Mixed race family wanting to move out of London

[Sambkh]

Hi all,
would like some advice about options moving out of London. We are a mixed race family I am of Bangladeshi origin (born in London) and my husband is English from West Sussex. Our little one is 1 years old we are looking to relocate out of London but struggling to find where

We would require:

Diverse area very important with diverse primary schools (I don’t want somewhere where my kid is the only one of a few mixed race kids in the class
good community, young families
vibrant
green area where we can go for walks
my husband needs to get in to Liverpool Street for work (1 hour max journey ideally less)
down to earth not too snobby areas
3 bedroom

our Budget is 550,000 stretching to 600 for the right place and need a garden.

We would love to stay in London but I don’t think realistically with our price it’s possible.

we have considered Woking, Guildford, Epsom and maybe Sutton. Can somebody please offer any advice and any thoughts on the areas listed.

Thank you!

London borough of Bexley? Green, easy and fast trains to central London, excellent schools, easy to get to the M25 for West Sussex and Harrow (although Harrow might take a little over an hour). Lots of nice properties in the SE9, DA14 and DA15 postcodes.

Commuter towns like Epsom, Woking etc will cost £££ on the train and the journey will be longer.

Bexley actually looks quite promising a bit of a drive from my parents but if we are close to the M25 shouldn’t be an issue.

Does anybody know about areas in east/ Essex like Chelmsford?

Woking may be more than an hour to Liverpool Street, there’s not really a great tube connection (Waterloo and city to bank and walk, but bus is probably better). Look at horsell for a walk to the station. I would be looking Essex way if commuting to Liverpool Street, though a lot further from parents.

I lived in a town near Woking and the primary wasn’t particularly ethnically diverse.

Epsom is very lovely with great schools, lots of green spaces and excellent transport links into London. Direct trains to London Bridge, Waterloo and Victoria. Easy access to M25. Huge amount of stuff for children to do.

It’s going to be quite difficult to be within 1h of harrow, pulborough and Liverpool Street. Slough, Iver etc on the Elizabeth line might work.

I’d be focusing on the easiest commute to work because that’s the most frequent journey. Highams Park is 25 mins into Liverpool St.

I think we are trying to tick too many boxes If the drive from both sets of parents is a bit longer than an hour I’m sure we can compromise on that.

Both reasonably diverse compared to suburbs. Maybe look at Ewell? Some parts of Chessington are nicer than others, the bit next to Ewell is a bit better.
Have you looked at Stoneleigh, seems to have more community feel.
Epsom station has the disadvantage of being just outside travelcard zones. Both Ewell stations and Chessington are in tfl zones. Close to A3 and easy distance to M25/M3.

If you choose Chessington it's a quick bus into Surbiton/Kingston which are both nice for shops/cafes and Surbiton has a fast train to Waterloo (15-20min) and much more frequent trains than most surrounding stations.

Horton Park, Epsom Common and Bushy Park all nearby too for green space.

I'm in Amersham. Diverse enough. Very close to very diverse areas and with a tube station.
Plus grammar schools. For your budget I'm not sure what you'd get but I don't think it's impossible, Chesham is cheaper and down the road too.

Forgot to add were a similarly mixed race couple with dc.

High Wycombe

High Wycombe

lol great minds redtortice 👍

Exactly, depends on how frequently your husband is in Liverpool St but I’d prioritise a shorter commute so he gets in at a decent hour in the week. Some of these commutes would be awful.

Anywhere within commuting distance of London within your budget is going to be fine.

The housing stock in Chessington isn't beautiful, but apart from that, I like it. Very good local schools. Fabulous walks on your doorstep (Ashtead Common.) World of Adventures has a swimming pool and gym. It always seems friendly when I visit (I have to go there a couple of times a year for work.) It has two stations near each other giving a choice of trains into London. Think it's about 35 mins to Waterloo.

TBH I'm not sure why you are looking in the SW of London if you need to get to the City every day. Would you not be better off looking towards Essex or Kent with direct trains to Liverpool Street or at least London Bridge? All the places you mention - Woking, Reading, Chessington, Epsom etc involve a schlep across London once you've commuted into the mainline station.

We have chosen these areas because they are both within an hour of both sets of grandparents. When we get out to Essex/Kent the drive can be more than an hour and a half. With a little one we want to be reasonably close to both sets of grandparents. We are happy to compromise a bit but don’t want to be driving really more than an hour and a half to see my mum and dad (Harrow).

@Sambkh look at Chingford, Highams Park

We’ve found Epsom is not great for commuting actually.

Thank you all for suggestions really appreciate it. We are also looking at South Woodford as the commute is only 22 mins in to my husbands work.

Sevenoaks?

I think that Wanstead may be too expensive, but you should be able to purchase a 3 bed in parts of South Woodford for 600,000.

South Woodford and Wanstead are very pricy. The other good thing about HP/Chingford is that the line into Liv St interchanges with Walthamstow Central Victoria line so more transport options if the central line is down! Y