Moving to Guildford

[SI05]

Hi everyone! We're planning to move to Guildford and are considering a flat on Farnham Road. I'd really appreciate any thoughts on the area, especially in terms of safety and suitability for families. If there are other areas you'd recommend, that would be great. My son has a place at King's College Guildford, so somewhere convenient for the school would be ideal. Thanks so much in advance!

Farnham Road is quite long - it runs all the way from central Guildford to where it joins and becomes the A31 (Hogs Back). At the Guildford end I would say it's not a great place to have a flat - it would be very busy with traffic and quite noisy. Even outside of Guildford it's a relatively main route.

Farnham Road is fine, busy main road, but some lovely properties around,m and in the side roads, and very handy for station and town.

Why Kings and not The County, which would be on your doorstep??

Kings is not in the best part of town, but you could look a little further out towards Broadacres, Broad Street, Wood Street village, Rydes Hill areas.

We learned that we would be moving to Guildford two months ago because of my husband's work. We therefore had to reapply for school placement in Guildford and were on a waiting list. We just received confirmation from King's College this week. Both George Abbott and County schools do not yet have places available.

Thank you. I thought so, as it seems very busy. We are looking around and are not really aware of the area, so we are still house hunting. We want to be in a safe, family friendly area.

I wish I could help more with specific good areas to look in but I live in a different town in Surrey and know the road because I drive it quite often. I agree with @HostaCentral though that the area immediately around the college isn't brilliant, and is also a bit hemmed in by the Royal Surrey hospital in one direction and Surrey Uni in the other.

I grew up in Guildford (went to GA), moved away, and came back again. Guildford is a great place to live; you've got the High Street - probably the best for shopping in Surrey - beautiful countryside/villages all around, Stoke Park and the Spectrum leisure centre, easy commute to London, close to Heathrow & Gatwick airports, the south coast etc.

Unlike Farnham, Guildford has lots of pedestrianised areas in the town centre i.e. the entire High Street, Tunsgate and Friary Street. Traffic in peak times is bad, but that's true of everywhere in the south east.

In terms of safety, the whole of Guildford (including Bellfields and Park Barn) is very safe. Anywhere south of the A3 is considered 'better' than north of the A3. The best areas are to the south of the High Street (Charlotteville, Pewley Hill, Warwicks Bench) but they are very expensive. Burpham and Merrow are mid-range areas. The northern suburbs (Park Barn, Stoughton & Bellfields) are the most affordable (Stoughton is the best of the three).

Stoughton might be worth considering because you can walk to Kings College. It's still walking distance to Guildford via the towpath which is quite nice (40 mins). The best area in Stoughton is Queen Elizabeth Park which is full of families.

That's a really busy road. I don't know if you'd have parking there either.

But it's certainly convenient for the town centre and the station!

Pewley Hill is...hilly You need to be fit to live there - as well as well off.