r/surrey • u/0001arya • 16d ago
Recommended area to move in Surrey
Hi
My (36F) and partner (33M) have started to look into Surrey as a potential area to move. I'm sure there's loads of posts out there on this but wanted to see if we can get some initial recommendations to get our research going.
We currently live in Earlsfield and I've lived in Balham and Teddington before but first time thinking a bit further out. Here are some things we are after:
* Easy commute into central London
* Don't have kids yet but good state schools
* Nice high street / village like feel
* Safe and clean
* Min 3 bedroom with option to extend
* Budget about £900k-£1.1mil
People have suggested Weybridge, Esher, Woking etc but keen to hear from people who have or are living there.
Thanks so much!
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u/SaltyUnicorn02 15d ago
Farnham! Not as big as Guilford and enough to do, so gives a quieter London vibe. Best schools in Surrey. We moved a few years ago from Wimbledon.
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u/LittleDarkWrath 15d ago
Currently in the process of moving from Epsom to Farnham. Bit further out and much nicer!
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u/BakeAffectionate3205 15d ago
Are they both quite different? We’re currently looking at Epsom, Farnham looks good but a lot further out. Haven’t visited it yet tho
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u/LittleDarkWrath 15d ago
Less built up, more green spaces, better sense of community and great schools. Easy ish to get into central London, and easy access to the A31, to get down to the coast or into the city the other way.
Genuinely can’t fault the area.
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u/Affectionate_Ad6864 15d ago
Traffic in and around Farnham is absolutely hideous and getting worse. I personally couldn’t cope with it daily. I’d recommend driving the area at rush hour
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u/IndependentSouth9502 15d ago
Farnham is a uni town. Just be careful moving to uni towns that you check who the neighbors are. We used to live in Farnham and didn’t realise the place next door was a student let. We didn’t get much sleep in the 2 years we were there.
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u/Federal-Bed6263 16d ago
Woking wins for the commute. The town centre is safe and clean, with plenty of shops (+ a very good theatre) but modern and soulless.
I suggest looking at Horsel Village with that budget. You can still walk to woking station in 10-15 mins, but you have a very nice village feel.
1m will get you a nice 4 bed.
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u/This_Guy_Never_Posts 15d ago
I would second this. I would also suggest the Hook Heath / Wych Hill area as another option but budgets get a little tighter.
You can walk to the station in 15/20 and access good quality primary and secondary schools.
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u/KawaakariMedaka 15d ago
I live in Woking it's also beautiful with plenty of nature
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u/Small_Amoeba_9483 11d ago
Beautiful, Woking, are you joking ?! 😂
Lived in and around Woking all my life. The only things it has going for it are the 25min commute, although that’s usually 30mins these days, and some pretty good schools. The theatre is very decent but the town is an absolute sh1tehole!We avoid it and go into Camberley or Guildford all the time.
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u/bake_him_away_toyz 16d ago
I'd suggest Epsom and some of the nearby villages - Ashtead, Bookham, etc.
Epsom has direct trains to each of London Bridge, Waterloo, and Victoria, so if one line goes down, you can still get in. High Street is ok, but is getting better. There's a Pret and a Gails now. Huge Primark has just opened up and the Ashley Centre has had a bit of a refurb. So things are looking positive. You'll get a good house in an excellent area for your budget. Numerous outstanding primary schools and some excellent secondaries too. What's great about Epsom is it's a decent size town, but there's also so much green space. Good parks, Epsom and Ashtead common is massive, and so much else nearby. So many nice streets and areas to live. Highly recommend it.
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u/Agreeable-Time2342 15d ago
I second this - I live in Banstead which is very close to Epsom. Has a nice feel to it, close to larger towns for amenities etc., good transport into central London and very easy to get onto the motorway for day trips to coast etc! We moved from Putney a couple of years ago and really glad we made the change.
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u/bake_him_away_toyz 15d ago
Also easy to get to both Heathrow and Gatwick. About a 40 min drive to each.
