Carshalton / Cheam or Berrylands?

[pringles123]

Hi all, what do people think about Berrylands as an area to raise a family? (Particularly the Raeburn Avenue area and surrounding roads, including those nearer Tolworth like Elgar Avenue - does the feel of Berrylands change as you get nearer the Tolworth end?)

We live in a flat in Kingston with our 1yo DD and are planning to move to a house, ideally our forever home.

Looking for a good size house - 4 / 5 beds (or 3 beds + 2 studies), spacious living area, own driveway, safe area for kids, nice local parks, and some shops in walking distance (even just a few small corner shops), reasonable transport links. My office is in London but I mainly wfh, DH’s job is in Guildford and he wfh 3 days a week.

We really enjoy living in Kingston and being close to places like Bushy Park, Hampton Court, Richmond Park etc. But we can’t afford the type of house we want in Kingston.

Berrylands seems to fit the bill but it’s a bit further out and seems fairly quiet. I don’t know much about it other than driving through. I also don’t really like Tolworth high st, but that might be the side of Berrylands our budget stretches to.

Carshalton & Cheam are our other options which seem to broadly fit what we are looking for. They also seem like bigger more established family areas with more amenities, and I think you get more for your money in Carshalton. The thing that puts me off is that Croydon would be our closest big town and we would be further away from the SW London amenities that we like.

we should probably also factor in schools… I hear Cheam and Carshalton are good, what is Berrylands like?

So we could probably go up to £950,00 or so, but I think our mortgage would be more comfortable around £800 to £850k. It would also need to include any work needed to the property (lots of houses on the market seem to need work!)

Why would you say no to carshalton?

I've always felt the thing Berrylands was missing is a decent shop but they have now opened a Sainsburys local on Raeburn avenue. There is a little playpark on Alexander drive, some local shops that may or may not fair well after the opening of the Sainsburys, cafe etc.

I'm not sure how far your budget will stretch though, a lot of the semi's are over the 1mill mark.

Parts of Carshalton are lovely! Certainly family friendly.
Nearest town centre is Sutton. Epsom not far, and also Kingston, Redhill, Reigate and Bromley.

@feedbackhq When have you last visited or lived in Carshalton?

Carshalton Beeches is nice but feels quite countryside ish & the downside is Croydon is the nearest town. Also not sure on schools if you want to avoid grammars.
Tolworth high street is fine, good M&S but not much nice cafes etc.
What about North Cheam/Worcester Park/New Malden. Some excellent primaries & I know a few excellent secondaries although some are faith ones.

I grew up in Tolworth living in that area of Raeburn Avenue - most of the houses in and around the area like Sandhurst Avenue, Beresford Drive, Warren Drive and Elgar Avenue are all decent sized family houses. If you are at the Broadway end - access on foot to to Tolworth station is easily achievable with Surbiton Station easily reached by a good bus service for onward travel to Guildford.
For DD there are a couple of schools Our Lady Immaculate on Ewell Road and one in the Grand Avenue vicinity - with senior schools involving a bus ride out of the area.
Berrylands is pretty quiet with a lot of very large properties but not so good for shops but in general the area is well serviced with a local bus route for easy reach of Kingston. You could consider Chessington too but this is a bit like Berrylands a little bit off the beaten track for local shops. But all of these areas have good train links for Wimbledon. Traffic now - compared to when I lived there as a youngster is horrendous so leaving the car at home isn't a great hardship as the bus service is pretty good.
But given your budget - I do think that you will be heading towards the Tolworth end of Raeburn Avenue and district.

@underthebun the nearest town/shopping area is Sutton, not Croydon

@talknomore If I wanted new clothes, shoes, homewards etc I wouldn’t go to Sutton & personally don’t think it’s comparable to Croydon or Kingston.

@underthebun hen was the last time you shopped in Croydon for clothes, shoes or homewards?

@underthebun

Sutton is way better for shopping now than Croydon!

I would think that Berrylands would be a lot easier for commuting to Guildford as you are on southwest trains if he gets the train and nearer a3 if he drives.

@talknomore fair point as I don’t go to Croydon or Sutton anymore but that’s because I live near Kingston. I used to shop in Croydon though & can count on my hands when I went to Sutton. I think department stores are useful for make up, concessions etc, does Sutton now have one?

