Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Left London for the suburbs - hate it

454 replies

Whereishome22 · 31/08/2022 11:27

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?

OP posts:
Caminante · 01/09/2022 00:58

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

@IrisVersicolor

True! But no better than Croydon in that regard.

DreadingWinter · 01/09/2022 05:43

Dartmoorcheffy · 31/08/2022 13:34

Come to Devon, you can get an amazing home for that sort of money and Exeter is a fantastic city. You can easily commute on the train from Exeter to London too.

I loathed every second of living in Exeter. It's too far from London and I found it unfriendly and dull.

WeAreRuined · 01/09/2022 06:55

sunshineandsuddenshowers · 31/08/2022 23:03

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!

We moved to Norwich last Christmas- it is great, there’s always something going on for the kids, the food scene is amazing, as are the pubs. it’s quite a bit cheaper than London, not just housing but services, good and entertainment too. We walk into the city centre - less than 15 mins - always something to see - the market is wonderful - It feels safe and welcoming. And the coast is pretty close for an occasional day at the beach.
I’m a huge fan. A two hour trip to London once a week is very doable - loads of Londoners have made the leap to the Golden triangle area - expensive for Norwich but £850k should buy you something special.

inapickleproblem · 01/09/2022 07:10

@Whereishome22 I think it may be difficult to find somewhere that meet all your requirements in a town. We are about to put our house on the market. 5 bed, detached annexe, garage and garden room but we're in a village in the South East (good schools and bus routes though). Hopefully you will find what you're looking for, op.

PaceyWitter · 01/09/2022 08:05

It's handy to drive to live in Tonbridge/TW but not essential if you don't mind walking. 2 of my sisters don't drive. You can walk from one end of TW to the other in an hour and there are 2 train stations but the buses aren't all that depending on area, and expensive.

PaceyWitter · 01/09/2022 08:15

Tiapia · 31/08/2022 17:17

I’m Essex based so this neck of the woods I would say:

  • Braintree
  • Chelmsford (there’s loads to do with young kids here - I don’t drive either) good schools and grammars, parks are great, we frequent 4 regularly and many more. I don’t drive and we can get over Essex but it is time consuming (1.5-2h on public transport compared to 20-30 min drive)
  • Colchester as above poster mentioned also have good schooling
  • Leigh on sea - again lots to do with young kids, lots of school options (inc multiple grammars) only on fenchurch line but I believe Blackfriars is on the circle line? Couldn’t be more than 1.5h. Leigh broadway is Pilates mum central with lots of sourdough and smoothie havens. Fantastic vegan restaurants there and further into Southend. Parks are great all around Southend. Crime coming in from London to the beaches is an increasing problem though. Parking is diabolical (although not important at present)
Lots of lovely villages but would not recommend without a car. We aren’t as bad as you would think. Pretty similar to Kent.

Other suggestions as some others have said:

  • St Albans
  • Watford (although when we were here wasn’t the best for public transport)
  • Cambridge
  • Bristol (although doable is a lengthy commute) the train station is about 30 mins from town (if I remember correctly).
  • Reading? But close than Bristol.
  • Norwich
Biggest piece of advice? If you have a partner or friends/family who can drive get yourselves out for lots of day trips to areas your interested in, ask locals in cafes, find local Facebook groups online and ask questions.

My husband is from the Southend area and I'm from Kent and the attitudes are wildly different there - to be blunt south Essex is very right wing, backwards and lots of people are a bit racist. I mean Mark Francois is one of their MPs and they like him, and I've never seen so many houses flying national flags, sometimes several per road. My son is ginger and it is the only place in the world he has had negative abuse hurled at him for it, multiple times. Apart from East Beach the "beaches" are filthy and actually just muddy riverbank. DH makes noises about moving back there occasionally but it would be over my dead body.

Leigh on Sea is nice but the problem is that it's surrounded by the rest of it!

Chelmsford is really nice though, we have friends there.

Newgirls · 01/09/2022 08:20

AlexandriasWindmill · 31/08/2022 19:10

Now I've fallen down a rabbit hole of properties in Cambridge.
My personal favourite is this one Beautiful Cambridge property

That is lovely! Is that a very busy road?

Newgirls · 01/09/2022 08:29

Crikeyalmighty · 31/08/2022 21:12

@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)

Culturally there is a cinema, 4 theatres, a live music venue (prob more but the Horn is best known), Roman theatre summer festival, comedy festival, food festival, half marathon etc. it’s expensive and not exactly Brighton but for a small city its got quite a lot going on

BigSandyBalls2015 · 01/09/2022 08:42

The centre of croydon is very grim but there are a lot of lovely areas within the borough and it’s actually a very green borough with over 100 parks.

