Moving to outskirts of Exeter - Ottery St Mary / Sidmouth...?

[KatEddy]

Good morning everyone. We are planning to move down to outskirts of Exeter - currently looking at Ottery St. Mary and Sidmouth. It'll be the four of us - me and hubby plus twin boys (3 years). Our budget is 550k max and looking for an area with good schools and access to outside space/beach not too far plus a community so the boys can play with their friends, join sports and drama clubs etc.

I know there's been a lot of building around the outskirts of Exeter so I'd be really interested to get some insights on whether these are still good areas to live in for young families or any other recommendations!

We've got friends in Exeter and family in North Devon but can drive and are used to driving 20+ mins to get to places.

Thank you so much

I live in East Devon and of those two locations with young children would choose Sidmouth as there is more going on. I live in another coastal town and think they offer the best balance, I don’t particularly like Ottery and do know it quite well

I would avoid all the built up areas outside Exeter - a bit suburban bleurgh and schools are crap. I’d go for a town - sidmouth nice (sidmouth college not in a great place right now but hopefully might improve) ottery smaller but nice (and king’s school very good). Lots of good primaries around. Loads of sport/activity clubs in all those areas. Colyton grammar excellent.

Thank you for the reply. What's Sidford like? Is it basically a housing estate type place? There seem to be a lot more housing available there atm.

My nana retired to Sidmouth. It’s a very pleasant town and has the famous folk festival every year.

I was born and brought up in Sidmouth and went to school in Ottery St Mary. This was in the 70s when we still
had the grammar school system. I would move back to Sidmouth tomorrow but the incredibly high house prices mean a move is unlikely.

Sidmouth is wonderful. Great community spirit, loads going on, two beaches (mostly pebbly), The Byes around the R. Sid, Waitrose, folk festival, etc. I rented there for a year and loved it, but ultimately decided to buy nearer to Exeter, with better trains/buses/access to M5. (But I'm childfree and over 60.)

I also looked at Ottery St Mary (don't miss the tumbling weir: https://www.visitdevon.co.uk/sidmouth/listings-sidmouth/tumbling-weir/322293301/) but for me it didn't compete. Further from sea, didn't like the vibe and various Devonians warned me against it.) But goodness there's a fabulous mill conversion that I wanted to buy in... https://hallandscott.co.uk/development/otter-mill/

Good luck. East Devon's lovely and underrated.

Hi just wondering if you made the move and what your experience has been? We’re looking at moving to Sidmouth/Honiton very soon with our 6 and 2 year old kids. Would love some insider tips! Thanks

We ended up making a big swerve location wise and are now moving to North Devon, closer to family. We do love the Sidmouth area but found it very expensive to get what we wanted.

Hi, just wondering whether you ended up moving and which area you selected? We are also looking to move to the sidmouth area and are finding it quite complicated with having to choose a secondary school!
We are visiting The Kings school in Ottery St Mary next week and that will potentially determine if we proceed with the move. We looked at two properties so far in West Hill and Colyford (for Colyton GS) but they seemed quite overpriced and so struggling to find anything comparable to our current house.
If you’ve moved I hope you’ve settled in well!

Morning 😊 we are in the process of moving (had a few delays on the way) but we ended up choosing to go to North Devon. Main reasons are because it's where family are based but we also found similar to you - the houses were very expensive in the Sidmouth area and we couldn't find what we wanted in Ottery. We also looked in South Devon (which we love) but that is also v expensive so ultimately decided to be closer to family and have found a fab house in a nice village with primary school & playground etc.

Good luck with your move. Kings has such a good reputation!