Move to South Croydon/Purley from Tunbridge Wells??

[User112]

Hi Mums,

We live in Tunbridge Wells. DS is at grammar school in Tonbridge. He either takes the bus or DH drops him off on the way to work. Our twins are in Y1 and their school is within walking distance.
We live in a small 3bed house and it’s getting very tight for us. We are looking to buy, but there isn’t much on the market that suits our needs and within budget.

Happy budget : under £800k
Ok budget : under $900k
Really stretch : 1M max

DH and I run our own consultancies from home. We visit our clients offices in London 1-3 times a week. I’ve drastically cut down London visits due to me being high risk.

We’d like a 4 bed detached with at least 1 office. Good size bedrooms (no box rooms). Our main concern is DS. He is really settled in his school and loves it. He is very academic and thrives in the environment at Judd. He has the box room now and says he is happy to commute for a bigger room 🤔

There is nothing much on the market in Tonbridge/Tonbridge Wells at the moment. The roads are tight here and traffic jams are HORRENDOUS. I’ve seen some lovely houses in Purley/South Croydon. We are thinking of buying there and let DS commute to Tonbridge until he can find a place at a more local grammar.
Does that sound like a good idea? Our commute to London gets cuts down to half. We pay crazy train fares to get to London from TW!!

I'm also confused why you can't find something closer. Obviously I don't know what your wish list is for a house but a quick right move search shows there's plenty in budget with enough money to do some work.

I wouldn't be moving to Croydon but if you do you need to move the school too. I really don't think that school commute is reasonable.

@SoupDragon

Croydon is pretty horrific.

Central croydon, yes. The outskirts aren't.

Yeah agreed. I live in a rural area right in the edge of the Borough and I can't remember the last time I went to Croydon Town centre to shop. Most people I know round here head to Kingston or Bluewater/Lakeside. Croydon Councils failed Westfield development finished it off and the Council now being bankrupt has pushed up the Council tax.

We are hoping Wallington boys or Wilson’s will have a vacancy in the next year or so for DS.

I definitely wouldn't move based on that hope as places are super rare and likely to have lots of others queuing up for them. So unless the commute back to the current grammar is doable long-term, I'd rethink. There must be closer places within budget.

@Enko The problem with some of those towns is getting to/from a station. I think we can consider some of them.

@OhRexy Please can you show me some examples? Happy to get work done, we just want space. No box rooms and no busy road. Those are the only hard constraints really.

[quote User112]@OhRexy Please can you show me some examples? Happy to get work done, we just want space. No box rooms and no busy road. Those are the only hard constraints really.[/quote]
I did a two minute search when getting ready earlier but I'm really not invested enough to do your house search. Sorry. There seemed to be loads though but you'll know more about the areas.

Have you been to Croydon recently? I would imagine that its a huge culture shock from Tunbridge Wells. I've lived in South Croydon for 12 years so I'm used to its grottier side, but even so, i still have WTF moments. If having a nice town centre, high st, local restaurants etc is important to you, then I wouldn't move here.

On the plus side, as you say, transport links to London are fantastic. Would you consider holding back some of your house money and paying for private? Id guess that Trinity don't have many in-year places, but Whitgift might be an option.

I concur with pps - the areas round Lloyd Park, Melville Avenue etc have gorgeous houses and are super close to E Croydon and South Croydon stations. I know quite a few people who have been happy moving there from nicer parts of London.

Purley high st area is not especially lovely (though obvs a lot nicer than Central Croydon). The nicer houses are quite a way from the station.

I don't know how likely places at wallington grammar school and Wilson are, but I do know St Olaves runs buses from Croydon. I'm guessing that an in-year admission might be v unlikely but its one more list you could put your sons name on.

There arent many houses on the market right now but I think there will be in January but you will need to move quickly

Traffic is pretty horrid around there too. Especially down to M25 and into Croydon/Purley Way. Assume you hope to walk to a station but that may well stretch your budget for nice house within walking distance. Tbh moving grammar school may not be that straightforward until sixth form.

If you would consider a modern, terraced town house then the house ive linked to below is on a nice street that's 15m walk to e Croydon Station. Its also a 10m walk to Addiscombe High st which has butchers, greengrocers etc.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114133964?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=new-homes&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_NEW

There are quite a few similar new build town houses being built on Farley Rd at the moment - I'm guessing they'll be ready to go on the market after Xmas.

The parts of S Croydon that OP is talking about - Shirley, Sanderstead, Kenley, Purley, Coulsdon etc are absolutely fine and nothing like central Croydon - which is a bit of a dump at the moment but even there has some nice spots.

South Croydon as before is solid, standard, suburban middle class and a perfectly fine place to live. Normal family activities, easy access to London for work and lovely countryside on the doorstep.

Out of all the places mentioned, Purley is the most bland looking but I know plenty of people that live there and all have lovely houses and great lives. I live just south of the areas described, so in Surrey probably not far off halfway between S Croydon and T Wells, and I'd much rather live in S Croydon with the easy access to London.

I'd go for it OP, you'll get a really nice house for 1 million in or around S Croydon. maybe also look into Surrey as well, Caterham, Warlingham etc - on same train lines.

