Moving to Guildford!

[chloe2413]

Hello all!

My husband and I are looking to move to Guildford and I was wondering if there was anyone who already lives there? Don't really know where to start searching...what areas are good, where should we avoid? We currently live in Kingston...I've been looking at a few properties in the Fairlands area of Guildford? Is this a good place? HELP!

I can help! Useful to know what you are looking for - budget, schools, size, vibe etc!

Thank you! Budget is between £550k - £600k...We are mainly looking for somewhere relatively quiet with green space nearby, and good schools. We have a 5 month old son so he is our main motivation behind moving. We want a garden and ideally 4 bedrooms. I've seen properties that fit our criteria but just don't know whether they are in good areas? As I say we want a quiet family neighbourhood mainly!

Does it need to be in Guildford itself or can it be in neighbouring towns?

If so, how far outside Guildford is okay?

Avoid anywhere north of the A3 as it's not a little but run down, lots of student and hospital accommodation. Fairlands is anot estate that feels overdeveloped and remote from the town to me. The villages such as Shalford, Bramley and Burpham are lovley as is the town centre. Lots of choice for your budget. Guildford is a very nice town with lots of theatre (Yvonne Arnarde, Electric Theatre, Get live and the Guildford Shakespeare company) lots of pubs/restraunts and great transport links. Access to the downs is easy, check out Newlands corner, St Marthers etc. Stoke park is fantastic too with a lido and nearby model stream railway.

Thank you! That's really helpful! It doesn't HAVE to be Guildford town, we just need easy access to the A3 for my husbands job and want some shopping/restaurants nearby. We currently live in a new build flat on the edge of a big estate so we are also wanting to get away from that, so anywhere quiet with a family feel? If that makes sense!

I would avoid any villages on the A281 to the east of Guildford, such as Shalford or Bramley, as traffic is hideous and will only get worse with a large housing development happening soon in Dunsfold. If it's ease of access to the A3, I would be looking to the west/north of Guildford as the traffic on the A3 is very bad every morning at the junction with the A31 which is to the south of the town. Having said that, the A3 is always hideous at the junction with the M25 as well so it just depends what time he will be leaving in the morning and how patient he is. We live south of the town, the other side of Godalming, and my husband drove to Wimbledon for work. It took him over 2 hours most mornings just to get to the office and it nearly finished him off!

He starts at 6.30am/7am and leaves around 3/3.30pm so we think he should avoid some of the bad traffic. He commutes to Tolworth. We have looked at Godalming too and Milford.

Burpham and Merrow are 2 miles outside Guildford town centre but still count as Guildford - great schools, more space than in the centre of town. We live near there and actually get the train to London from Woking as the trains are so much quicker - not sure if you need trains though? Avoid north of the a3 - Bellfields and Park Barn if you can. Shalford and Chilworth are nice villages but are a little more remote as your child gets older

Forgot to say, Burpham has super easy access to the a3 going both north and south, and has an exit if you are driving south from London

Epsom? If you live on the right side there is a huge smount of green space and his commute would be halved!

Look at College area, Woodcote, Epsom Common.

Thank you everyone, this has been really helpful to get me started!! X

The A281 isn't so bad once you are outside of Guildford centre. Traffic through Shalford and Bramley is heavy (most of the village is not on the road) but moving.

If heading North on A3 I would stay East of Guildford - either Burpham or Merrow if you want to stay within Guildford or further out but still close to Guildford and very nice are East/West Clandon and Ripley.

So I've been looking and Burpham seemed to be the perfect place...but then I started doing some research and found out about the upcoming planned development of the Guildford area and the amount of homes that are to be built. A lot of the villages along the A3 and in the Guildford area will be heavily developed, Burpham being just one of them. I'm concerned about what affect this will have on the area. We are trying to escape an overpopulated town, but now it looks like that's what is in the pipeline for the Guildford area!

Yes there is a lot of development in the pipeline but I guess that is what comes with living in a popular town. The new development however will have its own centre - shops etc and they are talking about new schools as well (which would make sense as that would solve the lack of secondary school issue for Ripley and surrounding area). I don't think it will make an enormous difference to Guildford other than being a shame to lose open fields.

Personally if I had to choose where to live in Guildford I would go for the Charlotteville/Castle area (v expensive!) or Merrow (imho nicer than Burpham) Although really I prefer the villages just outside Guildford (Clandon, Horsley, Gomshall, Shere, Albury etc).
Best of luck!

I agree with Taboo moo
The Onslow Village area is also really lovely - but traffic can be an issue

We live North of Guildford (Rydes Hill area which is lovely) and it's lovely - near open green spaces and great schools. Fairlands is nice (worplesdon school is great) and where we live in Rydes Hill you can walk to saint Josephs school which feeds Saint Peters which are both great. You get a lot more for your money here than South (nice too though!) - much bigger gardens and bigger family homes. Good luck! Bell fields and park barn aren't the nicer bits but Rydes hill fairlands worplesdon and parts of stoighton are all really lovely