IrisVersicolor · 01/09/2022 09:02

Caminante · 01/09/2022 00:58

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

@IrisVersicolor

True! But no better than Croydon in that regard.

Helluva lot better than Croydon.

PaceyWitter · 01/09/2022 09:03

CloudyMorning · 31/08/2022 19:12

@Whereishome22 I lived in Brighton for many many years and it has made so many places seem really parochial by comparison. I didn’t realise how much I’d hate this until I moved to West Sussex…

Anyway, I’d say Brighton and Hove if you can find what you are looking for in budget (by all means PM me for info on different areas as they differ hugely in character ).

I would say a big no to Worthing if you want culture and a bit of the vegan / hipster/ ‘right on’ vibe but a big yes to Lewes. Sorry to sound like a wanker with all those stereotypes but you get my drift. DH and I regret not moving to Lewes tbh!

Bristol sounds like a good alternative but I don’t know it.

My husband lived in Lewes when we were first together and it's SO dull. Where uni lecturers go to die. Everything shut in the evening, everything shut on a Sunday, everything shut for 2 full days for the madness that is bonfire night there.

unicormb · 01/09/2022 09:14

Take the train down to Folkestone for the day, OP, and I guarantee you'll be on Rightmove that same day.

CroccyWoccy · 01/09/2022 09:46

Caminante · 31/08/2022 18:20

Bromley? Beckenham maybe?

Show quote history

Bromley is Z5 and Beckenham Z4. Neither is a cultural desert! Bromley can hold it’s own as a perfectly respectable town in its own right.

There are however plenty of places within Bromley borough where you can buy a perfectly lovely house but need a car or to jump on a bus to even get a pint of milk.

I mean it’s not really a surprise that anywhere you live there’s a compromise to be made about being close to the action vs having more house and garden space. This is magnified in the suburbs where there’s more residential sprawl between fewer town centres.

Clovacloud · 01/09/2022 09:58

Newgirls · 01/09/2022 08:20

That is lovely! Is that a very busy road?

Show quote history

It’s a very busy road and one of the main ones into Cambridge. It’s also opposite the football ground. It’s a very charming house though , I’ve often admired it as I’ve driven past.

Crikeyalmighty · 01/09/2022 09:59

@m00rfarm I will wave to you !! I've been ogling those houses!!

Leftbutcameback · 01/09/2022 14:15

The place I've lived without a car, and managed to do almost everything I'd want, is Birmingham (as a PP mentioned). Somewhere like Harborne, or Moseley is good though not on the railway line. Always something to do culture wise, easy to travel to nice little towns nearby, I miss it!

areyouhavingagiraffe · 01/09/2022 15:50

@Whereishome22 out of interest where have you moved to? I moved to Gidea Park (zone 6) and love it. Nice restaurants, cafes, parks, pubs.

amccabe15 · 01/09/2022 17:54

Look at Clarendon Park area of Leicester.

Poppingmad123 · 01/09/2022 18:03

@goldenbag mentioned Berkshire. Agree plenty of nice places. Have a look at Reading for example. It’s only 30 mins to Paddington.

Adifferentcorner · 01/09/2022 18:12

Hove is a great place, everything is so accessible, near the beach and The Downs or can move a little further out to shoreham, which is not as far as Worthing and probably a little bit more lively.

FurierTransform · 01/09/2022 18:16

OP should first get a car and see how that affects the way they feel. Being dependent on public transport in Z6 can't be nice.

Piperdrum · 01/09/2022 18:24

Norwich is lovely. Great schools, lots going on. Shops are good, a nice mix of mainstream and quirky. You’ve got the beaches and broads close by, it’s also a cathedral city. 😀

Hmrk · 01/09/2022 18:25

Colchester

Bobbi730 · 01/09/2022 18:31

I was in a similar position to you a few years ago. I was looking at moving so far out of the city, I decided to leave altogether and moved to Hove.
You can definitely get what you want in your budget. Some of my friends have huge gardens and mine is certainly big enough for me and my kids. I hardly ever drive as everything is on our doorstep, schools, parks, pubs, cafés etc. and we can cycle to Brighton centre in 15 minutes. The main beach at Brighton is really touristy but the local beaches are fine. Best move I ever made.
This house sold last week.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125216771

munner · 01/09/2022 18:31

Beckenham