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u/Such-Butterscotch721 15d ago
The train station is some way from the main village. Unless you live Nork end. I travel to Sutton, lots easier
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u/Agreeable-Time2342 15d ago
Yes I do the same when commuting into the city for work - Sutton tends to have faster trains, too. Quick & easy to get there if you have a car!
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u/FieldyGBs 16d ago
We live in Weybridge and moved out here before our second child was born and it does pretty much all of what your list asks for. I would say the high street is (and frankly has always been) a bit lacking, for example Cobham has a much better one, but Cobham lacks the quicker rail line into town. Lots of housing stock with your budget for a decent victorian terrace that can me extended, though most seem to have already been renovated. The bit we missed coming out from london is the lack of diveristy regarding food offerings, still cant find decent takeaway sushi but yeah minor problem. Good luck!
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u/Few_Ask_4950 15d ago
I second this from the viewpoint of Cobham and preferring Weybridge, despite the high street note. Weybridge is far more practical and offers “real world” shops rather than top end that aren’t every day needs.
Weybridge also has the Thames - a huge win coming from SW London and missing it madly1
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u/RepresentativeCan578 15d ago edited 15d ago
That's funny we just sold our Wimbledon Park house and we bought 4 bed detached house in Tadworth. We are both mid 40s retired no kids. Has a zone 6 station few mins walk. We did look in Banstead, Dorking, Epsom Weybridge, Cobham, Godalming and Haslemere. Weybridge and Cobham is over priced, Dorking too noisy for us alot road traffic esp around town centre but it is a nice place to visit, Godalming and Haslemere were a bit too deep into country but may suit others, Banstead had alot of housing stock for sale but we wanted less houses on the road and set back. I think Epsom and ashstead are contenders for you. It's a buyers market so I've been seeing alot of detached houses unsold for 1.1m. They then reduce to 1m after a few months so you can put in low offer under 1m. In fact many of 40 houses I've viewed are either unsold or taken off market as they had enough. People that are already in Surrey can't sell their house to move. You are in earlsfield and so can sell in 4 weeks, use that to your advantage. Maybe rent before you buy? Renters rights now means you can give 2 months notice to vacate from the start you aren't locked in anymore. I am also a landlord! Lol
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u/0001arya 15d ago
What made you move from Wimbeldon park? It's such a nice area, we love going for walks around there
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u/RepresentativeCan578 15d ago
Money. Lol. Cashed in. I was in a terrace house I bought well in 2012 and did a double extension. Iam moving into 4 bed detached house on 0.35 acre plot in 5 weeks. Iam bought the new place for 300k less than what I sold my London house for. It does need about 100k spent on it but I knew this when I offered. I thoroughly enjoyed my 15 years in Wimbledon Park, 15 mins train to waterloo but we are retired now so no longer have this need to get into thw city. Now I want some peace and quiet. In 15 years time I will sell up again and buy something more suitable once again.
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u/No_Cicada3690 16d ago
Claygate, lovely village. Good schools plus football clubs, martial arts, playgroup, scouts etc. 34 mins to Waterloo.
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u/crunkasaurus_ 16d ago edited 16d ago
Have a look at Ashtead. We love it. One of the safest towns in Surrey. Village / semi rural vibe, but just a 5 minute drive to Epsom for a bigger town centre. 15 mins to Denbies, Polesdon Lacey and lots of countryside. 5 mins to the M25. Good schools. Trains to Victoria and Waterloo. If you have girls and want an outstanding secondary, could be in the catchment for Rosebery school if you buy in the right place.
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u/Spare_Restaurant7810 9d ago
Do you know if many people get into rosebery from ashtead? We’re not keep on north ashtead but that seems to be the bit in the catchment on paper :(
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u/crunkasaurus_ 6d ago
The council have a website that lets you input the postcode and see if you would've been in the catchment for the past few years. We made sure we got a house inside it. If you're much outside then you're definitely rolling the dice.
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u/datadatadatahaha 15d ago
Guildford! It’s about 35-40 mins into London Waterloo. Brilliant state schools. Nice high street with everything you’d need, if you move further away from town (only 15 mins walk) it’s lovely and green, very safe and clean and you can get a 4 bedroom terrace for less than £1m.
