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.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65521026.html

@palacegirl77, it’s not so much that I need it warm, more I need it not to be damp. Where I live in the NW it is constantly damp. I want a garden that doesn’t have standing water even in July.

Hi Op ... that bungalow is literally a few doors away from woodland - the local senior school is very good

House ...that area is surrounded by public woods .... also good senior school

Thanks for the tip, @Justoneuse! I’m literally about to call the local agents there! 👍

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75023968.html near Bordon Hampshire?
There are other 4 bed properties in that area for less too.

Another vote for east Grinstead.

There’s plenty of countryside and woodland and the ashdown Forest itself is a 10-15 min drive down the road. Trains to London.

Have you looked at Hook? Good commute to London and there's the country park. Robert May's is an Ofsted 'good' school.

The new forest is lovely but it first rain a lot there! My db lives there. What about the Horsham area of West Sussex? Some lovely villages around Horsham, good schools, better than average weather and lots of countryside.

Chislehurst. In Bromley, London Borough. Excellent schools. God transport to London. Chislehurst has its own woods and nearby are green chain walks.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76690621.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67377894.html

The area around Petersfield in Hampshire is lovely. Not sure if enough woods but plenty of rolling hills for dog walks. Ofsted outstanding secondary school in Petersfield. I would t want to do the commute 5 days per week but would be fine for two I think.
Example house www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/67282767

Look at the catchment areas for Langtree (Woodcote) and Downs (Compton). Lots of woods and walking round here and quite easy to Paddington. Not cheap but you could do 4 bed for your budget if not too worried about being beautiful.

Fleet, Hampshire.
Loads of good areas to walk and explore. Lots of forestry. Easy access to London via train or M3. Not far from the New Forest.

Have you considered the South West? Beautiful countryside, coast, and depending on how far down you go, a relatively efficient (if not ruinously expensive) line to London. I imagine you'd get a fair bit more for your money down here than in the SE?

Look at Dorking in Surrey, and surrounding villages. It's in the Surrey Hills Area of Natural Beauty and is absolutely gorgeous. Loads of woods. Good schools. Quite expensive though.

If dry is what you need then you should be looking at the East side of the country not the west. The East is drier with much lower average rainfall compared to the west. Think Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex or Kent x

Hi op,

Guildford is surrounded by countryside and relatively easy to get to London (Waterloo station). The area around Woking is as well, though I don't like Woking itself.

I live very near this and where I live feels quite rural - I can walk to lots of nice woodland in about 5 minutes - but it's easy and cheap to get to London. Our 3 bed detached is worth about £600 I think.

One thing to keep in mind is that as you get further out from Lodon, train tickets get very expensive - it's about £80 per day/£600 per month from Winchester, for example.

I'd recommend looking around north east Surrey/north west Kent, areas around: Oxted, Dorking, Godalming. Even very south London - near Caterham, Sanderstead, etc might work. You could get a 4 bed for £700k in all of these areas.

I spent ages looking around these areas before we bought, so please feel free to PM me with any questions.

Where I am would fit, north Hampshire, between basingstoke and Andover, some lovely villages, great 6th form colleges. Have to be careful to be in catchment for good secondaries.

Thanks everyone. I’m taking note and I’ll look them all up. Just need to leave for school run now. I want to be able to walk to woods rather than them be a drive away. Thanks

Area around Thetford forest? Schools aren't great but you'd get lots for your money house wise so could pay school fees instead!

@TurningLeaves, we’ve visited fleet before. It seemed nice and generally green but I can’t remember woodland paths or walks actually a few minutes walk from the houses. Maybe I’ll have another look. I’ve realised the walking to woodland/heathland is vital to what I’m looking for.

what Whathappenedtothelego said.

I'm in Burghfield but I would like to be in Mortimer/Silchester though as more of a villagey feel. Burghfield, Mortimer and Silchester are all surrounded by woodland and for me its less than a 2 minute walk away. With your budget you could find a lovely house. Burghfield has a good rated high school with sports centre attached.

Bit damp today though as we have a fog on. The last two days have been glorious .

I second Mortimer and the area surrounding. Good links into London, good catchment secondary with sixth form (The Willink) and primaries. Villagey but not tiny, and easy for your teen to get into Reading. Lots of woods nearby.

Fleet Pond has beautiful woodland surrounding it. I spent half my childhood playing there! The Basingstoke Canal is very pretty with woods either side of the canal and towpath. These are within walking distance of nice residential parts of the town. There is Minley Wood a short car ride away and the woods all around Tweseldown Racecourse. Then there are places like Cesar's Camp for heathland.

The outskirts of Newbury are also woody, and you've got Greenham Common as well, which is beautiful for walks. Good secondaries in Newbury, and some good primaries as well.