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?

This is in catchment for a Harris (I know they are marmite)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147616220#/?channel=RES_BUY

Cheam high school

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151420658#/?channel=RES_BUY

And you would have access to grammars if dc were inclined.

Without wishing to get too specific, Zone 5 (North), we are on the tube currently which is great, but we're willing to sacrifice that.

There actually isn't anything wrong with where we live, transport is good, crime isn't high (for London) and the schools aren't bad either.

We were just hoping to be further out, in a slightly greener area and going South is much cheaper than going North (e.g. St Albans is nice, but unaffordable and the same goes for other 'nice' areas this side of London).

leatherhead is well connected?
I second Surbiton. Well worth a look.

Leatherhead has frequent trains, but slow (we may as well look at Lingfield or East Grinstead time wise to allow for the journey from Waterloo to London Bridge).

Surbiton however, does have quick trains, so that is more appealing, but we'd definitely get more for our money in Lingfield at a quick glance.

The nice parts of the South are expensive too unfortunately.

Weybridge, know nothing about schools though.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145683044#/?channel=RES_BUY

I'm actually quite surprised at the price of that! I assumed Weybridge would be way more, didn't even consider it!

That said, its 0.9 to the station and it is a very slow line, so not really ideal.

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

You won't get in to Riddlesdown from one of the neighbouring towns; the last admitted distance for 2023 entries was 1.34 miles. It used to have feeder schools in the local area but they did away with them in 2019/2020ish, so now after the standard LAC/siblings etc it's exclusively on distance.

Closer to the station will be £££ & smaller.

Lingfield is a bit isolated as far as secondary schools are concerned. Some commute as far as Horley or even Redhill. You also have to deal with traffic on racedays.

Hi - we moved from Wandsworth to Caterham a couple of years ago. Anything south of the station off Harestone Valley Road, Harestone Hill or Tupwood Lane is a really lovely area and the station is walkable. Looks like there are a couple of options on Rightmove within your budget at the moment.

The trains aren't frequent but have been pretty reliable and you always get a seat! I've got used to the commute and there's the big benefit of still being in an Oyster zone - I think I recall it costing significantly more in transport from Oxted, plus paying for the tube on top.

Happy to answer any questions.

Horley. You would get something nice for that budget and you can commute from the station or from Gatwick. Lots of green spaces, nice villages. Town centre isn't exactly thrilling but there are large supermarkets and nice cafes within a walk or shortish drive.

OP I really wouldn't be so sniffy about the LB Croydon. Having lived in it for 11 years, I've only ventured into the Town Centre a handful of times but I've actually started going more often as there are a decent number of shops I like. But you wouldn't have to. Kenley is leafy, green, quiet and two trains an hour is fine.

Secondary schools in Caterham are excellent, I believe. The town itself is uninspiring (not unusual!) but you’re near some lovely countryside.

There is only one state secondary in Caterham and not sure it is "excellent".

Ditto. If we want to shop we go to Bromley or get a through train up to Shepherds Bush for Westfield. We've got an abundance of outstanding primary schools, an excellent secondary locally, lots of green space and very good public transport.

If you're not keen on 2 trains an hour (understandable), Purley has 4 trains an hour, along with Thameslink services.

And the Harrow pub, although that might technically be Chaldon. Spent many an afternoon there having a great lunch, pint and then beautiful walk on the downs.

Oh, I stand corrected - I have friends with children at Caterham and they speak highly of it, which is what I was basing my comment off.

Don’t know much about HG but Oxted is nice.

One of the advantages of both Upper Warlingham station and the Caterham line is they are in Zone 6. The commuting costs rise steeply once you leave that (so Oxted, Redhill, Horley etc check how much more the travel is). With Warlingham the trick is to try to live walking distance to station and village. You have to like hills in that area. I am not sure I would want to be there without driving although there are two train lines and lots of buses so may just be what I am used to. This is my pick of the houses on sale in your budget within walking distance to Upper Warlingham (check if in catchment for Warlingham school). https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86947056

PP has given very good advice on Caterham - I agree with them Valley much more convenient than on the hill, you always get a seat on the train. In addition to the Harestone area they mentioned look at Crescent Road and Timber Hill Road although houses don’t come for sale there much families stay put. Good luck!

Left field option nearer the top of your budget: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146626247

This is close to two secondaries with an Ofsted rating of Good. Earlswood station, with trains to London Bridge and Redhill which has lots of trains not too far either as a fall back option. You can walk to Earlswood Lakes from there, very beautiful and also walk in to Reigate which has a lovely park and lots of nice coffee shops, shops and restaurants. From a lifestyle point of view I would live here over the areas you have mentioned especially with not driving.

A lot of these places are going to be hard to live in without a car.

They might have a decent train line into town for commuting, but it’s getting around the local area that will be hard. Getting to the supermarket or local shops, any extra curricular activities for children or just actually enjoying the countryside you’re now closer to - it’s all going to be quite hard without a car (somewhere like Redhill or Crawley for instance). It’s not like London where you can get everywhere with a reliable public transport network.

Case in point, the last link in Redhill another poster shared. Google Maps shows that to get to local beauty spot Box Hill, 9 miles away, it’s a 19 minute drive or an hour and a half using public transport - a bus and two trains. Lots of journeys will look like this in these areas… so it’s not the commute you need to be worried about but leisure time & the weekends and what’s practical.

I know the area well op if you wanted to pm me

I agree with the above. Some of these places are fine, but you will struggle to see the nice green parts without a car

I live very close to Warlingham 5 mins by car. It’s nice area,yes you are in countryside but i would say that you are still in London. On the map is out of London but in reality you will be commuting to south Croydon station, east Croydon station which are good fast trains to London but completely different atmosphere from Warlingham. We are moving from South Croydon to Berkshire in couple of months !