moving out of london - new area options questions!

morg_monster

A related point about the trains - you will definitely get a seat on the train from walton/hersham/esher every day pretty much regardless what train you get. You rarely would from Surbiton. I personally prefer half an hour sitting down than 15 extra minutes in bed and then 15 minutes standing up!
If you're into fast frequent trains then Woking's another option if you want to be even further out; but the town's nothing to write home about.

daveb975

I'd echo most of what Thunder cat says about the different areas in Surbiton.

I have lived in Surbiton for years, and have always preferred the so-called 'river roads' area. It is probably the most expensive part, but it is the only area where you can walk to the river, station and Kingston town centre in under 10 minutes.

The problem with moving to the other side of the station is that you lose the option of walking to Kingston. This is an essential benefit in my opinion - Surbiton's town centre has the essentials, but Kingston has everything and is a nightmare to drive to, so it is good to have it on the doorstep.

Not sure if I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I'd recommend the Cranes Park area of Surbiton. It is cheaper than the river roads, but almost as convenient.

I am interested in Thunder cat's view of the differences between Surbiton and Walton. I know Walton well and find it quite soulless. It has improved since the 'Heart' complex was built, but would still not suit me. Just goes to show how different people are!

For families with kids, though, I'd probably recommend it above Surbiton. There are certainly many more houses than in Surbiton, which is very dominated by flats in the nicer parts.

Good luck with the search!

daveb975

wallofbeans wrote: »

Surbiton is interesting us quite a bit actually. The posher bits (the river roads) are very expensive but other bits are cheaper and more affordable to us. Can you give me any tips on which of the outlying parts to look in and more importantly, which to avoid!!

Thanks for the advice!

Missed this post! I think that Thunder cat has covered it very nicely, but here goes:

1. Cranes Park area. Mainly large detached houses, some converted to flats and some remaining as houses. There is a fair bit of 1930's infill, though, and these should be the right side of £500k when they come on the market. 10 minutes walk to the station, 10 to the river and 15 to Kingston town centre. Example roads: Cranes Park Avenue, Cranes Park Crescent

2. St Johns area. This is actually on the Kingston side of the border, but might be worth a look. It is a bit cheaper because you are looking at a 15+ minute walk to Surbiton station, but Kingston is very close by and it is remarkably quiet area of mainly Victorian houses with some 1930's infill. Example roads: Grove Lane, Lingfield Avenue, Bloomfield Road.

3. Other side of station: This is where things start to get a bit cheaper as you lose the convenience of being able to walk into Kingston. On one side of the main A240 you have Beaconsfield Road, and Ellerton/Bond on the other. All are reasonable roads.


In terms of areas to avoid, I'd not want to be too near to the 'Alpha Estate' which is sandwiched between Ewell Road and King Charles Road. It won't be anything like the Battersea estates that you are used to, but it is not particularly pleasant.

I'd also not go too near to Tolworth itself. Again, it is not a bad area by London standards, but it is a bit depressing. There is not much going on so you would need to drive everywhere. Then again, houses are half the price of the best parts of Surbiton, so it is a significant discount!

Thundercat_2

daveb975 wrote: »

I am interested in Thunder cat's view of the differences between Surbiton and Walton. I know Walton well and find it quite soulless. It has improved since the 'Heart' complex was built, but would still not suit me. Just goes to show how different people are!

I agree absolutely daveb975 - it's a good job we're all looking for different things otherwise we'd all be trying to cram into one tiny place and no-one would be able to afford to live there!! :-) I found Surbiton quite soulless and it didn't really feel like a community, but I enjoyed living there as at the time my husband and I were commuting into the City each day and the journey was great!

Now that we've got two very young children and I'm a stay-at-home mum, we decided Walton is much better suited to our needs, though we did still look at Surbiton. Unfortunately, there was literally nothing on the market that met our criteria (4/5 beds, detached, big garden, good location) and nothing at all came up on the roads we liked. Then we found "the house" in Walton and it was everything we wanted and more, but it could just as well have been in Surbiton and we'd have been more than happy to stay there. As it is we're loving it here - my son's school is in Esher, but a lot of his school friends live in Walton so it's nice to be able to do more playdates and be closer to them as well.

I'd echo what you said about Cranes Park being a good area, with a good reputation, though I have to admit I never really liked it over there for some reason. Great location for the station, but some nice 30's semi's and multi-million pound houses surrounded by/backing on to what can only be described as rough looking 70's council estate-type flats. It struck me as a real mish-mash of styles with very little character, but then there are all too many places in Surrey like that! Unless you have numerous millions to spend then you can never guarantee that you won't be just round the corner/next door/just across the road from some really dodgy looking places!!! ;-)

daveb975

I do think that Walton is the better choice for people with children. It is greener with more space and a lot more family houses. This, in turn has attracted more families and a ready made community for parents.

