We moved from Lewisham se13 to south Kingston kt1 in 2000 and then to Surbiton kt6 ditton Road Southborough side in 2007, our children are in Tiffin Boys and daughter in TD Junior School, both schools are very good, if you have a 1m you should have a fair bit of choice, we are in a detached house and our neighbours is for sale for 1.3m but way over priced and has sat unsold since February! it s a great area and you wont regret moving im sure, good luck!

The problem with Surbiton is that it is not quite a cheap as it first appears. There are a lot of flats here which makes the average value look very cheap (especially compared to areas closer to London), but in reality a large detached house in a good area of Surbiton is likely to be quite expensive. When you come to look around the area, you will find the southern part of the area is not generally as nice as the northern part. A lot of this is known as ‘Tolworth’ but all comes under the Surbiton postcode.

I would avoid the much hyped ‘river roads’ area in your case. This is most people’s first port of call when moving from London to Surbiton, and it is attractive (short walk to the station, town and river whilst being reasonably quiet and leafy). It is the ‘urban village’ part of Surbiton with nice bars and cafes, but it really is dominated by flats meaning that the houses that do remain there are pricey. The standard 3-4 bed semis on roads like The Mall are pushing £1m now, and have small gardens. Depending on wherabouts in London you are moving from, you may find you don’t get much extra for your money at all around there.

The areas mentioned by Bloodaxe in the northern part of Berrylands are a good call with quite a few bigger houses and you get a bit more for your money around there. The further south you go, the smaller the houses become, and you get a lot further from station and facilities. Cranes Park is another nice area between Surbiton and Berrylands that has some nice houses, although may be pushing the £1m budget a bit.

Southborough is the posh, commuter belt part of Surbiton where it merges with Long Ditton and Thames Ditton and is very nice. A lot of the larger houses are astronomically expensive, but you should find a reasonably sized one for £1m.

I don’t know Thames Ditton as well, but it is a lovely area. It is much more of a proper village, quieter and more family-orientated than a lot of parts of Surbiton. The train service is slower and less frequent, but don’t get too hung up on that. It is still in zone 6, meaning that it is the same ticket price as Surbiton. Direct trains from TD take almost 40 minutes and only leave twice an hour (compared to 17-18 minutes, 10+ times an hour from Surbiton), but you are likely to get a seat on a TD rush hour service, where as from Surbiton you are sometimes lucky to physically get standing space on some trains at all! All TD trains stop at Surbiton, so you can always swap for a faster train if you need to.

The only other thing that I would miss in TD compared to (the right part) of Surbiton is the ability to walk rather than drive everywhere. Surbiton town centre is hardly a shopping mecca, but it covers all of the bases and is very useful to have within a few minutes walk. Kingston is a much bigger centre, and being able to walk there in 20 minutes from Surbiton is often preferable to taking the car meaning you will have to queue and pay for parking. With kids, driving is often easier anyway, so may not be an issue in your case.

Great, thx v much.

Both are great places to live and have their own merits but but based on your criteria, Thames Ditton may be better suited. TD Infants school is Ofsted outstanding and it is a very leafy environment within zone 6. Naturally, this makes it a popular destination for young families exiting S.London so the path is well trodden and you'll still need a lot of bucks for your bang. HJC estate agents are very active in both Surbiton and TD so worth registering with them to get some good comparables.