Moving House Surrey & Surrounding - Suggestions welcome!

[RDCDaddy]

Hello! Looking for some opinions and perhaps suggestions of places to live in the Surrey area.

Family of three but plans to grow. Daughter will start school next September, so schools are important. I am remote and partner in Hybrid, SW London - she can currently drive or take the train to work. However, being able to get to London within an hour would be nice.

We have currently marked; Cobham, Virginia Water, Pyrford, Farnham, Godalming, Wokingham and Ascot as contenders. We are currently in Weybridge, so despite the our options being expensive - they are all cheaper than where we currently live (hence the move).

Budget is Circa 800K (3 Bed, Drive, Garden).

Just wanting people’s opinion - do they like any the areas we mentioned, are schools good, or is there anywhere else we should take a look at! Seems Ascot and Wokingham will certainly see our money go further, but is that for the right reason…. or just the switch from Surrey to Berkshire…..

Your budget is very low for Cobham.
How about Epsom?

@Contraryjane Cobham is certainly the most expensive on our list, however we’ve seen a couple nice 3 beds, big gardens even some detached.
Thanks for the suggestion but Epsom is a no for us.
If you’ve got any opinion on the others on the list - would be great to hear.

Effingham/Bookham

Do you want to be an hour door-to-door to Waterloo? Or is it somewhere else like Wimbledon?

Pyrford is a bit of a walk to West Byfleet station. West Byfleet itself? Or Horsell, for Woking station?

@Lulubear50 Thanks - any insight into those areas. Heard of them, but can’t say I know much about them.
@SheilaFentiman Either really. I just stated an hour to London to rule out some of the further afield places, like Winchester - lovely town, just a bit too far out.
West Byfleet - we like parts of it, just not many houses available (regardless of budget).
Would like to know more about Horsell - central Woking is a big no, but I’ve heard good things about Horsell.

Would be keen to hear what people DONT like about some of the areas I’ve mentioned. E.g. Love Weybridge for train links and nice independent restaurants. But very expensive for and not the best town for parking if you have visitors etc.

Thanks all!

From your initial list, when I moved out from London, I ruled out Ascot and Wokingham pretty quickly. The houses I viewed weren’t very “me”. They were too far from the station, not very walkable and felt too suburban. Might have been a budget issue though. (I had well less than half of what you have to spend, but it was a while ago)

Ditto Woking & surrounding villages. Although I was also put off by the flood risk that came attached with some of the houses we viewed.

I settled in Godalming as the user name suggests. I have lived in 4 of the surrounding villages and each one was lovely in a different way and suited me at the time. I can’t help with personal insight into particular schools, but my friends’ kids seem happy enough.

I like the proximity to nature and the walk along the river into Guildford. The high street is having its challenges retaining the small independent shops, but on the whole, it’s ok. It was a bit “naicer” in previous years.

There are a lot of water issues in the area (tap water) but this seems to be a more recent thing.

The outer lying villages, in my experience one in particular, can be a bit tricky as I found it difficult to break through the frosty reception (read solid ice wall) but I think it’s easier with school going kids and if you look/sound the part 😉

I did consider moving across to Farnham at one point as it had a town center with more variety, but it wasn’t hugely walkable to both town and station(it was one or the other), but again, budget may have been an issue. Also, traffic was awful every time I visited. I recall reading the air pollution there is extremely high.

Another one for you to look at is Haslemere. Further down the line, but there are fast trains into Waterloo. Some parts have a weirdly different climate though. A friend lived in one that was always reliably colder than everywhere else and was miserable.

Family & friends live in the Bookham area. They all seem to like it there although it feels like a choice between being closer to the station or the shops. But perhaps I’m lazy about walking far to the station! Parts seem a bit suburban to me, but I have seen some nicer, more character filled property too.

@Goldalminggirl Thanks for the detailed response – it’s really helpful! Ascot and Wokingham were on our radar for their affordability, but it’s good to know they might feel a bit too suburban and not as walkable, which is something we’re also considering.

Godalming is a strong contender - not much on the market, which villages around it do you recommend? I’ll definitely explore it further.

