lumines

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone can help me. We’re moving back to the UK in January, and I’m looking at places to live on the line to Victoria. Never lived down south before so it’s hard to know where to start looking!

Anyway, at the moment I’m very interested in Reigate, mainly because Reigate School has got a great Ofsted report - my daughter will be in Year 9 when we go back, so finding a place with a nice school for her is the most important thing really.

Can anyone tell me anything about Reigate as a place to live? Does anyone know anything about Reigate School? Also, Redhill seems so close, is that a nice place to live?

Thanks very much, any help appreciated.

PoppetUK

Hi ya,

We used to live in Redhill and I worked in Redhill.

Redhill is practical for many things but no where near as nice Reigate. Reigate will be more expensive I think.

Not as many trains going to Reigate if I recall. Lots to Redhill.

Not sure this helps just a quick reply.

Good luck with the move

Aviator

Depends on your budget. Given the choice Reigate, it is more sophisticated, Redhill is like an over sized council estate. Went to school there but would never have lived there. Snobbish I know, but it is what it is.

Look at outlying villages such as Oxted, Merstham, Nutfield. South Park & Woodhatch near Reigate are not quite so pricey and OK.

ann m

Poppet has hit the nail on the head.

Reigate is generally regarded much more highly and the property prices generally reflect this. Redhill is seen as the poorer neighbour! Reigate High Street is pretty, cute, lots of independant stores and cafes and restaurants - nice to visit for an afternoon, but probably of not much use for 'proper' shopping.

However, good and frequent train links to London and general facilities like leisure centre, shopping, business and employment, small theatre, etc, are potentially better in Redhill (Reigate train lines go east/west I think, rather than north/south) - though the shopping is still not great in my opinion - depends if you like Pound Shops . Have a look at areas of Merstham and Nutfield too, but avoid the estate around Malmstone Ave (I think it's that's one anyway). Unfortunately, Redhill seems to be made up of tons of estates, or that's how it appears to me. Having said that, we have friends all over the area, and I travelled to Redhill all the time for my hairdresser!!

Places in the good schools across the area are fought hard for - have you enquired as to whether there actually would be a place for Year 9 yet? I don't want to put a dampner on you but I suspect waiting lists would be long. And there seems no middle ground with the schools - it's either great or pretty poor. Seems the way all over Surrey to be honest

I love Reigate and the surrounding areas and if we did ever return, I suspect we would also need to look at those places with good train links to London, and we would also be considering Epsom & Ewell, Banstead, Reigate & Redhill, and Dorking, Leatherhead, Ashtead areas - all well worth a look in my opinion.

Good luck with it all. Pretty area

koalakim

Hi there

Would agree with the others, Reigate is a much nicer area than Redhill! Epsom et al all nice but with house prices to match. I grew up in Epsom but from what I hear these days the town is pretty much a no-go area at night - such a shame. Redhill has it's fair share of trouble on a Fri/Sat night with the night club in town etc.

Why not look at Horley? It's only a few more minutes down the rail track and the houses are cheaper. Nice and handy for the airport as well for hols! Shops in Horley were pretty useless apart from Waitrose etc so you'd need to go to Crawley for anything other than day to day stuff although I did notice last year a new coffee bar had opened - woo hoo! Two nice pubs - The 6 Bells and The Farmhouse.

The senior school in Horley used to have a pretty bad reputation but the headmaster a few years ago turned it around and became really good. Can't say what it is like now as friends kids have all left.

The only problem with Reigate as stated is that the train line it's on is a East to West so you'd have to go into Redhill and change.

Dorking is lovely but so are the house prices, usually people live in North Holmwood on one the new housing estates.

Good luck with your quest for a new home!

KK

lumines

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply, it’s so helpful.

As I said, although I’m looking on the line to Victoria as a starting point, my number one priority is a decent school for our daughter. I feel bad enough for her having to move at such a crucial time, and in the middle of a school year. I just want it to be as easy for her as possible. We’re going to be renting for the next couple of years, so I know we might have to pay more to get near a nice school. Ann, I haven’t got to the stage where I’m asking schools if they have places – one headmistress I spoke to who was very helpful said that the local authorities won’t really do anything for overseas kids until they’re actually back in the country. This is my dilemma. We’re free to move pretty much anywhere, and will move anywhere if it gets her into a reasonable school, but there’s no point in moving somewhere if we don’t know what school we might end up with.

My theory is to find an area (maybe within 5 miles of one of the stations for Victoria) where there is only one school, and that school is decent – hopefully avoiding the risk of being sent somewhere else. Shops and anything else like that are of secondary importance at the moment. Reigate had stood out because I thought it only had one school, but since posting I realized there is another one not nearly as good. Although it’s in Redhill, it’s only 2 miles away from the other one, I’m worried that even if we live in Reigate, the Reigate school won’t have any spaces and we’ll just get sent to the Redhill School.

I am wondering if I’m getting too obsessed with these ofsted reports though! It’s been a long time since we were in England and I’m not sure at all about high schools, or what to expect. I just want the easiest transition for my daughter.

