Relocating from London to Surrey - Where to move to?

[SD81]

We are planning to move out from our 1 bed flat in Hackney later this year due to a need for more space as we have a 2 year old and are considering Surrey but not sure which areas would be best for us based on our interests and budget.

Ideally we would like to find somewhere with good schools, green spaces, independent shops/restaurants/cafes and a nice community feel with other young families. As we are leaving the buzz of hackney we don't want to be too rural but also don't want to move somewhere full of identikit chain stores with no identity to it.

We are currently veering towards either Reigate, Farnham or Godalming but unsure if our budget will stretch far enough to find a suitable property within catchment areas of good schools (we have budget of around £650-675k and looking for 3 bed minimum with garden). It also needs to be somewhere commutable to London for work (1 hour max).

Has anyone got advice on those areas already mentioned above and whether they would be a good fit (or any downsides to them), or are there any other possibly locations we should investigate?

Thanking you in advance! :-)

If you are open to Hampshire, The Alton area is lovely, Farnham is 15 mins drive and there is a direct line to London from Alton station. We just made the move here from Berkshire and don't regret it one bit, the countryside is lovely and you have loads of bigger places not too far away.

Staines is horrendously unfashionable, but surprisingly nice- and pretty by the river.
Surbition might be a bit close into London, but might be worth a look.
Reigate is lovely, a bit pricey for what it is.
Three bridges has good links to London but is a bit grim.
Windsor is well worth a look

Reigate would be worth a look for your criteria. It's lovely

Is that one hour from station to terminus or one hour door to door. The latter coukd add another hour of you need to drive to a station and use bus/tube at the other end. Trains are far less frequent on post covid timetables so worth thinking about this

Farnham is lovely. Only downside is the horrendous one way system your mind would boggles at how bad a small towns traffic can be. Do bear that mind if you plan on driving to the station ( bad idea) you need to live on the Elsted side of town to avoid that. It can be fine. Can also be bad. Not sure I could drive through town every day though.

Godalming lovely but beware of some areas in Farncombe and the new development in Eashing. Even those areas are positively delightful but it's a growing town with no growth in policing or services. So the traffic around Eashing is also a nightmare. I think these are the major issues with both. The infrastructure is still of small market towns. Mind you unless your driving to work or the station its irrelevant in the main.

Thanks everyone for the very useful info!

At present we are swaying towards Reigate as we really liked it when we went to visit, but just a little worried that we may not get much for our money in terms of property which is within cachment areas of good primary schools and also within walking distance (around 1 mile) to the station.

Farnham is also attractive due to the schools but I agree with the comment above that we found the traffic to be quite off-putting. Although we don't plan to drive to the station so might be a compromise we would have to deal with if we decide to look there.

Does anyone know much about how it is with primary schools around Reigate, Farnham and Godalming? We are currently stuck in a flat with cladding remediation works being done and it won't be until July earliest when we might get an EWS1 form that allows us to sell. As we will need to start applying for schools from September until January we are worried we may not find a proprty to buy in time within a catchment area, so might either be forced to rent for a short period or alternatively hold off on buying. Are all of the good schools in these areas oversubscribed so if we were not in a new place by January we wouldn't have a chance of a school place anyway?

Reigate is lovely but if you need to commute to London, the train line is not great (slow).

From Guildford you can get to Waterloo in 39 minutes and from Godalming about 45 mins.

Farnham is also on a slow line.

Busbridge Primary in Godalming is very highly regarded but the properties around it are correspondingly expensive.

@SD81 it's not first come, first serve on school places so as long as you're in by the deadline it's fine. They assess all applications once they're in.

I grew up near Reigate, lived in hackney for 10 years and have now moved out to Dorking.

Reigate is nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. The traffic through town is really busy and it feels polluted. The park is lovely but the playground is always rammed. You don't get much value for money.

I'd recommend Farnham and Godalming over Reigate. Schools in Farnham are often rated the best in the country. Godalming has a lovely feel about it.

Busbridge infants just had v poor Ofsted so be wary of that

I’ve always loved Godalming! I would choose Dorking over Reigate (maybe biased as grew up in a village 2 miles outside Dorking). It is much more rural & prettier in and around Dorking than Reigate but similar access to London etc. Lots of secondary school children used to catch the train from Reigate & Redhill to Dorking to go to Ashcombe Secondary School…but that was nearly thirty years ago now so I don’t know which has the better schools now as I’m up near the Scottish border now. If you don’t want to go as rural as Dorking then I would consider Berkshire - eg Bracknell area. Better links to London and you will get more house for your money. Lots of lovely little villages within walking distance of Bracknell
, a town that used to look very dated but has recently been renovated and is lovely now.

Personally, if you can I would rent first before buying as each area has a very individual feel.

I live in Surrey and close to a commuter station. Wherever you choose, you need to be walkable distance to a station. It is impossible to park near a station, the roads will be residents only parking. The station car parks fill up quickly. My road got restricted hours parking to stop commuters clogging it up. At one point before that, there was a woman taking photos, she told a neighbour they were to send to her son to show him places to park.

Your budget for all on your wish list is very tight, but I expect that you know that.

