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Original poster

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

69 replies

VandFamily · 19/04/2023 01:31

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!

OP posts:
southchinasea · 20/04/2023 22:06

Nice Victorian 3 bed with some character in Horsell - family friendly area, good schools and not far from the station. Downstairs bathroom and some rooms look small though.

southchinasea · 20/04/2023 22:11

Semi rural on the edge of Woking, lovely walks nearby, close to Worplesdon station for trains to London.

sunshinesupermum · 20/04/2023 22:13

What's wrong with Watercolour LIZS DD1 and family live there happily. No smell when I visit and the countryside is beautiful. Lime tree is an excellent primary school.

VivaVivaa · 20/04/2023 22:31

Good luck getting much near Guildford train station for that budget, assuming that’s how you commute to London. I think Woking might be a better bet. I’m not so familiar with the other places.

LIZS · 20/04/2023 22:37

sunshinesupermum · 20/04/2023 22:13

What's wrong with Watercolour LIZS DD1 and family live there happily. No smell when I visit and the countryside is beautiful. Lime tree is an excellent primary school.

It is directly below the landfill so within sight and smell if the gases rise and wind blows to north! The development itself is nice and still expanding. .

whatchagonnado · 20/04/2023 22:38

It's possible to live in Guildford and get on the train at Woking station. In fact, it's often easier

SheilaFentiman · 20/04/2023 22:41

Woking town centre is a bit nicer with the new development.

West Byfleet is currently a building site with the new retirement village, but that will be done in a couple of years. Trains are reasonable but not as good as pre covid.

SugarMiceInTheRain · 20/04/2023 22:42

Woking is OK. I grew up there but the town centre is seemingly permanently a mess of roadworks these days. I think people keep parroting the 22 minutes to Waterloo line because it's Woking's main redeeming feature! 😂Schools not bad there, especially SJB if you're Catholic.

Guildford will probably be out of budget, although it is nicer.

SheilaFentiman · 20/04/2023 22:43

3 bed, 10-15 min walk to West Byfleet station

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133608692#/?channel=RES_BUY

Radiodread · 20/04/2023 23:07

Always so many people who suck their teeth and say, ooh, you'll need at least £100k more than that. My top tip is, start thinking critically and don't just go for the well trodden Woking/Guildford/Kingston loci.

Chessington, West Ewell, etc, you can easily get a 3 bed house for your budget. Your child is not yet born so secondary school ratings are irrelevant. The existence of grammars, irrelevant. What happens if your kids are dyslexic? Have special needs?

Almost all primaries are absolutely fine in SW London/ Surrey and current ofsted ratings could be obsolete anyway in 5 years. Don't get sucked into the middle class vortex, is my advice.

beckypv · 21/04/2023 00:01

If you can find something in Horsell, it is a wonderful village in walking distance to Woking town centre. Very much the best of both worlds in terms of convenient location to the town centre, but it’s own lovely community feel with excellent pubs, schools, a little high street and on the edge of the expansive horsell common. It is a very popular place for young families from London to move to.

Jellybebe · 21/04/2023 05:00

Godalming might be another area to think about. The train journey is slightly longer to Waterloo (50mins to an hour) but your budget will stretch further. You have Godalming high street for your local shops.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129553451#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86107296#/?channel=RES_BUY

tubing · 21/04/2023 05:12

@VandFamily Ewell has good schools & should be in budget. Maybe look at Stoneleigh & Worcester Park too as a bit further in & there are some good primaries.

Dyslexicwonder · 21/04/2023 06:06

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.

One of my closest friends lives here her Dds went to Nonsuch (sp ?) Which is lovely and then Tiffin for 6th form. I think she was very happy with the primaries too.

tubing · 21/04/2023 06:13

WP has access to grammars & Catholic schools If you live in certain parts you have some state secondaries schools (not sure on the names) Tbf lots of London has areas where you can miss catchments however pupil numbers are drastically falling so by the time the OPs dc are that age the landscape everywhere will likely look very different.

