station. Another push to look at Milton Keynes. And I've just been having a nosey at Woodbridge. Farlingaye looks lovely. Primary schools aren't as enticing though which is a nuisance as our current one is brilliant : (

[boys3]

Thought I'd better make a case for the Mildands. Lincolnshire an an option? Grantham not much over an hour by train into London, excellent state schools (eg top 100 nationally for some Grammars, plus the non Grammar alternatives are pretty good too), with 350k you'd get a large 4 bed house and pocket anything up to 100k in change. Not far from stunning and virtually empty beaches on the North Coast, clean air, little congestion, next to no crime although I gather tractor theft can be a problem.

Downsides - it is flat....very flat, not very metropolitan - although both Nottingham and Sheffield within easy striking distance, whilst Lincoln is a lovely little city with the Cathedral and Steep Hill.

If flatness an issue, Rutland, although higher property prices (tho' way off South east levels), and state schools not quite as good as in Lincs.

[Dancingdreamer]

What about Warwick area? Direct trains from Warwick Parkway every half an hour to London. Takes avout 90 mins. Lots of regular commuters to London. Housing cheaper than southeast. Lots of good schools in lovely area of country. Plus I have found people in the Midlands are really friendly and welcoming.