Reluctantly moving away from great schools WWYD

[mrsmartins85]

I hope you are all staying safe and coping as well as possible with the lockdown.

I currently live with my husband and young daughter in a tiny two up two down in central Winchester, close to excellent schools- the kind they say are good enough private wouldn't be worth it (we couldn't afford it anyway). We both work from home and can't cope anymore. We don't need a palatial home or giant garden but it would be nice to be able to fit a standard single bed in our daughter's room, and for our living space not to be littered with work related stuff.

Winchester is mostly lovely, but eye-wateringly expensive and our 620k budget wouldn't be enough for what we would like. My husband would happily live in the middle of a forest but does not drive, and I've found living 5-10 minutes walk from amenities wonderful and am reluctant to give that up (I have MS, but am fine for now).

Our daughter's education is our top priority, which makes me feel guilty for even contemplating leaving the area. I want her to have a positive experience and hopefully enjoy learning with classmates who don't think doing your best is uncool. Of course, schools can change over time.

We could, in theory, live anywhere. I'd like a 3 or 4 bed place with character, walking distance from the center of a beautiful town. Somewhere big enough to have things for my girl to do, but small enough to please my crowd-averse husband. We are pretty relaxed and would hate a place where pretentious parents judge you at the school gate. Or, for that matter, a place where someone who isn't English will feel unwelcome. I was initially attracted to Harrogate, York or Knaresborough (all very different!) but is it colder? Husband is Portuguese and already stuggling where we are.

Bradford on Avon and Malmesbury seem to have good schools and are so pretty, but are still quite expensive. I just read this back and it sounds embarrassingly picky. Does such a place exist? Am I mad to think of moving at all? I would be grateful for any advice, I'd like to start some research now for when we can look around in person, even though we don't know what the rest of this year (and next!) will bring. We are cash buyers but have a very Brexit-vulnerable business so that may be a factor. Oh, and I'd probably have to get a new neurologist, which is very scary. If you made it this far, I raise my pint of tea to you.

Look at OFSTED reports and the join the local Facebook group and ask, although that can give mixed results as I know one people who send their children to a rubbish local school but defend it to the hilt

I'd stay where you are and when lock down is over rent an office/workshop somewhere else. Our town centre has a good range of small office spaces that rent cheaply. I love living in town, you never get back all that wasted time driving about.

For sure, and looking at something just 10 extra minutes walk out suddenly becomes walking distance to "meh, I can't be bothered" We really have become that lazy. You'd think for an extra 250k the next rung up the ladder would be higher but it's not. Might as well go the whole hog and be more remote... or stay put until senior school.

You'll want to be the opposite of remote once you have a teen needing to socialise and race around for extracurricular stuff.

Being less central would work better while your child is little.

What about Romsey?
Are you talking about primary or secondary schools, because all of the secondary schools in Winchester are good so there must be some properties that you like within the catchment of one of the schools?
Have you looked at Chandlers Ford, Otterbourne, Amfield or one of the other areas nearby? Thornden in Chandler’s Ford is supposed to be one of the best schools in the country.

one of the commutable towns near Cambridge (busway to the west of the town & decent bus service to towns in other direction plus train services Addenbrookes is excellent -while Bishops Stortford is a lovely town Princess Alexandra Hospital which services it in Harlow mmm no I wouldn't recommend it (understatement) there is a great academic 6 form called Hills Road (state school excellent) there are a lot of park & ride surrounding Cambridge & the wonderful Botanic gardens plus all of the Universities & the backs & Museums etc & twice a year they have Science festivals (free!) for all the family across the ages ie some for young dc & some suitable for adults plus theatres & shops

Public transport in Cambridge is terrible. Guided bus ok out of town but then gets into the centre and is on the same roads as cars. Park and Ride is abysmal. Trains are ok but the station is a treck to the centre and living near a station into Cambridge is expensive. Cambridge itself is an expensive place to live. I wouldn’t recommend it.

I wouldn't move to Cambridge - it's very expensive the traffic is some of the worst in the whole SE of England. There are some lovely villages nearby with good bus or train service if the OP is interested, but she might as well stay in Winchester IMO.

OP I think you need to take a deep breath and accept that you're going to have to compromise. What you want is a bigger house exactly where you live now, but you need to accept that you can't have that. And I really accept that and then look at what you can afford. I think we all go into house hunting with our 'ideal house' in mind. It's in a certain place, it's got a certain number of rooms, it's not on a busy road, it's got a decent sized garden, it's x and y and z, but ultimately we all need to compromise. If you don't know what I mean I suggest you watch a few episodes of Location, Location, Location, because it helped me to get over my nit picking when we were looking.

Once you accept that you can't have exactly what you want and where you want it you'll find something that will be great. I thought I wanted a characterful old house on a lovely street near town. We ended up buying an ugly 60s box on a main road, knocking it down and building a lovely, spacious modern house and it's perfect! I'm not saying that would work for you, just that thinking outside the box can also work, as long as you open your mind.

I second the suggestion of Romsey. Near enough to Winchester and your doctor, a really pretty town, good schools and more affordable than Winchester.