where to go from London with a young family???

[Riella]

Hello,
I'm in need of good advice. We had to come to terms that we simply cannot afford to live in London anymore. Just piling depts, no chance for meal out or any holiday etc. spite we both, DH and me working.
He works full time, i do part time as we have two children under 3.
So the question is WHERE to go? He works in Hoddesdon (EN11) and would love to find somewhere within an hour drive (30 miles). Preferably somewhere to the south or east from his work. As we never lived anywhere else except London I havent got a clue where to go or even begin the search.
So added a young couple with 2 young child. Where can we find cheaper properties (i will be really cheeky now and let say £700 for a 3 bed house/flat with garden) to rent with reasonable facilities to suit our young family close by?
Would love to hear any suggestion such as town names, websites. Absolutely anything that can be useful.
Many thanks :)

[LittleFrieda]

Have you looked at Ware of Welwyn Garden City. Nice places to live with a young family and within the commuting distance you said.

Good luck.

[LittleFrieda]

Ware OR Welwyn Garden City

[Riella]

Now i have, thanks! :) They are not bad, would probably prefer Welwyn Garden City.

[ColourMeWithChaos]

Hitchin maybe - is 22 miles from EN11, is a market town, not too quiet but not too busy. Not sure how cheap rentals are there though.

[ColourMeWithChaos]

Letchworth Garden City is nice as well.

[bruffin]

I live in Cheshunt and dcs go to school in Hoddesdon. Cheshunt is not exactly fashionable but there is plenty for a young family to do. My dcs are teens and love it here as there is so much for them to do.
If I were to move it would probably be to Ware or Hertford, but just had a look and you would be extremely lucky to get a 3 bed for 700. Even in Cheshunt there is nothing really under a £1000.
Harlow is cheaper but I work there and really wouldnt like to live there.
There is this in in Saffron Walden within your price range. Saffron Walden is a lovely town, but not sure what there is to do there though.

[Riella]

Thanks again for all your replies, lovely places on offer! But nothing is that much cheaper compare to London. Oh dear, I was expecting to find properties under 800 but hardly anything there. An other area within?
Anyone else with local knowledge? Please help!

[ColourMeWithChaos]

Really don't think you're going to find much under 800 for what you are looking for in an area within that closeness of London that has lots of facilities and is suitable for young families.

I live further out in that direction and you'd struggle to find anything in that price range here.

[TantrumsAndOlympicGoldBalloons]

You would have to go further out for that price.
Have you looked at sawbridgeworth and it's surrounding villages?
My mum lives near there, 3 bed properties approx £800, cheaper if you look at villages like Thetford. It's on the train line that goes to broxbourne and rye house so quite easy commute if you go by train.

[TantrumsAndOlympicGoldBalloons]

Not thetford, that's Norfolk, sorry mind a bit urgh today. Bear with me

[Bossybritches22]

What line of business is your DH in, OP? Is it transferrable? The area youa re looking at is still expensive.

There are other areas of the country that might be needing his skills & are much cheaper.

BIG upheaval I know!

[TantrumsAndOlympicGoldBalloons]

m.rightmove.co.uk/quickPage.html?page=8&cc=html5%2Fhomepage.html%3Fgoto%3DHOMEPAGE#details

m.rightmove.co.uk/quickPage.html?page=8&cc=html5%2Fhomepage.html%3Fgoto%3DHOMEPAGE#details

[Riella]

pfffffff! Im searching all morning and now i see it is kind of hard. Im looking on Zoopla where i can see ratings on different aspects of the searched area. We then just have to stick with 2 bedroom properties for now as the kiddies are still under 3.
I guess for another 2-3 years (or until i can go back to work full time-but then again it depends on nursery costs) we can manage as long as the living area is spacious enough and we got some outside space.
DH loves his current workplace/job as he works there for quite a while so i cannot see him leaving just now.

[goingtoofast]

Welwyn Garden City is lovely for a young family but has a really small rental market - everyone is either a home owner or council tenant. Pushes up the rental prices.

[bruffin]

What about Stevenage, seems to be cheaper property there.

[Riella]

hello again,

we are now considering Ware and Welwyn Garden City.(thanks Littlefrieda!) So far we find them the most suitable. Loves Hertford as well but heard that finding a good schools really difficult, you actually have to live next to certain schools to get in them.
So the question now is about the schools and nurseries.
How long does it take (approx) to get a nursery place in one with a good Ofsted report? And (if you know) how much they charge?
How about schools?
We are a mixed race family so is there any concerns to any ethnicity?
Any more local info would be greatly apprechiated to ease the stress of making this decision. :) Any advice on what area to stay away from if renting etc.
Again, many thanks for all answers :)

[Craftyone]

Hi,
I don't think they are places with a very mixed community but i think they are nice pleasant places to live. I visited WGC when we considered it as a place to live. I think nurseries will roughly be about £60 a day. We did drive through some quite rough looking places in WGC so make sure you walk/slow drive around the area first. Try to do this on a weekend when people are home so you get a good reflection. I think there was a nice looking bit quite near to the town centre but I can?t remember the name. I also remember thinking we had come accross some bargains but when we visited those areas they were not so good.

[Riella]

Thanks, for your msg Craftyone!
So nurseries are pretty much the same. That's how much we pay now. Not exactly good news. :/
Will surely have a good look around the area before we commit to rent but as i know nothing about the area i need some first hand info. And i just don't trust those letting agents. ;)

[allzwell]

Great Ashby and Chells Manor in Stevenage are good options. Plenty to do with young children, access to good enough schools and lots of greenery around. You will get a 2 or 3 bedroom house for rent at around £800 pcm. All the best!

[Riella]

Thank you allzwell! Heard about Stevenage recently, a friend of ours said there are beautiful parks and play areas but nothing further as they only visited the area as a day trip.

If anyone else has any suggestions, comments, ideas please let me know, i keep an eye on this thred. :)

[notcitrus]

You might have more replies if you ask MNHQ to move this into a different section - Ethical Living is very quiet and not really relevant?

[Riella]

im clearly new here
I dont really know how i ended up here to be honest but will follow your advice! Thanks