Possibly relocating to Surrey

[GirlInterrupted]

We are possibly moving to the UK from ROI and just looking for some advice. Will be working in Surrey, Feltham. Just myself and DH, both early 40's. Will definitely be renting (with pets) We are currently living in a tiny rural village. Would love to move to a nice, medium sized village with shops, cafés, nice walks, etc. Prefer something a little more quiet with a community spirit, rather than buzzing, our children are adults, so not interested in school catchment areas, etc. We have absolutely no idea where to start looking! Was Looking on rightmove and the rental prices are insane compared to what we are currently paying and all the places seem to be in bigger towns. Was really hoping to get a detached house with a nice private garden that is not in an estate within an hour's drive of Feltham. Any advice will be appreciated!

Staines is a great town, also Egham, Horton, Wraysbury, Datchet. All easy access to Feltham by train

@looptheloopinahulahoop

OK maybe not 30 minutes, I was judging it on a Sunday so probably not wholly representative of rush hour, though I don't think the M3 is that busy on a weekday these days. Might be worth investigating the train.

I don’t think it is ever 30 minutes on the A30. But the M3 via Sunbury should be around 45 minutes.

@Foxyloxy1plus1

Chertsey and Addlestone aren’t all that pleasant, so might be a bit cheaper, but not somewhere you’d want to be.

Staines and Egham might be a better bet.

Nothing wrong with Chertsey, and it is a very easy drive to Feltham.

@Passionfruitpizza

Ashtead is nice and was a bit cheaper than some parts though that was pre pandemic. There are nice bits of Egham although there are less nice bits too.

What parts of Egham are less nice?

@Mrspopper

Walton on Thames may work for you.

It’s a straight run down the A244 from Walton to Feltham. I always notice a queue towards Walton Bridge in the afternoons, so the pm commute might be a bit longer, but within the OP’s 1-hour wish list.

@brizzlewizzle

West Byfleet, Woodham, Pyrford

Can’t think of an easy commute to Feltham from these places. Via Chertsey Bridge, perhaps?

@NormHonal

Shepperton, Chertsey

Agree - good choices on the commute front and community front.

@WaltzingToWalsingham

Bookham or Fetcham, perhaps? Or maybe Send or Ripley?

No

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

if you work in Feltham do not move to the other side of the river (ie Molesey, Esher, Hersham, Thames Ditton etc). the traffic across the bridge from Hampton Court station towards Kingston and towards Sunbury is murder in rush hour (and often outside of it too).

don't do it

Agree.

Chertsey Bridge and Staines Bridge are the only ones to contemplate.

I would definitely avoid living the other side of the river to Feltham if you can. I used to work in Feltham and live in one of the towns listed on here and it was very common for the A244 to be choked solid with traffic more or less all the way down from Feltham to Walton Bridge.

Lower Sunbury or Hampton would be my suggestions, both attractive and near the river but less stupidly priced than the likes of Richmond/Weybridge etc. Personally I’d avoid Teddington or Twickenham-pretty as they are they feel poky in terms of garden space and again, choked with traffic.

Consider north east Hampshire, has access to M3 and possibly more house for your £ than surrey. It's a stones throw from Surrey border, Yateley, Farnborough, Fleet (possibly avoid Aldershot)

I think we were paying close to 1k/month for a 1 bedroom attic conversion in Teddington 10 years ago... not sure 2k will stretch very far! There are some parts of Isleworth (not near Mogden though or you’ll get the pong!) that might come on on budget. It’s not a leafy rural village, but there are some nice bits and it’ll be an easy commute to Feltham. I’d avoid Feltham itself, though.

Hampton might be worth looking into.

Hi OP. If it’s just the two of you and you want a villagey, community feel, could I recommend places along the river going westwards from Richmond? Richmond is obviously super-expensive; but it gets cheaper as you go down through St Margaret’s, Teddington, Hampton and beyond. All these places have character and a villagey / community feel. You have Richmond close by (beautiful) and also all the shops and facilities of Kingston just over the river. It is expensive, but “location, location, location” as they say! The river that way is truly beautiful and well worth the extra. The parks and general landscape are lovely. There’s gorgeoys riverside walks and pubs / restaurants everywhere and it’s very green. The river makes the pace of life feel less hectic, somehow. You won’t get a house with a garage for your budget. But I had a quick nosey on Rightmove. There was a 2-bed apartment with a back garden going right into the river and it had an underground parking space. It was in Strawberry Vale, I think and about £2,500 per month with an underground parking space where you could put the motorbikes. I think, if it’s just the two of you and the kids have gone, you’d have a better lifestyle somewhere like that because so much is within walking distance. Central London also very accessible. Also, very close to Feltham.

