To move from London to Guildford

[todayortomorrow]

I live in Balham and might be done with London. Kids in Y4 and Y1. Thinking of moving to Guildford (the mount) with the aim of the kids going to Guildford County School for secondary. Might need to send them to private primary at least at the start as can't find spaces in any local state primaries but that is do-able. So my questions for others who have done similar moves is - did they work for your family? We'd both still need to come to London 1-3 times a week, and i'm worried that the grass is always greener. So while we'd get less crime, more space, less filth, we might be bored, struggle to make new friends, spend a lot of time commuting. Would love thoughts and any Guildford advice thanks

I moved from Croydon to Guildford & best thing I ever did.
County is over subscribed so not everyone gets a place but the other options are also good eg George Abbott.
It's about 40mins into Waterloo by train. The strikes are a massive nuisance if you can't be flexible/WFH.
I can't think of anything I missed leaving London tbh.
The area around The Mount is okay. The council flat tower blocks are seedy but the area as a whole is okay. It's not the biggest student area in Guildford but there are still a lot of student lets up there.
The traffic up the Farnham road & onto the Hogs back is frequently bad as is the traffic around the one way system.
There's lots of planning applications for developments eg the old Debenhams site so the population will grow & become more like woking in years to come I suspect.

Half of London ( the well of 30 - 40 year olds especially) now seem to move to Guildford and other stops down the train line to Portsmouth. You'll be right at home.

Question should be - what can you add to Guildford. There's enough money already. I suspect just another couple of massive SUV's and boosting the membership of groups for similar ex pats from London.

Hoping my name change has worked…

I moved from London to Guildford about 6 years ago. It’s a move that a lot of people make! I had a wobble a few months after I moved because I missed being able to see my friends easily, have big nights out etc. But now I’m getting closer to 40 actually pretty much all my friends have moved out of London so it wouldn’t be the same even if I was there. It took a little while to get to know people here but I feel part of the community now.

Commuting is annoying when there’s a strike or some random problem but it’s fine normally. Trains are quite frequent and not too slow.

The mount itself is a nice place to live (in a non stalkerish way I wonder which house you’re looking at…). I like going for walks up there and it’s close to town. Traffic in Guildford is awful at rush hour but from there you’d be walking mainly presumably.

On schools, St Nicolas is I guess full but are there no places at Onslow Infants or Queen Eleanor?

Thanks! Definitely no spaces at Queen Eleanor, huge waitlist. It's the new build house - number 90. Can I ask how you manage the longer commute time in terms of juggling childcare etc?

@lightisnotwhite we've got a 12 year old skoda, will that work?

TBH, the future is London
Why not move to a different part of London, greater London, many nice places and just outside that area - saves travel costs and more importantly time.
The kids will also have a better future, IMO

And why will the children have a better future, @DistinguishedSocialCommentator ?

Seriously!!!
London is the centre for top jobs and that is a fact.
There is also many more job op's for those who want to work.
You are close to international airports, relatively close to the sea, Eurostar and people from all over the world come to London a dn are aware where it is.

You will have your own views on this and that's your prerogative.

I know what London has, I lived there for many years. Not as a child though, I moved there after graduating. You see, growing up elsewhere doesn’t mean that London jobs are denied to you in the future.

Who said they were???

What is "denied" to many is the fact they can't afford the housing in London if moving from Blackpool, Preston, Bradford, Stokontrent etc as avg house prices there are a bit lower on the whole and that is a fact

And Guildford is only 40 mins on the train from London, so you can both live in Guildford and take advantage of the jobs London has to offer!

What’s that got to do with living in Guildford though, which is a) also really expensive and b) commutable into London?

Why not move to a different part of London, greater London, many nice places and just outside that area - saves travel costs and more importantly time.

Guildford is pretty close to parts of outer London though.

The shops in Guildford are dreadful. I went there last week and Holland and Barrett have shut down too now.

And being 40 minutes from London is great if the trains are reliable but you can't go anywhere without wondering if you'll be stranded. It makes nightlife and culture in London less accessible.

I'm staying with my dad in the area at the moment, grew up round here too. I hate it just as much now as I did as a teenager.

@todayortomorrow the one thing I would be mindful is coming from Balham you will have shops/station etc on your doorstep & that’s not always true in other places and you have to drive everywhere. Also it may be difficult to regular navigate commuting for both as the trains can be delayed/cancelled.

And being 40 minutes from London is great if the trains are reliable but you can't go anywhere without wondering if you'll be stranded. It makes nightlife and culture in London less accessible.

Plenty of places in London involve a similar commute into town though.

The mount is in the town centre so shops/station are within walking distance. Just a bit steep on the way home.

I’m surprised QE is so full as I know it’s got spaces in other years.

For commuting, we try to arrange it so that one of us is WFH and does the school run each day so we don’t have to worry about leaving on time. Depends on your working hours. Some people do 1 person drop off and the other pick up. All schools I know have good wrap around care.

Of course it’s different from living in London. I find it a lot less stressful. I also have a proper house! With a garden! And a drive! I find the parenting a lot less competitive but that might be just where I was living in London before. I like that I bump into people I know all the time. Other people will find that boring and stifling. I personally would find living in London residential suburbia duller though.

Thanks. By okay, do you mean there are nicer areas to live in? Want to move somewhere with minimal risk of muggings etc

I don’t know Guildford that well but that’s good.

I have a few friends who have moved out to outer London/home counties & some of them hate the fact they have to drive everywhere.

The Mount is very safe and in a nice area.

The shops in Guildford are far from 'dreadful' , shop closures are indicative of National /Global economy issues plus a general shift in shopping habits IE online. Guildford is prosperous & is first port of call for many brands coming out of London. Try comparing it to a deprived area & see which is the more dreadful..

The only muggings people from Surrey face are when they go in to London. Muggings are pretty unheard of in Surrey.

Pewley Way/ Charlottesville area is more desirable

I went shopping in Guildford last week and thought it was fine.

Other people will find that boring and stifling. I personally would find living in London residential suburbia duller though.

Whats the difference @Guildfordian? Between somewhere like Guildford & a residential area of London?