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?

I had a boyfriend from that area many years ago. Nice houses but it is dull.

St Albans is a thriving city, loads of history, great shopping and eats, wonderful parks and leisure and 17mins overground into London (West Hampstead).
Harpenden has excellent schools but housing is expensive snd you’ll be forever heading into nearby St Albans for shopping and entertainment.

Shhhhh don’t tell people! 😉

My friend left london for Suffolk - she then sent me this text:

”I cant stand it here, what have we done?
I’m so so bored. It’s a nightmare.
Now the area around my cottage STINKS! The farmers are harvesting early and when they do they cover the fields with PIG SHIT 🤢. Jesus, it smells so bad. Ive got to keep all the windows shut.
Heading back to my beloved London tonight where it smells of money and Chanel No 5 😆

Thats lovely, and a really nice part of town

If you only need to be in London once a week to check in at the office for meetings, you can live anywhere you like.. I moved to (east) Cornwall in 1990 with a fax machine (pre--Internet) and continued to work in the City. But I was often on the road by 0330 am for a meeting in Staines at 0800, and back in Cornwall by 1300 to turn around the update by 1700 so the paymasters could read it on their return journey home.

No complaints though. It was interesting, skilled and well paid work that could even then be done remotely from home, with a computer and a fax machine. And the balance of living in Cornwall and visiting London, Paris, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Preston etc to talk f2f with the bigwigs was very hard to beat.

@runtothesun I'm with you about St Albans- we've lived there twice- first time when son was very small it worked well because all we did was commute to work, son in great nursery, got back and stayed in- market and high st at weekend and then maybe a drink in a pub garden and verulamium park on a Sunday.

Second time we went back with a teen I felt it had really gone down hill- lots of empty shops , a lot of the more interesting ones no longer there and it occurred to us that actually it was a bit of a cultural desert and just dull and didn't have much 'quirk' or anything much culturally. Could see it would seem nice as a quick day trip from London - I also got accosted twice there by taxi drivers, so don't have particularly warm thoughts of it.

I understand why people move there but it's pricey and for similar sort of distance out and similar money, I much preferred Kingston . (And have lived in both)

You could buy a stunning period house with a good sized garden in the catchment for outstanding secondaries and primaries and within half an hour of the city centre and the peak District for that in Sheffield. It is just over 2 hours to st pancs so commutable to London.
Sheffield isn't as big city like as London is but it has lots going on and is close to Leeds and Manchester if you need a bit of proper big city buzz.

I am repeating myself, but Marlow gives you a lot of what you want, it is on the M40, M25 and M4, is close to Windsor, Henley, etc, has wonderful parks, great community, fabulous restaurants and cafes - also grammar schools, vegan food, excellent shops. For bigger shopping High Wycombe is 10 minutes away. Theatres (with excellent productions from west end and touring) in Windsor and High Wycombe, in Marlow itself, there is the regatta, outdoor cinemas, music fesivals, Christmas fairs etc. There may be a few three bed properties in your price range - I would consider it definitely.

Canterbury?

We live in Harpenden - the schools aren't all they are cracked up to be but there's a thriving market for tutors to make up for it. It's dull - most of the restaurants are chains or just more of the same - how many pizza and Italian restaurants do you need? St Albans is not much better than H, very dull too! But then again some people seem very happy with what they have to offer.

@m00rfarm I absolutely love Marlow- (we are in Windsor at moment and go to marlow often) I might be wrong but I don't think it's quite the vibe the OP is after . Me- I love it! Quite a struggle on the price thing though as OP wants large garden, not overlooked and quite a big house but doesn't drive.

yes - I think the price may be an issue, but in terms of other requirements, I thought it did quite well. Certainly on the random food requirements, parks, playgrounds, things to do - and cinema etc within 5 minutes drive. I lived in Marlow for a few years and then Holyport which was perfect being in between Marlow and Windsor. I love this area - so much to do!

COntinuing on the Marlow theme as I did not finish, I used to not drive my car for days when we lived there - my son was at the Grammar school in Marlow, and we had all the supermarkets and shopping, restaurants and cafes, river etc within a short walk. He was also a chorister at the church on the bridge, so even that was easily walkable.

Spot on @EmmaH2022. Faith groups can be a good source of all age community. Or voluntary organisations of all kinds, charities, choirs, local political parties, food banks, community cafes, school governing or PTA.

@AlexandriasWindmill

Now I've fallen down a rabbit hole of properties in Cambridge.
My personal favourite is this one Beautiful Cambridge property
^
That house is beautiful but it's on a really busy road, where it's mostly retail parks and car shops and it's at the end of a bridge with a Trainline running under it. Newmarket rd area is the only part of Cambridge I'd avoid for the reasons above.

I’d move back to london or another city - if you are 1d/week Cambridge/Bristol/Birmingham or even sheffield/Manchester all doable. I think if croydon is too suburban for you a lot of the recommended commuter towns will send you to sleep. I know what you mean about London community…. There is something about everything and everyone being literally round the corner that you don’t get in places where people jump in cars for every trip.

I’ve just bought a 3 bed (plus convertible loft) Victorian semi with 85ft garden in zone 3 for 850. Needs a bit of work but I’d say average price for area with much bigger than average garden.
We are in catchment for 2 ofsted outstanding primaries, 6 min from tube, 2 min from overground. DM me if helpful for details.

@m00rfarm Ah Holyport - !! Lovely village. The pub there is one of my date night favourites - such a lovely green !!! Like the Garden at the Crown in Bray too!!

My house is opposite the green - and yes - the pub there is great!

😆no need to worry - my comment seems to have slipped into the ether anyway 😂 - it shall remain the lovely quiet city that it is. Seriously though, it was the first place that sprung to mind when I read the OP’s post.

I’d either move further in SE London or move west along zone 6 to Kingston/Surbiton/Teddington etc.

I think the opposite after living in both Cambridge and Oxford for a year each. There's a lot more to do in Oxford and the weather is generally much better too. State schools vary in both cities. Summertown and Headington are great suburbs of Oxford with loads of varied independent restaurants.

Norwich is great. Astonishingly cheap trains too, given the distance, if you book them - half or less the price of Cambridge. 90 mins to Liv St and about 15 mins on to Blackfriars. Grim every day, but fine once a week. Nice housing. A real place. Good allotments!

Bromley/Pettswood both nice areas.

Possibly? I don't really know 😂