Londoner leaving London - Where did you find out of town happiness?

[ThinkPinkStink]

Hi there,

I was born in Clapham, raised around the area, moved around the South East a little in my late childhood (with my parents), but I was straight back to SW London as soon as I hit 18 (without my parents),

I'm now looking to finally buy somewhere, and as the way I work has changed (far more opportunity to work remotely, rather than being tied to zones 1-3 to access the office).

I'm looking for somewhere where:

There are good primary schools (ideally state, but okay with private)

Can buy a 3 bed house with small garden for £670,000

Feels a bit arty/liberal

Feels like a safe place to bring up a child

Green space

Decent sense of community (a high street, etc.)

Can commute into Holborn or Fulham within 1hr 30mins

Don't need to drive (will learn, but don't currently)

If any of you, or your friends, have made a similar move, I'd love to hear where you/they ended up, and if it was worth it!

Do you actually want to leave London? You could afford a house in London for that in south east

Don’t do it.

I did, I grew up in SW London too and moved out when my dcs hit primary school age we all had to eventually admit it was a mistake. By that point, 3 years, the difference in house prices was too great for us to be able to move back.

Plenty of areas in London fit those criteria in your budget.

Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, close to Brighton, in the downs surrounded by beautiful countryside and has a great vibe. Also close to walk to Hassocks station for direct trains on the London to Brighton line.

Brighton or Hove. I moved to Brighton from London 6 years ago and never looked back.

Lovely place to bring up kids, made some great friends, very arty, very liberal. My DC's primary school is lovely and nurturing, there's no uniform, the kids call the teachers by their first name, everyone knows everyone and it's very arty.

The South Downs is on the doorstep. Loads of green space for walks.

You can easily get a 3 bed with a garden for £670k near to Brighton or Hove station. I suggest looking around Seven Dials.

I miss London sometimes but it's only an hour away.

Cambridge.

Bath! Never, ever looked back:)

@LittleMissEngineer and @Witchinghour1 Bath is very lovely, feels a bit too far for anything other than a very infrequent commute. But lovely none the less.

@dodgeballchamp and @AntiHop where would you recommend? I know SW London and bits of SE London relatively well - but only in little pockets, and some of my experience of those places is very out of date.

@Mixingitall and @sapphosrock - I'd love to be around Hove, but it's a bit of a mare on the trains to get into the office (even if just once or twice a week). I'll add Hirstpierpoint and Hove to the list though, as there are some lovely spots out that way!

@theworldisfullofgs I don't think I've ever been to Cambridge, I'll take a look, thanks.

@whoeatspoptarts what's the WORST thing about being out of London? Right now I'd be glad to see the back of it, I'm keen to know what I'd miss most to prepare myself.

Don't do it OP. We left London and it didn't work out. The place was lovely and ticked all our boxes. 4 years later we just never felt at home because..... It wasn't London. My only tip is rent don't buy to begin with to find your feet without the huge commitment of buying in case you do want to go back.

Why don’t you follow the Clapham/Balham crowds out into the wilds of suburban SW London? Kingston/Surbiton/Hampton/Thames Ditton? Quick commutes, great schools, lovely green space, full of families who have moved from your neck of the woods. I also like Egham and Englefield Green which are similar. Or West Byfleet/Pyrford, or even Weybridge or the nicer parts of Walton?

We left London in June and had an amazing Summer, when winter kicked in, I noticed mud in a way that I’d never noticed it before, it became mud season, our shoes need cleaning all the time, which is weird given London is meant to dirtier.

I was also surprised that when I walked in to a restaurant it’s a challenge if you haven’t booked! No on ebooks pizza express in London, yet at 5pm on a Sunday We couldn’t be seated as we didn’t have a booking.

Living in London, especially Clapham you have access to any type of food at any time of the day, and Sainsbury’s local etc. Outside of a city, you don’t. Although I’m not rural, my nearest shop is a jump in the car, just over a mile away and I struggled with that to start with. We have 2 fridge freezers and have lots of milk and bread delivered, we don’t shop day to day but for 4 days to ensure we don’t need to pop out, which isn’t a 5 minute job.

Aside from the above, there are many benefits, air quality, large pot plants that we moved from our London garden grew and looked healthier in a way they never did before. We are always cycling, walking and close to the sea. Country pubs are amazing.

We thought the primary school was a private school as it has so many after school clubs and lots of land.

If Hurstpierpoint is too south, look at Lindfield, a mile from Haywards Heath station, you can catch fast trains in 44 minutes, and it’s connected on Southern and Thameslink, trains are very regular from Victoria, and Thameslink stations. I download lots on my iPad and before I know I’m in town. I catch a 5.05 from London Bridge and am back at 5.50.

Have you looked at any of the places connected on HS1, like Margate.

What about Bristol?

Thinkpinkstink I live in tooting currently and love it. The common in walking distance, nice little shops and coffee places but not as gentrified as, say, Clapham. It feels more realistic. Definitely houses in that budget round here. Mitcham down the road is a bit cheaper but if you’re going there and want a nicer part, the bit on the other side of the common/near to Morden is nicer than the town centre. Even parts of streatham, like round the suburban roads by streatham common station rather than the high road, is spacious, nice Victorian houses and “affordable” in London terms.

SE - I’m buying in south Norwood (renting currently) and you could definitely find a house for that price in the area - I think where I’m moving to is classed as the rough bit lol, but west Norwood/Crystal Palace/gipsy hill are up the road and still within price range, and CP in particular has the ‘triangle’ of interiors shops, boutiques, gastropubs, coffee shops and general nice quaint village-style shopping.

Tulse hill and herne hill are a bit more gentrified/yummy mummy and more expensive but lovely areas. Dulwich is insanely posh, really leafy lovely villagey feel but probably way too expensive. I haven’t even looked at the listings round there because I think you’d need a £1m minimum budget to get anything like what you want.

Why does everyone say Bath is liberal? I grew up there and it’s massively snobby.

Bristol now has a fast train to London - takes an hour. Has a chilled out and friendly vibe and you’d still get something decent for your money in a nice area.

If you want to stay in SW London, then Carshalton Village would be perfect. It’s arty with annual artists’ open houses, quite a lot of people in creative jobs + a great community feel with lots of events and things like a community run theatre etc. Great for families and fab schools (independent and state), lovely pubs and cafes, a leisure centre and library right in the village too, lots of greenery etc. It’s zone 5 with trains into Victoria, London Bridge and St Pancras + lots of buses. You wouldn’t need to drive at all as you’d have everything within short walking distance from the right house. 670k would get a very decent house too.