Shortlist of places to move to from London

[BeforeISleep]

We're thinking about leaving London. It's a hard decision but even with our very good salaries, we're getting priced out of the areas we would want to live in.

Some of the places we've identified as potential destinations include:
Bath
Horsham
Hove
Winchester

Budget up to £1m but if we're buying outside London would prefer to keep it under £800k. Ideally 4-bed with good sized garden.

Our criteria:
Good co-ed, non-religious state secondary school options.
The timing is awful because DS will be starting Y7 in September so we might be relying on in-year places, which could be risky. So we would probably want a place with a few good schools so there's a chance one of them will have space. Or am I looking at this through the jaded London lens of oversubscribed schools? Are schools in these areas also likely to be full?

A proper town where we can easily walk to everything. We're willing to get a car, but we can't do a cookie-cutter surburban development on the outskirts of a town. That's just a personal choice, not a judgement btw.

Good transport links. We don't need to be in London regularly for work, but will need (and want) to go in occasionally.

Progressively minded, diverse area.

We are planning some weekend trips to explore these areas further and hopefully look at properties but I would appreciate any thoughts / insight in advance. Thank you!

There has been a big exodus of London families to Bath in the past decade. The majority of schools are v good (and children that care about studying will be supported). There are plenty of foreign students at the Uni, but otherwise it isn't especially diverse (in terms of race or culture).

Bristol would be a more obvious choice.

I'm not sure how many Bathonians have visited Keynsham. I suppose it is close(ish) to Bristol and Bath.

Frome might suit?

Meanwhile down in Sussex, Shoreham might be worth a look. I've no idea what the schools are like these days.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Ha ha! No it’s a saying ‘I’ll show my arse in the Co op window’

Progressive and Diverse as defined by dictionary attached.

Thanks for the definitions

Never heard that expression!

It means the same as ‘I’ll go to the bottom of our stairs’

Meaning if something unbelievable happened you’d got to the bottom of the stairs/ show arse in Co op.

@EmmaH2022

I'm just interested to know what "progressive/diverse" means.

It means people are unlikely to vote UKIP, harp on about the good old days and moan about immigration, and that not everyone is white and English.

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas.

Hoolihan nicely summed up my idea of "progressive and diverse".

"Occasional" access to London means once or twice a month, maybe. DP and I are bothworkingfully remotely.

Would like to be within about 2 hours of London by train. Ideally, within 1 mile of a train station.

Hadn't thought of Nottinghamshire, but will look intoWest Bridgford.
Someone mentionedExeter but it didn't seem like a fit after a quick check on the .gov school comparisontool. Maybe I shouldcheck again.

When I looked at Bristol, properties didn't seem that much cheaperin the areas we'd be interested in but, admittedly, we don't know the city well.

Hesitant about going too far north as I'm not a fan of the cold bleak winters.

We've also wondered about Leicester, Leeds and Loughborough as they're university towns, so perhaps promising?

If we were buying somewhere massively less expensive than London, we could even consider private school, but that's new terrain and I don't know how Y7 admissions or in-year admissions would work at this late stage. Feeling a bit like our timing is just wrong on all fronts!

Leamington Spa and Warwick have good schools and lovely areas

Not much house for in Hove for £800k. Is def progressive but not massively diverse.

You'd need to consider schools. Hove Park will have spaces.

Doesn't Horsham have single sex schools? Millais is the girls one. Not sure what the boys one is. Again you won't get much for £800k there.

Don't know the others. Seem very far from london though for twice a month.

Or maybe Solihull?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119961770

[quote frameit]www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119961770[/quote]

This is nice in Cheltenham and good schools in area.

If “progress and diverse” is the aim, why opt for a private school?

Cambridge

I have family that have moved to Bath. It’s a lovely city, but every time I visit, I’m struck by how white it is.

[quote frameit]www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119961770[/quote]

2 hours by train or driving.

Catchment for outstanding school.

www.balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk/page/?title=OFSTED&pid=13

Love Cambridge but it's not much cheaper than London.

Really only thinking of private schools as a potential option if state schools are oversubscribed and we were stuck waiting for a place, but as I said, that would be completely new, unfamiliar terrain so not sure how feasible it is. Definitely prefer a good state school.

I’d second Cheltenham, Norwich and Leamington Spa. You could also consider Towcester (lovely place but might be a bit traditional), Stratford, Lichfield and I also like Bedford (the castle quarter is really nice with beautiful houses) and parts of Leicester but not sure about schools in Leicester. Bedford has excellent schools but I think that some are at least partially selective.

Hove is lovely, progressive, and the gardens are bigger than in Brighton (I live in Brighton).

I also really like Horsham (go shopping or for days out there often) but I don't know anything about the schools.

Bath is this weird combo of being quite posh, and quite scruffy, and the city centre gets rammed with tourists. Bristol is more diverse, but you might find getting into a decent secondary school a bit of a challenge. Please don't come to Frome (as suggested by an earlier poster) - we're only a small town and currently getting overwhelmed by people re-locating here!

'Progressive and diverse' but you want private school?

Come ON!

I live in a village in one of the safest Tory seats in Britain. Most people here probably do vote Tory. Doesn't mean it isn't diverse, progressive, caring about each other, the environment and so on.

It's not wall to wall UKIP and Brexit land just because it's the blue bit of the map.

Have a look at Margate

Horsham has 1 x boy (which has just started taking girls from Y7 actually..)/1 x girl and 1 x mixed senior schools. All very good (followed by a great 6th form college) but not sure about in year admissions, as there has been a huge influx of new houses pushing places.

It does tick all your boxes though - if you live centrally, you can pretty much ditch the car and walk into town, to the (amazing) park, to the station (pretty easy to get into London/Brighton). Countryside walks/cycles on your doorstep (it is just up from the Downs Link) It is also, despite being a Tory stronghold for forever , strongly Lib Dem at grass roots level..there are is a lot of anti Tory sentiment out there..

On the Hove front, I'd check the schools. It used to be a nightmare getting into anything decent, but it may have changed.

Thanks figgyroller and Camomila. That's very helpful insight. We're planning a trip down to Horsham and Hove to explore soon.

No, Firesidefox I do not want a private school. As I explained in a few places, we definitely prefer a good state school but private might be a solution if in-year places in state schools are impossible to get and we end up on waiting lists.