Is Sutton, Surrey nice / safe for a small family?

[lookingforhomemum]

Hi, me and DH (no kids) are thinking of moving to Surrey (leaving London) for more green, less populated/traffic with a safer area, and better schools (well, that's what we think Surrey offers). We are in our mid-30s. We are currently looking at Sutton, New Malden, Surbiton and further out, like Epsom and Reigate.

We really like the countryside but we don't necessarily have to be right in the middle of it. We like small towns, but wouldn't mind a larger town if we can get to the countryside, nature easily (car is fine).

We mainly work from home (expected in London office once a week ish). We also want to start our family next year so a good place for primary schools would be ideal (even secondary). We kind of are looking for our forever home, which might be a little early to decide, but we have been renting for yonks and moving a lot over the years and now in a good place (career and salaries) to settle down for a couple of decades (we hope!).

Our house value we are looking for is to about £550k, ideally lower. We are looking for a proper 3 bed house (no box rooms) with a drive and garden. We don't mind doing a little refurb. We aren't bothered about "posh" areas, but we do prioritise safety (London doesn't feel safe to us anymore if we were to have kids! Sorry in advance if that might offend anyone, just a few personal experiences have led us down this path :( )

I guess our priority is looking for a good, clean, safe area close to the countryside (a short drive) with good schools is what we hope for. We are also the type to enjoy coffee shops run by independent stores, we frequent them quite often.

We don't know much about Sutton, New Malden, Surbiton and further out, like Epsom and Reigate. If any one lives in these areas and has some suggestions (roads, areas, tips and schooling experience), we would be so so grateful.

Thank you! and sorry for the long post <3

We are looking at up to 900k, hoping for at least a semi detached. I don't work in tech so expect to be in the office 4 days a week.

Our daughter and son are 3 and 4.5 years old respectively.

We aren't loaded hence would only consider state/grammar schools if we max out our property budget... Thanks!

@FreierGedanke are you looking at all the places the OP has mentioned?

We are mainly thinking Surbiton Vs Sutton now, as New Malden is too expensive. We are open for other suggestions though. Grateful if you could share your experience with these areas.

I asked re budget as New Malden has jumped quite a lot in price although there are definitely some houses for 900k.

Sutton has loads of excellent primary schools but you need to be careful re location for secondaries if you want a backup to grammar (very competitive). Are you eligible for faith schools?

Kingston has some excellent state secondary non grammar options too.

Surbiton is the prettiest area with some lovely housing stock but I’m not 100% on secondary options.

New Malden option close to station & schools

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146612399#/?channel=RES_BUY

Motspur Park which is kind of in between NM and Raynes Park, straddles both Kingston & Merton boroughs. Less of a high street vs NM which has a pretty good high street.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147563756#/?channel=RES_BUY

Sutton is a borough with a lot of different areas or do you mean specifically the town centre.

Surbiton you could look around Berrylands station but you would need to check secondaries as I said as Im not sure re catchments of the best schools.

I live on Carshalton which is nice and feels safe but you may struggle to get a 3 bed for your budget. Most the schools are good however be aware it is a grammar school area but the grammar schools don't have normal catchments so less than 10% of local children get into them.
Carshalton Beeches is the best bit of Sutton but very expensive. Wallington would be a good choice though I'd avoid Roundshaw. The Saint Helier estate also has a reputation for being a bit rough but I have friends that live there happily.

Within Sutton Wallington has some lovely housing stock but not a great high street. I think secondary options particularly for boys aren’t if you aren’t Catholic or don’t get into a grammar. I think that’s similar for Carshalton Beeches. You could look Cheam way or Worcester Park but would need to check admissions criteria of the secondaries.

one thing I would say is there is a lot for sale so defo negotiate.

@suttonmum10 I’m confused by your post as there isn’t really much above 900k in CB?

Oh your probably replying to the OP.

@FreierGedanke think about what you prefer living wise too. I personally prefer Kingston & the Sutton side of Kingston as opposed to the Croydon sides of Sutton but that’s because I like Kingston/Wimbledon etc & think about what your dc would want/need as they get older.

