Surrey - Guildford (ish)

[Nix01]

Hello everyone,

We've finally returned from our scouting trip and sort of settled on around Guildford in Surrey (long story but got stuck on the M25 and liked what we saw!)

Can anyone recommend area's to avoid? We're a family of 4 (two boy children requiring primary education) and I'd prefer a 4 bedroom home with large garden etc etc etc.

Budget is max 600k.

Avoid Bellfields and Park Barn. But I doubt there'll be any houses at £600k there anyway!

Nicer areas include Stoughton, Worplesdon, Burpham and Merrow :)

Can recommend the Epsom road area between Merrow and the town centre. Lovely area, lots of good schools and nurseries, plenty of green spaces but not too far from the town and its facilities. Agree avoid Bellfields and Park Barn.

It also depends how close you want to be to the town centre, on your budget I'd live within walking distance as I really like Guildford and when your DC's are older they can get about without needing as many lifts. The divide used to be the A3, it's nicer to live on the Guildford side in lots of opinions (if you want walking distance from the town that is).

look down the A31 towards Farnham, with all the villages down there. Even Farnham itself. Excellent schools, both state and private. Good train links into London, easy to get to M3/M4/M25

I second Farnham. It's cheaper than Guildford and the state schools are just as good, or better. There is beautiful countryside around the whole area, including Guildford. Good choice!

Thank you all :)

Can you elaborate on area's down towards Farnham or link a map for me to see?

Would this map be right?

www.surreyproperty.com/farnham-maps.html

Guildford, Compton, Puttenham, Wanborough, Tongham, Seale, Badshot Lea?

I rather liked Worplesdon too, anywhere else around that area?

Ash green (huge gardens)
Ash; Ash Vale in parts; (great walks over Ash Ranges, not a lot of new development because of the protection to heathland birds)
Godalming
Elstead
Tilford is a little off the beaten track, but gorgeous. STill easy distance to Farnham station.

I would recommend looking at Merrow, Burpham area for secondary schools, and convenient for town. Examples of houses around your budget are:
this one
or this one
or even this one.
The key things to consider are secondary schools, and how easy it is for them to get to friends/the town once they are teenagers. Schools in Guildford also go through to 18 unlike schools in Farnham/Godalming (although they do have good sixth form colleges). Also if you need to get into London Guildford does have a better service, certainly compared to Farnham.
Worplesdon is lovely, but feeds into the less desirable Guildford Secondaries, although if your boys are very clever and you can afford private that may not be an issue.

A few years back we looked in Guildford with a similar budget and criteria to yours, and concluded it couldn't be done (sorry). I know another family who have recently tried and decided the same!

I think to find what you want within your budget, you need to either look towards Farnham or Woking/Weybridge/Walton (the latter are a shorter commute from London if that is needed).

You would then still be close enough to use the facilities in Guildford at weekends and go shopping there, and also close enough to send the boys to RGS later on if that is part of your plans.

You might get lucky and find a gem in Guildford, but I think expanding your search area is more realistic.

Mummytime, thanks for your link. I'd saved the first house :)

I rather like this one, but unsure of the area: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37991747.html?premiumA=true

Does anyone know Cardwells Keep? www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23154345.html?premiumA=true

Poppywearer, thanks for the input...where did you eventually settle?

Mummytime, ideally I'd love a super state school as my eldest has auditory processing issues which are being dealt with, I'm not sure if this classifies as special needs, it doesn't here.

I would forget Cardwells Keep and and Ash Green then, and aim to get my child in the George Abbot catchment, as it has a great SENCo, and will put children on SEN list without a diagnosis (my daughter is just because I have explained she has an issue processing verbal instructions).
I would compromise a lot though on the house to make sure I was in the catchment, (although you could look at Send which is also in the catchment at present).

Thanks. He's only 5 at the moment. Does he need to be a particular primary to feed into George Abbot?

My son has both auditory processing and auditory memory issues. But his therapist thinks he'll acquire the skills before April (our move date).

Separately, schools here don't teach reading and writing until they're 6, turning 7, so again he'll have quite some catching up to do.

I'll PM you!

If your son has Auditory Processing Disorder he will not be "cured" in a few months, if it is just some auditory delay maybe due to glue ear, then he could catch up quickly.
I'm assuming you are moving from overseas? If so, schools in the UK are reasonably used to kids coming in with little English and having not started to learn to read and write yet. For George Abbot it is distance to school which is the main admission criteria (after siblings) with a complication on the status of Send.
When you move here I would visit schools and talk about your sons issues, however it is the LA which will offer you a place, and as he will be in year 1 or 2 they will be limited to schools with room, as they can only have a maximum of 30 in a class.
I would also think about posting in the special needs area here to get some more advice on how to handle schools and what to ask for.

We're moving back to England. We're currently in South Africa where both children were born.

Mummytime, he was diagnosed in March and has made vast improvements. I imagine he will need ongoing therapy, but he's pretty much a different child :) But on the upside, we're English, he speaks no other language :)

What do you mean by LA?

LA = local authority.

Have you looked at Merrow? I think it's in the G Abbott catchment.

There are quite a few South African's in Guildford.
The LA for Guildford is Surrey County Council, their website is quite helpful.

This link will help with catchment areas for the George Abbott. We are on the Espom Road and are within catchment and my son has just started at Boxgrove Primary school which is great and has a good reputation and the SENCO is nice. Other local schools include St Thomas of Canterbury (Catholic) and Merrow Infants (CofE) which feeds into Bushy Hill Junior school. These I think all feed into George Abbott depending on your location.

Poppywearer sorry but I disagree - there are plenty of properties in this area within budget and some excellent schools. The new Boxgrove Gardens development still has some houses available which would be in budget. Gardens aren't massive but there is a central park area and there are plenty of older properties around which have larger gardens as posted by others on the thread.

Rachel and Issy, thank you for the links, they're much appreciated.

Hi Nix

I have lots of friends with primary age children who love living in the Stocton Rd, Recreation Rd area. Bit under your budget but nice Victorian semis if that's your style - see here:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38183396.html?premiumA=true