Any views please on these locations for a commute to London Bridge? Towards Brighton, Caterham, Reigate etc.

[RoadtoSussex]

Hello, we are thinking of making a move from North London to Sussex, Surrey or Kent.

We have identified a few places where the commute to London Bridge should be around 30-40 minutes.

Any views on these as places to live would be much appreciated. We are looking for good state or private schools, a 4 bed plus house and a pleasant location with some good housing stock in walking distance of a mainline station.

Balcombe

Oxted
Hurst Green
Woldingham

Hildenborough
Sevenoaks
Tonbridge
Orpington

Reigate

Caterham

Many thanks!

If you are thinking of walking distance to Caterham station then you need to look for houses in Caterham Valley not Caterham on the Hill. Caterham itself is not a terribly attractive town though. What is your budget as for 4 beds in Caterham, Woldingham, Oxted or Reigate you are easily looking at £550k + ?

Thanks for response, yes can afford £550k plus.

Off to look at Caterham valley!

Try Petts Wood, Orpington is not what you are looking for. Or Chislehurst. London boro of Bromley, great schools on the edges towards Kent not london.

Sevenoaks schools are tricky, if you google grammar school in Sevenoaks you'll discover why (too lengthy for here) but great private schools.

Also try Bexley village. Great schools. Grammar same as Kent.

If you are considering Woldingham/Caterham, have you looked at Warlingham. Upper Warlingham is the station before Woldingham. Whyteleafe station is also very close, which is on the Caterham line. If one line is down for whatever reason, you can change at Croydon and still make it home as the two stations are literally 2 minutes walk apart.

There are some nice parts and some not so nice parts, but quite a lot of nice houses walking distance to the station - it is hilly though so a nice walk down in the morning and a cardio work out on the way home!

Lots of decent schools, both state and private. State schools okay/so-so depending exactly where you are and whether you are looking for Primary or Secondary.

Woldingham is lovely - much more of a village feel. Caterham is much more of a town. However, it would be difficult to be walking distance to the station in Woldingham - most people would drive there if they live in the village which is 10-15 mins walk uphill. It is an unlit road so horrible in the winter, although you do see people walking up it with a torch in hand, but I wouldn't fancy it myself.

Warlingham has a few shops around a village green/restaurants/pub etc. It is a bit of a sprawl though so not such a traditional village feel as Woldingham, but cheaper for property.

Balcombe is going to be longer than 30-40 minutes. we're in crawley and it's a good 45 mins from here

Caterham in the valley near the station isn't great for houses, you need to be along a bit in Harestone valley which is a bit further away but still walkable. Caterham on the hill is opinion much nicer, around Whyteleafe road/stansted road etc and can be walkable to the station. Many cut up and down Waller lane, is steep though. Failing that, is 4 quid in a taxi from the station.

If you choose a good road Caterham can be fantastic, and you get a lot more space for your money that in Reigate, only proviso would be lack of choice for state secondary. Primary and private v good locally (tho a couple of dodgy state ones so you need to do you're homework and make sure year aren't closest school). Transport to London, parks, space etc all v good and shops/bars scene is v much improving (not Reigate levels yet but heading in right direction IMO)

There is also Redhill and Merstham between the 2 which are great for London transport, Redhill very towny though and not so good or housing, and still addressing unsavoury reputation, good for shopping though and fringes may be worth a look.

Have a look at Old Coulsdon. Very near Caterham on the hill but has fast trains to London bridge from Coulsdon south. Lots of green space, downs and villagey feel.

Caterham is becoming quite dense now in terms of housing - however there are still some nice parts.

Caterham valley Harestone area is still good with some lovely houses - look up there as far as and including Dome Hill - very walkable to the station.

There's actually a lovely house which has recently been renovated - looks lush - a local builder has done the work - only problem is that it's right opposite the entrance to morrisons car park. However - the station is literally a two minute walk.

I've lived in Caterham now for around 17 years. HAve lived on the hill and in the valley. Different house types - ranging from starter type house to a grown up older style detached property which really does need a good renovation.

I like the valley but we do get stuck in the snow because I can't drive the 4 wheel truck

Consider very seriously the road set up you want. A cul de sac type road has its benefits as well as draw backs - no thru traffic so quiet road and good for the cats - also good to "know your neighbours" as you can get that little community bubble feel good or bad

Primary state schools are ok - depends what you're looking for. Secondary state schools ........ are improving so I hear (we're not at that stage yet but closely monitoring). Private primary and secondary are available too.