And if you do want grammars some of the Sutton ones do prioritise certain postcodes. The Tiffin grammars in Kingston also have a catchment zone which I think goes out quite far. My friend in the Sutton part of Worcester Park has dc in Tiffin boys. People really do tutor like crazy for the grammars starting years earlier.

Which is the non state RI school?

@TansySorrel oaks park - it may be out of RI now - I think I posted on this a while ago.

Thanks. Is that in Carshalton? I grew up nearby and couldn't think what it was

It moved. It used to be Stanley park, it moved to the old Queen Mary's hosp site and re badged itself as oaks park.

I would go further out than any of those places.

@Pollipops1 Thank you so much for sharing all your insights and advice.

We are not religious, so probably won't make it to faith schools.

I actually had a walk from Surbiton train station to the Berrylands area yesterday and also checked out the Sutton train station surroundings.

First impressions are that Surbiton is more polished. Less high rise and traffic. Sutton centre felt a bit (too) busy? I also thought the train ride to Central is almost half that compared to Sutton. Although value for money seems to be very attractive, saving 100k-200k on a comparable house.

Are there areas in Sutton which are more calm/green, similar to Berrylands?

@FreierGedanke I have not been to Berrylands but the greenest areas I would say in Sutton Borough are Carshalton Village area and Cheam.

Carshalton has the advantage of being on Thameslink as well as LB / Victoria.

Cheam is probably more expensive than Carshalton and has more shops in the centre.

Carshalton beeches is pretty green, but you need to watch how far you are from Beeches station.
Bits of Wallington are greener and less busy than Sutton town centre.

@FreierGedanke no problem. Surbiton is definitely prettier & they have fast trains I think.

Sutton town centre isn’t great (although not been in yrs) but Sutton along with Kingston are amongst the safest boroughs. Agreeing with previous posters that Carshalton Beeches is very green & Cheam is very leafy too with massive houses/front gardens & tree lined streets. There are cheaper areas around Nonsuch park which would still give you access to greenery & gardens are often a very good size in general at least compared to mine.

a friend has a massive beautiful house on one of the posh roads in Cheam (2m goes a lot further there vs inner London). However she’s a 30 min walk to the shops which would annoy me & drives everywhere, but everyone prioritises different things.

I don’t really think you can go wrong in any of the areas you’ve mentioned it will be personal preferences & needs but I would look at secondary schools as they can be tricky all over London & Im assuming you are not going to want to move again because of stamp duty.

You can look at performance here

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=319&geographic=la&for=secondary

It may not be relevant but both Sutton & Kingston have seen a large influx of Hong Kongers to certain parts. They are a welcome addition of course but it does mean more demand for school places & a friend who was trying to buy in WP last year kept getting outbid by cash buyers. Potentially it may impact school catchments. I know London in general is suffering from falling pupil numbers but I think the outer boroughs are seeing more growth.

I think your budget is a bit low and you're going to have to compromise on location.

Tolworth and Stonleigh are a bit cheaper, but transport links aren't great. There are only two trains an hour from Tolworth. I think it's the same for Chessington.

Motspur Park is where the London line splits, so that would be a good place if you can afford it.

I think these days is a bit easier to live further from the train stations because of electric bikes and scooters. I don't think many people have cottoned into that fact yet and house prices are still much cheaper when you live a bus ride away from the train station. Maybe you can take advantage of that?

@Pollipops1
You're right - we might have to sit down and start listing our priorities in order. Walking half an hour to buy some groceries or occasional supplies might not be that great in the long run.

Yes, I also understand that more Hongkongers have moved to the UK in the last few years due to the political landscape. I was thinking they would prefer the city more compared to suburban life, but guess that's not the whole truth...

Thanks again for the link - I will plot the better performing ones out on a map and see which areas we should target. Hoping to get a clearer direction with all the new information gained!

@ThisOldThang
Hmm - we are really stretching our budget at c. 900k, and I didn't realise it was considered low when talking to local estate agents. I will have a look at Motspur Park, thanks for the tip.

I am unsure how feasible it is for the whole family to take the bus to town centre. Would it not be more expensive in the long run since we'd be paying 4x tickets?

@FreierGedanke assuming you stay in a London Borough kids don't cost anything on transport until much later. They get free Oyster card. It's free buses until 18.

Wow, we did not know that - that's great news! Thanks!