Move to Surrey- recommendations for good areas

[shressy]

Hi ladies, we’re looking to move to Surrey mainly so we get more for our money. Budget is around 550k and DH needs to commute into London everyday so need to be near a fast line. I drive towards Heathrow so reasonably flexible but don’t want longer than an hour each way. We’ve seen one that I absolutely fell in love with close to Chessington north station but have no idea about the area. Please can someone advise if it’s nice or recommend other areas we should consider. Tia xx

It's not a great area but the alternatives are expensive. Epsom is nicer.

My friend is in Haslemere (lovely) and the market is really slow. She is selling (and buying) at about 25% down from last year estimates. Good charity shops too!

How many bedrooms do you need for your £550k?

Goldsworth Park, Woking - lovely canal walk to the station or regular buses to station as well, with trains to London every 10 mins (into Waterloo, mostly direct, or with one stop at Clapham)

Lovely area with a nice community, low crime, Waitrose plus a bunch of other useful shops, good doctors, and a large lake with kids park at the centre, and 550k will go a long way! Plus close to town centre with tons of shops, galleries, theatre, cinema etc

I just moved away from there, but only because we aren't tied to one area and wanted to get the maximum square footage for our money so we moved to Shropshire, but it really was nice there and I miss that lake (and Waitrose)

Where are you moving from? Just beware that we had friends who did this and they have just sold their house to move back. They hated the commute, found Surrey was v difficult for their kids vs London (loads of free public transport for the kids in London vs needing a lift everywhere in Surrey) and a whole host of other things. Not trying to put you off and i know there are a lot of people happy in Surrey but make sure you've considered everything!

Thanks everyone!
@lubeybooby: we are looking at 3+ bedrooms. I;ve heard great things about Woking as well but also that DH will never get a seat on the train apparently :-o

@DaffoDeffo: We're moving from Ickenham, honestly we love it here, but if we want more bedrooms, we're priced out anywhere around here.

Perhaps look at Hersham, Claygate, Woking and West Byfleet (Weybridge and Walton are very nice, but more expensive, so better value houses in the previous locations)

Make sure you check the actual train time tables for the places you end up considering ... Hersham is on the same train as Woking, but you can get fast direct trains from Woking (hence popularity) which are significantly quicker than the trains from Hersham, for example, which are fewer and are always slow stopping trains, even though Hersham is closer into London.

I agree with PP that if you like Chessington then towns like Epsom, Ewell, Ashtead, Banstead or Dorking are much nicer. But just to warn you the commute to Heathrow from there is not a fun one, that part of the M25 is gridlocked most days.

Depending on where in London your DH needs to be I would suggest looking more towards Heathrow just to reduce your suffering. Woking, West byfleet, weybridge area might be better and the train a lot faster.

Thanks everyone. We are looking at West Byfleet and Hersham. Weybridge is quite expensive, very little in our budget there. Hersham has more and so does West Byfleet (which also has some good schools)
Thanks for your advice all, fingers crossed we find the dream home soon .x

Personally I'd avoid any town served by southern rail due to the strikes. South western not brill either but marginally more reliable. Better value areas are Walton, Hinchley wood, hersham, Leatherhead, burpham. If you want a more villagey feel Claygates nice or fetcham or bookham.
Best of luck!

Thanks all! thanks to the great advice on some of the comments, we've just seen one in New Haw, half a mile from West Byfleet station, good location for the station and good schools. thinking of offering on it. Anyone know Scotland Bridge road in New Haw - any specific feedback on this street would be very much appreciated. Tia xx