Reigate is lovely but beware the train from Reigate generally involves changing at Redhill, especially if you work in the City. The connecting service from Reigate to Redhill was rubbish (I say “was” as I’ve WFH since the start of Covid so no idea what it’s like these days). But I used to miss my connection at Redhill at least once a week and it was very frustrating. I ended up buying a Brompton & cycling Reigate toRedhill.

To be fair your budget is on the low side for a 3 bed with a garden in a “nice” part of Reigate, and properties like these that come available go very quickly and the process is super competitive. friends of mine recently ended up going into rented to make themselves chain free, and had to put in an above asking price offer on the day of their first viewing to secure a house, it was super competitive.

Be aware the Priory Junior school is moving site soon so don’t base anything on the location of that school.

I know it's not any of your mentioned. But have you considered Oxted or Redhill? Bit further to the east but still in Surrey.

Thanks again everyone! This is all very helpful.

@beggingforsleep - How have you found Dorking? That is another that is on our list of places to visit but read that it is very sleepy? Interested to hear your thoughts as you have made a similar move from Hackney as we are planning.

@FigitBit - As a Reigate native are there any areas within Reigate you would suggest avoiding? We realise our budget is on the lower end so may need to compromise on the area slightly, but don't want to end up anywhere too rough if we do look in to moving to Reigate.

@Enko - We did visit Redhill at the same time as visiting Reigate and didn't really like it. Considering Reigate and Redhill are so close to each other there was such a stark contrast between the two. We would still consider anywhere between Reigate and Redhill as long as it falls within the catchment areas of good schools. Haven't considered Oxted but will look in to it. Thanks for the recommendation.

@SoosanCarter - Yep I think wherever we go it will need to be within walking distance to the station as heard reports for many places that parking is a nightmare at stations.

The roads north of the high street / A25 are often considered the “nice” parts of Reigate as well as Lesbourne Road area. But you wouldn’t be looking at a massive house for your budget, eg

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119201165#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117546998#/?channel=RES_BUY

I’m not a Reigate expert but as far as I’m aware nowhere actually in Reigate itself is rough, but like most places estate agents will describe houses that are not really in Reigate as “Reigate borders” or similar rather than eg Redhill.

Walking distance to Redhill is sensible if you need train access to London. Pre-Covid at least parking at Redhill was a nightmare, you needed to be there before 7am to get a space.

I’m a big fan of Dorking but the train line is slower and I think goes to Waterloo or Victoria direct (might have changed)

Dorking is very well located if you are outdoorsy - a lot of people (including me!) are into their cycling / mountain biking / horse riding / dog walking / open water swimming so there’s lots to do if you like that kind of thing but it’s not party central, no.

I know you're steering toward Reigate etc but in Farnborough you would get an awful lot of house for that budget, 4-5 beds with a big garden. 38 mins into Waterloo, and a quick drive to lots of lovely places!

I think the suggestions sonfar are beyond your budget to be honest. Have a look at Wokingham or West Byfleet.

You might stretch to a big flat in Epsom within reach of Glyn and/or Rosebury. I think houses are out of your reach. There are some terraces but not in catchment for the secondary schools.

We also read the article about it being sleepy so didn't consider it for ages but it's really not. It's more laidback than other places certainly but super friendly.

There's all the usuals like a cinema, theatre (which gets good comedy), leisure centre, library and playground but also a soft play. Then if you look a bit harder there's a Michelin starred restaurant, lovely pubs, a gin distillery with bar attached, an artisan market once a month and lots of community events at Denbies.

It really depends what you want out of your move. It's more of a lifestyle change than Reigate would be because Dorking doesn't have the chi chi shops and is very outdoorsy so probably isn't worth it if that's not what you want. We wanted fresh air as our daughter was really wheezy in London and my husband loves walking. We now have a dog! A big one!

We were also looking within a 15 min drive of my mum's too. If we weren't tied to her then we'd have looked further afield to Farnham. But maybe we'd still have ended up in Dorking anyway.

Yes I lived in Dorking for 6 years and I was never bored I loved it, but I’m very outdoorsy, my ideal weekend is walking / cycling / horse riding.

Whereas my friend who loves huge shopping malls, nightclubs, the glitz & glam lifestyle etc came to stay and she thought it was dreadfully dull so depends on your interests

Area to avoid in Reigate is either side of A217 south of town centre so Woodhatch, Prices Lane and Sandcross lane. Ironically Sandcross school is well regarded. Agree re. Priory junior which is relocating from the park down Cockshot hill, adjacent to Surrey Council offices. It used to be an infant/junior school transfer system but recently more schools are now full primaries ie. Reigate Parish. In Redhill the area close to St Bedes school is popular but Earlswood/St Johns is walkable to station, has a more traditional feel and access to decent primaries.

Epsom has lots of shops etc. Make sure to research the area carefully however. Epsom also has a church, several schools, a library, a excellent transport system and people to talk to as well.

There are free tennis courts at the local park, a public community pool down at the leisure center and a cinema. You can even visit the pet store and there is additionally a hospital.

The pubs here are very good in addition. Plus there are events for kids. Not far away is a museum. We even have a further education college. We wanted to live here as we liked the idea of small town Britain (like small town USA) a lot.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119185091#/?channel=RES_BUY

What about Haslemere? It's a bit further on the train from London but not terrible.

This house is well within your budget: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119389466#/?channel=RES_BUY

And another: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119265629#/?channel=RES_BUY

Both well located.