Home Counties move - where?!

[lastminutebabyname]

DH and I are looking to move from SW London to the Home Counties, with 3 DC (eldest in Yr1). However we have no family in England, so struggling to choose an area. Key priorities are:

Good schools (private or state, currently in London prep)
Detatched house, big garden (budget up to £2m)
Commutable to Bank (DH 3 days, me 1-2 days)
Sense of community, easy access to countryside and nearby town

Places currently on my list:
Surrey - Oxted, Cobham, Surrey Hills
Kent - Sevenoaks
Bucks - Amersham, Chalfonts
Berks - Pangbourne, Goring & Streatley

Please help! Note we haven’t visited most of these, so I know we need to do more research/narrow it down, but any advice welcome! We really want to find somewhere we can settle with the DC, so they have somewhere to call home!

I only know Surrey so can’t comment on the other places. You want to be on a London Waterloo line ideally. Guildford would tick your boxes?

Dorking lovely but train is slow (50 mins and frequency cut since Covid). BUT end of the line so always get a seat and you have the Victoria trains too which helps on strike days etc. Fab houses in the town as rare as hens teeth but lots of stunning properties in surrounding villages. Good state provision and private schools galore.

Reigate also lovely but for fast train into London Bridge/Victoria you need to go to Redhill really (so have to factor bus/bike/car). Some good state schools and again loads of private around as well.

Thank you, will check out both of these!

Why are you moving? What kind of vibe do you want? And how long are you prepared to commute for?

A lot of places you’ve listed are what I would describe as mini- London with a few more fields- there will be good local services, pretty, perfectly nice but absolutely full of people most of whom are probably from southwest London braying about how much they prefer it and how they got out at exactly the right time, so it’s not that much different to the northcote road! Things like getting kids into swimming lessons, brownies etc probably a bit better than London but it may not feel much more relaxing. If that’s the sort of vibe you’re after you should also consider St Albans or Harpenden and Berkhamsted as they will tick your boxes too. But none will feel like getting away from the rat race if that’s what you’re after.

We made a similar move and ended up a bit further out- small market town in beds- less trendy and the commute is probably worse than the places you’ve mentioned but the feel of the place is really different and in terms of hassle it’s definitely an improvement- not been on a waiting list for kids activities for years, not got a parking ticket or sat in traffic for as long and I hear owls and sheep from my room. But it depends what you’re after.

Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells might be worth a look. The latter def has London Bridge trains, which are good for Bank.

Amersham/Chalfonts would work well. Also Great Missenden. Option of Met Line or Chiltern Railways into Baker Street / Marylebone 40-50 mins. Good village communities and lovely countryside. Good state, grammar and private school options. A lot of nice houses available for £2m.

Pangbourne is a good call. Also anywhere slightly east of there (north of Reading, over towards Henley)- lovely area and easy commute from Reading inc direct on the Elizabeth line to Liverpool Street.

Wokingham and the areas around it (specifically nearer Twyford for Elizabeth line) would be worthwhile considering. Wokingham schools are excellent.

Have you looked at Ascot/Sunningdale?

These are all great suggestions - thank you! I will look at each of them over the next few days.

To answer a few questions - max commute is probably 1hr 15ish to Bank and main reasons for moving are for more space and I’m no longer sure about raising DC in the city (I grew up in the countryside). Appreciate none of these will get us away from the rat race - go further afield will be difficult I think as our jobs are tied to London at least a few days a week.

Add Berkhamsted to your list. Everything you have asked for.

Thank you! I am looking at some of these this morning.

For those a bit further out - Pangbourne, Ascot, Amersham etc - can anyone comment on whether the commute times on Googlemaps are realistic? I don’t want to underestimate the commute, as DH in particular will always be tied to the city.

Look at East Herts, eg Bishops Stortford and other places on that line. That budget would get you a lovely house and it’s about 40 minutes to Liverpool Street on the train.

On the commute, if 1.15 is your max then you need to think about the commute to/ from the station and at the other end. Quick trains from me are about 35 min, but I live a 10 min drive from the station which is actually 20 min by the time you’ve added in parking and buying a ticket. If you want to have as short a commute as possible then you need to live walking distance from the station which in lots of places outside London means ruling out semi rural properties as these are a bit out of town. In the places I mentioned upthread for example if you want to walk to the station you’ll be in a period terrace/ semi or a larger house on an estate. No Georgian vicarages!

In your position I think I’d be doing day trip/ overnight visits to the places and once you’ve settled on a shortlist you or your DH should try the commute a few times in person before you even start looking at houses. Also be realistic about housing stock in your chosen areas (especially at the moment when there’s not a huge amount on the market).

@lastminutebabyname The commute from Berkhamsted is about 30 mins direct into Euston. You can usually get a seat and there’s three / four trains an hour.

If the trains are messed up then you can get the Met line to either Chesham or Amersham and get a cab or a lift. The commute is very easy.

If you are looking on Rightmove then be aware that Potten End and Northchurch aren’t Berkhamsted but are nearby.

