Rural - semi rural affordable places to move between Kingston and Sevenoaks

[littleMom88]

Hi,
Hope you are all doing well!
My partner and I are looking to move somewhere between Kingston and Sevenoaks. Our friends live close to Kingston (and we like the area) and family lives We have a little one 2.5 years old and we're looking to buy somewhere that has nice nurseries, activities for the kid in a 30-40 minutes drive radius, nice walks and woods around (at the moment we live in Dorset and we love countryside), nice community with similar to us families, affordable houses and ideally an hour commute to London and being beautiful village/town. We will go to see houses around Crawley and Edenbridge soon but I've read that are not really nice places to live. Do you have any ideas where we could focus?
Thank you in advance!

What’s your budget and number of bedrooms needed OP? Are you looking to buy or rent?

Hi BeyondTeddington,
We're looking into buying and the budget is around 400k but we're looking into houses that needs updating. In terms of bedrooms minimum 2 ideally 3 because we both work from home and we need extra room for office.

I think you will struggle with that budget, you may have to make a compromise somewhere.
I've found this, on the outskirts of Biggin Hill which has a few local decent shops etc, close to M25.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139138685?utmcampaign=property-details&utmmcontent=buying&utmmedium=sharing&utmmsource=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Thank you JaneIves. We are not in a rush and we're looking for an old house to update it. That's why I'm asking for areas mostly to keep an eye on. For example I've read that Crawley is not the best area but oxted is.

I came here to say Edenbridge! I have lived there before and really loved it. I didn’t have children at the time but from what I could see there would be lots their for families too.
it isn’t the nicest area in terms of fancy shops, posh handbags etc., but there are lots of friendly people, a nice community feel (you will get as much as you put in), events that bring the whole town together, a high street that met all my needs (as long as those needs happened to be before 5pm), a couple of good pubs.

Definitely go and see for yourself.

The train is fast but infrequent. I assume this is still the case- the trains were diesel which meant that if a problem arose it was not so easy for them to find a replacement train as the rest of the stock is electric. Trains were also very busy because of this. Most of the time you could get a seat but it would be one of the last ones available.

Crawley a shithole.

Edenbridge is fine on paper, but it's just a bit meh as a town. Not the nicest.

Oxted is pricy, and I'm not sure it has the value to back up the spends.

Otford is nice, if you fancy Kent and a quick hop into London. Pretty, good links, nice village feel but on top of Sevenoaks.

Maybe Lingfield (although race weekend a PITA) which is more Crawley way. Or East Grinstead possibly if you want a town, right on the border of Ashdown Forest. Or it's hippy neighbour Forest Row is always popular.

Crawley is variable and a bit run down. Some new builds between there and Horsham or just south at Pease Pottage. Not sure 400k will get you much in the towns/villages running either side of M25 though.

Take a look at bletchingly, nutfield, crowhurst, lingfield, dormansland, hurst green - pretty much anything south of the M25. Oxted and westerham may be too pricey but smaller villages out of those maybe worth a try.

Oxted

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129732635?utmcampaign=property-details&utmmcontent=buying&utmmedium=sharing&utmmsource=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Whereabouts in London are you commuting to? That can add an extra 30 minutes. (Assuming a commute is required some days of the week?)

Hi ViaRia01,
Thank you so much. We're not looking into posh areas and what your describing is what we're looking for! We're having some viewings on Saturday in the area. Do you recommend any specific parts of it?

Thank you so much FrillyGoatFluff,
Really useful info! I'll have a look into those areas.

East Grinsted, Edenbridge is nice but has no secondary school, Oxted.

That one is off the beaten track and not near a station. Hurst
Green/Holland is not Oxted! To live in the area on a budget you are going to need to compromise on location, perhaps near a main road, motorway, flightpath or a drive to station. South Godstone might be worth a look but no direct rail connection to London. By the way the A22 is closed south of the Lingfield turn off at the moment, so access to East Grinstead is diverted via Gatwick and A264, in case you plan to drive around the area this weekend

Thank you so much JaneIvesFor the recommendations! That's kind of the houses we're looking for!

Daffodilsandbees we're going central but not that often. Of the train goes to Waterloo, Charing cross, Victoria, London bridge or any other central station works for us. We both work from home either way. We are happy with a 15-20 minute drive to the station too.

Thank you LIZS,
To be honest we're happy to be a bit further away or even drive to the station. Not that keen into being on a main road but we would consider it too if had everything else we want. I totally appreciate that oxted is an expensive area and where asking for a lot but we're happy to compromise. I never thought about the flightpath. Is it that noisy?
Also thank you so much for the advice on regards the roads!

The routes are being reviewed by CAA and the second runway proposed but generally you will experience noise east of Gatwick as far as Tonbridge where they turn or to the west Charlwood, Brockham etc, depending on wind and take off direction. The areas just to north experience relatively little, even Horley.

I think lingfield road and hever road tend to be quite nice. But I’m a bit more familiar with the area directly around the high street so if you’re keen to be away from that, I’m not really sure on other areas.

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/11302588/ a bit over budget but the house looks great with a third ‘bedroom’ downstairs plus an ‘office area’ upstairs. I think this is heading away from the town and more into rural but still an easy walk to the station.

best of luck with your search

Hi OP, we live in one of the little villages near Edenbridge, our children go to school in Dormansland.

It's a nice enough area with a lot to do for families and fairly straightforward connections to London. I drive to either Edenbridge Town (5 mins) or Lingfield (10 mins) once a week. The trains from ET are certainly a lot better now, I always get a seat. Trains back are one an hour though in the evenings which can be annoying.

There are a lot of primary schools locally, some better than others, and opinion seems divided on that depending on who you speak to! Secondary schools are a whole other ball game, there are none close by and kids bus or train out in all directions.

We are under the flight path and TBH I barely notice the planes.

We are actually about to go to market with our property as relocating. Prices seem all over the place right now here and we've been valued at 475k - 525 for a 2 bed plus loft room, extended downstairs character 200 yr old cottage (semi) in a lovely countryside location, set up a private drive. I think for your budget you will probably find something in the centre of somewhere like Edenbridge but possibly struggle further out. Hurst green remains pricey due to proximity to Oxted, and Dormansland seems to still be quite high. A 2 bed cottage near here but along the main road sold recently with a guide of 425 but it needed a lot of work.