Most Londoners blithely assume that the further they are prepared to move out of the capital the cheaper housing becomes.
Raluca Mitroi knows that is not true.
Last summer the 37-year-old, her husband Athanasios, 39, and their two sons, Theodoros, seven, and Sebastian, five, made the move from commuter dormitory Borehamwood, 14 miles from the centre of London, to Tunbridge Wells, Kent, which is 36 miles to the south east.
Exchanging their three-bedroom house for an admittedly larger and brand new three-bedroom home upped their mortgage by some £200,000.
But the benefits of living in a thriving town with outstanding schools and easy access to the countryside has more than made up for the extra cost.
For Raluca, who works in finance, the trigger to moving out to Kent was being freed from her daily commute by the pandemic. She now spends one day a week in the office. Athanasios, a civil engineer, moves from site to site which means where he lives is less important.
“We wanted to go out into the countryside for a bit more fresh air and a bit less chaos for us and the children,” explained Raluca.
They selected Kent for its outstanding senior schools and checked out Tunbridge Wells after a recommendation from a friend. “We really liked the town, the high street, and the schools, and we decided it would be the right place for us,” she said.
Last summer the family sold their old house for just over £450,000, and paid more than £650,000 for a three-bedroom home at Berkeley Homes’ Hollyfields development, set on the fringes of the High Weald and a mile and a half from the town centre (hollyfields.co.uk).
Since moving in Raluca has been impressed by Theodoros’s school, by the busy calendar of events and festivals on offer in Tunbridge Wells, and by the sense of community.
To her surprise she has also discovered that Tunbridge Wells is more diverse than you might expect. “We have neighbours from all around the world, which is what I loved about London,” she said.