Places like Egham, Virginia Water, Oxshott etc are basically the Surrey commuter belt. Lots of big, multi-million houses in private wooded plots. Esther has a town centre that’s kind of villagey, but again prime commuter belt.

I agree with a pp you could get more for your money in NE Hants, but towns like Fleet and Farnborough are proper suburbia and a bit on the bland side, imo.

Also traffic in London / Surrey can be a total nightmare. Somewhere that looks like it has good road access to Feltham could take hours at peak times. This is why I’m suggesting it might be worth just paying up to live on the river side of Feltham (ie Teddington, Hampton etc) because you could cycle or even walk. You don’t need much space if you live in a place that makes you want to go out and about. Much easier to meet people too, I think, in that kind of community than full-on suburbia.

Good luck!!!

And yes, Isleworth too.

For just over your £2k budget, there is a 2-bed apartment in this building with underground parking and back garden that goes down to the river. This is Strawberry Vale which (I think) is between Teddington and Hampton as the river winds down. Lovely part of the world! I live more Barnes / Putney way, but I do like it down there.

Absolutely DO NOT plan to commute across the river! Even Staines bridge or Chertsey bridge can regularly be awful. I live in Ashford and really like it. One train stop to Feltham, easy to get out of London, easy access to countryside, some lovely houses and a decent little town centre. (not many interesting shops but we have a decent greengrocer, butcher, 3 little supermarkets and an awesome ice-cream parlour!) We have some lovely little parks and a small river.

Absolutely DO NOT plan to commute across the river

Unless you're on a cycle or e-bike, then it's feasible.

Isleworth!!!

Try West Molesy or Hurst Park, both should be doable within your budget and have very easy access to the beautiful parks and Thames walks mentioned above. Not great for the train but you don’t mention that as a priority. Very close to Hersham but nicer. E Molesey is nicer but probably out of budget but do check.

@sirfredfredgeorge Fair point

Look at commuting by train instead of driving and then anywhere on the direct train line is accessible - Feltham is on the Reading to London Waterloo via Richmond line. So you could look further west into Berkshire for better value for money compared to Surrey.

A PP mentioned Aldershot - it'll be cheaper than the other places mentioned but there is a reason for that. It's not dreadful, but pretty down at heel. Camberley or Frimley?

Thank you guys so much, this is exactly the kind of real advice I was looking for! And just one more question please? When on a motorbike, is it legal to filter through traffic? Would that help reduce the commute times? I have Googled, but different sites give different answers, what is the weather really like? I mean would we be naive to think that DH can commute on the bike from say March to September ish, to reduce commute times (if allowed to filter)

@GirlInterrupted, what's driving the move? Is it a better salary for your DH (I'm making no assumptions, that's just the impression I get from your posts). If so, I wouldn't recommend it from your current lifestyle.

I'll probably get a gentle flaming for this, but you couldn't pay me any amount of money to live in Surrey. I get strange feelings of dislocation in the home counties. London I love, I have and would quite happily live in zones 1 or 2, 3 at a push. But when you start to travel out beyond it's a bit strange. Central London is a black hole affecting everything within a 50 mile radius. The suburbs and home counties are all denuded satialites of the capital.

I'm not sure where you live in Ireland, I lived in Co. Cork for five years and loved it, but it would be a massive culture-shock to go from rural Ireland (and I presume you're rural given your current rent), to the cultural maw that is Surrey.

No doubt I'll get a thousand posters telling me I'm wrong and that Surrey is an A1, tip-top place to live. It's not. It'll suck the life out of ye.

FWIW my sister lives there, in one of It's 'best locations' in a house worth about 2M. It always makes me feel peculiar and a bit grubby whenever we visit.

I live in the Woking area (Horsell) and when not WFH have spent many years commuting to the Sunbury area (so pretty close to feltham). It is an easy drive of about 35 mins in busy traffic (pre COVID - nowadays it’s more like 25-30), and that’s leaving lazily at 8.15 ish. I go up the A320, short chunk of m25, and the last junction of the m3 to Sunbury. Commute would vary from 25 mins (v quiet) to 45 mins (awful traffic) with the occasional wtf hour plus once every 6 months if there’d been an accident. But it was a remarkably predictable and easy commute compared to living in eg the Richmond or Hampton area and getting snarled up in traffic.
Horsell exactly fits your description I think, apart from the prices.