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?

Tonbridge is only a couple of miles from Tunbridge Wells. We live in TW but go to Tonbridge a lot - nice indoor & outdoor pool, castle with loads of theatre/music events, fab town centre park, mini railway, nice Mediterranean grocer/fruit & veg shop. Cinema/bowling alley etc. are a couple of miles away in TW which also has lovely parks, lots of indy shops. Schools fab in both but places under lots of pressure from movers from London and you may not get the in year transfer of your choice.

I moved last year from London suburbs to Oxhey Village by Bushey Station in Hertfordshire. The train is 20 min into Euston. But we are also a 20 min walk to Watford Town centre which has a really good range of shops, restaurants, cinema, escape rooms , putt shack etc. Not too far is the Harry Potter world.
There are also a lot of parks, including a skate park and a splash park.
I think you would get what you are looking for around Watford and still be in the Oyster Zone with quick access to Everything you loved in London.

St. Albans - super quick train line into London and lots to do

The two towns are only about 2 miles apart so wherever you live, the facilities of the other are easily available. I live in TW and we do lots in both places.

Bristol, by a mile!

St Albans?

Where have you moved to in zone 6 that you have to drive everywhere and there's no parks? I'm in a similar 5/6 zone and we could easily get rid of the car entirely.

Bristol

Its very quaint to visit but don’t think it’s what Op is looking for.

You can't have what you want. Everything on your wish list, central, posh mc area but not overlooked or with neighbours and a huge garden, all for £850k. Not going to happen. Something will have to drop off your list unfortunately.

Or if you want a big garden, Rayleigh, Hockley or Ashingdon.

Oxted?
Reigate?
Although they're quite small but they do offer nice shops/restaurants. Good location, easy to get to London from there

This. Go back to London. Plenty that would meet all your other criteria in south east London - try the areas along the Overground (Honor Oak, Forest Hill etc).

Absolutely not Worthing.

You need a small city. So Norwich, Bristol, Brighton, (Oxford, Cambridge - not sure about budget).

I’ve lived in all of these and would say Bristol is a better bet.

Thank you! I think I probably sounded defensive, and horses for courses of course, but we really do think Tonbridge ticks lots of boxes so I was confused to hear it compared to the 1970s!

Messaged you Op.

Why? It has literally everything the OP says she wants.

I think if you are missing London and hate the suburbs, the places you have suggested will be more of the same. Personally, I would move back to London and have a smaller garden, but that’s the choice and compromise I made. If not, I agree with many of the others and would move to another city. Perhaps Bristol, or Brighton (though very expensive). Maybe St. Albans as it has great transport links into London.

I really feel like an Avacado and Carrot Falafel sandwich

You mentioned Bedford earlier on OP - I'm from that area and while I can't say it would be as culturally rich as somewhere like Cambridge or Bath, it is a nice place to live. Good train connections to London, lots of bus routes while you are unable to drive and there are really nice pockets of restaurants and parks scattered around. Lots of playgrounds, some good schools and lots of scenic villages around with decent pubs. Plus the embankment is lovely to walk down and you have a couple of cinemas in the town, lots of country parks nearby. I'm sure there are lots of downsides and I haven't lived there for a while so I might be out of date, but we've been living in a big city for the last few years and we've always said when we come back to the UK we'd consider living in Bedford - plenty of things to do, restaurants to try but not as full on as a city.

I really feel like an Avacado and Carrot Falafel sandwich

Do you look like one, though?

This. You're going to have to decide what is most important to you imo.

On your budget in London, I would move to Wimbledon - good transport links to central London, good schools, lots of playgrounds, endless activities for children and nice family area. But you're not going to get a huge house and garden - you'd get a 3 bed terrace in a nice family area close to the town centre. Like this - fairly small but has lots of extension potential, a decent-size garden for the area and near good primary schools:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/61352764/?search_identifier=56ebe5f100cda837a4a899884d42ffd3

This may be what you're moving to avoid. So your choice is then a 'proper' city outside London or a London commuter town. It sounds like you want the city. In your situation, I'd look at somewhere like Bath - lots of good schools and you'd get more space though you'd probably still have to make trade-offs between space and proximity to the city centre:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/61724782/?search_identifier=3ba6494fe01b2c1b61f27ab8ded23002

Sorry op - I wouldn’t live in Folkestone it’s still pretty rough and can be quite desolate in winter.

Faversham is lovely but will be too small for you I reckon

Canterbury has more going for it and lots to do. Good schools etc. fast train into town.

But moving to Kent will still be a bloody shock on leaving London I’m afraid.

Me too!