SE Relocating - advice wanted

[Lockhouse]

I'd appreciate any advice on relocating - we're currently living in Hampshire and we're thinking of relocating somewhere closer to London and were looking for a nice area in Surrey no more than 30 mins from Waterloo - does anyone have any suggestions where might be a good place to start looking? Money's not really that big an issue as we're downsizing and don't need or want a particularly large house. Finding somewhere with a quick commute into Waterloo and also somewhere my wife (who is ill) will feel safe during the day on her own are the top priorities.

I was thinking of Surbiton or Esher - anyone live/d there?

[PerlOfWisdom]

Surbiton seemed a bit rough late at night in winter.

Kingston is good, all the shops and a nearby hospital.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Surbiton seemed a bit rough late at night in winter.

Kingston is good, all the shops and a nearby hospital.

They do say there is magic there.

Kingston is the place I long to be.

[Badger]

Wimbledon's nice if you can afford to be in the village.

[realityhack]

One more vote for Wimbledon Village - Twickenham's also quite nice, as is Richmond Hill, Hampton, Strawberry Hill or Teddington. Some nice places down the rail line (SW Trains) from Twickenham to Windsor or Reading. Avoid Staines, Hounslow or Feltham though.

[PRC1964]

Surbiton is rubbish. It's a suburb of Kingston.

Kingston is almost as close to hell on earth as you can get. All there really is is a shopping zone. I refuse to go there any more.

Wimbledon village is OK, but is surrounded by nasty areas.

Hampton and Richmond have lovely bits but are a bugger for trains.

Esher is very much Chelsea tractor zone.

If I were you I'd bite the bullet and go further out.

Epsom or Guildford maybe?

[Lockhouse]

Surbiton is rubbish. It's a suburb of Kingston.

Kingston is almost as close to hell on earth as you can get. All there really is is a shopping zone. I refuse to go there any more.

Wimbledon village is OK, but is surrounded by nasty areas.

Hampton and Richmond have lovely bits but are a bugger for trains.

Esher is very much Chelsea tractor zone.

If I were you I'd bite the bullet and go further out.

Epsom or Guildford maybe?

Thanks for the reply. That's the first reply that bears out what I'd heard about Kingston. Epsom and Guildford are both about 40 mins out from Waterloo - I was really looking for 30 mins max as my current mainline train commute (when I do it) is 65 mins to Waterloo and that means 2 hours each way door-to-door which is too much as I'm not as young as I used to be. Esher is 25 mins away and looks reasonably nice.

[Moscow Mule]

Check the train times from where you are looking. Most of the trains in the area you are looking are stoppers so the times are longer than you think.

Fast trains go from Twickenham, Surbiton & Richmond.

if you want to live walking distance from Richmond station, be prepared to pay a lot of money for your house.

Twickenham is a nice enough place (I live in Teddington) but can be a bit of a nightmare on match days.

I've never lived in Surbiton but had a mate who did, not much to say either way.

Both Twickenham & Surbiton are the epitome of suburbia, don't know if thats a positive or a negative for you...

[bobhope]

Definitely check the train times for Kingston - trains are suburban stoppers which means no seats, painfully slow speeds.

Whenever I think about working in London again, all those happy memories of standing on a platform at Clapham Junction, in the cold rain whilst some garbled announcement is played over the tannoy about the 18:15 to Dorking being cancelled, flood back.

As said before, Kingston is kind of "worst of both worlds" or "best of both worlds" depending on your viewpoint. It's the worst in it's about as expensive as London proper, but not actually near the centre and is really a suburb (read chavtastic).

At your age, why bother? The marginally shorter commute probably won't outweight the additional cost of housing.


I have a similar issue, but we're holding out until the house price correction plays out a bit more.

[Lockhouse]

At your age, why bother? The marginally shorter commute probably won't outweight the additional cost of housing.

I'm currently living in London during the week and going home weekends but now need to spend more time at home. My normal commute is too much to do long term and up until last year I'd been doing it for 5 years. Going from 4 hours a day commute to 2 hours a day makes a big difference. Kingston is a 'no no' btw.