Moving to Surrey

[Chen23]

Finally making the move out of London (Highgate) to be a bit nearer my parents (but not too close! ) and for the sake of our dd's schooling.

We've settled on either Horsell near Woking or Godalming / Busbridge.

I'm guessing (but not sure) that we'll get more for our money in Horsell and the commute back to London will be a little shorter from there too but from what we've seen Godalming seems the nicer of the two area's, if a little up itself and smug .

Any local knowledge or recommendations of which we should go for much appreciated!

I think the schools in Horsell are well thought of.

We were looking at Horsell and LOVED it but I'd have said it's the other way around - house prices are really high. Little village high street is really lovely, everything you need, and fab schools apparently. Some houses advertised as being in Horsell though which clearly aren't, we found. Houses in the Horsell School catchment and within walking distance to village centre were too expensive for us I'm afraid!

Thanks for that IHeartKingThistle

Do you know approx how big the catchment is for Horsell school? Heard some very good things about it

Our budget is around £825 / £850, not much on the market at the moment. August seems a bit quiet.

You might be OK then, our budget was less! We could have got the amount of bedrooms we needed but not the living space - I would have been prepared to compromise on the house to some extent because I liked the area so much but had no luck. It seems to be a really popular area though, houses were being snapped up super-fast.

Don't know about the catchment area, sorry, but there are others quite nearby so I'm guessing it could be quite a small area.

Good luck!

That is quite a good budget for Horsell. Not sure about catchemnt. The best thing to do would be to phone the school aqnd ask them!

I might have a look on rightmove for you!

swimming pool

must be very near to the school! but a bit over budget

Oh dear, that's about it! I see what you mean.

How about something a bit further out?

canal frontage anyone? Nice road!

I would definitely choose Godalming of the two options. The centre of Horsell village is ok, but it's sandwiched between Woking town centre which is dire and Goldsworth Park estate which is ordinary and depressing beyond belief! Woking town centre and Horsell Common are also sadly becoming known for racist attacks (young Asian lads vs young white lads - usually over mobile phones or some such triviality).

Godalming is certainly a lot prettier, and given that you'd need to drive to Woking station from Horsell to commute (and station parking is extortionate), I'm not sure being 5-10 minutes closer up the line to London is a benefit. Plus you're lucky to get a seat at Woking as the trains are rammed.

Would you think about Guildford? Roughly between the two locations you're looking at, nice shops, a good commute and easy access to open countryside while not being quite as rural as Godalming.

Much appreciated KingThistle / CeCe

Not much seems to stay on the market in Horsell very long and definitely not much about right now. That's definitely the higher end of our budget and would prefer to spend less if possible(!!)

Going to pop down to Horsell and Godalming tomorrow, grab a bite to eat and have a look see. Been to both a couple of times but feel like we should spend as much time as possible in both before we commit

That Gateway house is a few doors down from my inlaws cece! It is a nice road, but not walkable to anywhere. My DH grew up on that road and spent his life being taxi-ed around everywhere (mostly to get out of Woking!)

crazycat - oh you Inlaws ar e near me then!

Oh how funny! You probably know the church where we got married then - All Saints, just literally across the road from the top of Woodham Waye/The Gateway. Very nice little church.

I grew up round there too - my family lived just off Woodham Rd (Horsell end).

small world...

Just got back from a nice day out driving around Surrey

Horsell does seem like a really lovely, cute village with some good amenities (does anyone know if that big chinese restaurant is any good?!). Woking comes across as a bit grim, even on a Sunday but I guess we'd only ever got there to grab some shopping or get the train into town. Think I'd probably give it a miss otherwise.

Godalming was lovely, only ever been there on a Saturday before so was a bit surprised (nicely) by how quiet and calm it is, even on the high street. The pay off for that was that most places were closed, including the restaurants. Ate at some place called Grills and Greens (I think) which was pretty average. Not sure there's a lot of good restaurants there but I'm sure there's loads within driving distance and in any case that seems a small price to pay for what I think will be a big uptick in our quality of life.

Think we've pretty much decided on Godalming, it does seem pretty super smug and unrelentingly middle class (even the check out girl in Waitrose had a super plummy accent!) but I guess that comes with the territory in nice areas with a decent commute to London.

Just got to find somewhere on the market now.....

Glad you've come to a decision Chen. And if you do find yourself passing through Horsell, the Chinese take away across the road from the massive restaurant is pretty good.

Godalming is lovely, you'll walk to the station with a smile on your face, which is much harder to do in Woking!

Restaurants in either town are not great really. Guildford has some better choices, although if you're in Godalming that's not far from Midhurst where the Spread Eagle is lovely (expensive), and there is a very nice gastropub with rooms in Chiddingfold (The Swan?), which is close by too.

Oh dear I was hoping you were going to like Horsell. I think the problem is that everybody thinks Godalming is great and few houses on the market at quite a premium. Will probably be bidding against you soon for a property, atlhough our budget is a bit higher but I think we will all grab what we can get!