I have to say the commute to London has always been good - with varying options thru east Croydon depending on which part of London you're commuting to. Trains from upper warlingham on the outed line serve a faster link to London.

Having said all of the above - I long to live in oxted - which has the Reigate feel to it.

Oxted line

The problem with Reigate is that it is massively, massively oversubscribed. So you get a poky house with no off street Parking on a narrow road with single file traffic and a tiny garden (unless you have millions to spend) and you can't use any of the services that people move there for - the state schools are massively, massively oversubscribed so you can get in unless you live less than 0.6 miles or so away, you pay vastly over the odds for these houses. Your children can't play cricket unless theit names have been down before birth. The scouting groups have 3 or 4 year waiting lists, you can't get a GP appointment fr love not money, you can't get into the coffee shops at the weekend and there's barely room to put a picnic rug down in the park in summer. Caterham is more demographically mixed and doesn't look quite as "middle class" but has a much airier, spacious feel to it and the waiting lists for everything aren't as long. I don't know oxted that well but think it may be a happy medium between the 2. Tbh, to anyone moving out of London with a young family, all 3 are v nice and easy to commute from (not Reigate, have to drive to a better station for fast trains generally with parking issues ). Coulsdon is even less chi chi but the best to commute from and perfectly acceptable to many.

Yes to chislehurst or Petts wood. Orpington isn't great.

I live in Oxted and the housing market has held its value pretty well. Just noticed in recent weeks that there are more houses in the property pages of the local paper, so a good time to start looking. It tends to be more expensive than Caterham or Warlingham, thugh.

Good links to London (Bridge and Victoria), near the motorway, 20 minutes to Croydon, Redhill or Reigate. Good state schools, small theatre and cinema, good community feel, large Morrisons, small Co-op, Sainsbury and (the piece de resistance!), a Waitrose :). We love it. The North Downs are five minutes from our house, so there's nice walking to be had too.

Agree completely with what has been said about Reigate. You pay a small fortune for a house and due to the number of siblings chances of getting a school place for a child if it's your first born are getting harder and harder combine that with the unfair feeder school system they want to bring in for Priory School and you are going to be left with 2 property hot spots (1) Holmesdale where if you want to buy a decent 4 bed house you need about £800k + (2) Reigate parish where for £500k you get a mid terrace with a tiny garden.
If they bring the feeder school system in prices are going to get even more ridiculous in these 2 areas.
Also Surrey County Council have themselves produced evidence that there are not enough reception school places due to the increased birth rate.

If you move to Reigate be prepared that you might have to pay for private School, which when you factor in the fact you pay over the top for your house in the first place is ridiculous!

Racmun totally hit the nail on the head there. Neither of my children got ANY of their 3 school "choices" in Reigate and we lived a 2 minute walk from the high street! My eldest child had no place until the August before he was due to start Reception and then he was given one in a different town. Like you we were prepared to do poky house/massive mortgage for good state primaries but not with private schools on top, which for many, many in the postcode lottery that is schools in Reigate is the reality. It is a shame as it is a great place to live if you are lucky or no mortgage etc, but even then it has gone downhill imo purely because it is just so busy - popping out to Morrisons was like an assault course by the time we left. I would advise anyone moving to the area to consider surrounding areas or choose house very carefully for schools unless you can afford Reigate crazy house prices and private school -in which case you might as well stay in London

Balcombe is a fantastic place to live. So many people commute into London from here. You could go wrong moving here

I'm going to disagree with some of these posts about Reigate schools. Primary schools perhaps are harder to get into, if you don't live reasonably close, but there is plenty of housing stock close enough to the schools & there are no bad Reigate primary schools. The secondary school isn't too difficult to get into, as long as you don't live miles away. The secondary school is actually located in the cheaper part, close to the border of Redhill. There are some lovely extended 4 bed semi's in the area between Woodhatch & Southpark for around 550k. Or better still, buy one thats not extended for around 400k & do a loft conversion for 45k to get the 4 beds & extra bathroom you want. Personally for the schools I'd be looking at Reigate. Yes it is expensive, but you can always move on somewhere cheaper once schools are no longer an issue!

Headstone hill caterham is great... very good private school there.
Refill and merstham are places I wouldn't want to go near let alone live in