Moving from London

[Hilda41]

I'm looking for some advice as to where a good place to move to outside London would be. Have been spending way to much time researching unproductively, as hard to know where to start so any pointers really welcome.

Top of wish list would be good secondary schools for Y5 and Y3 dc (realise Kent has lots of grammar schools and would be up for them trying ) a reasonable commute to London Bridge (not much more than 80 minutes) and a place which has a bit of life for teenagers - looking forward - maybe a small town? ( I lived in the middle of nowhere as a teenager and hated it). Would love to be close to countryside too, but any amount of greenery will be a bonus after living in Hackney for 10 years. We have a budget of 700,000 tops, right location more important than size of house though.

Also would be great to move somewhere that isn't too cliquey as would be starting from scratch friends wise.

Might not be far enough out for you, but Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Belmont has a train line into London Bridge (30/40 mins or so) with grammar schools and some other decent schools around. There are quite a few open spaces around and good routes further out if you drive. It is suburban so quite a bit to do for teenagers. Don't know how it compares to Kent though and you might prefer further out.

Rugby

No, sorry outside your time frame

I think chislehurst might tick a lot of your boxes...a little further out, Sevenoaks!

Sevenoaks, about 30 mins direct to London Bridge. Beautiful surrounding countryside. Small town. Grammar school area.

Have posted on a few threads now, but we moved out from London two years ago after extensive research all over the South of England. We have three young children of similar age and initially wanted countryside but v quickly realised that it would be better to be somewhere with a bit more to do. We discovered Folkestone and it was such a fortunate find! Absolutely perfect for us and so much for the kids. Lovely architecture, lots more for our money (we managed to pay off our mortgage and have much more space - your budget should get you a sizeable detached on large plot in best part of town), beautiful countryside on doorstep (spoiled for choice with walks and gastro pubs), fantastic coastline and beaches, London less than 50 mins by high speed and Eurostar for city break ten minutes away. Honestly, I could go on all day 🙈. And I say this as someone who was very sceptical of coming this far out. Really cannot recommend it highly enough. Best move we ever made! And we’ve had a few...

BTW large ‘expat’ community of young families from likes of Hackney, Blackheath and Dulwich who have done similar to us...cafe culture v similar to there too with lovely individual shops and restaurants.

I'm currently living in Twickenham (after staying more than 7 years in Brentford), so already London outskirts. However, Dec 2019 we've finally decided to buy and I did a similar research, where could I go that has a good life, lots of green, affordable and with good schools. I've made an offer in Old Coulsdon (which I really liked) in Feb but last friday the sale feel through (I'm extremely gutted). So to summarize the areas I was looking at:

• Old Coulsdon (has a couple of outstanding primary schools, not so sure in terms of secondary ones as my DD is reaching 4), but I loved the village vibe. You can take a bus down the road and you'll get the fast train to London Bridge in less than 30m fro South Coulsdon.
• Caterham, seems there are more affordable houses and lots of green around. No clue on the schools as I'm trying to find exactly the same info but all I know is they are not as good as Coulsdon.
• Reigate - Again really nice schools, but trains are not so great to London Bridge, also because it has become trendy it's now quite busy and expensive.
• Redhill has a fast train to London and so does Merstham but I didn't like the vibe as much, again unless you are in the catchment for Reigate the schools are not as good
• Oxted - seems to have some good schools and nice village vibe and should be an ok commute to London
• Tonbridge wells - close to the train line it's really easy to get into London and it's such a pretty place, but not that affordable

From my side trying to stay within Caterham / Couldson space. After loosing house nr 2 I really need to move quite fast, so can't go back to square 1 research wise. Moreover, the 90% loan to value mortgage I had agreed was gone with covid. Not sure if this will be an impact for yourself

Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages are lovely (not a lot of diversity though). Canterbury is also a lovely town but the high speed train is ££ to commute. We love Hythe and Folkestone too but commute might be an issue again.

If you want further in then Shooters Hill is lovely and close to Blackheath and Greenwich. Charlton is more urban but has good transport links. I also like the Bexley Borough - safe, green, great schools and easy to get into London or out to the coast/countryside - try around New Eltham/Sidcup stations. Not much 'cafe' culture but I think this is improving as people are priced out of the more chi chi areas.

Is your child in year 5 now? It may be too late to register for the 11+ as the Kent, Bexley and Bromley exams take place at the beginning of Year 6 (in normal times!). For some schools in Kent, if you score very highly then it doesn't matter where you live as they reserve places. Same in Bexley - 'top 180' scorers can pick any of the Grammar schools. So you could, in theory if you haven't missed the deadline, register, sit the test and then see how they do. These places are highly sought after though and the level of competition is fierce with most of the high scorers having had tutoring.

As a pp said, Chislehurst also lovely. Tonbridge is a good commute but is seen as the poor cousin to Tunbridge Wells. It has some great Grammar schools.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. Some really interesting ideas to follow up that I hadn’t though of - much appreciated. @Lightsabre - yes Y5. I registered for the Kent 11+ just in time, a very long shot I think, but worth a try.
@Cuttinginfine hadn’t considered anywhere as far out as Folkestone, will definitely investigate that - sounds fantastic. @LillyC All the best with your house searching, must have been really gutting it falling through especially under current climate.

@Hilda41 let us know what you find in the end and good luck! From my side need to find a property this week and make a decision by end of the week. If I lose the 3rd one too, well I have to give up for the next 2 years ish

I was going to suggest Sevenoaks too

There's also Guildford /Godalming which are nice towns in a reasonable location for trains/near the countryside

Hitchin, really nice town, good schools, near countryside and direct train to London Bridge (about 45 mins). Trains run to Cambridge, Peterborough and Brighton.

Faversham. Easy commute, lovely town with lots of young families and lots going on.