Is Caterham a nice place to live?

[wordlymama]

Hi All, I know there have been threads in the past asking about Caterham and what it is like to live there - but I was wondering if there are any recent insights or advice on if Caterham is a family friendly and safe area to live? The prices here seem lower than other areas such Epsom, Leatherhead, Tadworth etc. Why is that?

Would you recommend or not recomment Caterham for a young family with two young children?

Thank You in advance!

Depends where. Stafford Road and Croydon Road are probably best avoided but area around Caterham School has some nice properties and Caterham on the Hill has a newish estate built on site of former army barracks as well as some leafy roads . It is quite a disjointed town and variable socially , but Epsom is a very similar demographic if larger. Town centre is due for a revamp. Station is in Caterham Valley and there is a steep hill down from Caterham on the Hill. Chaldon is a village a little way away on the downs with nice infant school and access by road to Caterham, Merstham and Redhil.

@LIZS - Thank you so so much for all your advise and all the information you so generously provided. I really appreciate it!

Is Redhill not so great either? I noticed the prices are more affordable compared to Reigate, but I read online that it's less safe than Reigate? Is that true in your opnion?

Also, what are your thoughts about Tadworth? We are wanting to live nearby to Reigate, but probably in a slightly more affordable area.

Thank You so much.

Redhill is mixed , but so are areas of Reigate. Tadworth is small and has limited facilities. Banstead is larger although the station is not in the town centre. Personally although on good run Tadworth is accessible to Reigate in 10-15 minutes, in practice the A 217 can be very congested as it crosses M25 junction and at the moment there is a long diversion while Reigate Hill is closed. Assume you would have a car as public transport connections not great.

@LIZS - Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice! It is so incredibly helpful!

Since we are moving from California to the Surrey area, we are looking to rent initially and get to know the different areas better before we buy. Are there any areas near Reigate that you would recommend? I would be driving the children to school, yes. But my husband would be likely catching the train into London during the week.

Thank you so much! Your advice across all the different threads has been so helpful, i sincerely appreciate it!

For the station in Reigate you probably need to be looking around the centre, so perhaps between Wray Common, Blackborough Road, and Reigate Hill, roads off A25/Croydon Road and around Nutley Lane, or to west of Priory Park. Alternatively to walk to Redhill atation (15-20 minutes)which has a better London service look around Hatchlands Road, Wray Common road and Waterlow Road area, right on the edge of Redhill. Offroad parking comes at a premium and the roads can be awkward to park on. Having known a family looking for similar recently the property market moves rapidly so you need to be decisive if something catches your eye.

@LIZS Thank you so much, that is very helpful. And are Chipstead and Coulsdon areas safe and ok to live in with two children for a year or 2? I have heard from some that it's close proximity to Croydon can potentially make it a bit unsafe?

They're fine, a long way from any issues in Croydon. You may find driving into Reigate from there irritatingly slow though and train is slow and irregular from Chipstead.

@LIZS - oh that's good to hear about its safety! Thank you for that information.

Coulsdon has is a lovely pace to live with excellent state primary schools so attracts lots of families. The families I know in the area tend to stick with state rather than prep because they are so well regarded (but obviously bigger class sizes), even if they intend to go for Independent secondaries. Coulsdon would be my choice rather than Caterham, and is 20/30 mins away from central Croydon by road in normal traffic. The other more affordable option is Merstham, just north of Redhill.

Also prefer Coulsdon to Caterham. Trains from the latter take ages as it’s a stopping service unless you change at EC. Coulsdon is mega fast by comparison.

I used to live in Kenley so know the area reasonably well.

Can't beat Redhill for the train connections with London Bridge and Victoria. Have look at Google for speed of connections to your DH's office because although Chipstead and Kingswood are lovely areas to live in trains are painfully slow on that line. There are no direct trains from Reigate to London AFAIK.

Horley. Come to happy Horley. Good primaries and countryside on the doorstep and you can walk to Gatwick for trains. Service from Horley station is fine. Steer clear of Court Lodge estate.

