Moving to Reigate?

[ciavent90]

Hi All,

Hoping a few people can help. My husband and I moved out of London in 2022 to just outside of Woking. We rented to test being out of the city with commute etc but needed a bigger property (both wfh most of the time).

Liked being out of London. But found Brookwood didn’t have enough going on (ie we had to drive everywhere, there wasn’t a coffee shop you could walk to) and demographic of area was slightly older than us (we are early 30s).

Now have a puppy and a baby on the way. Rental lease expires end of July so we want to buy a property that we can call home. We looked at loads of “commuter” towns and thought Reigate had a lovely high street with good shops, seemed like it was popular with young families, great park etc.

I have a few concerns and am hoping someone can help:

1. Looking at properties around South Park - what is that area like? We noticed Derwent council estate nearby and want to make sure it’s a nice place to live being further out of the centre. Are there nice places to walk around there? With dog and baby that would be essential.
2. The commute isn’t too much longer than our current one on the train but are the trains from Reigate a pain? We have a car but my husband wouldn’t use it to drive to the station. Likely he’d cycle or walk as I would need the car during the day.
3. With a baby on the way, obviously thinking about nurseries / schools. Any issues with this?
4. Is there a good community in Reigate? As a mum to be, concerned I’ll feel a little isolated - we would be further from all sets of parents (it adds another 30mins-1hr to all of their journeys) and 4-6 weeks after birth I’m a little apprehensive about not knowing anyone in the area.

Thanks in advance!

I know nothing about Reigate, but might make sense to do NCT or similar in your new area :)

I lived in Reigate from just before my first baby was born till just after she was 7 and I absolutely loved it.

This was 20 odd years ago but I go back to visit several friends who still live there and still love it.

Reigate seems lovely! Lots of lovely restaurants and coffee shops… I think it’s the ideal place to live with a young family x

south park is a pain to commute by train from. In terms of more desirable areas in Reigate these are north Reigate and around the town (central Reigate). If budget doesn’t allow, you may find Redhill/ Reigate borders better for your commute “redgate” as estate agents like to call it. Parish school you need to be a church goer but once in it’s an all through primary. We did Holmesdale and Priory with ours. Great parenting community in Reigate.

It’s a great town but make sure you buy in the right part! If budget allows make sure you are a max 20 min walk from town. You won’t regret it and you will have a whole community of mums. My friends from
NCT that lived in South Park always had to drive into meet in town/ park. Parking is a nightmare so my recommendation would be to buy within walking distance to town if you can.

No advice but in a very similar situation, also looking at Reigate and wanting to know about schools, so ill give you a bump!

South Park is not the better part of Reigate and some distance from the high street and station. On street parking can be tricky in the town . There are various commons on edge of town for walking and from Reigate hill onto North Downs. State primaries are good, secondary has Reigate school which is well regarded but no sixth form, for which there is a separate college. St Bedes in Redhill is a faith secondary school. Some still have infant/junior transfer but majority are now through from 4-11. Historically schools have been oversubscribed but less in recent years since Reigate Church expanded and Hatchlands opened. Priory junior school is likely to be relocated from the park, potentially controversially to Surrey County Council's main site on Cockshott hill. There are two preps in Reigate and Reigate Grammar if private is an option. Lots of baby/preschool groups, kids sports and activities.

I agree with previous poster South Park really isn’t desirable and there are nicer places like St John’s for similar budget. Holmesdale is a great infant school, which feeds into priory as a previous poster has said they are looking to move priory but that has been kicked into the long grass for now. Parish and St John’s all through. If you can’t afford central Reigate , around St John’s is lovely, Somerset road etc is great. St John’s is a wonderful little school, small and all the way through. There is also Wray common which is Redhill but some of the roads that feed into that school are Reigate. Don’t be tempted by Westvale, it’s basically in Horley and nothing there.

I’ve noticed a comment on We love Reigate on Facebook asking similar, please ignore some of the comments. Merstham is not lovely, unfortunately! I would probably avoid buying near the Beehive pub too https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cljl9rlnnkxo

I grew up in Woodhatch and used to walk up the hill to Priory school and home every day, so I think if it was totally doable for a child of that age, an adult can walk to Reigate station. There are patches that are a bit iffy in South Park and Woodhatch. You'd soon work them out when viewing properties. When older I lived in Reigate, and the walk to Reigate school is fine. The bus and train to other secondary schools and colleges is fine. The train to London is easy. Whether you'd fit in with all the mummies, I don't know, it's far too gentrified for me now, so even though I'm born and bred in that area it's too posh for me now.

Holidayhavanas do you have any pros/cons about Priory? Are they friendly do the kids seem happy and to do well? How would you say it compared to Parish? Thank you

LadyCardamom what kind of posh? Trying to move away from a really posh area thought Reigate seemed more relaxed from visiting ?

Agree with the 'too posh' comment.
I lived close by to Reigate most of my life, and have often visited in the past for shopping/meals out/hair appointments. We visited recently, and I felt very uncomfortable. We're a pretty normal middle class family, but granted my accent may come across a bit more 'common'. I'm often mistaken for coming from Essex.
I just felt like everyone that walked past us, had their nose in the air and didn't want to engage. All in Barbour coats and other designer gear. I've never felt that way before.
I have an Instagram friend who lives there, same age as me (mid thirties) but I cringe at the way she talks... who says 'golly' in their mid thirties?!
Not for me. It does have a nice town centre, and that's the nicest part, along with the other side towards Dorking.