Which area Hurst Green / Warlingham / Other?

[mittensandkittens23]

We are looking to move out of London and (slightly) further out into the countryside, however for the areas we would like to be in, we don't have the largest budget (700 - 800k) for a small detached (or maybe semi) house.

We're focused on the Southern train routes into London Bridge and don't want a huge journey in (ideally 30 - 40 mins on the train plus a walk at either end).

Areas we have looked at:

Oxted- Too expensive

Woldingham- Too small (there is nothing there at all)

Caterham- Trains slow and infrequent, also people have said near the station isn't that great

Lingfield- Fractionally too far and trains are less frequent than earlier stops on the line (Oxted & Hurst Green)

Three Bridges- Better value for money, but not super keen on Crawley

For now we are ignoring Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells (I know they are on a different train line, just mentioning as they are the obvious alternatives) as they are all too pricey for what we want.

Areas we haven't ruled out yet:

Warlingham- Trains are good as you have a choice of stations, however the village is a long walk from the station.

Hurst Green- Not much around, but the trains aren't atrocious. What worries us here are some quite intimidating areas (e.g. Coldshott Road and near the station with the little parade of shops).

We don't drive, so have to be near a station and we absolutely do not want to be in Croydon (Warlingham is the closest we would go)!

Any suggestions with regards to Hurst Green in particular and Warlingham too? Is there much anti-social behaviour, are there any parts to avoid?

Warlingham has good schools but not much going on & nice houses can be far from the station.

Thank you, I should have included in the original post that in terms of schools its Secondaries we would be focused on (state only, we can't afford private)!

You'd need a car in all of those places. Have you looked at riddlesdown / sanderstead?

The secondary you would want then is Riddlesdown Collegiate, not sure if you count that as too close to Croydon?

You will need a car tbh

Maybe look further in so you don’t need a car but you’re unlikely to get detached.

I think that is too far from the station to be vaible for us tbh (as in, the College is a long walk from the station and if we were to live in the area it would be too long a walk to the station).

But also yes, as you suggested, we're not keen on being in Riddlesdown, ideally Warlingham is our cut off.

For Warlingham, I get that, but Hurst Green is just 3 minutes to Oxted, which seems to have everything, is that not doable?

I know someone who just sold in Oxted, 3 bed semi detached for 600k

Have you looked at Westerham or Eden bridge or Halstead?

I don’t know Hurst Green or schools & friends in Oxted went private. The only really good secondary I’m aware of near Warlingham is Riddlesdown, could your dc not travel there alone?

Have you visited these places much? they really are very different to London in terms of public transport and when your dc want to see their friends as teens etc.

Too close to Croydon for our liking unfortunately!

They do come up in Oxted sometimes, but tend to be in the rougher parts, which is why we thought Hurst Green might be a better option as we can be on a nicer road and then just hop on the train 1 stop if we want to go into town.

Westerham is lovely, but is too expensive and has no station.

Edenbridge is a bit rough from what we've been told.

Halstead is a bit remote (I think Knockholt is the nearest station, but being near the station would mean being out of the town).

I suppose you need to decide what your priorities are eg house, commute, schools, access to amenities as you can’t have them all.

My house is (much) smaller than I would like but we stayed in London as schools, amenities and commute are more important to me than house.

What about East Grinstead? A bit further but great schools and a nice place to live. Lingfield is expensive and empty, Oxted too. Hurst Green nothing there.

I don’t personally rate Oxted tbh.

Yeah, absolutely travelling to Riddlesdown from one of the neighbouring towns is fine, but its a 20 minute walk from the station, so that may not be ideal in winter.

We've visited Riddlesdown/Purley/Sanderstead/Croydon plenty of times, so are very familiar with those areas and wouldn't want to live there, but could travel there if public transport allows for school.

Oxted we've been to plenty of times too, but it is likely to be be over budget (bar the odd house that comes up).

Warlingham and Hurst Green we're less familiar with and slightly more drawn to as they seem to offer a bit more for our money (for our budget we are expecting a do-er upper for the avoidance of doubt)!

What about East Grinstead?

Some great houses but long commute.

Not ideal as its a very long commute, but you do get more for your money and far more to do.

We haven't spent much time there, but have been told its rough in places, is that accurate?

Well that was the thinking about Hurst Green or Warlingham as the commute from both is acceptable. We thought the school situation again was acceptable (either Warlingham or the Oxted school, but we can explore Riddlesdown Collegiate more).

In terms of the house, there aren't many, but we have viewed properties within budget in Hurst Green, Oxted and Warlingham, none we liked, but thats just personal taste. Hence we need a bit of guidance, as we would rather pick the area with the least anti-social behaviour, we're happy to buy a beaten up house and do it up!

No. There’s the less salubrious areas, like anywhere, but generally it’s pretty middle class, low crime rates and low pollution. Definitely less rough than Edenbridge and way less rough than Three Bridges.
Haywards Heath (Thameslink) is very similar, except the Waitrose is bigger there ;)

Colleague lives Warlingham way & her dc attends Riddlesdown.

Yeah, absolutely travelling to Riddlesdown from one of the neighbouring towns is fine, but its a 20 minute walk from the station, so that may not be ideal in winter.

I dont know the exact journey but my London secondary was a 20 min walk from the station & my dc will have similar, never thought anything of it.

Not a London walk to school though - no street lights and not always great pavements. Not a huge problem but not comparable to a city.

But presumably lots of dc do it as the catchment is quite large?

You may know this already but you can see school’s performance here OP

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/?searchtype=search-by-location&keywords=Warlingham%2C%20Surrey&page=1&LocationCoordinates=51.30953%2C-0.05477&radius=3&schoollevel=IsSecondary

I don’t know. I just mention it because if you’ve always been in a city you might not realise that rural life is a bit different in certain ways. I’m semi rural and DC get a (free) school bus because there’s no safe way to walk to school. If we were in a city they’d be fine.