MrMuffin

I am trying to figure out where to relocate to. I was born in Epsom, Surrey and spent the majority of my childhood and school years in Epsom and Ewell and constantly bounced between friends and family in Ashtead, Leatherhead, Chessington and Great Bookham. When I started working I bought a flat near Sutton and later had a small terrace house in Caterham.

Seeing as I've been in away for 23 years, I have lost close communication with most of my friends, but have gradually built it back up through Facebook etc. So I still have friends there but I wouldn't call most of them close anymore, unfortunately. Also my family have all moved from the area with people now spread out between Bognor, Devon, Cornwall and Telford, Shropshire.

I love the Surrey area because of its easy access to London, the South Coast and the surrounding Counties. Plus I imagine either my wife or both of us could find work in London. Also Surrey is familiar to me so that'll hopefully help with relocation concerns a little bit... finding schools for the kids, knowing where things are... that kind of thing.

But Surrey always was pricey in terms of housing. Sure there are parts that are 'cheaper' but I'm curious as to what people have found in terms of costs more recently. I'd be open to moving further out towards Guildford too but that might be even more expensive.

Or might it be better to focus on somewhere completely different since we don't have strong ties in Surrey anymore. Bristol seems like a great city and it would certainly be a bit more central to get up North to Telford and then down to Devon/Cornwall.

Can you help me with some thoughts about housing prices in Surrey or thoughts about the housing/work possibilities in the Bristol area (or is that a silly idea)?

Thanks so much!!

Pomster

we live in Worcester Park (3 miles or so from Sutton, 4 from Kingston, 3 from Epsom) and prices around here are relatively cheap for Surrey

MrMuffin

Right good point. My Dad lived in Stoneleigh for quite some time. I like the Worcester Park, Cheam areas too but figured they might be too expensive. I'll have to start checking out prices for buying/renting. Are there any preferred rental agencies online?

Nicky & Dave

I went back 'home' late last year to do a reccie with regards to moving back to Surrey later this year, which is where I grew up and lived until my late 20's. I was specifically looking at smaller towns/villages around the Guildford area, including west across to Dorking and east across to Farrnham.

The good schools/reasonable commuting to London etc, coupled with lovely countryside, make it a very popular (and pricey) county to live in. Other than for renting, I can't say I found prices to be significantly higher than anywhere else - food, petrol, usual monthly household costs etc - seemed to be comparable.

Average rental price for a standard 2/3 bedroom semi-detached worked out around GBP 1500 per month. Rental prices shot up considerably for properties located within the catchment areas for good schools though.

I actually preferred Farnham and surrounding villages. Moving more towards Dorking/Great Bookham areas, I found rental prices higher but it is clearly a very affluent area and house prices reflect that. I couldn't find anything to rent under GBP2K.

I did love some of places we visited but if you aren't limited to moving back to a specific area, I think it's worth being very open-minded and exploring some of the other counties around London. I would have liked to look at the Hampshire/Surrey/Sussex borders more too.

Pomster

we rented our house via a local agency, but try Barnard Marcus, Connor Prince and Coopers are all in WP, so will cover WP, Stoneleigh and N Cheam areas. Also try findaproperty.com and gumtree- lots of agencies advertise on gumtree.

Juliecabs

Hi MrM,

I too was born in Epsom and spent all my life in Ewell until a couple of years ago when I moved down to Betchworth.

IMO the prices in this general area have steadied themselves and prices aren't really too bad.

I bought my 2 bed house 2 years ago for £240K. (Probably worth about $10k more now).

Dorking has some lovely houses for sale. Not sure what size of house you are looking for but 3 bed terraced start from around £260K, 3 bed semi's £350K and 4 bed semi's around £425K.

www.rightmove.co.uk

My brother has recently moved to Merrow near Guildford. He's renting a 4 bed detached at the moment and paying £1500pcm I think.

If you buy outside the M25 prices tend to be a bit cheaper than within it.

If you need any info at all about these areas, give me a shout. Only too happy to help

Julie x

MrMuffin

Thanks 'Nicky & Dave' and 'Pomster.' I really appreciate your replies. I did some digging yesterday and was shocked by some of the prices for homes for sale in Epsom. I'm going to keep looking and try some other areas plus reach out to friends a bit for advice on towns etc. Thanks for the names of the agencies and links too!

MrMuffin

Hi Juliecabs,

Thanks for the added info. Great stuff. And thanks for the offer... I may be in touch! Cheers, M

el_richo

www.rightmove.com is the best place to find rentals