Where to move? Egham, Epsom, Ewell, Guildford or woking

[VandFamily]

Hello,
I was looking for some help to understand and compare between some areas in Surrey. Some of our friend suggested to look at Egham,Epsom,Ewell, Guildford or Woking. We are a family of 2 and baby on the way so the location with outstanding schools is also a criteria. We are looking to avoid areas those are rough or have lots of council enclaves. Our budget is around 450k to 550k for a 3 bedroom house. We travel to london 2 or 3 days a week for work. Can anyone please advice how should these towns are and what should be the order of preference? Thank you in advance!

Trains guildford to Waterloo very good - regular and fast. Guildford town centre can get very clogged up as there is a one way system so you’d need to factor this into any journey from your home to station. I don’t know much else about the other places but obviously other people will. (I used to work in Guildford so only familiar with the actual town centre). Shops are good.

Woking has the best trains so many and connect to places other than London.

Everywhere has nice and 'rough' bits.

I think you will need to full 550 in all those locations

They all have good and less good areas. Your budget will probably not stretch to a 3 bed in a "good" area. Woking possibly,

Woking to Waterloo is a good service (in that there are lots of timetabled trains and fast too); IMO better than Guildford. The town itself is not as nice as Guildford but has most things you could need. Schools wise depends if you are looking at state or private; the good state secondaries are St John the Baptist in Woking (Catholic priority), Gordon’s in West End (catchment area about 500 metres with house prices to match) and George Abbot in Guildford. Hoe Valley also comes up quite well too. Lots of private secondaries in Guildford, only one in Woking and that’s brand new and not open above Year 8 yet. Rumours of more abound.

Property wise what you are talking about can easily set you back much more than your budget in the smarter areas of either town.

I have friends who live in Epsom/Ewell and their children are both in local grammar schools. You can access the Surrey grammars from Woking but it is a slog in terms of the commute.

Egham is no good for secondary schools. Only option is Magna Carta which RI at the moment.
Epsom and Ewell have two excellent single sex schools but you’d need to buy carefully in catchment. They are also accessible to the Kingston and Sutton grammars if you went that way.

Egham has lots of student housing because of the local university. Something to be mindful of or check the area in University term time.
Epsom and Ewell are nice but all areas have a rough area. There's also a massive housing plan that's been paused by the council so that might change the local landscape. Don't know anything about Guildford or Woking.

Woking and Guildford, I would doubt there would Be mich in your budget near the station. So much of the housing in both towns not near the station. Your budget is small for some of the most expensive towns in Surrey. Maybe consider Bookham or Effingham as housing nearer the station but again budget is an issue but the schools are good

We lived near Woking, as Guilford was too expensive. Woking has a great train service, and West Byfleet nearby also has trains to Waterloo and you're more likely to get a house in walking distance. Egham is full of students.

In the nicest possible way you are not going to get what you are looking for with that budget. Time to rethink.

Woking is completely soulless and every next person tells you how fast the train into London is. They just walk around parroting that is "22 minutes into Waterloo". It's quite bizarre.

You will probably struggle to find a 3 bed house with your budget in the "nice" bit of those areas. Guildford has more character than Woking however the train from Woking to Waterloo is much faster.

How far are you willing to travel to the train station? You could try Burpham/Merrow to help your budget stretch further. There is also Byfleet/West Byfleet that have a slow train into Waterloo. Also consider some of the smaller villages outside Woking but will require travel to Woking station.

Guildford is too expensive for your budget and Woking is too depressing IMO. And vast - the centre is grey and soulless and all the residential bits seem ages from anywhere. Don’t know about the other other bits I’m afraid. Look further down the Portsmouth train line?

😄 accurate

🤣

This - Epsom/Ewell you need a 100k more. Worcester Park has terrace in that budget but it notoriously a black hole for Secondary. And the ones you could get are very much up and coming.
Epsom town centre is dying a bit as well
Ewell Village/Stoneleigh have good Secondary schools and a good vibe but nothing in that budget

Woking is my hometown and I can confirm this is 100% accurate

You may not get a house in the kind of area of Guildford you’re after for that budget. Commuting is also expensive so do bear that in mind. Maybe look in Farncombe just further down the Portsmouth line. Also you will need flexible childcare if you’re both in London together, trains aren’t always reliable, we found a nanny easier because of this.

Would like to add I was also one of those people, and still say it now when people ask where my hometown was 😂

I really like Guildford but you will struggle on that budget these days for a 3 bed house although there are some lovely 3 bed flats just under 500k

"Would like to add I was also one of those people, and still say it now when people ask where my hometown was 😂"

🤣

This is a tidy looking 3 bedder in Guildford OP.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133480334#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks all for your generous tips. Really helped me a lot to narrow down my search. I understand that Woking+ west byfleet and Guildford areas would be the most suited ones. And other areas like Egham and Ewell are ok but Woking seems to have best transport and schools.

Someone also suggested me to look into redhill but there are lots of info online about the existing smell in the area because of Landfill.

Please feel free to advice me on any towns I might have missed. Hugely appreciate you comments. Thanks!

Landfill is only an issue in certain areas, if wind is blowing that way, and due to close by 2030. Just avoid Watercolour and the estate to east of station.

@BlueyDragon @Devincris58 for Woking, Online options showing a bunch of houses in Knaphill , Goldsworth park and Kingsfield but some first hand opinion for everyone would be helpful. May be you have any advice on that?