Recommendations on nice parts of Hampshire to live please

[Toomuchtooyoung01]

Not sure if I'm in the right place, but basically we are hoping to move out of Surrey as it is just too expensive for us to have any real quality of life here. After the mortgage, bills and food shopping is done, theres nothing much left for us to actually enjoy ourselves with. We never go out for dinner, haven't been on holiday in years, don't treat ourselves to anything we fancy, its all just a bit shit! OH said the other day he feels he works too hard to be this poor and he was right. He works all hours as a gas engineer, reasonably well paid, but it just doesn't go far enough in this area.
So my next question is, where do we move to?!
I'm leaning towards Hampshire, as its not a million miles away from Surrey so we can still come back to visit friends etc - my question is whereabouts? Please can anyone advise of a nice part of Hampshire that would suit a couple in their mid 30s with 2 very young children (newborn and almost 3yr old), that isn't as bloody expensive as Surrey. We would be looking for a 3 bed house. Thankyou in advance!

Bishop's Waltham. Lovely town centre, and surprisingly reasonable house prices. In between Soton and Winchester for big shops, and countryside within a minutes drive.

What would your house budget?

I live near Fleet, which is very family friendly, good schools etc... some areas are more expensive than others.

I teach in Fleet, both secondaries are great, it's nice and pretty. Do you need to be near the train? If not Hartley Witney is nice with good school.

The further west or south you go (ignoring Winchester which is obscenely expensive) the more bang for your buck. I'm in Overton which I love, Whitchurch down the road is also lovely, but we're maybe a bit far west for you?

You also pay for amenities, if you aren't bothered about having a village shop theres a few nice villages around Basingstoke and Andover.

I quite like a few bits of Basingstoke, town centre is much better than it was. Lots of nice primaries, secondaries are hit and miss, none seem consistently great.

I live in south hants, all of it is lovely. Try wickham near fareham or hamble near Southampton. If you are after a new ish build, whiteley is nice, and handy for m27.

Any of the small towns and villages in southern Hampshire - you're also near the Solent and the Isle of Wight. Botley, Curdridge, Bishops Waltham, Locksheath, Titchfield, Lee-on-Solent or Fareham. If you need a quick commute to London then the Winchester area is good. South Hampshire is a really lovely area.

Petersfield ?

Where do you have to commute to?
What’s your budget?
Do you want small town? Large village? Or rural?

Do you want to be near the coast?
Where in Surrey do you want to get back to for visits - and what’s the max distance you would want to travel?

Budget would probably be around 400k, not sure if we could therefore afford Fleet etc.
Can take or leave the coast. Small town/suburbs/large village would be ideal.

Four Marks or Medstead. 10 mins from Alton for good commute to London and 10 mins from Alresford (lovely shops and pubs) also only 20 or so mins from Winchester and 30 from Guildford. Reasonable ish house prices, great schools (both state and indie) at primary and secondary level.

This is the sort of thing you could get in a large village with good school in NW Hampshire. About a mile from the station taking you to London in an hour. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-89132099.html

Bit further west www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-91186565.html
Centre of Basingstoke, lovely neighbourhood www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90357665.html

We live right on the coast in Hampshire. Personally I would steer WELL clear of Whiteley/Titchfield area/Hamble/Botley because of the sheer amount of building work going on. Very soon they will have crammed so many houses into and around these areas that the roads will be permanently congested and schools/surgeries completely oversubscribed.

Wickham is ok at the moment, Knowle village is nice, but there are plans to build hundreds more houses in the area (called Welbourne) which just isn't big enough to take it.

Sorry to be so negative but the amount of construction going on in such small vicinities is a real bugbear of mine at the moment!

Kingsclere lovely village great community easy to Basingstoke, Newbury and Reading where there is loads of work for gas engineers.

I was looking for a similarly titled thread to comment on, having lost it while signing in... but would agree on avoiding new developments. There are so many in Hampshire at the moment. There are loads around Fleet.

I live in south Hampshire so my suggestions would be too far for you, but just wanted to say don't rule out the Basingstoke/Andover areas. Lots of infrastructure in those towns but lovely rural surroundings and less expensive than Fleet and surroundings (which I find very built up).

Schools in Hampshire are really good, generally.

Romsey. Good schools, lovely town feel low crime rate beautiful abbey.

Yes, Romsey is a very good shout. Plenty of affordable housing without having it shoehorned into every green, open space or taking over the town.

Avoid anywhere in Eastleigh Borough
Avoid north Basingstoke
Avoid Fareham borough
outside that you cannot go far wrong

Southern Test Valley
anywhere around Petersfield
Bishops Waltham / Swanmore area (stay well north of Botley)

The Forest is expensive
but Romsey area has a lot of good advantages

Alresford. Maybe a little too expensive but 3 bed terraces/semis can still be found on your budget. Certainly Four Marks.

Ringwood - lovely market town on the edge of the New Forest.

Close to the boarder with Dorset.

Great transport links

I live in Hampshire in a small town called Fareham. A 3 bed house in a nice area is around £350k .
Lovely quiet area to live but just off M27 so easy access to coast and country and I'm inbetween the citys of Portsmouth and Southampton.
Good local schools also.
50 min drive to my son's uni in Surrey.

Petersfield?

Jesus SouthCoast I grew up in a 3 bed on the Peak Lane estate back in the 70s/80s.It's crazy that a 3 bed would cost that much now (though I do believe you) as mil lives in the middle of Titchfield and some of the prices on her road are eye watering.

I was in Petersfield today
would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford it

Hello I'm after information on Curbridge hampshire, buses etc please reply.