Good oat flat white in Surrey

[Quiteindecisive]

Help friends!
My partner and I are currently live in Newington Green, Islington with our 18m and 3.5yo sons. We love the area but want a bigger flat / house and the possibility of one day owning a house - not possible for us in this gorgeous and incredibly expensive area!

We are debating moving out of London to Surrey - keen for a 3 bedroom with garden flat or house, a sub 15 minute walk to a train station and less than 1h door to door commute to Central London (Oxford Circus and Bank - we work in office 2 days a week). Ideally we would have at least one great cafe and pub within walking distance. We also want a great state primary school.
Neither of us are from the UK and don’t know Surrey at all, except for what we hear which is that it is a great place to raise kids while still working in Central London. Our budget is up to £2,500 to rent and ideally sub £800k for detached 3 bed home if we were going to buy at some stage in next year or so. What areas would you recommend we explore? From our searching, looks like Coulsdon, Epsom, Warlingham, Sutton, Cheam, Surbiton, Thames Dutton and Orpington are all interesting. Our boys currently go to a Montessori nursery so it would be amazing if there was one available too. We are feeling the pressure as understand we need to have our address locked in for end of state school application process in Jan. any help much appreciated! <3

You might get a better response if you edit your title OP.
I thought you were asking about coffee!

She is!

You’d get a nice house in coulsdon with that budget and all the schools are very good. Train into London Bridge is about 22 minutes, Victoria 30ish. Not that many independent coffee shops though.

Answering the question in the title, StreetCups on Chapel Street in Guildford.

A lot further out than the places you mention but you'd definitely get 3 bed detached for your budget, there's a Montessori nursery in onslow village (cathedral/university side of town) and looking further ahead there's v good secondary schools.

I doubt you'd get a detached three-bed house for £800k in Thames Ditton or Surbiton, to be honest, unless it was small and modern. You could get a terraced or a semi-detached, but they're both pretty expensive areas - because they're within or near the Oyster card boundary, near the river, and have the kinds of amenities you describe.

I had a quick look in East Molesey which is nearby and has a nice feel, and the houses within your budget tend to be smaller and modern. (Might be fine, I don't know your taste!) Sunbury and Shepperton might be worth a look too but the trains to london are a bit of a pain (take a very long way around).

Are you after a suburban feel, or a village feel? Surbiton is London, and feels like it (in a nice way - I like Surbiton. And London!) If you like Surbiton, might be worth you looking all around outer London suburbs for places with a similar feel. Carshalton and the places around there are worth a look and not crazy prices.

If you're after villages in Surrey, your commute time would likely be over an hour door to door. Eg Ripley and Oxted are both lovely and kind-of commutable, but the journey isn't quick. Shere is the 'classic' Surrey village, although it always reminds me of the cursed Muggle village in the last Harry Potter book!

Cobham is a decent-sized large village with pubs and lots of cafes and brunch places - more of a yoga mum feel. But again, pretty pricey. Same goes for Esher and Weybridge.

Not sure what your definition of a nice pub is, but where I am (weybridge/Esher area, although the scuzzy margins) the pubs are either wide-boy hangouts or Bernie Inn-style freezer food with pretensions 🥸 I've never found what I would consider a genuinely nice pub in Surrey - it's not great for pubs if you're used to characterful london hangouts.

In summary - I'm not sure what you're describing exists in Surrey, unless you're happy to go for a house that's small and not classically beautiful, and/or compromise on the pubs and cafes. If the place you described existed in Surrey we'd all have moved there years ago

Orpington is in Kent - though Chistlehurst is better on the independent coffee front I think 🧐

Reigate? You can’t move for coffee shops

There's no good coffee in Warlingham, and the nice bit of Warlingham is far from the train station.

Cyco cafe in Coulsdon might work, and there's a great sushi restaurant there as well. There's a nice new development in Coulsdon called Cane Hill, which would be a lovely place to raise a family. Coulsdon South is on Thameslink so fantastic transport.

There's a great coffee shop called Filtr in Sanderstead. Sanderstead itself is lovely and worth considering, and is a quick train to London. It's also very near to the new Birch hotel in Selsdon which has a lovely restaurant and things going on.

Reigate is lovely and has a Gail's as well as other coffee shops, shopping, etc. The commute is a bit longer though.

Personally I am not a fan of Sutton.

You could also look at somewhere like Crystal Palace, Sydenham, or Brockley.