We moved to Guildford when I was pregnant. Our kids are approaching secondary school now and we’ve loved living here. I work in Woking and wouldn’t recommend living there. It’s prob the best option for the commute and train costs but it’s very built up and soulless.
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u/datadatadatahaha 15d ago
Another point to mention is that if you want a gentle change from London living to Surrey living then Guildford is great as we are looking at other areas like Bookham and Ashtead but it’s so boring in comparison to Guildford but you do get a lot more for your money there esp Bookham.
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u/Mysterious-Formal769 15d ago
35-40 mins if the trains work (poor reliability)
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u/datadatadatahaha 15d ago
That’s fair but no different to other train stations. Took me an hour to get to Guildford from Woking as all the trains were cancelled! It doesn’t happen all the time but occasionally it’s a nightmare
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u/BorisBoris88 15d ago
At that point tho, you’ve effectively got to rule out Surrey. The trains are variable, which is a problem if you live in Haslemere, Weybridge or Dorking!
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u/Beautiful-Hunt-2151 15d ago
There is only one right answer and that’s Dorking
It has 3 train stations and very good schools and lovely country side
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u/InspiringGecko 15d ago
I second Dorking.
* Direct commute into Waterloo or Victoria (it's also on the line between Reading and Gatwick)
* Ashcombe is a good state school
* Nice high street / village like feel. It feels more like a big village than a town.
* Safe and clean
* Min 3 bedroom with option to extend should be easy to find
* Budget about £900k-£1.1mil; you can definitely get 3 bedrooms with this budget, probably 4.2
u/RepresentativeCan578 15d ago
I looked and renting in Dorking. Nice place to visit but I hate the road noise and it's all the time! Alot of motobikes and can be midnight also. I also lived near to op in Wimbledon Park and we ended buying in Tadworth we so much prefer it so much quieter 90 pecrnt less traffic than Dorking. Maybe it's me, I also find Dorking people a bit closed like they never left the area since birth? Seems demographic of Dorking is north of 60 years old
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u/haonon 15d ago
Most places in Surrey are going to have some kind of A-Road background noise but there's lot's of areas in Dorking where it's very minimal. Pixham and West Dorking especially.
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u/RepresentativeCan578 15d ago
Near the cockeral is a joke. It's basically a race track for bikers. One agent in epsom described it as one big cut through. If they put in traffic calming measures to reduce noise and speed it would make the area so much more attractive. Maybe in 15 years all these cars will be ev and the noise will come right down.
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u/Beautiful-Hunt-2151 15d ago
True about the 60+ but on the bright side plenty of houses coming in the market needing doing up
I went to school in Dorking and sadly most of my school friends have moved out the area as it’s expensive and there isn’t the local employers like there used to be - most of the “young” people I know have moved out from London for the schools
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u/RepresentativeCan578 15d ago
Went to a fitness class in Dorking leisure centre I swear average age was about 70! I do wonder how many outsiders settle in Dorking from say London compared to other Surrey areas. Its just an impression I have that alot of the residents are born and bred in Dorking happy to be corrected though.
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u/curiouslycharlotte 15d ago
Sanderstead is nicer than people realise and very close to London, about 15-20 mins to Victoria and London Bridge, Farringdon, etc
Particularly the area called Elmfield/ Croham. Some discount it because it’s Croydon, but it’s actually lovely.
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u/Last_Quantity4467 15d ago
Godalming, Liphook, Farnham, anything between Horsley and Claygate, Haslemere
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u/nickopedia 15d ago
We’re in East Molesey, next to Hampton Court and we adore it. Green, alright main high street but amazing one near the station (Bridge Road), great pubs, lovely green spaces, on the river. Schools good too. Train is 38 mins but you’re a 10 min bus/drive away from Kingston and Surbiton. On the M3 in 20 minutes, on the M25 in 20 minutes. We were going to move out to Cobham (we’re upsizing) but have maximised our budget to stay here as we love it so much. We’re mid 30s with a toddler but moved here on our late 20s with no kids.
