Moving back to the U.K. but to where?

[KobaniDaughters]

We’ve been expats for 5yrs and looking to move back to the U.K. possibly as soon as this summer. For various reasons we won’t be able to do a reccy before the summer so trying to decide where to live from abroad is tough, would love any thoughts and opinions to look at from far away. If we move early 2022 we can reccy this summer but for school reasons I’d rather come back for the start of the academic year so assume we can’t.

Needs:
1.5hrs by train to London
1.5-2hrs drive from Horsham/Guildford area
Close to a reasonable sized city
Small town or big village
Good local primary and secondary (D.C. would be entering yrs 5&8) but not grammar (don’t imagine DC1 would get in and we’ve missed the deadline for the tests anyway) that DC can get to Independantly
Good sense of community/things to do/cycling clubs/opportunities to meet people (we’re very social)
Liberal leaning
Be able to rent a 4bed detached house for under £2500pcm or buy a 4bed detached house for under £600K (pref rent but there seems to be nothing on the market) and need dedicated office space

We know and love Sussex, and pockets of Surrey and Hampshire. Would be happy to live in a town or village close to Horsham, Billingshurst, Chichester, Winchester. I don’t know Oxfordshire or Wiltshire at all and would love to find out more about both. I’m assuming East Anglia and Cambridgeshire would be out of the question due to distance to Sussex.

Have been looking at the Hassocks/Keymer/Hurstpierpoint area but houses are few and far between

DH would be working remotely, I am a freelancer with some work remote and other projects would be in London so I wouldn’t have to do the commute full time. Ask away any other questions that might be relevant! I’ve been on Rightmove for YEARS but feel free to send any specific ideas...

Battle, East Sussex.
Both likely to get into the primary and secondary under the fair access protocol (My DD did in year 5).
Ticks everything else on your list. Renting is always tricky but not impossible. You could buy for 600000 or less.

I would concentrate on the area that you want to go to. School is the most important thing, so decide that first. Re rental property, you don't need the perfect place. You can do short term let and then move - which I know isn't ideal, but if that's all that's available to get you into your favourite area and school, then do that.

I did do that when I moved cities, renting a 3 bed flat with my 6 children to get the eldest into a secondary school that I wanted her to go to and months later moving again - moving houses is easier than moving schools, and then you know more about different roads etc.

As far as your areas are concerned, I really like Lewes and surrounds (the secondary school in Lewes is meant to be good) , but also Hurst and the villages just outside Brighton. I'd also look at the villages outside Guildford. I don't know Petersfield very well but it's pretty. When I was looking to move round there, people kept telling me Haslemere is a lovely place to live.

Anyway, fwiw my advice, first find the area you want, then the secondary school and then hit rightmove. The house is the easiest thing to change further down the line, the primary school is far less important than the secondary.

How often are you going to London?

Romsey and area is Tory but small c rather than large C, in my experience. Although people do commute to London, because it’s station is on the Portsmouth - Cardiff line, there’s an extra leg to a London station. But the schools are all fine, not grammar, and good sense of community, and you could find something to rent in your bracket. Chandlers Ford more of a naice suburban sprawl, but would also tick your criteria.

@HelenHywater all really good advice and actually there’s a chance DC and I would come ahead of DH (and we don’t need the office space and would totally be fine in a small place, he’s the one that needs room) so that’s also an option

I don’t know yet how often I’ll be in London to be honest, depends how often I get work! I work project to project, sometimes they’re a couple of days, sometimes they can be weeks long, sometimes I work remotely but I’m the one pushing the move home so I don’t mind being the to have to sacrifice with a commute as I won’t be doing it 48weeks of the year.

Ugh starting to feel a little overwhelmed especially when it comes to trying to choose a school from abroad

Also look on Primelocation if not doing so already. I was surprise someone I know was trying to sell but their agent (good) was only on Primelocaton.

What about New Forest area, Lymington is a Georgian coastal Market town with rail link to Waterloo, Milford on sea a coastal village with fantastic sense of community, Brockenhurst a new forest village with direct rail to Waterloo. All have great schools, lots of local kids clubs and meet your distance from Surrey & London. All close to beautiful open forest & the coast large towns near by are Christchurch & Bournemouth and nearest city Southampton.

