What's life like living in boroughs of Rushmoor (UK)?

[EminSydney]

Hi there everyone
This is my first post, and I've wondered in here looking for advice, tips and just a chat to understand what my family and I will be getting into if we move to England, where my DH has an office in Aldershot and another one in central London. The 2 offices are looking to combine but not sure where they'll relocate to. However, we are trying to find out if it is even feasible for us to move (looking at Aldershot office, more green space).

About us; we live in Sydney Australia. 2 boys who will be in high school when we do move. They are currently attending selective schools here, and one of the questions re moving is if they will be able to get into a good (selective/grammar??) school.

A reason why we want to move is to live in a more connected place, where short trips to a whole new environment is possible. Australia is pretty far from anywhere else. Also, I am increasingly getting bored living where I am. Life is really comfortable right now where we live but boring. Nothing ever happens here. It gets really hot or cold but you don't see much changes in the landscape throughout the year. We used to live in Singapore, and they have a vibrant multicultural setting.

So a big question as to whether it is worthwhile to move to England (the Rushmoor/hampshire area? sorry not familiar with the administrative areas yet).

I'd like to understand what's life like in the UK in that area? Any festivals going on throughout the year? What do residents get excited about?

I know we will enjoy the cooler weather, and I love rainy days :)
I look forward to the seasonal changes in the outdoors.

Looking forward to hearing from the locals.

Would your kids be classed as international students at UK universities meaning it would be REALLY expensive to send them?

Guildford is generally ok, Farnham smaller but nicer imo. How much is your budget and for how many bedrooms? What month will your eldest turn 15? Are you looking at state, grammar or private schools?

Which ones are nice villages? Heard Farnham is quite pricey. Is it also a village? What makes a suburb a village? I mean how do I tell?

We haven't got to looking or thinking about unis yet. We would have right of abode to be eligible for state education, but not sure about uni.

You should be fine if your eldest is 14. It’s three years’ UK residency to qualify as a domestic student, assuming that your children are legally able to live in the UK.

Your question about schools if you moved to the area is answered easily. Salesian college in farnborough. Have a look.

The areas you are looking at are basically all Suburbs IMO. A village would be more rural and not directly connected to another village. But I think different people have different perceptions of what the differences are.

You would need to get your oldest son into school before year 10 as that's when GCSEs start. The areas you seem to like are very expensive.

I live in a village called Medstead, and almost in another village called Four Marks.

It's beautiful here...it's 10 mins drive to Alton which has a train to Waterloo.

Lovely community feel and surrounded by countryside. We have a big forest called Chawton Woods 5 mins walk away.

Excellent local schools.

It isn't the quickest to get into London - train is 1hr 15 mins, but I do it 1-2 times a week and find that fine.

We are also only 5 mins from Chawton, a very quaint village where you can visit Jane Austen's house and 15 mins drive from Winchester if you need a city.

What sort of budget do you have and what size property do you want?

I grew up in Farnborough and found it soulless! My parents moved from there to the coast twenty years ago and none of us have ever felt the need to go back. It’s also grown a lot since I lived there but it looks like more people living there with no increase in amenities.

Farnborough and Aldershot are both towns. I’m sure there are nice villages, especially over the Surrey border. But Farnborough is a suburb with nothing much going for it, especially compared to Sydney!

Farnham is a market town surrounded by smaller villages. Very community focused but yes its expensive to buy. A lot will depend on your budget.

Suburbs are considered to be the outlying areas of a city - so London has suburbs.
Areas such as Fleet, Farnborough, Farnham, Aldershot etc are towns. Villages are then smaller populations.

Farnborough, Camberley and Frimley are all bigger but have a bit of an Aldershot feel really. There are some nicer areas of Aldershot but not sure I'd swap them for Sydney!

North Farnham is slightly (but not much) less pricey and snooty than South Farnham - Hale/Upper Hale are very nice and closer to Aldershot. Even Weybourne and Heath End might be an option.

Depends if you prefer rural Village or Town feel really. Church Crookham might be another place to look for more rural. Ash and Tongham also possible, don't know those so well, bit nicer than Aldershot I think, but not as nice as Farnham.

Many villages and towns will be old ( 100’s of years) and established . The problem is somewhere get lots of rapid growth for a reason ( RAF in Farnborough's case) loses identity and basically become lots of housing with generic shops off the busy main roads which then becomes a town. Hence people saying Farnborough is soulless..

Having a list of names to places to check out will be very useful.
Thank you!!!

Another question, was specking to a British parent who moved here from London years ago, and he was saying there's a big mold problem in the homes all the time because of the climate... Worried face
Is that true for most areas or some areas in England? Or does it depend on the house? I mean I love the rain (I don't call rainy days bad days). But mold all year round would be another story. Silly thing to worry about but better to know everything we'll be dealing with.:)

I don't think it's fair to say mold is a problem in most houses. Small amounts can usually be kept on top of with good ventilation/use of dehumidifiers. A survey will highlight any problem areas or big issues and probably more likely in older houses/in the winter months. It's something to look out for but not massively worry about, but can be a nightmare if not picked up.

Aldershot does have a reputation, but to be honest, as others have pointed out, there is a bit of regeneration going on. Plus it has become the more affordable option for local people priced out of Farnham, so arguably the population is changing for the better in terms of community. It just doesn't have the character, history or architecture of Farnham or Guildford or surrounding villages.

The other thing to consider is that Farnham is going through a massive and controversial redevelopment of the town centre, with a major block development of shops and cinema etc (yet to open) plus a tonne of new housing. Time will tell of it's true impact but many are concerned with the traffic flow around the town because of it (which is pretty horrendous as it is!). Join the local "Love Farnham" pages on Facebook and you'll get more of a feel for what's going on.