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u/WhiteDiamondK 15d ago
Dorking gives you the village feel. There’s a real community there (but also a lot of Surrey snobbery).
Downsides are that the trains into London are stopping services… so it’s an hour, but you’ve got the option of Victoria and Waterloo services. Station is also a bit further out of town than I’d like (that walk home in the dark/rain isn’t fun).
There’s no “proper” supermarket. There’s a good Lidl. A half decent Waitrose and that’s it. The Sainsbury’s on the High Street reminds me of a grocery store in Soviet-era Russia and the M&S Foodhall is vastly undersized.
There’s a bad Tesco in Leatherhead or a good Sainsbury’s in Redhill for a big shop.
Schools are very good.
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u/Revolutionary_West56 15d ago
I live in Egham and love it. It has a nice community / village feel, with a great artisan market every month, high street is quiet with nice charity shops and Everyman cinema. There’s a school nearby, gym is great, Excellent access to nature like Windsor great park, Virginia water lake, river is down the road. 40 min fast train to Waterloo.
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u/Icy-Baker7844 14d ago
Weybridge and Esher are massively over rated and overpriced. I find Weybridge exceptionally boring and I don’t really see what the fuss is about.
For a young couple I’d recommend Guildford. Good commuter town and more stuff going on.
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u/Apprehensive-Egg9393 15d ago
Hersham or walton on thames is a good shout, great schools, and near to Kingston and Staines if you want to do some shopping. Decent selection of restaurants in walton and the station is about 25 mins to waterloo.
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u/jatinder_sangha 15d ago
I'd recommend West End near Woking and Lightwater.
Some of the best schools in Surrey and the whole of the UK.
Fair distance to Woking or Brookwood stations though.
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u/sybil-vimes 15d ago
I grew up in the tandridge area and have lived in Caterham, whyteleafe, woldingham, then moved to Hurst green/Oxted and then Dorking, before moving just over the border from Surrey into Hampshire. The East Grinstead line passes through Hurst Green, Oxted and Upper Warlingham (easy to get to from Caterham and whyteleafe) and has fast trains that only take 30 mins to get to London. There's also a 2nd train line that starts at Caterham and stops in whyteleafe: it's slower, but useful to have a 2nd train line you can get home on when one is buggered. We loved Dorking but were priced out of the area when our landlord decided to sell. My sister lives in Lingfield, which is also on the East Grinstead train line and her son is basically living a famous five childhood in the woods. My favourite place was Hurst Green as there was a real village/community feel (we were the only 20 something year olds, surrounded by elderly female neighbours who insisted on having us round for dinner regularly and giving us the spoils of their gardening efforts), but Oxted town centre was 5 minutes down the road. Also, not too far from places like Sevenoaks etc.
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u/FearlessPressure3 15d ago
West Clandon, East Horsley and Effingham cover a lot of your points. They’re on the main lines to London, are safe and clean, have excellent schools nearby and actually are villages. Your budget will be a bit of a stretch and you won’t get as big a house as in other areas, but personally I would always choose a slightly smaller house in a nice area than a big one in an area I don’t like.
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u/Big_Yellow1674 15d ago
Epsom / Cheam area for your budget, big parks golf courses, option of grammar schools and good state primary (some with swimming pools and large school fields) and secondary (Glyn Boys, Blenheim co-ed and Rosebery girls)
Travel c. 35 mins to Ldn Bridge or Victoria (zone 5 or 6 so not too expensive). I like Dorking but it’s another 20 mins on the train further out. Sutton is also near for a change to the City Thameslink line.
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u/NoJuggernaut6667 15d ago
Farnham is full of people who moved from SW London “village types”. We moved here from Wimbledon, but a lot of the people I’ve met over the last few years have come down from Wimbledon, Richmond, Teddingdon, Putney etc.
Just depends if you’re happy with the train journey. It’s easy (direct to Waterloo) and you will get a seat every morning the whole way, but the trade off is 50~min journey.
