We are looking at places in or around Dorking to move to (from SW London).

I believe there’s quite a few people from the Surrey Hills on here – which bits are nice and affordable (budget up to £300k ish – 3 beds and a garden preferred?)

We have noticed a few houses in Pixham (near stations & main road) and a couple in North Holmwood – is there anywhere else we should be looking?

Thanks

Richard

Westcott, Fetcham, Ewhurst.

Pixham is better than N. Holmwood imo. Brockham is worth a look.

We bought end of last year…prices are still buoyant and it’s hard to find good property in the 300k bracket particular with the schools in the area being very popular (Do you have kids?) and 3 bed properties go quickly. It’s also not easy to find property with decent size gardens…space is at a premium. We rented first and researched/watched the market closely.

We love living in the Surrey Hills…it can be a tough place to get to if you haven’t got a huge budget but well worth persevering with.

300K, 3 beds is a tough budget for Dorking. It’s actually quite a small place, it’s desirable and has a limited housing stock. You could try Westcott – almost as many houses in your bracket – or further out Beare Green (a bit cheaper) / Brockham. North Holmwood is Ok but we didn’t like it.

We ended up in Fetcham/Bookham. It’s bigger than Dorking, not a bad place to live (certainly hasn’t the country town feel of Dorking) but there is more choice. Very good for biking too. Not much difference in ride time from here to Leith/Pitch as Dorking.

Edit : BTW there is isn’t anywhere affordable and very nice in the Surrey Hills

Thanks very much folks, we shall spread our searches a little wider.

Richard

In addition to the above, you might want to start by casting your net even wider – a year and a bit ago we looked around a line between Guildford-Dorking-Reigate. Everywhere around there gives you access to the coutryside. But find somewhere to your specs I think you’re going to have to be prepared to be flexible on the location.

Richard – with a need for 3 beds do you have or are you planning to have a family?

I’m in Horsham, which is about 20 minutes west of Dorking. The prices here are much more affordable but the real bonus is that the schools are very good. There’s a good selection for both primary and secondary and even single sex schools.

Horsham is an old market town but it does feel more like a modern British town than a ‘ye olde’ one. Surrey Hills are 20 minutes by car, but you can’t ride from your doorstep unfortunately. London is about an hour by train.

I’m in Horsham, which is about 20 minutes west of Dorking

What compass/maps are you using? I think you’ll find Horsham is 20 mins south of Dorking 🙂

BTW OP, as other have said, cast your net as far as you can. Decent 3 beds for £300k are not easy to find in these parts, particularly if you’re looking for one or more of; privacy and “space”, decent bit of garden, tidy interior, parking (either OS or immediately outside), and of course location/location/location.

Depends of course on what’s important to you, but there’s a huge reality gap in looking at a tidy set of pics on Rightmove and then pulling up outside the property in real life.

What compass/maps are you using? I think you’ll find Horsham is 20 mins south of Dorking

That’s a clear ‘map reading exercise – FAIL’ situation! Good job it’s the wife whose a pilot and not me!

I know from hours on Rightmove etc that it is tricky on my budget but there seem to be some properties around. Just interesting to hear people’s thoughts of places like Bookham, which seem nice when driving through / loitering. I shall cast the search a bit wider, although I would like to be within 45 minutes of work (West Byfleet)

Richard – with a need for 3 beds do you have or are you planning to have a family?

Got a rapidly growing 6 month old daughter, hope to give her a playmate too at some stage. Plus I hate moving house so the idea is to find somewhere we can imagine staying for the long run. Another thought is a nice 2 bed property that we can loft extend in a couple of years.

Thanks again people

Richard

Zoopla is a pretty good website as well, best thing to do is get friendly with estate agents and then they’ll call you when anything appears, looking slightly further in more Epsom way and it’s not cheap, might see you on the trails after I move…..

Epsom’s pretty convenient for most places, but can be a real pain with the amount of drunk students that come out of the woodwork every night! (speaking as someone who lives here)

Woodham or New Haw. My wife does inventories over there and says they are OK and not too dear. I’d still say Fetcham.

If you are thinking of 45 mins train travel then you could even start thinking of places such as Haslemere – countless bridleways on your doorstep and just a tiny bit less expensive than Dorking. Also, from villages such as Send you could have quite a nice ride into work along the Wey. Good luck anyway!