I want to move south and live near woods, where can I afford?

[Neednewwellies]

We live in the North. It’s cold and damp and I’ve come to hate it when I used to love it. We have 3 children, one in senior school (y10) and two in junior school (Y3&Y1). Our eldest is very academic but also easy going so would happily move somewhere else for Alevels. So my biggest issue would be looking for catchment for an excellent senior school for all 3. We are very urban here with not much greenery and for health reasons I want to take a step back from work and get a dog. I’d really love to be walking distance to woodland or if not then maybe some coast but not a commercially built up seaside town. Ideally I’d like to be in Hampshire or Sussex but open to ideas. We need 4 bedrooms and DH would need to get to London 2days a week. I don’t want to be somewhere too build up so just what we have here but further south if that makes sense. I crave more space around me but I also know with a teenager, we can’t be in the middle of nowhere. Our absolute max budget would be 700k but ideally no more than 675k. Is any of this doable? Is my head in the clouds? Where we live is expensive and that gets us a good size 4 bed but I know it’s far more expensive in the SE. Any help appreciated and we’d be looking to move when my daughter finishes GCSEs so next summer.

For north east hampshire, look at Fleet Pond nature reserve, Caesars camp plus lots and lots of army land (wooded) you can walk on.

@Historyisdifficult, of course! Everyone is just trying to help. I’m very glad for it too as I know I’m being awkward and fussy.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73131706.html

Thanks @JurassicShay. I’ll take a closer at the area.
@Mrspig86, wow! So much house for the money!

@Neednewwellies no problem, it's a lovely place to live!

Live near the New Forest. It's lovely. Definitely second Brockenhurst

@Neednewwellies Chandlers Ford is pretty suburban but definitely has woody walks, eg around Hiltingbury Lakes and Hocombe Mead www.hocombe-mead.org/index.html. Down the road in Ampfield is more rural and has woods on the doorstep, I think maybe Otterbourne does too?

Also could try Chawton near Alton and Steep near Petersfield. Lots of lovely woods near Winchester - eg Farleigh Mount or Micheldever Woods, but probably involve getting in car (Micheldever woods aren't actually adjacent to Micheldever village and there's a busy road inbetween).

All quite pricey areas but great schools - Petersfield/Alton way probably slightly better value for houses than Winchester. New Forest is beautiful but check school catchments. Also the roads get rammed in the summer.

Bricket wood. Also woods close by in Chiswell Green, St Albans.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76395325.html

Robertsbridge, battle plumpton or Lewes
Gorgeous ashdown forest - east gribstead, forest row, Heathfield.

All of these get you to london in between 1-2 hours with regular trains, astonishing woods and close to good market towns and brighton etc for fun days out via train.

Also 675 would buy you a very special old house if you wanted one! Or a spacious newer one depending on your taste.

Eastbourne - it's at the foot of the South Downs, so plenty of downland, woodland walks with the added benefit of the beach. It's 1hr30 to London. I know plenty of people who do the journey a couple of times a week. Schools are good too.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50952390?utm_source=v1:5bWFDybfWx7C7AGpeagt7mP3PgcqjuqJ&utm_medium=api

Something like this? Ashridge estate is nearby which is definitely woods and they have beautiful bluebells each year.

Grammer schools in the local area are excellent

Newsflash- it's cold and damp in the South too! Unless your talking moving to Spain I'm not sure you're going to avoid that tbh!

I know you want to move, but can you not wait until your year 10 child has finished high school. To me it would be totally unfair to them to move them mid GCSE's. They would be totally disadvantaged.

You would have to find a school that are teaching the same subject topics in their in their chosen CGSE's. As in both mine and my friends child who are at different schools in the same town are doing different books in English, doing different topics in history.

I live in North Hampshire in a new build. But they have to provide open green space so we have a lovely area and paths, where I do a range of routes with the dog. We did have to pay towards this though, a small monthly fee but it's not private land, the public can access too.

Another new build development locally has a even better green space. Actually there is a lot of development here as commute to London is about 45mins on train, nice woods and good standard of living. You can get a 4 bed detached for about £580 k up to 1 M depending on spec/ size for new build estates. You could buy off plan or preloved. Developments are nice, depends if you want a house in village or suburbia though. The bigger detached houses have the best situations. Schools in North Hants are very good I'm told, no grammar system here. By me all good or outstanding oftsted at infants, junior and Secondary. so best of both worlds.

It does rain loads in the south too!

Only a 25 minute train ride into Euston

Massive National Trust Ashridge forest on your doorstep

Some of the best secondary schools isn’t he country are in nearby Berkhamsted and Tring

Tring Road, Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73590079.html

I have family in Salisbury and there are lots of nice places within walking distance. It has the city bit if you’re looking for that too, and train line into London Waterloo. They have lots of 4 beds within budget and on the edge of the city too, may be worth a look

I don’t know if you’ll find anywhere in the U.K. which will be dry enough to help arthritis though

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65394420.html

Lots of woods and beaches nearby

@Clutterbugsmum, we’re looking to move next summer after she finishes GCSEs before she starts Alevels. That would also be the year that DS starts Y6 so we’d then be living in catchment in time to apply for senior school for him and DD2. I wouldn’t move her mid GCSEs but she’s fine about moving for Alevels. So next summer is the optimal time.

@Skyejuly, yes of course. It’s not the rain that’s the issue, it’s the damp. Manchester is notoriously damp hence the cotton industry.

@Casino218, as I’ve said, yes I know it rains in the South but it’s a scientific weather based fact that the NW and Manchester in particular is damper than areas further south especially further south and east. I am not expecting it to be hugely warmer (I think on average it’s 1-2 degrees) but it will be less damp.

Thanks @Seaandsand83 but the Isle of Wight May be stretching it as a commute.

I used to do Isle of wight to London commute but I would never live on the IOW again. It's eroding very fast and not a nice place.

I haven’t been to the Isle if Wight for about 10yrs when we took DD1 to the beach there. It seemed nice then for a week by the beach but I don’t remember it having lots of woodland and I’d worry DD1 would find it quite claustrophobic as a teenager especially having grown up in Cheshire with everything on her doorstep.

Does it have to be south of london? Somewhere colchester/Ipswich way would allow your money to go much further than south of london, but a 1hr commute.
Layer, tiptree, west bergholt, nayland, manningtree.
Schools good, super selective grammar school area so less impact on comprehensives than Kent grammars.