I know the area you are considering quite well and I wouldn't move to Aldershot. There are some lovely roads with great houses, but the town centre is nothing to write home about. There are villages close by like Ash Vale which are a bit nicer but the secondary school there isn't amazing.

Farnborough is similar and has even less of a town centre.

Camberley isn't bad, it has decent housing stock, an ok town centre and is close to Aldershot. But it is not on the mainline to London - it's a slow line.

Fleet has good schools and the area it's in (Hart) has won a few "best place to live in the UK" awards although not so much recently. But it has a decent leisure centre, good transport links and crime is low.

Farnham is prettier, but more expensive and not on the mainline to London.

Guildford is a very attractive town (it should be a city) with decent shops and transport links and fabulous countryside around it. But it has the prices to match.

Alton is also quite nice, but further out from London from Farnham. It also has good schools.

One other option to consider might be the towns around Reading as there is a bit more going on in Reading, but towns like Wokingham are attractive. You're also not that far from London by train or Aldershot by car.

It's not a particularly cosmopolitan area, but becoming more so. Tesco in Aldershot has a big "world foods" section. But if you want more Asian food you'd probably need to go to Woking or Reading.

If you can afford it, Guildford would win for me (although the people can be up themselves).

As for the controversial redevelopment of the area, I first visited Farnham in 1999 and it was discussed then (probably way before that, too). There was a derelict and run down area where a theatre had been. Quite frankly, anything would have been better than what was there, and it was shocking how long vested interests stopped anything happening. What is going up is ok. It might affect traffic - but so would anything.

I don't have a great deal to add, but just wanted to mention the fabulous West End Centre in Aldershot. Pre-children we were going there every month to watch well known comedians at very reasonable prices.
They also seem to do a lot of arts and family events too
https://www.westendcentre.co.uk/

Lol I imagine vested interests formed a defence from both opposing sides! But anyway, let's not drag that here - just something for the op to think about. There is big change ahead for Farnham, whichever you look at it.

I live in the area and know it well, i looked at houses in most of the areas mentioned. Where I'd suggest you live depends on your budget. In short, unless you can't afford anywhere else, I'd avoid Aldershot. Ash Vale, Ash, Mychett, Frimley are nicer than Aldershot and more expensive but still considered affordable for the area. Same with Badshot Lea, Hale, Weybourne. If money is no object then Farnham, Pirbright, or any of the Surrey Hills Guildford Villages, Churt, Tilford, Shackleford, Puttenham etc etc.

I get quite annoyed when I hear people say "It's known as/called Aldershit for a reason", that just simply isn't true, I have lived in Aldershot since 1995 when I was first posted to the town, since leaving the Army I settled here with my wife and have brought up our three children here without any trouble whatsoever.

The town itself has been neglected somewhat, since the army moved out, there used to be about 15 barracks in the town plus there were a number of barracks in the surrounding areas, now there are but a handful. Due to an enormous amount of revenue lost to troops departing Aldershot, retailers have subsequently shut up shop and moved.

There is now (2023) significant redevelopment in the town but I doubt we will see a return to the high street of the 90's. That being said, it is very easy and quick to do a normal grocery shop, there are three major supermarkets in Aldershot itself (Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrison) it should take no longer than 5 minutes to drive to any of them no matter where you live in Aldershot.

There is a cinema, several bars/pubs, and restaurants, more takeaway shops than you could shake a stick at and culturally Aldershot is quite diverse, there are a number of Polish, Caribbean and Asian 'supermarkets' to cater for that particular demographic.

People in Aldershot are friendly, you do get a very small minority of undesirable people hanging around the town centre but they generally keep to themselves, no different to any other town in the UK.

What Aldershot has going for itself is the fantastic location, as other posters have said, you are an hour from London, 45-90 mins from the coast (depending on where you want to go) Brighton/Hastings/Bognor/West Wittering/Weymouth are all within a short drive away.

You have some fantastic walks around you with the South Downs on your doorstep, lots of woodland areas to explore, good shopping to be had in Basingstoke, Farnham, Bracknell, Guildford, Woking (not so much Woking as the Town has gone bankrupt) all within a 30 min drive away.

Great sports facilities, swimming pools, Lido and local clubs for children, lots of schools to choose from, obviously some better than others.

The town is reasonably clean, not as much graffiti as you would find in Brighton or London (in fact very little), there is a rich military history in Aldershot, a few museums to visit.

House prices are much more reasonable than surrounding areas and given the close proximity of London it is a commuters dream!

I have lived and worked all over the UK, the North East, Yorkshire, Essex, London, Hampshire & Wiltshire and I wouldn't say Aldershot was the worst place to live, not even close! If you want a balance of affordable housing, job opportunities, decent education, reasonably safe etc then Aldershot ticks all of those boxes!

@DamianH slightly derailing but what changes have you noticed in Woking since the council went bankrupt? I don't doubt the bankruptcy will be felt by the residents in time, but shopping wise it feels exactly the same to me.
There have been some closures e.g. Paperchase and Wilkos but these were due to the company going into administration not because of the council.
In fact there's a new shop opening soon, Sostrene Green, which I'm far more excited about than I probably should be😆

@DamianH No one is saying Aldershot is comparable to Mosside, Cleveland, Tower Hamlets etc (if they are, they need to get out more), it's perfectly OK for the reasons you've mentioned. There's some serious deprivation in the UK, and Aldershot isn't it. It also offers people cheaper housing than they'd find anywhere else locally. However, this part of Surrey and Hampshire has some incredibly desirable and expensive areas, which make the areas around them, that are less desirable, look unappealing in comparison. So my advice to the OP stands, don't move to Aldershot unless you have no other choice as there are much nicer areas.