Left London for Surrey/elsewhere - regrets??

[desperatelyseekingnoone]

Hi all, so me and hubby are starting to have doubts about leaving london for good. currently renting as we property search.

I haven't found a property to buy yet although still looking. I grew up in london, love the city and miss it, but also feel it isn't the safest, congested, expensive and because it's expensive, I can't enjoy it as much as before. however, there are generally good schools in most places (we want to start a family soon), there's sooo much to do for all age groups.

but we are leaving mainly because of the safety factor. I know some places are much safer and nicer than others, but we've had some personal bad experiences which I don't want to go into.

we started looking in Surrey and St Albans in recent months, which seems so much nicer. We prefer Surrey to St Albans (just feels better and greener, not sure why, maybe it's just me) We also are very blessed and can work pretty remote/hybrid that works for us a lot. Main thing is we need to be near ish a station, but not at it's doorstep at all.

Yet, I feel so... cold feet-y about it now. I guess because we've found a couple of properties we like in Surrey now, it's starting to feel a bit real. Btw the house we want to buy is the forever home type.

Has anyone moved from London to elsewhere like we want to? Any regrets? Anything you learnt a long the way?

I really do miss London, but not sure if it's just nostalgia and this feeling of leaving a great city that just isn't want we need deep down, it just makes me sad.

thank you to anyone reading this.

What about Weybridge/ Walton area, has everything and v easy for London.

If you buy a large country pile on the outskirts of a village you will need to drive, yes. It's not rocket science.

If you buy a more modest abode within or on the edge of a town/village, you will be able to walk to the shops or corner shop. Unless it's very rural.

There are also buses in these here parts for those who wish to leave the Range Rover on the sweeping gravel drive. (Joke)

There are different options available.

If it takes you a couple of years before having a baby what will you think about being in Guildford? Bit boring? Or lovely? Would it be better to be pregnant first?

We moved to one of the places mentioned on this thread 14 years ago, when our first DC was two. Honestly, I'm so glad we did. One of DS's best friends lives in N. London and was mugged a couple of weeks ago by a gang of teenagers when he was walking home in his school uniform. They beat him up and stole his phone, laptop and wallet. They had a knife and they threatened to use it on him. He was absolutely terrified. He put up no resistance. They beat him up anyway. He's 15 and was left with a concussion and other injuries.

This is not unusual. I have a friend who lives in S. London and the same thing has happened to several teens she knows. 21 teenagers were murdered in London in 2023. They weren't all gang members or drug dealers or kids up to no good. London isn't the city it used to be - at all. It's fucking dangerous for kids now

Lived in London for 10 years, worked in Surrey for a few years and know Guildford. Moved to St Albans 5 years ago based on all we knew about both areas (we did consider Surrey) and totally 100% delighted with our decision.

We might have felt equally happy in Surrey I guess but everything here feels right for us. Commute to London is 25 mins (though the trains are a lot shitter post covid- think that’s everywhere though). Excellent schools, we live surrounded by countryside and have made loads of friends. Really like the city, the cathedral, pubs, loads for the kids to do, safety, accessibility and lower pollution.

we waited until we’d had one child and London fit less well with what we needed/wanted.

A few of my friends commute in from Virginia water or Walton, but I only go into London 4 or 5 times a year.

@WasteOfPaint can you PM me? I’m in the same position and would love to find out how things are for you now.

This reminds me of a guy who told me he practically lived in London because he can get into Central London in 20 minutes, meaning the time the train takes from his nearest station to King’s Cross is 20 minutes.

As most people don’t tend to live on the train platform, he needed to factor in it taking him 15 minutes to get to the train station, the fast train only running every hour with the last one being about 11pm.

Yes, that’s exactly the same as living 3 minutes from a tube station in Zone 3, with a choice of tube, train and bus to get to any part of central London, and being able to get home as late as possible by night tube, night bus or Uber.

Oh God, I'm in the same situation as you are. Have you decided?

Do you have any experiences with Guildford? I'm hesitating about moving out of Richmond to St. Albans or Guildford. Any advice? :)

Lots of things have already been covered, but I wanted to pick up on the reference to a “forever home”. Personally I don’t think you should ever think as a house as a forever home, as you never know what things life can throw at you - health considerations, opportunities to move abroad, reversals of fortunes.

But if you are thinking like that, and are confident you will still be in that house in 15-20 years time, then please consider that once your children are a certain age (teenagers), you can start to enjoy all that London has to offer again, without a babysitter. Most weekends DH and I go to the theatre, with or without kids, or to galleries, or have dinner with friends in nice restaurants, or host parties. It’s easy because we’re in zone 3 with lots of transport options.

Property prices in Surrey don’t rise as fast as in London, so you might struggle to reintegrate the London market once you leave it.

Im not saying this is the deciding factor, just something to bear in mind.

I think it depends what you really need. I moved to Hampshire a year ago after 25 years in London and although I miss London in my heart (found myself watching the London marathon on TV!!) the quality of life there for me in the end was just not good enough, air quality, ambient noise, space. I've noticed people are happier here and walk around smiling, relaxed and chatty but I think it's all a reflection of self really. Sometimes you need different things at different times

We moved for similar reasons. Surrey schools are good. The air literally smells sweet and fresh. The countryside is stunning - woods, hills, heathland. It was a very safe place to bring up DC but we're thinking of moving back to London now they are grown. I miss the vibrancy. We go into London a lot to theatre and galleries and talks and to meet friends.

Do you mind telling us where you lived? We are thinking of moving back to London but can't afford the area we moved out of. But that does sound like somewhere to avoid.