Quartz2208 · 21/04/2023 07:55

Dyslexicwonder · 21/04/2023 06:06

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.

One of my closest friends lives here her Dds went to Nonsuch (sp ?) Which is lovely and then Tiffin for 6th form. I think she was very happy with the primaries too.

If she went to Nonsuch for Primary she is Stoneleigh where I am which is good for secondarily school just hasn’t been in that budget for 5 or so years. She probably did say Worcester Park though.

Talipesmum · 21/04/2023 08:51

beckypv · 21/04/2023 00:01

If you can find something in Horsell, it is a wonderful village in walking distance to Woking town centre. Very much the best of both worlds in terms of convenient location to the town centre, but it’s own lovely community feel with excellent pubs, schools, a little high street and on the edge of the expansive horsell common. It is a very popular place for young families from London to move to.

Yes, this. Woking town centre is very practical, a lot nicer than it used to be, but never going to be all pretty and Guildford/Kingston-y. Horsell is a lovely village. But correspondingly more expensive. You might be ok for 550. Cheaper prices further away from the station.

Prev people forgot to mention Woking High school which is one of the best secondaries for miles around if you aren’t catholic or paying for it.

Strongly suggest you come and have a drive around Horsell, knaphill, St John’s, Goldsworth park etc - you should get a pretty good idea of what the areas are like.

Devincris58 · 21/04/2023 11:04

Hi, Knaphill is OK. Goldworth Park is really modern estates, some ok, some less so, be careful where house is (I don't have detailed knowledge). Not sure about Kingfield.
There were problems with Sheerwater a while ago, plans to demolish and rebuild the estate, I'm not sure of the latest.
Areas around Byfleet, West Byfleet worth looking at. St John's is fine.

BlueyDragon · 21/04/2023 13:34

@Devincris58 sums it up pretty well. Knaphill has lots of housing estate stock from 90’s up to present day plus some Victorian houses. Connections to Woking are ok and you are 25 minutes walk ish from Brookwood station. The shops are great if you want takeaway, a haircut or a funeral parlour!! Everything you’d need is accessible there, it’s just not as “villagey” as Horsell. Very handy very large Sainsbury’s and the country park by the canal is nice.

A PP suggested St John’s which is worth a look.

Have a drive round the area, you will get a feel for it very quickly.

Did you know the trains from Woking only take 22 minutes to Waterloo? 😁 Actually all joking apart if you are commuting into London for work this is pretty important, I generally have fewer major travel traumas than my friends who commute from Guildford and the train journey is shorter. That’s all relative, mind, the trains are still packed and SWR hates all its passengers equally…

Crikeyalmighty · 21/04/2023 17:14

@Radiodread I do agree with you on that too- I've often found perfectly nice houses within budget- even the one I posted below was pretty nice, in budget and in Guildford. Yep if you are wanting a nice 4 bed Edwardian semi in a great area , with tiled floor halls and original features you are stuffed but I think we have to stop 'presuming' what people would be ok with - what 'you' might want as desirable may be well different to what someone else can live with within their budget

Bluevelvetsofa · 21/04/2023 18:08

You could look a bit further out at Bisley or West End, but public transport to Woking will be more problematic, although the areas are more pleasant than Knaphill and Brookwood.

MsLumley · 22/04/2023 09:07

Egham is 37 mins into Waterloo and has recently had a massive town centre redevelopment including an Everyman cinema. Lots of excellent options for primary. Secondary (state) options are limited, Magna Carta, like most state secondaries, goes through peaks and troughs.

You have Windsor Great park on your doorstep too as well as Runnymede and easy access to Windsor and Heathrow. You could get a 3 bed for your budget but you’d be looking at the Pooley Green side of town. For central Egham a 3 bed would be more like 650k+.

Justputitdown · 22/04/2023 09:10

Woking is the most boring place on earth.