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!

“Only boring people get bored” - my mum, circa 1987

There’s little historical excitement to it, and it’s not v pretty, but it’s very convenient, great schools, lots of green access right on our doorstep, frees up loads of family time through aforementioned easy commutes, and is relatively affordable. Life is what you make it!

Yeah, I really don’t understand the downer on Woking. Good shops, bowling, laser quest, cinema, theatre, plenty of restaurants, small museum, canal walks. There are lots of worse places.

Have you thought about Farnham? Train is a bit longer but it’s cheaper than Guildford and schools are comparable.

and don't forget the Lightbox (art gallery). Also Woking centre is all flat so no trudging up hills like Guildford.

@Radiodread thanks for your tip. Is there a reason for lower prices in chessington, west by fleet and new haw. Normally prices go down as area starts to get rough or not as smart. Do you have any pointers on that?

Rugby, for these money you will get a massive house. Also good commute to London. Check it out.

This may not be helpful so ignore if not - but from personal experience what you are trying to do now - I.e. line up commute / childcare / school / community for the next 18 years is really difficult- I say give yourself a break and focus on the next 3-5 years, where could you be that you like, feel safe and can afford, where you can find childcare, so you can commute into London three days a week. (BTW most nurseries standard hours are 8am to 6pm - this is a huge struggle if both parents are commuting, nursery spaces in good nurseries in convenient locations are very hard to come by, and trains are often late, even if you have 9-5 working hours and journey takes an hour)

You are a long way from secondary school and things change so much (schools, but also jobs, careers, health, how much you can spend on a house…), we moved twice in the first six years of our sons life, and in the final move found the house we loved in an area we could afford with good schools and a reasonable commute - but we couldn’t have done that with our original budget, just wasn’t possible.

just another perspective

I grew up in New Haw and like most teens could not wait to leave but it's not bad! There's not a huge amount there and housing stock varies massively but it's walkable to WB which has some decent restaurants and a good train service. It's also very easy to get into Addlestone (indie cinema, tesco, not much else!) and Weybridge (better shopping and restaurants plus smaller and nicer to walk around than Woking).

I don't know New Haw so can't advise on that.

Yes, cheaper areas may be less naice but a lot of it is snobbery. My house would be £200k more over the other side of the main road. Totally not justified. The nice local independent coffee shops etc are irrelevant to me as I can get on a bus and be at one in the more expensive area in 5 minutes anyway!

Secondary school catchments can push up prices but again, it's sometimes snobbery and you are miles off secondary, that should not even be a consideration. Almost all state primaries are absolutely fine, and being in a posher area is no guarantee of a better primary.

With the interconnectedness of greater London, petty crime rates and antisocial behaviour incidences are fairly similar in all of the local areas.

Woking has a pizza express frequented by royalty I believe.

Thing about Woking is (and I've suggested to my son for a shared ownership) it's not pretty, but has everything you need day to day , great connections and is a quick hop into Guildford if you want a bit of posh and I like Guildford a lot. It also has some 'slightly ' more affordable property . It's not threatening and easy to get out and about from it. There are way worse places out there. My son looked at Reading, Croydon and Woking and much preferred Woking -

It also has some nice areas on the edge- but obviously pricier.

I think you would be very lucky to get a 3 bed in a nice part of Guildford for your budget, likewise Epsom

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133846703?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

This cottage looks nice, St John's in Woking, close to the canal and woodland area/ park.

@southchinasea that's a really sweet little house and decent sized lounge and kitchen too - a good buy I think

I wouldn’t pick Egham or Englefield Green (having attended Royal Holloway!). It’s a nice enough place however it’s quite small and home to a growing university so you’ll probably find your neighbours include student houses.

I was not a rowdy student by any stretch and didn’t have parties in our student house but we still had awful neighbours who despised us simply because we were students (and failed to think about that before buying a house in the middle of a row of student lets in a town where the uni had already been there for 100 years!).

@VandFamily Is there a reason for lower prices in chessington, west by fleet and new haw. Normally prices go down as area starts to get rough or not as smart. Do you have any pointers on that?
I used to live in Chessington, OP, and still go back regularly for various things. I was very happy there. The local primary schools are good and it has a great range of services for its size (several GP surgeries, dentists, opticians, vets, two post offices, several pharmacies, a small swimming pool). There is a Lidl in Chessington itself and a large Sainsburys ten minutes away in Epsom. You can get to Kingston very easily, which is good for shopping. There are two railway stations in Chessington and although the trains to London are only two an hour, it's the end of the line so you always get a seat! There are some rough areas (the estates by the station can be a bit sketchy in parts) and some nice areas (Merritt Gardens is nice if you like modern housing, or the roads around Somerset Avenue if you prefer something more traditional). The A243 runs straight through it, which makes it seem busy on first impressions, but once you're off that road, it's quite peaceful and there's open countryside close by. We only moved away because we outgrew our house.

@VandFamily

woking is great

Egham is ok for primaries but not great choice of secondary schools.

I would agree on other comments that Woking, New Haw and Byfleet are good options.

Alternatively, have you considered Shepperton? Lovely riverside town at the end of the train line. Takes a bit longer into Waterloo and you might need to be more towards Charlton Village for your budget but good schools and a nice vibe.