Left London for the suburbs - hate it

[Whereishome22]

Feeling miserable about this situation so want to at least have hope on the horizon! Moved from a part of London I loved to zone 6 suburbs end of last year and absolutely loathe it. It's a cultural wasteland, nothing to do, need to drive everywhere (which I can't yet), takes ages to get into work, and no local parks or playgrounds (two small kids). Suffering serious buyers remorse but anywhere I'd live in London has shot up in price Vs here, which has stayed steady.

So I want to leave and start anew in a town/ small city and want your help!

Budget is £850k, need at least 3 bedrooms but ideally more/annexe. Want a house with period features (not cottage more Victorian/Edwardian/1930s), at least 100 foot garden, good schools (this doesn't necessarily mean grammar schools) within walking distance, things to do, cinema, swimming pool, fruit and veg market, actually useful shops rather than gift shops and to be able to get a nice coffee, vegan food every now and then. Family in the South so don't want to be too far from them (i.e. Wales, Scotland, NE/SW England) and will need to commute to London one day a week (but don't mind it being a long one)

Places on the shortlist are:
Folkestone
Norwich
Tonbridge
Faversham

Any other ideas?

Leigh on sea
Southend on sea

i’d suggest Wokingham in Berkshire it’s a small town on the waterloo line. Good transport links, Good schools nice town centre with great fruit and veg market nice parks, independent shops, lovely Everyman Cinema and new swimming pool being built in the town centre.

St Albans is a wonderful place to visit for the weekend but is as dull as dishwater to live in.

Bromley? Beckenham maybe?

I agree, especially about the schools, however for £850k you will sadly struggle to get the size of property you want near enough to the station to be useful.

Another vote for Cambridge. It’s a nice city, easy train to London, easy access to stansted.
I don’t know Bath that well but I thought it was lovely when I visited.

I'd say west bridgford, it's a great environment, excellent schools and you'd get a 4-5 bedroom house for your budget. Slightly further out of the central
Avenue area gives better sized gardens.
It's got the countryside on 1 side and the city of Nottingham the other. Easy buses to town and all sorts of amenities, sporting things, cricket, water sports and football as well as ice hockey. Loads of theatre and concerts too.
Train isn't too long to London either if it's only once a week it's not too bad
Good luck

But it's hardly a cultural metropolis, or even particularly nice (sorry of you live there)

If you're thinking of moving to a different place entirely I would consider renting for 6 months to see if you really like it. As you have found out, it's an expensive mistake to make

Quiet bits of Croydon are a bit shit (sorry to any people who love it)

We like South Norwood though - feels like London but is cheaper - quit trains in to London and there are house you might like... also have greengrocers, a market monthly, a cheese shop and other bits and bobs...

just a quick look in your price range and these things

I grew up in London and the thought of suburbs makes me shudder - South Norwood is good though - fab sense of community too. People are rude about it but we like it.

I have tried living elsewhere (Brighton and Cheltenham) and still came back to London... if you are struggling with Croydon you may well struggle elsewhere.

You can walk up to Crystal Palace and the primary schools are great round here - the secondaries a little more hit and miss but there are options and really good transport links - so can travel a little further to school - Kingsdale, Norwood School Chestnut Gove and various grammars are accessible from here as well as safety schools like Harris Crystal Palace, Shirley High and Eden Park.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62308868/?search_identifier=fae6668e1b365ae81c3d025c87cb6938

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/61565961/?search_identifier=fb7b8ef9f180a4d436296c3f5e56f846

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62054601/?search_identifier=fb7b8ef9f180a4d436296c3f5e56f846

not so pretty but good garden www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62085504/?search_identifier=fb7b8ef9f180a4d436296c3f5e56f846

not so period:
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62007231/?search_identifier=fb7b8ef9f180a4d436296c3f5e56f846

Selhurst s not quite a nice but they have good houses:
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/60493290/?featured=1&utm_content=featured_listing&search_identifier=fae6668e1b365ae81c3d025c87cb6938

Kingsdale, Norwood School Chestnut Gove and various grammars are accessible from here as well as safety schools like Harris Crystal Palace, Shirley High and Eden Park.

Just to add

we have local friends who have secured places in those schools from SE25

I moved from London To Watford in Hertfordshire. I have a lovely big garden, am within walking distance of the town, but the M25 is near so its easy to get to Heathrow and other airports.
The main advantage is that by fast train you are in London (Euston) 20 minutes and are at the end of the Metropolitan line (approx 40 mins central London)
We are well served with buses.
Whilst I like neighbouring St Albans you only have one commuting option there.

Bedford is awful. I work there and have to go to the town centre for my break - the shopping centre is depression central.

All the good shops have gone. Just rubbish left.

They did develop a nice bit down by the river with restaurants etc, but still I'd never want to live there

Faversham born and bred, can't afford to move back there. Love it dearly but has been swamped a bit by people like yourself.
Folkestone has a lot going for it and the harbour area has had a lot of investment.
Canterbury is a tourist/ student he'll hole these days, can't see the wood for the trees now

You want to be on the Thameslink Line ideally for Blackfriars.

So Brighton, St Albans, Harpenden etc.

Folkestone is the nearest to a cultural highlight round here but it's very very far from being in London. Seriously, wish we'd never moved. Think really really carefully before deciding!

Also, I wouldn't write off the suburbs because of Croydon. SW London is greener (Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park etc) Try Kingston? Earlsfield, You won't get 100ft gardens unless you really do suburbia like New Malden, Morden, Motspur Park etc

Colchester
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124840616#/?channel=RES_BUY

No but it’s near one unlike Tonbridge, Faversham, Folkestone. OP doesn’t really want to leave London imo.
(I don’t live there).

I do totally agree with this. Although Folkestone has lots of cultural activities which are funded by our local philanthropist its a really small town with a lot of deprivation. Its a bit Little Britain ie people can be very judgy, seems to be anything you don't immediately understand, you judge. Its incredibly beautiful though.

I think Canterbury fits your criteria better, more choice of things to do, great city for walking and cycling whereas Folkestone is very hilly and some roads not very cycle friendly ie I end up cycling on pavement for bits of my journey. Canterbury has 2 unis and an art school, university of third age etc. Its actually not great to drive around and the UKC area has great bus service. At the moment my son has kent test in 10 days and for that reason I would say 'run for the hills' from Kent as its all a bit of a nightmare. You are forced into it (the Kent test) because the secondary moderns mostly have very poor results, and so many people tutor you feel your child will be at a disadvantage if you don't, so then you need to motivate them and they need to buy into it.

If you have any specific questions about Folkestone happy to answer. I am from Kent but we moved back here from London zone 3 3 years ago and I fantasize about moving to London zone 6!

If you want somewhere that isn’t a cultural desert, don’t move to Folkestone. Nice in the summer with beach and harbour arm etc. but dead as anything in the winter.

I live in TW and don't drive. I'm about five minutes walk from the station. My sister lives in Tonbridge and, while she does drive, generally gets the train over here because of the hideous traffic whichever way you come in.

While the surrounding areas are nice (the villages), I wouldn’t describe it as cultural and I agree that the town centre is pretty dire. However it does have a number of parks and green spaces, and good transport links.

Ely is lovely and has most of the things on your list. Direct train line to London too.

You'd be hard pushed to find many places worse than zone 6 croydon ! I grew up there and parents still there. I think you need to work out if you want buzzy busy vibe or quieter but still things to do as they are very different, thinking Winchester/Tunbridge Wells vs Bristol/Brighton vs Cambridge/ Norwich.