KK – I’d looked at Horley, but the Ofsted report for the school you mentioned really put me off. I’ll carry on looking at all these other places you’ve all mentioned, and if anyone has any other suggestions about places or schools (or if I’m placing too much importance on the ofsted reports), I’d love to hear them.

Thanks again everyone.

Juliecabs

I live in Ewell and have done all my life (except for a few months in Oz). It's a great area to live in and on the Victoria and Waterloo lines (approx half hour journey).
My kids went to Blenheim High and got on really well there. All of them passed all their GCSE's and my youngest is awaiting the results of her AS Levels. Ewell is in a great catchment area for several very good schools. Apart from Blenheim, there is Rosebery (for girls), Glyn (for boys) and several other mixed sex schools.
House prices - well, they have dropped as everywhere else has. I'm selling my 4 bed semi for £430K. 3 bed semi's are going for anything between £245K and £390K.
In Ewell itself, there is plenty of fab restaurants and loads of parkland around.
In Epsom, a mile away, there is a multi screen cinema, a shopping centre, golf clubs and many bars/restaurants. House prices there are similar to Ewell.
Reigate is approx 5 miles away just the other side of the M25 motorway. House prices outside the M25 are usually slightly cheaper.
I'm thinking of moving to Ashtead or Leatherhead which are both a couple of miles from here. Both of these towns are really pretty and again are on the Victoria and Waterloo lines.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info.
Julie. x

ann m

Juliecabs

As above - the likelihood of getting a place at either of Rosebery or the Glynn is less than remote


That use to be so true Ann, but now so many people are trying to get their kids into Blenheim that it's easier to get your kids into Rosebery or Glyn than it used to be. Blenheim is soooo oversubscribed now. Each year they have around 180 places to fill but around 300+ trying to get in. I don't envy parents trying to get their kids into high school nowadays. I'm so glad that those days are over. Now I have to get my youngest a Uni place for next year. Not going to be easy

Julie. x

DougDougDoug

I used to live and go to school in Nutley and then moved to Uckfield.
While i dont recommend Uckfield as a town to live in the outlying villages are great especially Nutley and Maresfield. My dad still lives in High Hurstwood and I have taken the train from Buxted station to London Bridge a few times this year when i was over from New York for IT training which is very handy and about an hour commute.

My dad (from Reigate/Redhill area) did live in Dormansland (near lingfield, or lindfield i dont remember), for a few years which was also not bad and has railwayline but not sure what service it is. I think his girlfiends daughter went to Oxted by train from there but she may already have been attending when they moved in together, she used to live in Smallfield.

My mother also lived in East Grinstead for a couple of years before she moved over here with me in New York, that had really good rail connection to London and was handy for Gatwick but is very pricey.

lumines

Thanks again everyone for these helpful replies. I’m not sure I’ve managed to narrow down my search much though – the suggestions have just made my list longer! My shortlist is now Dorking, Leatherhead, Epsom, Ewell, and Reigate. Fortunately, we’re going to England for a couple of weeks at the end of September, so we can visit everywhere and also go and see some of the schools to see what the situation is. There is one more place that I’ve got on my list at the moment – Woking. Can anyone tell me if Woking is generally a nice area?

Ann, you mentioned your discussions with the admissions officer about this catch22 situation. What was the outcome? Do you just have to bite the bullet, move somewhere and then hope that somewhere has a place? Also, you mentioned that the Warwick has improved a lot in recent years – so it’s ok now?

Julie, Epsom & Ewell sounds lovely from what you’ve said, and the good schools sound great, but the thing that worries me is Epsom & Ewell High School – it sounds terrible from its ofsted report – is it really as bad as it sounds?

Aviator

Woking is OK, but quite built up. Some of the outlying areas are are quite nice, not somewhere I'd go to as a first choice. Now you've added Dorking to your list, I'd go there in a heartbeat if I were going to return to the UK. Take a look out on the Westcot Road, Punch Bowl Lane, Ashcombe Road area, also between Dorking & Leatherhead is quite nice, Westhumble & Mickleham. If you stay in Dorking, there is a nice old world hotel, 'The White Horse' It is smack in the middle of town, another is the Burford Bridge, which is between Leatherhead and Dorking.

JenniGee

Have you thought about Tonbridge? Heaps of good schools here & the train into London is good with a frequent service to Charing Cross, London Bridge & Waterloo?

Having said that, we're heading for Oz at the first opportunity, but the kids have been happy in Tonbridge. Tunbridge Wells, next stop up is the posher version, with prices to match...

Oh & the reason I clicked on the link is that we also looked at Reigate & Redhill too for the schools, but soon learned the waiting lists were unreal!

Best ofluck

ann m

I wouldn't be so crude as to ask your budget for housing, but Surrey is still an expensive area of the country - I think - even with some house price drops over the past year. However, if you want to live in the South East with easy commutes to London, I have to wave the Surrey flag proudly as it is a lovely, busy but green and lush county. HTH

Aviator

We used to live in Brockham, it is now reputed to be the most expensive village in Surrey to live in. Shame I still don't have the houses there anymore.