Surbiton, Twickenham or Richmond?

[sunshinefordays]

Would love to know any thoughts on these areas, especially if you live in one of them or rate one over the other, and if so the reasons why.

Our budget would probably be somewhere between £900-£950 (if the top end we couldn't afford to do any work for the foreseeable future).

Ideally we would want 4 bedrooms (or the potential for 4 in the future by converting the loft) and a garden big enough to have a shed/studio outbuilding.

We need to be within walking distance of a train station with a fast connection in to London.

We have pre-school aged children, so schools are a consideration. We wouldn't be able to afford private school fees.

Things that we would love to have: family friendly area, safe neighbourhood with green spaces/parks within walking distance. Decent supermarkets / local amenities like nice independent coffee shops (rather than chains). I'd prefer to be near a buzzy high Street than in the middle of suburbia.

Might all be too much to ask for our budget in any of them, but we don't know that part of SW London very well so would welcome any thoughts!

Richmond is quite touristy so the river area is very busy especially in summer. On the flight path as well but that might affect all of them.

I would go for kingston or between kingston and surbiton and get surbiton train

I would choose kingston and surbiton too because they are much further off the flight path- I've lived in both Richmond hill area and st Margaret's and the planes at 6am drove me mental , same with sheen

Hi Sunshinefordays

You're looking at very practical areas for Waterloo/Clapham Junction.

I love SW London including all the areas you are considering and other more expensive ones like Barnes, but I'll try to answer your questions in as much detail as I can.

Yes, we really like Teddington. It has some nice shops in the high street and a beautiful riverside and park. I think it 's got a very good service regarding the number of trains into Waterloo, but they're all the slower sort, taking around 40 minutes I think - whereas Surbiton has a lot of faster ones than that. Richmond has the great advantage of the tube, although specifically for Clapham / Waterloo that isn't relevant.

Surbiton is a much more modest place than Richmond; the shops, the feel to it and the people. It's a more every day living type place, feels friendly and relaxed but is definitley massively less 'posh' or 'exclusive' than Richmond. As someone mentioned above, Richmond attracts tourists, Surbiton doesn't.

Richmond has 10 times as many shops as Surbiton, it's much bigger, it's wealthier and more sort of elite. Hugely more expensive too.

In a way, it's unfair to compare Surbiton and Richmond though because Richmond is the main shopping area in the borough, whereas Kingston is the main shopping centre in the borough of Kingston (where Surbiton is).

Regarding where in Surbiton to live, I agree with others who suggested the Maple Road area or the roads between Surbiton and Kingston.

Maple Road has a villagey feel, with some nice restaurants, a café and is very near the beautiful riverside but also the station and the more normal high street shops. It's limited though, you can't compare it to the fabulous Richmond.

The area between Surbiton and Kingston does sort of include Maple Road, and is nicely positioned near to the excellent Surbiton Station, the riverside and the town centre of Kingston with lots of shops and riverside restaurants.

The wealthy part of Surbiton is called Southborough, where the houses are very attractive, large, and there's grass between the pavement and road as well as trees (that always looks so nice and more rural I find).

The area called Berrylands (KT5) has 1930s houses, mostly detached and semi-detached. It feels safe and calm, but to me seems a bit boring. The part of Berrylands nearer to the northern part of the Ewell Road is best, where the walk into Surbiton is fine. I'd happily live there and actually suggest you look at that area because you'd get much more for your money than in the Maple Road area and astronomically more for your money than in Richmond.

Tolworth is sometimes included under 'Surbiton (KT6)' but isn't near enough to the river or station. I wouldn't move there.

People also suggested Kingston, and I agree, it's a wonderful place. However, the station doesn't compare to Surbiton if you need to commute to London. That's why I'd suggest the Surbiton side.

To sum up, if I were house hunting and my budget was unlimited, I would choose Richmond or Kew. I think they would also feel more similar to what you're used to with the type of shops and feel. On a much more limited budget, I'd happily live in the Maple Road area of Surbiton, the part of Berrylands near to Surbiton, or the roads between Surbiton and Kingston, but they are definitely less desirable than Richmond or Kew.

@MrsKypp great summary- as I said below though their are advantages of kingston and surbiton and that is unlike Richmond and Kew or sheen you are off the flight path!!! And for me that's a biggie as it drive me nuts when we lived on friar style Road and also in st margarets!!

@GuerlainHo - thank you - I think we have learned from these helpful comments though that our current budget probably won't get us what we'd hope for in Richmond, so might have put that location on the back burner!

@MrsKypp - thank you so much for such a helpful and detailed reply! It also really helps to be given more specific areas to look at, as we're aware that individual roads can have pros/cons and very different feels. Thank you for commenting on pros and cons of different parts of Surbiton!

I think realistically we've learnt from all this helpful feedback that we won't get the space we are hoping for in Richmond, which is a shame but a reality of life!

Surbiton though sounds more and more promising - we would prioritise being near the station for commuting, and as we would also be moving away from family who would use that train line in order to visit.

If you happen to, I'd be so grateful to know if there are good state schools for boys and girls (secondary and primary) in Surbiton or nearby that they'd stand a chance of getting in to?

Thank you again as this is all so helpful and makes the idea of relocating from ED slightly less daunting when you hear from someone with local knowledge!

@Crikeyalmighty - thanks for flagging the flight path! We're a bit spoiled at the moment living on a cul-de-sac so have got very used to peace and quiet, so a really helpful point to bear in mind!

