Moving to Southampton

[WaitingInTheBushesOfLove]

DH and i are looking to move around Southampton.

We don't know much about the areas and what is like living there. We have an almost one year old and a dog, so schools is something to consider and dog friendly places to walk the dog.

Houses have been coming up in our list in:

Chandler's ford
Eastleigh
Totton
Bitterne
Bitterne Park
Woolston
Hedge end
Shirley
Dibden Purlieu
Sholing
Nettley
Marchwood

Any advice of what areas to avoid and what areas to look into? Areas that might get affected by air traffic because of SH airport?Any more areas to suggest that aren't in the list?

Avoid.....
Totton known as Rotten Totton
Woolston and there’s a toll bridge (discounted if you live there)
Shirley
Sholing

As above 🙂

Totton is really not bad. I would avoid the centre as there is not much going on and it’s a bit unloved but Calmore, Ashurst, West Totton are all family areas with plenty of family houses, good choice of schools and great connections. If you want easy access to New Forest, the beach and Bournemouth way and Southampton, it’s pretty perfectly located. It’s also on the Waterloo mainline and easy access to both Southampton and Heathrow airports due to easy motorway access.

I had a happy childhood there but have now moved away due to getting a job in Bournemouth and being able to live right in the New Forest, which I love.

Chandler’s Ford and Eastleigh both also good family areas and I think have great school options.

Depending on where you will be working I would avoid anything up the Marchwood bypass as you will have to drive round this every day to get into Southampton. Lovely areas, easy access to New Forest so great for dog and get good homes for your money but it could be a long painful commute.

Upper Shirley is lovely and has a real family feel.

Great schools in Chandlers Ford and great place to live, but reflected in house prices!

People don’t seem very keen on eastleigh

I lived in Shirley for a few years with a young family and loved it there. Upper Shirley is the more 'middle-class' (and more expensive!) bit, but there are some very nice roads and houses in Shirley itself too. It has its own high-street and also only a couple of miles from the centre of Southampton itself so well located in that sense. Good primary schools and Upper Shirley High now has a decent reputation I think for Secondary (although I guess you don't need to worry about that for a while!). Also close to Southampton Common for dog walking and the local park (St James') is absolutely lovely.

I'd say it is a bit more 'urban' rather than 'suburban' - which I liked but may not be what you are looking for! As pp mention, ideal location also depends where (if) you are working of course.

Why Southampton? Is it job related?

It's becoming quite an expensive place to live, certainly in the nicer areas due to the commuters getting priced out nearer London. Chandlers Ford in particular is very expensive but it depends on your budget I guess. Titchfield, Whiteley & Fareham are a bit better value and schools are generally good.

And I agree - avoid Beastleigh.

Why Southampton? Is it job related?

Better value for money. We live in Surrey and houses are much more expensive and out of our range. Southampton prices were better compared to where we live now.

Can i ask why to avoid Eastleigh?

Move to West Sussex. We did from Surrey. Loads of lovely areas along the coast. You can get to Portsmouth, Southampton, Brighton, London quite easily and it’s close to the sea.

Way cheaper than Surrey too, if you choose carefully.

Bishop's Waltham, Swanmore, Botley, Wickham, Titchfield etc and other surrounding villages are lovely places to live with good schools.

Sorry, I didn't mean Titchfield there, I meant Twyford! Personally I'd avoid Whiteley as it's totally soulless. Fareham is a bit rough in places. Eastleigh is just vile.

All the villages around Winchester are lovely but pricey.

There aren't many properties in Chandlers Ford atm. Location Location want to film in the area and are posting on social media asking if anyone is thinking of selling 3/4 beds for £550-500k as there's not much on the market.

Agree all the schools are good, including primary. I'd try to avoid buying into the whole secondary school catchment area nonsense as you'll be paying an extra £50k for it and tbh it's not significantly better.

There's definitely a 'difference' between Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh. Folk in the Ford don't like to be told they live in Eastleigh! The border is generally assumed to be the M3 flyover on Leigh Road.

Dibden Purlieu is fine. My brother lives there! Netley is apparently ok but avoid Netley View which is opposite!

Don't know much about other places - I thought Chandlers Ford was posh but my brother said not all.

Dibden Purlieu is near the forest btw.

all depends where you need to travel to ( commute) and what schools you want to aim for.

Hello I live in Bitterne bought our dream home 5 years ago. It’s really nice here and the school are good too. Bitterne Park is good as well and not far from Bitterne.

I would avoid Whiteley as its a pig to drive in and out of, at the wrong time of day at any rate

I think eastleigh jus5 has a reputation of being a bit rough, though im sure like many places it has its good and bad parts

I think the shopping centre is a bit grim though

Chandlers Ford isn't posh. It's just full of middle class people who can afford to not live in Eastleigh or Southampton but wish they could afford to live in Winchester. And it has a Waitrose.

I live in Hedge End, love the parks, the paddling pool, the theatre, the carnival. Very happy with our school and know from friends that other Hedge End schools equally as good. Manor Farm County Park is good for dog walking. I work all over Southampton, traffic can be awful but you get to know the best routes to get around.

Netley is a beautiful quiet village, right on the water and has Victoria country park within walking distance (which has excellent things there for kids and dogs)

My brother used to work in Bitterne and said it was awful. This was one of the places they were house hunting in and I guess for what they could afford there was nothing great.

Ignore the slating of Eastleigh, OP. I'm a resident and it's really not that bad at all - certainly far superior for local walking-distance amenities with a small child in tow than Chandler's Ford. Like a lot of the M3 corridor real estate, prices and general standards are on the up in the area, for better or worse. The only issue you really get with Eastleigh is bored youths congregating outside the local McDonald's, but I've personally never had any problems from them. Don't discount it purely on the basis of an old and increasingly redundant reputation for being down-market.

Hedge End is a lovely place to live. We have a village centre which is well used, good transport links, fantastic parks and open areas and great schools - Wildern is excellent and a new secondary is being built currently. Stay away from Botley (awful traffic issues) and the new builds that are currently going up as they are well away from everything and look at Grange Park, Dowds Farm/Wellstead and anything that's on the west side of the village centre as that is near the mainline train station.
Everything is generally within a 30 minute walk or less and there's Manor Farm Country Park on the east side of the village - I walk everywhere locally.
We moved here 14 years ago and wouldn't live anywhere else.

Another Eastleigh resident here speaking up its in defence. I know that some years ago it didn't have a great reputation but that's outdated and unjustified these days. It's recently been named amongst the top 10 places in the UK to raise a family - in part because of it's low crime - so not really fair to describe it as rough!

www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/16586392.eastleigh-ranked-among-top-10-to-raise-a-family-in-uk-new-study-finds/

I've lived here 9 years (and my DD arrived 2 years ago) and we're very happy here. There's not many places outside the city centre that can rival Eastleigh's transport links (both road and rail) and facilities (cinema, bowling alley, range of shops, etc).