For schools, pretty much all the primaries are excellent, the secondary (Ashlyns) has a great reputation, you can usually get out of catchment Bucks grammar places (although no guarantee), and for independent you have Berkhamsted, Westbrook Hay, Chesham Prep, Beechwood Park, Abbots Hill and Lockers Park. There’s also school buses to the Habs schools, Royal Masonic and Aldenham. Spoilt for choice and there’s none of the London mentality.

And these are the houses worth having a look at in Berkhamsted. Walk to High Street and station.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148826396#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148726946#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146505854#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148852625#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148407905#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148296128#/?channel=RES_BUY

What type of place would you like in terms of size... Guildford and Dorking are both nice, but big towns. Cobham is a small town but has a more suburban feel.

The Ascot/Sunningdale train is slooooooow.

My OH commuted from Goring to Bank 5 days a week for 13 years.

It's perfectly doable (albeit expensive). Get the 06.30 train, in the office by 07.45. Probably even easier with CrossRail now. Had a station bike, so no parking fees (and there's roads you can park in anyway). From before the kids were born, to maybe 10 years old - been here 22 years now. When you move in to the villages, you rarely move out.

And Goring/Streatley definitely aren't mini London. https://www.visitgoringandstreatley.co.uk/
Lovely restaurants, lovely pubs, superb country. Good schools (state mostly on the berkshire side!). What's not to like.

I'd advise you to have a good look at secondary school catchment areas. Before you know it your Y1 child will be in Y5, and you won't want to uproot to move to a new area. I recommend you have a look at the Cookham/Marlow/Bourne End areas. You have access to the Elizabeth, Chiltern and Paddington tube/rail networks as well as lovely friendly riverside communities.

Thanks all - I agree next step is to do some day trips / overnight stays to some of these places - I think we’ll do one weekend in surrey/Kent and one in east berks/ west bucks and get a feel for places.

@jacksonlamb - I am realising this re secondary schools. We don’t want to do boarding, so are looking for somewhere with a range of day senior independent schools and ideally good grammar/comps as well. There seems to be more of a boarding focus at some of the berks/oxon prep schools I have looked at compared to say London/surrey - can anyone advise if this is true? Also, are the bucks grammars very competitive? We have no idea how academic our children will be at this point.

The Bucks grammar schools are not super selective (they take around 23% of all children) although most parents use a tutor in Y5. Popular independent schools include Reading Blue Coats (mixed), Shiplake (mixed), Pipers (girls) and Claires Court (separate boys and girls schools). Mostly day pupils. Good luck with your search!

@Troglodytes are you familiar with the preps in G&S? Moulsford and Oratory I believe?

@DibbleDooDah do you have any insight into the preps you have mentioned? I’ve heard of Berk School and Chesham Prep but not the others. There is also the Beacon in Amersham I understand?

And in Surrey, does anyone have views on Feltonfleet, Hazelwood, Aldro or Hawthorns? Thank you!

@lastminutebabyname Yes - my children attended one of the preps I listed and I have friends with children at all of the others.

And yes, there’s also The Beacon. I forgot about it because I have girls. Lots of sisters of brothers there go to Hetherton House which is now part of the Berkhamsted group,

@jacksonlamb @DibbleDooDah thank you, very useful. Also I should have said, we only have boys - ideally want a co-ed school at least for prep as they have no sisters at home, but it’s not a deal breaker

A bit further out there’s also York House. A bit spoilt for choice with great prep schools.

Well Moulsford Prep is in Moulsford. Nice - lovely spot on the Thames. Very outdoorsey. There uniform always reminds of Jennings. Few boarders, but a lot of day. Just opened a pre-prep, and also a nursery up the road.
Cranford - directly opposite - was just girls, but is now mixed all the way through.
OPS is in Woodcote - proper Catholic. Feeds into Oratory, which is also in Woodcote. They had - past tense - a bit of an issue with a couple of teachers in the past at the senior school. Good location. Senior school is more of a boarding spot.
Don't forget St Andrews in Pangbourne. Good enough for the Middletons.

Other prep schools - Abingdon Prep, Manor House, and even Cokethorpe run buses to and from G&S. But time and effort, and reliant on the A34!

Now, I'm not entirely sure the preps are that necessary; the two primary schools are both excellent (I'd say Streatley more than Goring to be honest), and a lot of kids will go private at the end of there. Abingdon/St Helens mostly, but also Pangbourne, Bradfield or Magdalen College. Even Downe House is an easy drive. And the two grammars in Reading are available if necessary, albeit very heavily oversubscribed.
Anecdotal experience shows a lot of people take their children out of private after GCSEs to go back to state for sixth, as it aids access into a decent Uni.

Out of the two state secondaries, the one on the Berkshire side is best - the Downs is a very good school, in a lovely location. Langtree is good, but smaller, and doesn't have a sixth form. Children there either go to the Downs, or go to Henley (train/bus) or Wallingford. At the Downs especially you'll get out what you put it - I know a good few with 4 A*s at A Level from there.

Personal experience of some of the Bucks grammars are that some are more competitive than others, and with RGS now going mixed in the sixth form, it could all be changing. Borlase has obviously been mixed for sometime, and obviously does get - whisper it - some people from over the Berks/Oxon borders.