Because of this, I find the bar and restaurant scene is quite a lot more family-friendly with lots of chain-run places like Giraffe and Carluccios. I have not been able to find many independent places to rival places like Gordon Bennett and The French Table in Surbiton. I'd say that for 20-30somethings without kids, Surbiton probably has a better social scene than Walton, but again that is a matter of personal opinion!

I do think that the 1960-70s infill in roads like Cranes Park is a shame. That would have been a fabulous road before the war. It still has a nice feel to it, but it could have been so much better. Unfortunately, this is replicated all over Surbiton (most of the river roads have their fair share of ugly blocks) and further down into Surrey.

I like the idea that a lot of the large Victorian houses that have been converted into flats could possibly be turned back into houses at some point. This will clearly not be possible if they have been knocked down and replaced with concrete blocks!

daveb975

daveb975 wrote: »

Missed this post! I think that Thunder cat has covered it very nicely, but here goes:

1. Cranes Park area. Mainly large detached houses, some converted to flats and some remaining as houses. There is a fair bit of 1930's infill, though, and these should be the right side of £500k when they come on the market. 10 minutes walk to the station, 10 to the river and 15 to Kingston town centre. Example roads: Cranes Park Avenue, Cranes Park Crescent

OK, may need to ignore that recommendation:embarasse. This one has come on at virtually river road price and it is not even in the nicest of the Cranes Park roads.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-15834603.html

pippitypip_2

Crikey, can't believe how few people are recommending Essex!

Most town centres anywhere are just what you'd expect (not pretty little villages), but 10/ 15 mins out and it's leafy, green, gorgeous, family friendly - pretty and not as expensive as the South London boroughs you're talking about.

Like Woodford/ Chigwell way - very quick to get into London, Woodford tube on Central line I think: http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=6731902

Danbury, lovely little village in Essex - not even 10 mins drive from Chelmsford town centre: http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=3369932

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=4719571 East Hanningfield, about 15 mins drive to Chelmsford.

ooooh I could go on, so many lovely areas if I had £600k that'd do pretty well in some lovely areas right across Essex.

Could look at Epping and Theydon Bois too - again good tube links.

hth,
pippitypip

wallofbeans

daveb975 and thundercat - you're both on fire today! thanks for all the helpful posts... I don't know Walton as well as I know Surbiton, I know the shopping centre and a lovely little pub down by the river (name escapes me) but i wonder if thundercat can point me in the direction of any maple road type bits? the section of maple road with a couple of restaurants etc is pretty small so maybe there is a hidden gem of walton that we dont know about?

in other words, where are the snazzy bits that arent in the town centre? where are the grown-up resturants!?

thanks again both.. i think you'll be getting an invite to the housewarming at this rate!!

Thundercat_2

wallofbeans wrote: »

daveb975 and thundercat - you're both on fire today! thanks for all the helpful posts... I don't know Walton as well as I know Surbiton, I know the shopping centre and a lovely little pub down by the river (name escapes me) but i wonder if thundercat can point me in the direction of any maple road type bits? the section of maple road with a couple of restaurants etc is pretty small so maybe there is a hidden gem of walton that we dont know about?

in other words, where are the snazzy bits that arent in the town centre? where are the grown-up resturants!?

thanks again both.. i think you'll be getting an invite to the housewarming at this rate!!

Well in my somewhat minimal investigations so far (5 weeks worth!) I've come across a fabulous Tapas restaurant called La Terrazza which is at "Halfway" (i.e. halfway up Hersham Road which leads up to Walton from Esher) this restaurant isn't a chain or a real "family place" and is jam-packed even on a Tuesday night at 10pm!! There's also a great gastro-pub place called the Oatlands Chaser which is on Oatlands Chase (ironically enough!) One of the winebar/restaurants underneath the new "Heart" apartments is called Glo and on an evening is less "family" and more young trendy things! There's also a winebar which serves food on the High Street.

In terms of something "Maple Road" then I can't think of anywhere (other than near the River) which matches it for the type of bars and restaurants, though I do feel much nearer to Esher in Walton than I did in Surbiton, so it's easy enough to head over there for trendy interior design shops, designer fashion and good restaurants!

If you do a search on Globrix for Rydens Avenue properties then you'll see that there are a few for not much over £500k (which you could probably get for under £500k). That's a lovely road and very sought after and in a fantastic catchment area for schools! (should you need them in the future! ;-) There are also some good roads off West Grove, but I have a feeling you might only get a decent 3 bed in those as they can be expensive if they've been done up.

My best advice though - get on over and take a look. My gut instinct is that if you see both areas and look at a few properties in each, you'll immediately know which one is what you're looking for!! Both daveb975 and I can both attest to the fact that both areas are really nice and only you will know which is better for you.

Hope this helps...

wallofbeans

our first is on the way so we'll need those great schools in not too long!!

Thundercat wrote: »

If you do a search on Globrix for Rydens Avenue properties then you'll see that there are a few for not much over £500k (which you could probably get for under £500k). That's a lovely road and very sought after and in a fantastic catchment area for schools! (should you need them in the future! ;-)