Living in Weybridge for a season

Most people who stay here are not moving to Weybridge. They already live here, or in Oatlands, Walton-on-Thames, Byfleet, Shepperton, Esher or Cobham, and they are staying put for a season while their own house is dismantled and put back together.

That changes what matters. Nobody needs an introduction to the area; they need the school run to survive intact. From this house the usual Weybridge and Oatlands schools stay in comfortable reach, which is generally the deciding factor in whether a family stays local during a build or gives up and rents somewhere cheaper twenty miles away.

The station is the second question. Weybridge sits on the Waterloo line, so the commute stays the commute. A renovation should not also cost you an extra hour a day.

For the weekends there is the river at Shepperton and Walton, the towpath, Brooklands for anyone with a child who likes engines, and the green edges of St George's Hill. In a build year, small ordinary outings matter disproportionately.

Then there is the site visit. Almost everyone staying here is renovating within twenty minutes of the door — close enough to be on site early, back for breakfast, and still make the school gate.