Everyone says the same about Farnham!

Haslemere is interesting. Heard more good than bad - but probably a little bit far south.

Thanks again for all the insights – they’ve given us a lot to think about!

@Goldalminggirl I'm ligging in here to ask you about moving to Godalming: we aren’t clear, despite having visited, whether to focus on Guildford itself or Godalming, from sw London. Would you have a pov on the pros and cons of one over the other? Obviously Guildford has the shops…but in truth we don’t shop much.

Although the question wasn't directed at me, jumping in here to give my 2 pence worth.

Guildford is obviously larger, about four times the size, by population. And because of that has a bit more going on in terms of places to eat out, theatres and the like, slightly shorter journey on the train to London by about 8 minutes. But the traffic can be a nightmare at times, absolutely gridlock whenever there's an accident on the A3 at rush-hour.

Godalming still feels like a small town, whereas Guildford can feel like a small city (definitely a town however, despite having a cathedral and a university!)
Because of that Godalming feels to me like it has more of a community.

No real need to focus on one or the other, plenty of people move out here from SW London and look at both areas to see what comes up.

@RDCDaddy Wormley is good for rural living but with a station. Quiet. Neighbourly without being overtly nosey. No shops to speak of.

Small village shop & pub at different ends of the village in Hambledon but that’s across the A283 from Wormley and that as a village is rather sprawling. Not my favourite, although others find it quite charming.

Milford has a couple of shops, pub and a station. There’s a (little older) new build development at Milford hospital which is walkable to the station which is quite popular but some of the house layouts are strange. (There is another new build development up in Aaron’s Hill Area of Godalming which is much newer, but doesn’t seem to be as popular. The resistance to the development and the havoc on the roads the construction has caused is still too fresh in people’s minds, plus reputation factor in, I think)

Chiddingfold is lovely, but villagey. A few pubs and very local newsagent type shop. No station. If you like Chiddingfold, you may find the direct Haslemere train doesn’t look so bad once you factor in the drive to wormley station.

I like Godalming itself. All kinds of properties hidden away. @Doliveira my comments about the shops were about Godalming, rather than Guildford. Guildford is a whole other post about where to live there! I’ve preferred Godalming to Guildford (not actually lived there though as where I’d want to live in Guildford is too expensive for me so I lived in Godalming ) Guildford is 100% a bigger city vibe. Godalming is more town/large village with supermarkets. Agree with what @Mildura said re traffic.

To be honest, the shops in Guildford are in a bit of a state. No House of Fraser, no Debenhams, no Heals anymore. And nothing substantial yet to replace them. Also Guildford seems to be changing looking at what’s being being built. Could be good. Could be bad. Will have to wait and see.

I think it’s about the houses that come up at the right time when people need to move. Other villages outside of Guildford eg. Shalford, Wonersh, Bramley, etc are also popular. Bramley has the water problem at the moment though. Cranleigh is too far for my liking with no station, but others love it.

Farncombe is another one, but unfortunately, while nice enough, still also lives up to its rough reputation from time to time.

It’s a large area to keep an eye on, but it’s not all the same for miles around, so personally I’d rather live in parts of Farncombe (generally rough reputation) than parts of Chiddingfold (generally naice reputation) iyswim.

Go there every weekend for the day and plan to eat out. A lot. Explore. That’s what I did for the better part of 3 months. It’s all fine and well to look on right move, but actually go and look! Even if the agents won’t let you look at houses because you’re not quite sold up or whatever.

check planning very thoroughly as there is a lot of development rumoured. Hopping on to the Godalming & villages community boards on Facebook is helpful if you can stomach them. (There are two - one is more <ahem> censored than the other)

Also there is a site called Waverleyweb which gets people twitchy. Ignore the political leanings & motivations and you’ll soon get the gist of where there are issues, whether you agree or not with the pov put forward. Those sites get on my nerves but they are helpful.

That said, I love Godalming. I also had a job that put me in houses all over the area so I’ve got a rather broad view. Am happy to talk about it for hours as can be seen by the length of my posts!