I lie as I do go to Ikea & Costco which is obvs in Croydon

@underthebun Croydon only has House of Fraser which always looks like a badly organised jumble sale most of the time! I live in LB Croydon but only go into the centre for shopping if I really can't avoid it. The Whitgift is virtually empty. I usually go to Bromley or Bluewater if I can't find what I need on the Purley Way.

I don't know carshalton that well but for that budget you might struggle with a 4-5 bedroom in Cheam.

But I think that in terms of town center, it depends on what you need. Cheam and Banstead high streets are both quite nice for small bits and bobs (Banstead better). There's Croydon for big town, yes, but Wimbledon, Epsom, Reigate and Sutton are all convenient, depending on what you want/need. Berrylands might be better though if you'd like to stick with Kingston as your preferred bigger shopping option.

I live in Merton and I go shopping in Kingston! Berrylands is virtually Kingston or Surbiton, I'd say that Tesco at Shannon Corner is the local shop for Berrylands and Tolworth. And if you want to go to Guildford, the train from Surbiton is your best bet. These areas are all within walking distance of each other, or an easy car ride if you're shopping.

Purley Way has a new M&S and Next too.
Croydon Town centre is deserted. Sutton has basic stuff and on Sundays is not too busy. We like cinema in Sutton. Since refurbishment has good selection of films.
Eprom is good too. Much quicker to get in and out of it than Kingston.
Trains from Carshalton station which is in zone 4 has good connection to Victoria and the City.
OP check commute to Guildford. I am not sure how easy it is to get there by train.from Sutton Borough.

@Seeline So you don’t go to Sutton? I’m not saying Croydon is good but it has more options for me than Sutton. I used to love Wimbledon for shopping but not much there now although still good for eateries & it has a theatre.

Kingston has a Curzon cinema which I like.

Personally I would stick closer to the Kingston side hence why I suggested Worcester Park & New Malden. Also if Crossrail 2 ever comes there are on the route I think.

Cheam Village has nice big houses but I don’t think it has much going on. Banstead has a good high street although parking can be a pain.

I think WP & NM are on the same train line as Guildford as I’m sure a colleague comes that way.

Berrylands is a lovely area for children. It’s got the nature reserve, three great primary schools, a lovely playgroup and a really nice community feel. The pub is friendly and relaxed, lots of shops in reach, and just a very chill nice area with lovely houses. The secondary schools for girls are outstanding and the boys are also good. I don’t go into tolworth much other than the Marks or for a takeaway (Dosa is incredible).
It takes me about ten or so minutes to drive
to Kingston for the shops, Surbiton is just a couple of minutes in the car and has a Waitrose, Sainsburys and all the cafes you could ever want! We are really happy here.

Thanks for all of the responses! interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts. Good to hear people seem to be positive about Berrylands. Is the smell still an issue there?

I’m not a massive fan of North Cheam, but it might be that’s where our budget stretches if we did want Cheam.

i hadn’t really considered New Malden as i always thought it was really expensive and it didn’t seem to have any parks / green spaces nearby. Am I wrong?

Worcester park we know fairly well as have family there. It could be an option but probably not top of our list.

i grew up near Sutton and the high st went down hill a few years ago, not sure if it has improved now though?

I’ve seen 3 houses that could fit the bill - all around the £800 / 850 mark. One in Berrylands/Tolworth on Elgar Avenue. One in Carshalton on Carshalton Park Close. One in Cheam/North Cheam) on Church Hill Road.

will probably take a look at all three and see what we think of the area.

One a slightly different note - do people think it’s worth prioritising being walking distance to a decent park? I never thought about it before kids, but I’ve now got in my head that it’s an important thing to consider when buying a house. Don’t know if that’s right or not though! And what’s a reasonable walking distance to a park with kids? 20mins?

@pringles123 I prioritised a park but that’s because my garden is small & so the park is 3m from my house. I don’t think 20 mins is that close tbh but if you have a decent garden which the outer boroughs often have then it’s not a biggie. For me the no 1 is proximity to excellent school & transport. Obviously if you do private you have more options.

There is a park in NM but I’m not sure if you lived close to it what the school options & house prices are.

Also if you want a forever home you need to consider primary & secondary which if going state can be quite tricky.