@SD25 - thank you - really useful to know! We also think we've understood from these replies that our budget probably isn't big enough for Richmond, so looks like it's out of the running for us anyway!

@Waterlemon - thanks for this helpful summary!

Do you happen to know anything about state primary and secondary schools in Surbiton? We're not at that stage yet with pre-schoolers but I know it will come around faster than we think!

Those other areas you mention unfortunately aren't so practical for us as the big driving factor is for my husband to be much closer to his new job, which wouldn't be achieved I don't think in Stoneleigh and Epsom, but thanks for suggesting them! :)

@Crikeyalmighty Thanks! Yes, I can absolutely imagine the effect of the flight path - there are so many planes there it can be constant can't it.

@sunshinefordays

You asked about state schools.

For primary I'd suggest St Mark's and St Andrew's, I've been really impressed by that school although my info could be a bit out of date. I don't know about how easy it is to get a place there this or next year. I do know it's pretty easy at Lime Tree and St Matthew's, so the primaries are certainly not oversubscribed at the moment in Surbiton.

Surbiton is in a grammar school borough: Tiffin Boys in central Kingston and Tiffin Girls towards Ham. They are extremely popular with some people going crazy with tutoring their DC to pass the 11+.

Regarding other secondary schools, I know some happy DC at Hollyfield for example and Kingston Academy (both for girls & boys). There are also single sex secondaries. I've heard good things about Richard Challoner (boys). The secondaries are oversubscribed and admission is often done on proximity home/school addresses. I have some friends who were so stressed about their DC getting a secondary place they even thought they'd have to move (turned out ok in the end).

l lived in the Berrylands area of Surbiton a long time ago and it is very nice, leafy and good schools. Berrylands railway station has trains to Waterloo every half hour and it takes around half an hour to get there. I think at busy times there may be more. Everywhere is walkable but there is a very good bus service, every ten minutes or so, too. The Tolworth area of Surbiton is similar, but you might get more house for your money. Have a look at New Malden, too.

I feel well placed to answer this as I have lived in all 3 place - rented in Twickenham for a year, lived in Richmond for 9 years and now Surbiton for 8 years. I can't see us leaving Surbiton.

For a young family I really love Surbiton. I live by Maple Rd and it's a 6 minutes walk to the train station and Waitrose and a lovely 15 minute walk along the river to get to Kingston marketplace and shops. The closest school is Maple Infants which feeds into St Andrews and St Marks. Both are outstanding by Ofsted and in the top 5 schools in the borough. Catchment areas are really small so you would need to live within 10 mins walk.

Surbiton has a fast and frequent train to Clapham/Waterloo. It does get busy as commuters in surrounding areas also use it as Kingston line is slow and infrequent despite being a bigger town. I don't miss Richmond at all. We only go there for Kew Gardens as every other shop you can find in Kingston.

I find Surbiton very open as a community with lots of community events on - there's a farmers market on Maple Rd every month and various different Surbiton festivals. Bushy Park, Hampton Court and Richmond Park are all close by. So much to do for young children. There's every pre-school class you could think of. Nurseries are exceptionally busy and have long waiting lists.

Maple Rd is the most desirable area in Surbiton (apart from Southborough which is definitely out of your budget) so you would be able to get a 3/4 bed house but with a small garden. I have 2 friends who sold in last 3 months - small 3 bed houses for 950k last year on the river roads. Maple Rd has a small parade of shops which includes The Antelope - very nice pub, The Grove - also nice pub, The French Table - acclaimed French restaurant, No97 - lovely bar/restaurant, French Tarte bakery and Cento Uno - Italian restaurant. Surbiton's high street has P.O., Marks & Spencer Food, Boots, Sainsbury's amongst all the hairdressers and coffee shops.

We lived on Surbiton /Tolworth border for a few years. Just about walking distance to Surbiton station, very frequent buses to Kingston shops. My kids were little and there were lots of mother and toddler groups. We moved to another part of the UK due to work reasons but I enjoyed living there.

The borough of Kingston is very good for schools generally - both state and independent

Good primaries include grand avenue, Christ church, Saint marks

at secondary, it has two of the best grammar schools - tiffin girls and tiffin boys. There is the “tiffin effect” where too private schools in the area have rejections depending on who has got into tiffins

obviiusly it’s competitive and may not be for your children - but there is hollyfield, tolworth girls school (which is excellent) etc around too

and as I say some of the best independent schools in the country if that’s relevant

@MrsKypp - thank you again so much for taking time to reply - really great to hear there are good local options at both primary and state level. It's nice to know there are grammar schools, but I certainly wouldn't want to be banking on any kids of ours getting a place - that's a lot of pressure! Thanks for giving such a comprehensive run down. Our children aren't primary aged yet so a lot could have changed by secondary age anyway I guess.

Thank you again!

@Violinist64

Thank you for replying! Good to know there is another train option in Berrylands other than Surbiton station itself - including good to know about reliable bus service! Will check out some of these areas!

@HanSB - thank you so much for taking time to write such a comprehensive reply - amazing that you've local knowledge of all three places! I think we've probably discounted Twickenham and Richmond for now, so your brilliant summary of some of local gems of Surbiton is really helpful.

Maple Rd sounds great! Sounds like there is lots to do for young families and thank you for mentioning all these lovely local business/cafés etc as that's just the sort of thing we'd be leaving behind and hoping to find in a new neighbourhood, so reassuring to know!

@Spanglemum @Namechanger355
thank you both so much for replying! All these insightful comments are helping us form a better picture of what it could be like to live there!