@Goldalminggirl Thanks for the info! Being far from the train stations in Guildford or Godalming might not work well for us, as we'd prefer somewhere more accessible. The villages you mentioned sound lovely, but they might be a bit too quiet for our taste. We're in our late 20s – not looking for nightlife, but having a couple of restaurants or pubs within walking distance would be ideal.

Also, I’ve noticed that many houses in central Godalming have elevated gardens, which I find a bit annoying. Is that something that’s common in the area?

Godalming is still definitely on our list, though. I also came across Dorking during my research – does anyone have experience or opinions on living there?

I think Farnham is nicest. I think it has shops and nice restaurants.
Guildford is too big and Godalming too small.

@Frowningprovidence I do really rate Farnham for its town centre, probably is the best one overall imo. Again, not a huge number of properties on the market, regardless of budget again.

Any areas to focus on or avoid in Farnham - I did a drive around and saw some less idyllic surroundings…

I think if you want accessible, you’ll have to compromise with something else if you are on a deadline. Unfortunately there just aren’t many properties on the market to give you a lot of choice, and you rightly point out this is at any budget.

Terraced gardens are a characteristic of many of the in-town houses. Some have really nice views on the top terrace, but I understand why it’s putting you off.

I go to Dorking occasionally for a change of scenery, but not enough to say anything useful.

Farnham, I’d suggest perhaps starting south of the A31 (station side) but obviously there are exceptions. Aldershot area is generally deemed less desirable. I’m sure @Frowningprovidence will have more advice.

I'm not sure I do have more advice of good areas as we actually know Farnham by living in Aldershot for a bit.

My understanding in the heath end/ Hale part is a bit people avoid saying 'it's even worse than aldershot" but it might be lovely and the south bit around the station is where people want to live.

Farnham is a good option. But most consider south Farnham nearer the station to be the better side. Yes the traffic can be problematic, but that's true of lots of places.

I'm not that familiar with Dorking but could well be worth a look.

Godalming is nice. The terraced gardens feature heavily though simply because where it is located.

Have to agree with @ Godalminggirl that Guildford is much more of a big city type vibe - even though it's not classified as a city. It's also a university town so has many areas of quite a student feel. Some parts are distinctly less attractive than others and I think it would be a pain to be in the surrounding villages needing access to the train station. The High Street used to be rather lovely, but the closure of many shops is adding a slight downtrodden air to it. However, it's awash with restaurants that are buzzing at the weekend.

What about Shepperton? Sorry I know it's not on your list, but not far from Weybridge if you have family/friends there you still want to visit. Can get a house in your budget. 2 nearby primary schools with a good rating and 2 nearby secondary schools also rated good. Shepperton also has trains to Waterloo (a bit slow but still under an hour). High street isn't quite as good as it was but there are still shops and cafes etc.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and experiences! These have been super helpful!
I think Guildford is off the cards for us, it has some really nice bits but it’s not really what we’re after.

I think we are going to try to narrow down whether we want fast train lines and closer to London - e.g. Pyrford and Cobham or get more for our money and focus on the towns a bit further out.

Any experience of Wokingham (town, areas to avoid, schools) would be great to hear!

We moved out of London to Wokingham about 10 years' ago. We also also had Caversham and Farnham on our short list. Overall we're very happy here. Schools are good, lots of nice pubs and restaurants, plenty of clubs and activities for kids. There is a lot more to do here than Ascot or Virginia Water, though you still need to go to Bracknell or Reading for big chain stores. The slow train into Waterloo is one of the worst things about living here, and probably what keeps the house prices lower than other similar market towns with faster connections. Many people drive to Twyford for the Elizabeth Line, or go via Reading for faster services into London. There is a small 60s council estate centred around Norreys avenue and a 80s social housing estate just south of Woosehill Spine Road. Neither place is that bad compared with estates in bigger places. Overall, it's a very middle class town. There are lots of primary schools, most of them are good. For secondary you have three good schools, two co-ed and one all-girls, plus some decent private schools on the outskirts of town.

hello - where did you choose in the end? were in the same boat. looking at epsom, mainly for good schools, out of curiosity why didnt you like it? I wont be offended by what you say im just curious!