@Fere

Can't beat Redhill for the train connections with London Bridge and Victoria. Have look at Google for speed of connections to your DH's office because although Chipstead and Kingswood are lovely areas to live in trains are painfully slow on that line. There are no direct trains from Reigate to London AFAIK.

There are London trains direct from Reigate or you change at Redhill for the Reading-Gatwick line. Reigate station and service is being upgraded.

Hi op have a look at Oxted, Woldingham, Warlingham too. All with good train links to London Bridge and Victoria very close to Caterham. I personally prefer Oxted to Caterham but it is more pricy to buy there.

But location really hinges on which school you decide upon. You would not live in Warlingham , or even Coulsdon, for a school in Reigate, even though they are not far apart on paper. .

South of Purley it gets leafy very quickly and feels a world away from Croydon. Out of the areas mentioned in my view Woldingham and Oxted are nicest (but pricey). They are also on a decent train line to London.

As with all of the south east, traffic can be very slow so I agree with the advice to sort schools and then find somewhere to live within easy reach.

Oxted is way nicer than caterham. Much better train link and much better schools.

Caterham is cheaper because it's on the end of a slow train line. You kind of have to look at places to live around London by train line - so some of the places mentioned by PP are pricer because they have fast train lines eg Oxted. Consider also Hurst Green only 1 minute further than Oxted by train but much more for your money.

Also agree that areas within areas very important. I would live in some areas of Caterham but not others and some areas are classed slams Redhill but are v close to Reigate.
What kind of schools are you looking for?

As ever your budget is going to dictate where is possible, it’s all well and good suggesting Woldingham but it’s mainly multi-million ££ huge houses. Very little ‘normal’ places from what I’ve seen. And no shops really, and no pub.

The nicest bit of Caterham is the south end of the valley, but again its mainly large expensive houses. Up on the hill is cheaper but pretty out on a limb transport wise. Reigate is really quite a lot more expensive.

I actually quite like Caterham as a place and the downs are very close, lots of beautiful countryside and great for walking. The Harrow on the southern edge is a lovely pub

Another suggestion, have you looked at Kent (Sevenoaks area) fast train into London (charring Cross I believe). You then have the grammar school options. Sevenoaks is v expensive but some of the surrounding areas and villages are more affordable.

@LIZS I was checking on Google for trains from Reigate and you are right, there's one train every 30 min to Victoria.
No direct trains to LB.

A lot depends on what you want in the area - all these places are fine (safe, green and nothing wrong with them) but eg Reigate or Oxted have shops, cinema, leisure centres etc whereas somewhere like Woldingham doesn’t have anything much so you’d need to drive for everything but it does have a pretty setting and lots of big houses.

Do you know where the commute will be to and whether you want a village or a town? Any particular amenities? Style of house or area? I would suggest to stay close to the school you choose or ask about traffic between areas in the direction you’d be travelling as many routes will be clogged up but some won’t.
I’m sure people could advise also based on the size of budget you might have, eg Reigate bring pretty dear compared to some of the other locations.

@LIZS

Redhill is mixed , but so are areas of Reigate. Tadworth is small and has limited facilities. Banstead is larger although the station is not in the town centre. Personally although on good run Tadworth is accessible to Reigate in 10-15 minutes, in practice the A 217 can be very congested as it crosses M25 junction and at the moment there is a long diversion while Reigate Hill is closed. Assume you would have a car as public transport connections not great.

Hi LIZS, My partner and I are looking to buy in Caterham. We found a few detached houses for sale on Stafford Rd, with large, nice gardens. Since Stafford Rd goes straight to the train station, we found it quite convenient. Could you explain why you didn't recommend Stafford Rd? Thanks so much for your help, you or others!

@LIZS
Hi LIZS,
My partner and I are looking to buy in Caterham. We found a few detached houses for sale on Stafford Rd, with large, nice gardens. Since Stafford Rd goes straight to the train station, we found it quite convenient.
Could you explain why you didn't recommend Stafford Rd?
Thanks so much for your help, you or others!