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?

What's your version of a rough area? Because Oxted surely isn't and neither is Sanderstead!!

For clarity, I never said Oxted (or Sanderstead) were rough areas, sorry if it came across like that.

I said (or meant to say), that some areas of Oxted felt a bit rougher (e.g. up by Silkham Road) and Sanderstead to my knowledge its very residential with no real rough areas, but is very close to Croydon.

Another vote for Horley (with your budget you could find something really nice)

Have a look at Whyteleafe - it's between Kenley and Caterham, and has the benefit of being walking distance to both the Caterham line train and Upper Warlingham station, which has more frequent trains and Thameslink. It's in Tandridge council rather than Croydon.

Alternately you could look at Coulsdon South, which is just south of Purley and also has Thameslink.

What is it about Purley/Sanderstead/Riddlesdown that you don't like?

Have you looked further east - Bromley/Beckenham areas? They have quite fast trains and there are nice areas.

There are also travel time calculators to help you find areas you might not have considered - https://app.traveltime.com/

For what it's worth, I live in Kenley and think it ticks all of your boxes, but I understand not wanting to be associated with Croydon due to its reputation.

Whyteleafe is arguably more practical than Warlingham, but the main street and surrounding area doesn't seem as nice. But its a fair point, it does theoretically tick most if not all of the boxes for us.

Purley just feels like a central Croydon overflow and the town seems to be made up of a giant roundabout with charity shops and estate agents everywhere (not that either are bad, but Purley just seems to have an abnormally large collection of both in place of more useful shops)!

Sanderstead and Riddlesdown are both nice enough, residential with decent(ish) train links. However they are still close to Croydon and the trains are better from Warlingham (as you can choose between Whyteleafe or Upper Warlingham) and Hurst Green/Oxted (as not all trains stop at Sanderstead/Riddlesdown).

From Sanderstead you can go to Sanderstead or Purley Oaks stations - they're within walking distance of each other and run different lines so you have options if one isn't running. Sanderstead also has trains on the Thameslink line at peak times.

I really don't understand what the difference in atmosphere between Warlingham Sanderstead, Selsdon? To be precise, the only difference is that there is a post between them with one side saying "Welcome to Sanderstead, Croydon borough" and on another side "Welcome to Warlingham, Tonbrige borough" on Limpsfield road. There is a similar post between Selsdon and Warlingham on Old Farleigh road. Selsdon and Sandersted high streets are much better, imho, than Warlingham's, as well as schools.

Agree! I think the problem is the name of the borough, that's it:)

Selsdon has no train station, so there is no way we could consider that.

With regards to Warlingham vs Sanderstead, there are better train options from Warlingham (due to the proximity of Whyteleafe and Whyteleafe South stations) and we thought Warlingham village had more than both Riddlesdown (which doesn't really have anything) and Sanderstead. Albeit, the walk is long.

But aside from that you are correct, being in Croydon is very off-putting, you might feel its undeserved, but Croydon has an atrocious reputation, therefore even if only a few stops further, it feels better to be that short distance away.

Good point about Purley Oaks, we hadn't considered that, although if memory serves correctly only the slow trains stop there?

I know Oxted and Hurst Green well. I would not describe either as rough. As with anywhere there are some more salubrious roads than others. There's a bit of an issue with county lines too, but nothing I've ever seen first hand. Everywhere has that sort of issue now though? IMO Hurst Green has a great community spirit, with a local sports club at the centre of a lot of activities and some nice pubs too. You are on the edge of countryside with amazing walks. HG vibe has changed alot in the past 10 years with more professional families moving in as priced out of other areas. The train in and out of Oxted to HG is easy and relatively frequent. Or worst case you have a nice walk to Oxted. Personally I'd struggle without a car in most places outside of London (not least because of kids clubs, shopping etc.), but maybe its a case of what you are used to. DM me if you have any specific questions.

I think that used to be the case but now it's the more direct trains - they stop at South Croydon, East Croydon, Norwood Junction and London Bridge. It's about 25 mins all in.

That is much quicker than I thought, assumed it was the 40 min+ one, hmm, that makes things interesting!

Ok, Selsdon has no train station, but really good high street. Sanderstead has 2 station - Sanderstead and Purley Oaks. Warlingham is quite spread, so if you'll be near shops, you'll be away from the station. Schools in Warlingham is so so, few years back Warlingham High was good, now I hear lots of complains from parents. To be able to go to Riddlesdown Collegiate, there is no need to live there, Kenley and Sanderstead are very close. It was in the press, that Tandrige council approved building lots of flats now on fields, so need to be careful where to buy.
That's good you are being honest, that all you have against Croydon is its reputation, but as someone said, Croydon town and Croydon borough are not the same, and south of Croydon Borough is not rough at all, as I told before that what separates Croydon Borough from Tandridge Borough are 2 posts on the streets starting in one borough and finishing in another, with the same looking houses, landscapes and people. Or you think people from these 2 boroughs not crossing the line between them and not causing problems? I do drive a lot in surrounding area - Wallington, Sutton, Oxted, Warlingham, Woldingham, Sanderstead, Selsdon, Kenley, Caterham, Banstead etc - it's all the same, unless you have a budget over 1 million.

