Nice villages around m25 junctions 6 to 9

browneyedbazzi

Haywards Heath is probably worth a look as it's only about a half hour on the train to Croydon and a 3 bed semi/terrace within walking distance to the station would be on budget - it's a town rather than a village but has some really nice bits.

VfM4meplse

tortoiseshellcat wrote: »

We need to commute by train or bus to Croydon and also be able to get to Warlingham on a daily basis (by car).

So why not Warlingham? It's nice enough, not far from the big Tesco at Purley etc.

mopsymuffin

Have you looked at Godstone & Oxted & the surrounding areas. I know Oxted can be quite expensive but if you look on the outskirts a bit more into the country you might find something & both are lovely areas but not too far out. I am sure I have seen 3 bed houses in our local paper on the outskirts of Godstone. They are quite small but would get you into the area that you want & you may at least get a decent size garden.

Deep_In_Debt

Horley is not too bad in terms of location. It's only a 15 minute walk for me to the station and town and I don't live that far from Smallfield but not noisy from the aircraft as I'm not on the flightpath. Great direct train to E Croydon - only about 15 mins on the fast train.

There's a bit of greenery around and a couple of schools.

Yes avoid Court Lodge.

VICSH

Regarding east grinstead places to avoid stone quarry, copyhold and lister avenue they would be the places I would avoid but your budget would go further there. Oxted is lovely but might be to expensive some parts of hurst green are ok but avoid mill lane area. To be honest as someone else has said these places arent as bad as some places but they aren't as nice as other parts!

propertyman

As a rule of thumb the villages and towns west of the A23/M23 are more expensive than those to the east. While Court Lodge in Horley has a bad reputation the main problem is that almost all the dwellings are concrete and hard to mortgage and re sell. great as investments to rent out to "flying mattresses"....:eek:

In most of the towns with the exception of the true villages which Horley or Smallfield really aren't any longer, there is social housing and modern developments with often mixed tenure. The Wates Estate in Horley is all private, on Smallfield Road, but parts of it have a very bad reputation now. Similarly with Crawley there are good and bad parts, south of Reigate and in areas of Redhill you can leave a Victorian and older street and walk right into a council estate.

Any of the villages south of the A25 Reigate and Dorking route especially the further south you go are plagued with air plane nose Charlwood Ockley and Newdigate are beautiful but noisy.

:money:As always look for houses find one you like then make up a flask and sandwiches and sit for an hour or two on a Saturday night and you will see the other side
.

ruggedtoast

I really like East Grinstead and we almost bought there before I got a job outside of London. Its less than an hour into London and the travel card is comparatively cheap.

It has gone up a lot in the last few years but you should be able to get a nice enough place for your budget.

jonewer

tortoiseshellcat wrote: »

Thank you,yes Horley does seem a bit cheaper, I think there may be some areas not as nice as others there though, I don't know it that well. Some parts of East Grinstead seem nice too but also don't know much about it.

We drove around Earlwood but it felt quite crowded without much greenery. Is Whitebushes one to avoid?

Are you sure? I live the other side of the road from Earlswood and one of things I love is the amount of green space in the area. Theres Earlswood common and Redhill common, the golf course, and of course the whole thing is on the edge of open countryside.

Maybe look again? There arent many better places round here for that kind of money and if you walk to Redhill station, Croydon is only 11mins on the train.

abankerbutnotafatcat

Jody, Jon I was going to say exactly the same thing. If you just look at the map on the Rightmove listing I posted you can't help but notice how much green there is.

Personally, as I wander to The Plough or Joshua Tree (as I occasionally do!!), I'm always surprised by how much of a country feel there despite being so close to town.

Earlswood is predominantly formed of Victorian properties, as it was built up around the railway, which tends to be built close together but for a suburban area it has a lot of green and is right on the edge of quite open areas on three sides.

Re Whitebushes, is this technically part of Earlswood? I had thought it was lumped together as in 'Earlswood ad Whitebushes' for say the local council due to general proximity south of Redhill-Reigate.

abankerbutnotafatcat

propertyman wrote: »

As a rule of thumb the villages and towns west of the A23/M23 are more expensive than those to the east. While Court Lodge in Horley has a bad reputation the main problem is that almost all the dwellings are concrete and hard to mortgage and re sell. great as investments to rent out to "flying mattresses"....:eek:

In most of the towns with the exception of the true villages which Horley or Smallfield really aren't any longer, there is social housing and modern developments with often mixed tenure. The Wates Estate in Horley is all private, on Smallfield Road, but parts of it have a very bad reputation now. Similarly with Crawley there are good and bad parts, south of Reigate and in areas of Redhill you can leave a Victorian and older street and walk right into a council estate.

Any of the villages south of the A25 Reigate and Dorking route especially the further south you go are plagued with air plane nose Charlwood Ockley and Newdigate are beautiful but noisy.

:money:As always look for houses find one you like then make up a flask and sandwiches and sit for an hour or two on a Saturday night and you will see the other side
.

I remember - Horley is 'The Walking Dead' and Redhill, the Peak District!!

On a serious point, I find you professional knowledge and insights into the area I live illuminating.