Buying in leatherhead: would it be a mistake?

[autunno]

We have found a dream home in Leatherhead that is in out budget (circa 1.6M); it’s quite spacious, well renovated, various outstanding schools within 1 mile and ease walking distance to the high street.

We have however heard it being called “leatherdead”, because there is not much to do. But we are very “homely” people who don’t go out much, and when we do we don’t mind driving 10-20 minutes to reach a nice restaurant/activity. Would we regret the purchase?

Some more information about us:

1. I work remotely, so no commute.
2. We like country activities (riding horses, hiking, etc), which seems good here.
3. We have a 6mo and may likely have another kid in 1-2 years.
4. Proximity to London is somewhat desired for leisure, and we have better delivery options here than in our current location (e.g. it’s possible to order from good sushi/indian/etc places)

Location-wise, it feels like we would enjoy Guildford or Dorking a bit more, but within this budget we would need to compromise on size or level of refurbishment.

My sister in law lives in Leatherhead in Fetcham, we were visiting her every other than, (not anymore) what we notice is that, gangs are living there as well, you can figured that out from house decorations and the cars on the drive, how they look. That was our impression. And we didn’t feel safe but öy sister in law thinks that there is only place to live in Fetcham.

If it suits your lifestyle, go for it.

For 1.6 I’d live in London.

Damn, that’s sad to hear, not a great look.

Thank you for sharing

Gangs in Leatherhead!!

Thats hilarious, Leatherhead is called Leatherdead for a reason, Its quiet and easy place to live, full of middle class families who love to mow their large gardens.

I wonder how Kaens judges there are gangs just by looking through peoples windows? too much IKEA for her liking?

Op ignore that post, as she said her sister in law actually loves it and she is the one living there. Leatherhead is particularly good value for money, with Guildford and Dorking a car drive away you can survive the quiet high street. Go for it.

Fetcham is not Leatherhead though, gangs seem unlikely. It is a fairly dull commuter town with range of schools, shops and cafes. Parts are run down but there are local activities for families with young children.
Bocketts Farm is a favourite meeting point, Box Hill, Denbies and so on nearby.

I can’t image any 1.6 mill house being located in a rough area!

Fetcham is not Leatherhead.
Dorking is better. What about one of the surrounding villages in the Surrey Hills?

For £1,6m, I’d prefer to live in a £600k house a bit further south, and have a £1m in the bank. Lots of outstanding schools everywhere, though that doesn’t mean it’ll be any good for your kids.

I'm surprised that you are struggling to buy something in Guildford or Dorking with £1.6m burning a hole in your pocket.

I live in S.E London & have clients all over Kent & Surrey as well as within the M25 so I'm quite aware of house prices in your neck of the woods and what your money could buy you.

Well I can tell you that Andy Murray has moved to Leatherhead so it obviously has some lovely houses. It also has St Andrews school which was / probably still is the best performing school in the county. I don’t know much else about it but I know girls from my area go over to a gymnastics club over there so there are obviously some good facilities of one kind or another.

ROFLMAO

Thank you everyone. From what I also gathered on other forums (e.g. reddit), it seems that most people just find it mostly dull / uninteresting, and that for this budget I should just try to go for Dorking / Ashstead / Guildford.

I have been to these places before and did enjoy a bit more what I saw, and as I'm spending such a big sum I think it's sensible to wait it out a bit and seeing whether houses that tick my boxes appear in these locations; I have seen in the past (when I was still not ready to buy), it should sure come up again.

Guildford and Dorking are great. You might also look at Oxted and Sevenoaks - good lines into London. Both are nicer than Leatherhead.

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/67725097/

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/67062806/

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/67062806/

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/photos/68002879/

For £1.6M I would not choose to live in leatherhead.

I would head further towards the Surrey hills Horsley/Guildford way or Westhumble is lovely and nearer Dorking.

As for gangs in fetcham seems unlikely.

Op its interesting that noone has mentioned Epsom. Its just up the road, decent reestauranys (and of course coffee shops) and there's some nice areas with bigger houses. Might be worth a look.

Leatherhead isn’t dangerous at all. It’s is pretty boring though

Gangs in Leatherhead?! Please 😂

I'm from Guildford OP, I now live in Tongham which we love.

Look at Farnham, Tongham, Elstead, Albury, Lightwater, Ripley and Horsley.

Thanks everyone! I did check Epsom, it seems to have a lot going for it, although I have found Dorking and Ashstead more lovely. If I was to go for a place with "more" to it, I think I would just commit to Guildford instead that has quite a lot of amenities.

We have ultimately decided to wait for the right house to pop in these other locations. Scouting for Dorking, Guildford, Ashstead, Farnham, and surrounding villages.

Gangs in Fetcham .... and you can tell by the decor and the cars, is this a wind up 😁

For future reference what kind of cars indicate gangsters live in a house? And what kind of house decorations?

Gangs in leatherhead, makes me laugh. I have lived here for a good 2 years and I don’t have anything bad to say about this place.

Boring is good, which is what you would want when you come home to relax. Fantastic neighbours, close knitted community, plenty of hobbies to pursue, river walks, countryside ,horse riding , rifle club, great theatre, waitrose and Sainsbury, historic pubs, good food with quite a few choices for families, great schools , beautiful and well built houses which are value for money.

🙂If one is looking for night life, London is just 45 minutes by train.

Any place you have to be example Cobham, Oxshott, Dorking, Guildford, Boxhill, Polesdon Lacey, Painshill, is less than 20 minutes. Heathrow and Gatwick are 30 minutes away.

Thanks everyone! Ultimately we decided not to rush in on our house search as it feels like a buyers market at this price point. Ended up securing an even nicer property near Farnham, which we are very happy about. Has similarly boring features to Leatherhead which we were ok with, but even better schools and a bigger lawn.

It’s those shiny new range rovers they look quite gangsta