Crime stats would suggest there is less violent crime in Tandridge than Croydon. I fully appreciate there is no wall in place that magically stops people crossing over, but the data doesn't lie, on average less (violent) crime is committed in Tandridge, therefore the further away from the centre of Croydon the better surely?

That said, I take your point about Sanderstead, we don't really have anything against the area and as you and one other poster have mentioned, it actually has 2 train stations, which opens up possibilities we hadn't previously considered.

Crime stats is for the whole borough and yes, Croydon borough has West and Central Croydon parts, where most of this happens. But south part of Croydon is the same as surrounding Warlingham, Caterham, etc. Look at the crime stats not for the borough, but for the palce/village. As I remember, when I was receiving Selsdon gazette, Selsdon was one of the most safe areas compared to other surrounding areas and boroughs. Purley is busy and high street becomes a bit so so, but at the same time Webb estate/ Woodcote are in Purley. Shirley hills, part of Kenley are such amazing places, but that's Croydon, nice parts of it.

I just had a look at crime rates by ward - if you look at Broad Green (around West Croydon) there are consistently between 280-310 crimes reported per month. Selsdon has 50-70. Sanderstead has between 35 and 50. Warlingham, Tandridge et al have between 60-90 (although I will say it appears to cover a larger - if not necessarily more populous - area).

There is a massive difference between central Croydon and the outer reaches of the borough, it's not homogeneous in any way and it would be like assuming that Blackheath village is the same as Catford High St because they're both in LB Lewisham.

Interesting, thank you for posting that, it does challenge the perspective!

I grew up in Sanderstead/Warlingham. Moved away to Sevenoaks in 2020. I’m 30 - moved away because I didn’t want to bring up my own kids there having lived there for 23 years.

Honestly, I’d swerve it entirely given your budget.

The common are rife with drugs on a Friday/Saturday night. Limpsfield road is just a nightmare for parked cars (which makes it a nightmare to get anywhere north or south). There’s a lot of noise (fine if that’s your thing) from traffic and even on Limpsfield Road, when it’s quiet you can hear the trains.

The schools aren’t great - CHS and Whitgift are good if you can afford private, but not excellent. UW isnt great - highly bullying rates, lots of kids (at least the ones I knew) failing to fulfil their potential, limited pastoral care, high student-teacher ratio. Facilities are good though (think it still has the football fields and pool?)

Houses are overpriced compared to what you’d get further out. And the council approved a tonne of new build flats in what are essentially green areas and, in several cases, literally back gardens (Wentworth Way, right by Warlingham school).

The commuting links, whilst good, constantly have delays and can be very slow and after 07:30 if you’re getting on at Upper Warlingham, it’s standing room only. Purley Oaks/Purley is IMO a slow line connecting the the Tattenham Corner/Caterham lines, often delayed and standing room only in rush hour (and if cancellations, good luck even getting on the train!)

Oxted is nicer (not Hurst Green, but actual Oxted).

Caterham is the most depressing ‘high street’ I have ever seen. Wouldn’t even consider with your budget. Good vets though…

Thank you, just out of curiosity where do you consider to be 'further out' (i.e. somewhere a bit better value / nicer)?

Honestly, Oxted isn’t that bad! There’s some lovely roads there. Sevenoaks is nice (although conscious you said no to that and value for money is just awful - but then I don’t know of anyone ever being stabbed on Sevenoaks High Street…). Reigate is good as well (avoid Redhill). You just have to find the ‘good parts.’ Bromley (again in parts) is nice. Orpington likewise. Banstead also used to be nice (not sure if it still is!)

The problem I’ve found inside the M25, near Croydon, is that the neighbourhoods just deteriorate that bit more over time. When I was younger, Purley/ Sanderstead/ Warlingham were lovely. New Addington was lovely. But every year a bit more slipped into ‘Croydon’ and the crime moved further out. There’s a reason House prices in the CR2 postcode haven’t shot up as much as they have in other, comparable, areas. It’s such a shame tbh as for ages it had so much potential!

Don't do crawley.
I've moved from there in the last few years.
Two stabbing that I know of on Sunday and my kids have been mugged numerous times in the last few years.

Just recently someone has been stabbed in Oxted by the train station. Does it make Oxted bad area? Not at all! The same was in Bromley/Beckenham. Have not heard about stabbing in Sanderstead or Warlingham.

The only thing for OP - the further down from London, the more it's necessary to have a car. I am not sure about how you know about prices in CR2, but we sold our house in CR2 2.5 times more we pay for it 15 years ago. And, as we needed to buy a new one, I can tell you - prices were crazy, now they are a bit more stable, but good houses in nice areas are snached very quickly.

There’s a reason House prices in the CR2 postcode haven’t shot up as much as they have in other, comparable, areas. It’s such a shame tbh as for ages it had so much potential!

Our previous property in CR2 doubled in value between 2012 and 2022. Our current place has whacked on 50% since 2019. Is this low compared to other comparable areas?

I've lived in CR2 since 2010, and raised children in the area to secondary age - and my experience is very much not the same as yours.

There have been stabbings in Sanderstead (outside the station) and Warlingham as well - a quick google showed me that.