You could definitely get a sub 800k 3 bedder in Surrey depending on location and there are nice pubs in the villages further south. Be a bit wary about some of the suburbs mentioned, although technically London they have a very different vibe (if this matters to you, I'm just saying because v different from where you live now.)
I'd recommend Guildford or Farnham, because of the unis they have more of a buzz and there are plenty of cafes.

I am not sure I would base my search on coffee shops and pubs! We had a lovely new coffee shop open in a nearby village. It lasted only 6 + months then closed and we are in an affluent area. Pubs are closing down daily in the countryside and many other places. Like a previous poster said somewhere with a university helps with keeping these places afloat. Egham might be worth a look as has Royal Holloway Uni and it’s own train station but think more than an hour away.

Oops I guess I couldn't believe the OP would choose to select a place based on coffee shops!
Anyway I managed to bump her post and she's eventually got some replies..

You have a good budget so I would try & stay closer to London in areas like Surbiton, Cheam, Ewell, Sutton as you mentioned.

oops does it have to be detached?

Personally I am not a fan of Sutton.

Places like Cheam, Carshalton Beeches & Worcester Park are very different to Sutton town centre; some excellent schools there too.

Coulsdon and Sanderstead fit your bill well. Kenley has what you're looking for property wise, but no real amenities. You'd be travelling to Caterham, Coulsdon or Sanderstead for those. Plus the train service into London has reduced since covid. I would personally choose Sanderstead.

Cane Hill you say..

Used to be an Asylum there with that name ... Probably built on the site of it.

It’s slightly pushing the commute but Farnham. The number of coffee shops there is now ridiculous.

Does it have to be Surrey?

DH and I originally wanted to buy in Surrey but found it wasn't great value for money (atleast in the areas we looked at the time).

We eventually landed up in South Bucks. There are loads of beautiful towns / villages with a 45mins-1hr commute into London Marylebone and everything else you are asking for. 800k will get you a 3 bed detached house easily.

Amersham, Thame, Haddenham and Chesham are all worth considering.

You can't walk more than 3 steps without passing a coffee shop in Godalming these days. It's ridiculous. We've got Gail's, Ritual, Esquire's, LOAF, Nero, Costa, The Journalist, Roost etc. as well as umpteen other indie coffee places, boutiquey coffee shops and coffee-serving pubs/cafes -- all in just one small High Street.
I am always hopeful for a noodle bar or something interesting to open, but it's always another coffee shop. Please come to Godalming and help to drink all the coffee :)

Snapshot of all the places that do oat milk flat white. Not quite up to date, as at least three more coffee shops/cafes have recently opened.

@Trinity65 it is built on the asylum site

This isa lovely rental in Farncombe- very nice area between Godalming and Guildford- station round the corner and in budget

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139916804#/?channel=RES_LET

You're going to move house for the sake of overpriced coffee (made from cash & carry coffee beans!) whaaaaaat?!?!?!

I've officially heard everything now. All of it. The lot.

@Ikeepmybumcheekshidden I think the OP means she'd like the sort of area that has nice cafes. Why do you think they'll be made from cash and carry coffee beans? There's nothing wrong with liking nice coffee, it's like enjoying nice wine, food, clothes, etc.

We moved to an area with no amenities and I do often wish I could walk to a good coffee shop or restaurant.

Hi all

Thank you so much for your suggestions!

I've discussed with a few work colleagues today who are Surrey based (and Surrey fans!). They've encouraged me to look around the Guildford and Woking villages. My partner and I are going to hire a car on Friday and do a recce as feel like we need to visit some of these places I'm reading about (Farncombe, Godalming, Epsom, Pirbright etc..).

Thank you for the tips for Outer London, I think the more I mull it over, this feels like a bit of a halfway house and I worry that in a few years we would regret not just 'ripping the bandaid off' and heading a bit further out for the green space, safety etc..

I think as I'll be working in London still, I'll feel connected to the city!

It sounds like I need to be open to a 1.15 ish commute each way.

@sarahb083 got it - using 'coffee' as more of a descriptor for some sort of buzz (either in the town or nearby / accessible!).

@Crikeyalmighty I spotted this too! Enquired today and it's already been snaffled up.

@Jacquel666 thank you!

@littlelionroars doesn't have to be Surrey but as I work in Oxford Circus and mny partner in Bank, a train to Waterloo or Victoria is better suited to us (vs Marylebone). Thank you!

Will let you know how the Friday recce trip goes!

:)