I honestly wouldnt hold out for a place at Wilson's or Wallington boys though. I know several people with children there or used to be there and the only time I have ever heard of one leave in about 10 years is if they leave at sixth form and go to sixth form college. And that is a handful. My friend works at one of them and she says the waiting list for a place is huge as people that don't get in at year 7 (in the 1000s) just stay on the lists.

Most people I know in the area have kids at private schools if that's an option with a smaller mortgage? There are also good states schools that aren't grammars.

I agree those places are ok, there's just not much there.

That new build like many new builds is overpriced for the area.

Do you mean houses at the moment or in general?

If in general, I disagree. With covid people have been staying a lot more local and there's lots of local restaurants, bars, shops been popping up on the little local high streets of all those places mentioned. As well as all the standard kids activities, Waitrose, Aldis etc etc. It's very solidly middle class, at least in the circles I mix in. You can have a very nice social life without having to go into London, but it's a half hour train ride away when you need it.

If houses, I don't know as I'm not looking to move. I do know several people that have moved to bigger houses within these areas earlier this year though and you can't get builders or tradespeople for love nor money as everyone is having work done, which I think normally indicates a healthy market? It's the wrong time of year I guess?

Oh god I clawed my way out of South Croydon. Horrible area. Crime is just awful there.

Are you trying to buy

I agree with everything @Sonex said. Comparing somewhere like Sanderstead to West Croydon is like comparing Catford shopping precinct to Blackheath village. They're in the same borough but that's pretty much the only thing they have in common. You tend to find with posts about Croydon that you'll get a big pile on from people who moved away 15 years ago/have never lived here who will all tell you what a shithole it is.

The commute you're talking about for your DS is a bit of a grim one so I would hope for a transfer but not hold my breath given how oversubscribed the schools are. There is of course also Riddlesdown which is non selective but very well rated.

If you're near a station the transport options are very good; East Croydon is a massive interchange so access centrally is very easy.

While the Westfield will they/won't they means that the town centre is very run down and depressing, the more local areas (huburbs, as a conference I went to recently described them) have thrived in its place - your local high streets (Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon, S Croydon) have had new bars and decent coffee shops pop up; there are genuinely nice places to eat/drink for both day and night times locally without needing to use the centre of Croydon. You also have easy access to the M25 (traffic not a problem from that side - via the Caterham bypass not the M23) and it's less than 40 minutes to Guildford or Bromley for a better shopping experience; or there's a through train to Westfield White City from East Croydon.

I'm not going to deny that there are parts of Croydon which would benefit from a flamethrower regeneration but your budget means that they don't have to be a consideration for you. The only problem you might have is that there is very very little on the market at the moment - although if I were looking then this would be top of my list: Heathhurst Road, South Croydon

I agree Sanderstead is nothing like West Croydon but the people I know from that area tended to go into WC for certain things because it was the closest option.

But I would say areas like Sanderstead also have a different feel to TW & of course they aren't comparable to Blackheath village either.

The OP has a healthy budget so I think has more options.

Are you trying to buy

yes, next year. I'm in Wandsworth though & staying here.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90540571#/?channel=RES_BUY

Not my style but a good sized house in Petts Wood. That was after a 30 second rightmove search. How can petts wood/Orpington be out of your price range?????

Your son could stay at Judd and commute easily, you can get into London easily.

I know Croydon well as used live there. Yes there are nice houses but no it's not going to feel great after living in tun wells (I grew up there). If you really can't find something around tonbridge/tun wells for one million quid I'd say you're not looking.

@Rainbowcake88

Oh god I clawed my way out of South Croydon. Horrible area. Crime is just awful there.

What part of South Croydon?

Headcorn

The only time I ever go to West Croydon is to go to bloody Hewitt's, the uniform shop that many of the schools still inexplicably use (a years wait for uniform anyone?)!

I actually quite like going there as it's a very interesting, vibrant place, if a little scary/edgy. But we moved out from South London so it's all relative I guess. I do have friends who live in the S Croydon area that weren't brought up in London who say they are too scared to go into Croydon, which is ridiculous. I quite like the Centrale shopping centre! Just don't venture out into the Whitgift centre at the moment if you're not used to London . And tbh Bluewater is only a 30/40 min drive if I need somewhere a bit more sanitizer.

But I moved central London for university and slowly moved down South out to Surrey, so I lived in places like Brixton, Peckham, Camberwell in the nineties so trust me, anywhere in South Croydon does not worry me! In all that time, I have never experienced any crime, so it's not a given. My children (and all their mates) go to one of th schools mentioned and they too have never had any issues, and commute into and around one of the Croydon stations every day.

Life in S Croydon/Surrey can be a very middle class bubble, I like a bit of urban reality down the road, we should always know what it's like for many, many people who are forced to live iness salubrious, urban areas. That being said, car theft does seem to be an issue in these areas, but that's because people have nice houses and expensive cars ....

@Rainbowcake88

Oh god I clawed my way out of South Croydon. Horrible area. Crime is just awful there.

What part of South Croydon? Nearer the station and Brighton Road isn't so nice, but further away is lovely. Although, I agree that crime, especially burglary, is an issue. A relative near Lloyd Park was burgled recently.