Commute to London Victoria

[Beasmamma]

Hello all,

Would anyone be able to recommend somewhere with a decent commute to Victoria? We have been looking and really struggling to find somewhere! We are looking for a village, great schools and DH needs to get to Victoria. DH doesn’t really want to be on the train for over an hour.

Forest Row, especially if you are vegan and into yoga and crystal healing - it likes to think of itself as a bit 'alternative'. No station so he would have to drive to East Grinstead (10 mins). Train journey is an hour and it's on the doorstep of Ashdown Forest. No idea about schools though.

Blackheath is lovely and there are two trains an hour to Victoria - also remember though that the Charing Cross and Cannon Street trains you can change onto district lines easily - well under an hour from Blackheath even with the tube change.

Blackheath is lovely and there are two trains an hour to Victoria - also remember though that the Charing Cross and Cannon Street trains you can change onto district lines easily - well under an hour from Blackheath even with the tube change.

Oxted school is ok and part of an expanding academy group. You are near enough to apply to Kent, Warlingham or Croydon schools. Reigate might be worth considering although direct trains tend to be becoming less frequent - decent secondaries in Reigate/Redhill or Dorking and a well reputed 6th form college. For a better commute Coulsdon has 2 stations and is within zone 6.

Coulsdon also has Woodcote secondary and parts of Caterham get Warlingham Secondary. Some also get Riddlesdown via the out of area test. People who pretend to be religious in Caterham/Chaldon get St Bedes. Lots in these areas also apply to the Sutton Grammar schools as well. DeStafford seems to be improving rapidly. There is more choice of secondary than the 2 mentioned and none of them are dire.

Here's something for you to play around with. Link here. It'll match you to the homes that meet DH's commute needs, and you can also specify that access to good schools is very important. It'll score each property against those needs and it shows quite a few different areas that you can dive deeper into :)

Woodcote is getting hefty place pressure because of Cane Hill, though, and most of Caterham were not getting into Warlingham as far back as 2015, and subsequent cohorts are larger. Certainly not the "nice" bits of Caterham : just the North end of Croydon and Stafford roads, which are not really the million pound house areas.

Thank you for all of the suggestions, lots to look at.

DH grew up on a farm and wants to be in the countryside so London is not an option.

With Riddlesdown, there's no guarantee that your DC will pass the out of area test (or rather, it's a lot riding on it!) and the feeder schools take a lot of the places. If I wanted to guarantee a place there I'd be looking to live pretty closely to be honest.

Having said that, Sanderstead does tick a lot of your boxes. Two Outstanding, one Good primary, access to two very good secondaries plus the 11+ cohort. Lots of green space, easy commute from Sanderstead or Riddlesdown stations.

Ashford, Kent is about an hour to Victoria. Some lovely villages, especially Wye which has a train station. Wye has a junior school, three pubs, cafe and a few shops. It’s on the North Downs and is beautiful.

I live in Wye, Flissfloss. I can highly recommend. It also has a new bar and a Michelin starred restaurant in The Wife of Bath. There's fortnightly farmers market and has high speed links to London.

Only trouble with Kent is the grammar system, if a) that's not your thing, or b) you are moving with kids too late to do 11+ prep.

Bromley south/ West Wickham/ Hayes area. 16mins to Victoria from Bromley South. West Wickham and Hayes are just a short bus ride from Bromley south station.

Excellent schools. Langley secondaries are brilliant. Hayes secondary is fantastic too.

You will get everything you asked for in your budget.

Lindfield near Haywards Heath is nice and reasonably accessible to the station.

I would suggest Otford - nice village on the edge of Sevenoaks with the town one side and nice countryside the other. Has its own station 35-40 mins to Victoria and local services to Sevenoaks - can change for fast services to London Bridge. School wise there’s good state and private options in the village for primary and likewise (albeit in Sevenoaks or Tonbridge) for secondary. If you wanted even more rural and picturesque both Shoreham and Eynsford are further up the valley but you’d need to change at Bromley for Victoria services or drive to Swanley or Otford. Slightly further out but still within your hour West Malling is also nice.

Second Forest Row and Lindfield as pretty villages, both pricey but not as bad as most of London!