Living in Surbiton anyone?

[GreenwichVillage83]

Can anyone share any intel about living in Surbiton please?

We have 1 young child, currently TTC another. Husband has to commute to City and works late so we don't want a really long commute - ideally 45 mins or under. I wfh. Currently living in a small flat in Blackheath. Houses here are small or v v pricey and secondary schools not great. We don't want grammars or private.

Priorities are schools (state secondaries, not Catholic), green space and the usual wish list of pleasant quality of life.

Surbiton has been suggested by a colleague of DH as a (relatively) affordable option, with good commute. I never knew anything about the place and always thought it was just a surburban sprawl but this guy said it's very pleasant.

Not sure on budget - this would be in a couple of years time. But somewhere between 750-£1m for ideally 3 beds. Roughly speaking.

Is this an area worth looking at?

Whenever i hear Surbitoñ it automatically transports me to the Good life, Margo and Jerry Barbara and Tom.....

I'm not knocking it but Surbiton is the very epitome of suburban.

Budget allowing, maybe Richmond would be a better option for us? There are a couple of very good state secondaries, and different options for the commute, so whilst it's not really quick to the city, you have back up options? I know it's more expensive than Surbiton but I really don't like the suburbs feel so thinking we might need to up our budget as far as possible. Also DH travels from Heathrow a lot so could be better for us.

I'm not keen on Beckenham / Crystal Palace etc as they just feel suburban to me.

I think I thought Surbiton might be different as it's on the river.

Watch out for aeroplane noise in Richmond .
surbiton=suburbiton

Richmond is gorgeous

but you won’t get much change from 1.5m for a decent family place - depends on what you want though I suppose

lots of plane noise too. But less suburban than surbiton

if you don’t like Beckenham you may not like surbiton. Not dissimilar in many ways

Is there an alternative to the train if there are issues eg bus to a tube?

Is Surbiton on the proposed cross rail?

I'm not sure why suburban is a bad thing? For many families it's a practical fit.

I would say Beckenham is similar to Surbiton. CP is different to both.

I think you need to really think about what you want because removing grammars, faith & private secondaries does limit your school options particularly when you want a particular vibe.

Yes it does.

We definitely want good state secondaries (not Catholic or grammar).
Also a London feel, (not suburbia

• just not our thing),

Plus really good green spaces. Good commute to City.

Hence we loved Blackheath (but the secondaries are not great)
And we loved Camden (but that was pre-DC so we only required a 1-bed).

Plane noise probably wouldn't phase is as we lived on the main Euston line previously - flat backed onto it, plus rented near City airport (though City airport hours are a bit more sociable I think). Overall I don't mind noisy planes or trains coming and going but don't like the constant drone of a motorway noise.

I can really think of anywhere South that fits the bill but I suppose it depends on your definition of suburbia & what feels like London. I consider Richmond to be suburban tbh.

I agree that train noise is quite easy to "absorb" whereas traffic noise is annoying. Never lived under a direct flight path though.

Perhaps you should focus on what you need now. I'm in Wandsworth & people are either moving further out/leaving London, going private &/or tutoring.

What exactly does Suburban mean in this context, if we are saying ‘ such and such feels suburban to me’?

my sense of a place being suburban is street after street of very similar houses with cars on their drives and having to get in the car for a pint of milk, very little going on within walking distance.

Me too!

@Doliveira i see suburban as houses that tend to have drives so off street parking. bigger gardens & leafier wider streets. People commute from there into z1, green spaces, good schools & attractive to families etc.

I'm in z3 & consider it suburban, I don't need to drive to get milk though or eat out, shop etc. I know other places in z3 that you would need to drive to do those things & equally places in z5 that have decent high streets.

Where I am in z3, houses all look the same but again I know places like that in z2-z5.

@GreenwichVillage83
I used to work in London and commuted from Grantham which is Lincolnshire
You could live like a queen there and it's an hours commute with great schooling.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127803605#/?channel=RES_BUY

We now live nearer Nottingham than Lincolnshire which is a bit further but Grantham is an easy commuter place and the surrounding villages are lovely and Lincoln is a nice cathedral city nearby too

Have attached a couple of places

This one is a bit further out, 20-25 mins to the station then an hours commute

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126726029#/?channel=RES_BUY

Just to give you an idea of what a bit further afield could look like 👍

Kingston? East Molesey?

Thank god you’re not thinking of Crystal Palace and Beckenham (both near me). They’re suburban to a degree but not so much so.

Crystal Palace was voted the best place to live in London this year or last.

Was going to say the same!

As the comment about the good life, I mean.

Agreed re CP being different to both.

Forget about a house with a decent garden in central CP too, won’t happen or the gardens are tiny.

Yes, and to me suburban also means a place with little unique identity or feeling of its own.

I love how I say we want to live in London and people try to encourage us to move out to Lincoln!! meant kindly to the pp! That palace does look lovely but I actually like living in London!

It's such an interesting question!

I definitely 100% agree about the cars- that surburbia is getting in the car for every little journey. We don't own a car and don't want up have to. We use a car club for holidays but use buses and tube for daily life.

Transport is probably a factor - doesn't have to be tube I guess but genuinely good / quick connections into central feel less suburban.

I also specifically like London and like feeling that I live specifically here, instead of living in an area which "could be anywhere" - iyswim. In Blackheath it's a very unique and villagey place but we can still see Canary Wharf and walk to the Thames so you don't feel out of it.

For me a lot of the rest of south London can feel a bit suburban. Not Clapham surrounds but the bit in between and south of Elephant and Greenwich - so the Norwoods, Sydenham, Dulwiches, Forest Hill, Brockley etc etc.

Crystal Palace was voted the best place to live in London this year or last.

No offence but it's isn't. Not bad though but far from the best.