Moving from London to Hampshire

[Genuinelyenquiring]

We are thinking of moving from south London to Hampshire and I wondered if anyone had made a similar move.

I'm a born Londoner but am fed up with the cost of housing and the dirty air and lack of nature. I don't want to move far away from my family in south London but reckon I could manage an hour up the A3.

So, does anyone have any experience of this and how did they find the move? Are there any areas we should consider? Our budget is £1.2m max and we'd need good state options nearby for the kids.

Thank you!

> fed up with the cost of housing
> our budget is £1.2m max

I am confused by what you actually want.

A 5 bed with a good size garden.

Will you still need to commute?

We have friends who live between Petersfield and Liphook, they tend to go down to the former to commute up to Waterloo as the trains are much more frequent.

Petersfield is a really nice town from what I’ve seen

I think your budget would work in many of the surrounding areas, especially if willing to do a bit of cosmetic work, although depends if you want period or not. Also depends how big a plot / garden you’d like

@winchwarrior my husband will need to commute twice a week.

This is super helpful. Ideally we'd like a period house I think - garden size is trickier as i don't know the measurements!!

Thank you.

There are lots of lovely villages that come within the catchment for good schools in Winchester. Have you looked there? The only thing that might be a negative as your children get older : there’s’ not great public transport so you’ll end up driving them everywhere. Maybe in a small town might be better for you transitioning from city living?

Go on Rightmove and see what’s available. Then research the area from there.

Winchester has excellent state schools. 1.2M should get you a townhouse in the centre or a detached in the suburbs with a good garden.

Petersfield is lovely. A great town with a good variety of shops and restaurants. Train station, frequent trains into London. You can get a 5 bed there for your budget.

Ash Vale is supposed to be up-and-coming if you want to get in at the start of a boom.

I made the move from Wandsworth to Petersfield 5 years ago having lived in London all my life. I moved in my 50s.

Petersfield is an excellent market town with good train links into Waterloo - circa 1 hr 6 minutes on the fast train, or 1 hour 25 minutes on the slow trains.

A vibrant market town with good shops - Waitrose, Tesco, M&S Foods, Waterstones, Smiths, Boots, Superdrug etc etc plus independent shops and restaurants.

Winchester is also a lovely place as well though I don't know as much about it.

Your budget will get you a good house in either.

But London it is not. Public transport is limited to trains and infrequent buses that finish early. No TFL here. No ubers here. Taxis are expensive.
The pace of life is slower, Petersfield has an older resident vibe. It isn't diverse like London. Just like everything there are pros and cons.

It's slap bang in the middle of a national park so there is beauty on your doorstep. It's an easy drive to a variety of beaches. Easy to get into Guildford for a bigger shopping experience, or Chichester.

On a normal day it's about 35 minutes up the A3 to the M25 junction. It takes me about 1hr 15 minutes back to Wandsworth/Wimbledon etc. on a Saturday with traffic. The same to Gatwick airport.

I still miss London and I find it a pain getting the train back in the dark in the Winter when I visit friends for lunch in central London. But that's just me. My partner travels into London 2 days a week and many do the commute 5 days. I work from home.

Do you enjoy the countryside, seaside etc?

My one tip coming from London is to pick a proper town that has all the amenities that you would want from a move. It may look lovely in a small village but there are severe limitations that come with that.

I would look at these places as well as Petersfield and Winchester - accepting these are in Surrey ...
Haslemere - though the High Street is lovely there isn't actually much there
Godalming
Farnham

@friendlycat thank you so much. This is really, really helpful and kind of goes to the root of why I am not 100%.

I'm originally from your neck of the woods but moved to a cheaper part of south London when I had kids. We do like it here and we have lots of friends but there are limitations. I also don't whether my children will thank me when they're older although I do think teenagehood in London is very different now to what it was in the 90s when I was growing up.

I absolutely love the sea and the countryside but I've only ever really spent time there on holidays so I don't know if the reality would not be as good. I also worry I won't be able to meet like minded people and make friends easily.

What made you decide to move?

I moved due to age and partner was from Petersfield and Liss area.

I still miss London and it regularly tugs on my heart and head when I go back and meet friends. I think you have to be very very sure of a move out of London as it's hard to then go back.

I actually don't enjoy the countryside that much tbh ! I'm a more urban person.
It's dark, wet and muddy in the Winter and I live in a market town that's busy and vibrant. I do enjoy living here, but at the same time I still miss London. Sometimes I feel in limbo in that I enjoy the slower pace of life and all that being here brings and if I was transported back to London I wouldn't fit in there either any more.

Think carefully about your children and the limitations of moving. I cannot stress enough how bad the buses are. Even regular services to other main towns finish at 7pm. Others don't run in the middle of the day for 4 or 5 hours and only run once an hour in the morning and late afternoon for people going to college and work. In London you can jump on the train, the bus, the tube, get an uber, a black cab etc etc. It is all completely connected. The countryside is not. And we live very near the station.

If I could make any suggestion at all it would be to rent your house out for a year and rent in the countryside to see if you actually like it.

If I had my time again I would not have moved this far down. I would have looked at Reigate, Dorking, Bookham etc. All nearer the M25 area.

But Petersfield is lovely. What I would like to do with it is move it up just outside the M25 !!!

I did the commute from Winchester to London for 6 months and found it really unpleasant and tiring. The Winchester train is very busy and I regularly had to stand for the entire hour journey. The train goes to Waterloo, so you've then likely got to get across to London. And it's very expensive.

I don't think Winchester is any cheaper than most of London - we looked at moving back and were very surprised by the house prices. I'd recommend doing the commute a few times before making any decisions.

Winchester is also very different to London. It's lovely, it's beautiful, but it's not diverse and it's very conservative.

If you want more for your money, I'd look on the outskirts of London instead. There are lovely areas that feel remote but are much easier to get back into London.

Have a look at Woldingham for a beautiful, rural area on a good train line. Or, for similar to Winchester but a better commute, have a look at Reigate or Oxted. Guildford is also a much better commute but isn't cheap.

I agree with sarahb the train from Winchester won't be that great as it's an extremely busy line and often full at Southampton so standing only from Winchester.

Petersfield line is NOT like that.

I would definitely take a look at Reigate as this may well give you the middle ground that you want.

You may also like Guildford.

I second Winchester and Petersfield, Winchester's £££ but you'd be fine with your budget.
I've often seen Winchester referred to as conservative on MN but it's about to elect a Libdem MP and has had Libdem MPs before.

Thanks everyone. This is SO helpful. I think unfortunately Winchester is a bit too far away for us but the other suggestions are great.

She means conservative not Conservative, as in not politics but in outlook. Different thing. Small c conservative means you like the old ways, you’re resistant to change etc.

Winchester is extremely expensive, very busy, a pain to drive around… but lovely. King’s School and the Westgate are not your ordinary state schools either.

Winch is also FULL of people who have moved out of London and seem to frequently mention it…

Thanks for explaining...I did actually know the difference between those two, in fact they run together. Winchester has a lot of graduates and culture and that engenders a more liberal outlook which affects local politics.

If you're looking down the A3, then, yes to previous suggestions. Guildford, Godalming, Farnham, Haslemere, Alton. All the villages off the A31 too, then you also have access to M3. West Surrey/Hampshire is pretty continuous.

£1.2m should just about do it.