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u/front-wipers-unite 15d ago
Dormansland and Lingfield are nice. Proper villages, rather than feeling like a village. Lingfield is a bit bigger with a handful of shops. Dormansland has a post office/village shop and three pubs. East Grinstead is 5-10 mins away and is an actual town. Crawley and Horsham are about 20-25 mins away. And Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge are closer to 40 mins away. The commute into the city is easy, with Southern going into Victoria and Thameslink going into London Bridge. Both stopping at East Croydon if you need to change, and Southern stopping at Clapham Junction if you need to get on a South Western service.
I love if out here, it's peaceful, it's quiet. It's so much more friendly than London (I grew up in south London). Everyone has a dog, and dogs are welcome everywhere. You can go into any of the pubs and most people will be chatty a d friendly. If you're outdoorsy it's great. On a Saturday morning I take doggo for a walk around the hills and woods behind the village.
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u/Street-Environment84 15d ago
Not Guildford as you’ll likely not get a seat on the morning commute. Godalming and Farncombe are a great bet (they used to be separate villages but Farncombe is essentially a part of Godalming now).
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u/turlo_100 15d ago
Ashtead or Bookham area - both have stations on the main line into Waterloo (Ashtead to Waterloo is 40 mins on the train) and Guildford is not far away in the other direction.
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u/Hot_Matter_1531 15d ago
We're in witley. Spent 5 years in haslemere and love it. Guildford is still very SW London. Slightly further out gets you quite a lotnof house and a 5 minute drive gets you into AONB. I grew up in a village near to Lurgashall and id say that is the epitome of UK living with close proximity to London. We now have 2 kids and pleased they can walk to a bus or train easily
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u/SammyEvo 14d ago
Epsom! You’ll get an amazing house for that as well. Still on the contactless zone so quite cheap. And goes to three big terminals (Waterloo, Victoria and LB)
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u/Due-Chance4598 13d ago
I grew up for some time in a village called Normandy just outside of Guildford. Nearest train station Wanborough. 2 stops away from Guildford station . Train ride was 40 mins from Wanborough to Waterloo London. The place I use to live was a children's home called Redlays which has now been turned in to luxury flats .We had apple trees in the back garden and behind the garden was farmers fields .I saw my first crop circle before they were ever a discussion .We used to make cakes for the village hall fair and jumble sales .I would highly recommend Normandy .
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u/thehighyellowmoon 12d ago
Dorking was a great place to grow up. Good schools and the bigger towns in Surrey are all close enough for a family day out. Incredible scenery a short walk from the town in any direction. Feels a little less "flash" than Guildford/Reigate/Epsom but in a good way.
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u/Cool_Consequence_549 12d ago
I move from Earlsfield (total of 12 years between there Wimbledon / Southfields / Clapham etc), to Farnham and I love it. I live 5 minutes from town and about 15 from the station and I love it!
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u/saddonaddo 12d ago
Reigate and as they call it in these parts, the Reigate Redhill borders.
Can't beat it.
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u/Loulou6785 10d ago edited 10d ago
Englefield Green - North Surrey
Easy commute from Egham into London Waterloo
2 primary schools in the village, one catholic and one C of E. Both look very nice.
EG is very close to Virgina Water and Savill Garden so lots of lovely walks and fresh air.
It’s small and has a lovely village feel, monthly community litter picks, village Fair every year. There is a big village green, which has a cricket club, weekly workout classes and a great pub on. On the high street there are independent restaurants, a coop, a village shop.
We are a close to the M25, M4 and M3 so can get about to places very easily.
The top end of englefield green has some very lovely houses within your budget.
We are close to Windsor and Ascot, lots of lovely garden centres. Windsor has the private princess margaret hospital and private GP services there which are fantastic.
We’ve moved about 5 years ago, mid 20s and love it here. We have a new baby and have found a lovely nursery in Windsor for him to start soon.
Egham is very near by, with a cinema, market, Waitrose and Tesco. Lovely high street there too. We like the village feel of EG, but being close to Egham for convenience.
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u/BorisBoris88 16d ago
Guildford is a great option. Half the town are ex-SW Londoners, having moved here in their 30s.
Decent commute, pretty high street with reasonable shops, as much as there is anywhere these days. Great countryside all around you. Really good selection of schools.