Moving to South East England, help!

[DanzSA]

Hello.
I am relocating from Scotland to South East England with my husband and daughter. We are South African so we are not familiar with England. I am looking at places on Rightmove but the search can be overwhelming when you have to Google each place to find out if it's a 'nice' place to live.

Looking for a place that is safe and family oriented in the south east of England. I have a 21 month old daughter so being in a nice, safe area is my number one priority. Any help will be appreciated.

The south east us a big area, can you narrow it down a bit?

Are you looking for city, town, village or more rural?
Do you drive or will you need good public transport links?
Will you need to commute to anywhere?
Do you need easy access to Scotland or anywhere else?
Will you be going down state or private schools?
Will you be renting or buying a property?
Budget?
What size property?
Garden? Garage?
House or flat?

We live in Deal, Kent which is a nice seaside town with fast trains to London. It’s got shingle beaches, a free paddling pool for little ones and nice parks.

South east is technically Hampshire eastwards and everywhere that way south of London and to include Essex.

It's a vast area!

Agree with above poster to give us more of an idea so we can help!

I love Hampshire so can help with that county!

We're in Kent and love it but definitely need more information about budget and size etc to help more

South east England has a population of about 20 million, including London. That's nearly four times that of Scotland, OP you need to give a lot more info before people can help!

Most places are safe in the uk if you are thinking of violent crime.

Loads of nice places in Hampshire with good train routes to london, easy access to Heathrow, weather is brilliant for this country, some lovely villages a d small towns. Winchester is gorgeous. House prices are high though!

If you need to commute to central london I'd look at Sevenoaks

South East is a huge place so would be good to have more details to narrow it down.

Places that might be worth a look are:

• Brighton & Hove
• Worthing
• Lewes
• Haywards Heath/Cuckfield/Lindfield
• Hassocks/Hustpierpoint areas
• Horsham
• Chichester

Places that people would tell you to avoid (although personally I don't think any of them are that bad)

• Hastings
• Newhaven
• Crawley

But they are all very different places and all in Sussex. So they'll be 100's more places.

Whereabouts in the south east do you need to be

I know it's a big area that's why it gets overwhelming. My husband will be covering that area for work so tbh it's not such a big deal where, was just wanting an idea so I could narrow our search down. We will be renting at first and would like to have at least two bedrooms with a garden. Looking at around £1000 pm. Places that we would like (but not essential) to be relatively close to is Surrey, Basingstoke, Southampton. PS, I know the crime is not violent in comparison to SA , but I just want to feel comfortable at home and going for walks, especially because I have a little girl :)

Where does the person who currently does his new job live? Sounds as if somewhere off the M3 would be good.

Alton? How old is your daughter? Senior or primary school?

She's only 1.

at least two bedrooms with a garden. Looking at around £1000 pm

That rules out anywhere reasonably near London. If your husband has to cover the whole of the SE, then presumably he'll want to be near the motorway network. Are you looking for a rural setting, or happy to live in a town?

I use this as a measure of “nice” vis.oobrien.com/booth/#

You can also look at crime on the police website. www.police.uk/pu/your-area/

You've mentioned Basingstoke and Southampton.

So I'd recommend looking at Eastleigh, chandlers ford, Romsey and Alton as well as those areas specifically.

Southampton is a very mixed area with regards what you'll find like most cities. There are areas of very poor socio economic deprivation where crime rates are higher - but probably not SA high!

Eastleigh has the lakeside area and Fleming park that provide plenty of scope for outside exploration and walking. Fleming park also has a splash pool for children which is great in summer.

Basingstoke and Alton in the north of Hants are easier for commute to London and also have lots of lovely outside areas and there more country parks in the north of the county although there are also quite a number further south.

Look at
Chandlers Ford
Otterbourne
Hedge End
Botley

I grew up near Horsham, it’s very family friendly and safe with good schools too. Chichester is also lovely, as are the villages around there. Sevenoaks and around there is also great, very pleasant countryside. If I was moving to the area I’d probably look around Chichester but only because I don’t know it as well around Hampshire. It’s all safe and family friendly though, although I’d avoid the bigger towns like Portsmouth or Plymouth.
Areas like Haslemere and Godalming are also great, take a look at the medium sized villages as well (Pulborough, Lockwood, Cranleigh, Midhurst).
It’s a very nice area, generally nice weather and plenty to do and see around there.

Loxwood not Lockwood.

I'd also suggest Colchester in Essex and the many villages around it - that includes those in nearby Suffolk, near Sudbury etc. Better rental options in terms of pricing and nice, safe places with good local schools.

I doubt you would get 2 beds and a garden for £1000 pcm in Sevenoaks. But as others have said the SE is a huge area so no need to pick somewhere expensive.

Do think ahead about schools though as I think you may be surprised how small catchments are in some parts of the SE. It's a different system to Scotland where I understand they have to accommodate your child in the local school mostly.

In terms of personal safety I really wouldn't worry, but you might consider traffic as it can be awful and it's nice not to have to worry about air pollution and road safety.

Your DH definitely needs to put a lot of thought into where he'll be travelling, how (train or car), and how often.

For example, I live in an outer London Borough which is well placed for driving into Kent or train into central or north London, but 2 bed flats with gardens go for £1,500 pcm at least, and access to east and west London isn't great.