Sorry you are feeling overwhelmed.

I too think the secondary school is top top priority over and above everything else, by a country mile.
Where we live in Surrey (near Weybridge, Heathrow) all the schools, and I really do mean all the schools are good. The Catholic ones are superb, the grammars (nearer Twickenham admittedly) are very sought after, the Independents, say St George's in Weybridge, and William Perkins for girls, people literally fight for.

Focus on schools. Having my 2 happy, at an extremely good Catholic (when I'm not even really Catholic, but Dh's family are very strong) gives solid foundations like you just can't underestimate.

I like both Petersfield and Stroud. I've never heard of Battle before, what a brilliant name for a town!

re schools. It's not so difficult - I narrowed my search areas down by starting off with the school league tables = I know not ideal but it's a good starting place link?

Then you can get further information from here, from the local facebook or nextdoor pages.

Frown - ''Battle'' town is named after Battle of Hastings as that is where it was.

I’d also suggest looking at the Petersfield / Liphook / Haslemere / Midhurst area.

@LostToucan can you tell me more about that area? I don’t know those particular villages well but know the generalise area - do you know the schools at all?

Have found a site that shows catchment areas for schools too so yes you’re all right, maybe we narrow down to a few areas then look at schools. Though I know there’s no guarantee of schools and we can’t apply until we have an address, even as in-year applications

@Oblomov21 catholic schools are out if you’re not catholic though aren’t they? I think Grammar would also be out of our reach

Cuckfield

[quote KobaniDaughters]@Oblomov21 catholic schools are out if you’re not catholic though aren’t they? I think Grammar would also be out of our reach[/quote]
Not necessarily. Many take non Catholics even if faith is a higher criteria.

Schools in Surrey do not have catchments, but distance is usually a criteria used to rank those in categories after LAC, those with ehcp and sometimes siblings and feeder primaries.

The area I know is around Midhurst and Chichester (don’t know much about the primaries though). West Sussex so not a grammar area.

Secondary school at Midhurst is good (has a big catchment), no rail station though so you’d need to go to Liphook / Haslemere / Pulborough to get into London. You’d just about get a 4 bed detached within budget.

There are 3 secondaries in Chichester - Bishop Luffa is CofE, there’s also Chi High and the Free School, plus the Midhurst school although this would be out of catchment). Trains to London Victoria take about 1 hr 40. You’d get a detached 4 bed within budget here too. There are quite a few new builds going up too.

Countryside is lovely - you’re on the South Downs, but the coast is nearby too. Gatwick is about an hour’s drive away.

If you’re interested in this area then it’s worth contacting the Council as we found them very helpful when we did a long distance move.

Storrington and Steyning are both nice large villages / small towns, Cuckfield is pretty but quite pricey?

What about Marlborough ( not left leaning) but otherwise criteria could be met. 1 state secondary which is excellent. If there’s only 1 school I’d assume they’d have to give you a place?!

If it's not too far East, you get more for your money in E Sussex, basically east of Lewes. Lewes itself is lovely but ££££. Crowborough and Uckfield are decent market towns and both cheaper than W Sussex and Surrey. Also lots of lovely villages. Under 1.5 hrs to both Guildford and London. All within easy reach of Brighton if you need boho seaside, and other (nicer) seaside towns like Eastbourne. Tunbridge Wells also easily reached. Ashdown Forest is glorious, as are the South Downs.

Market Harborough in south Leicestershire ticks almost all your boxes, except the ‘liberal’ one. It’s about as solidly Tory as towns get outside the South East. Towcester is also a good shout.

East Grinstead.

These specific places are all so so helpful, thankyou all for taking the time

@LostToucan Thankyou - I know Steyning and Storrington really well but less so Cuckfield/Midhurst/Petersfield

Any thoughts on Shoreham? Always quite liked it to visit and the benefit is the train is direct to London of course but I don’t know much about the schools

You may like Shoreham, I think it would be the right size for you. Sorry I don’t know anything about the schools.
If it was me I’d choose the area you like and then make the wish list after. You could always build an office in the garden or use the fourth bedroom as a office for a bit. Or convert the loft or garage etc.

Cuckfield is lovely but may be too expensive.
East Grinstead is nice and you can access the Worth away for bike rides and walks.