3 bed house somewhere NICE to live within 45 mins journey of paddington for 350k?

[Spuddybean]

DP has been offered a job in Paddington for 75k. We currently live between MK and Northampton, so the commute would be too much (DP already commutes to London but the extra journey to Paddington and one day per week to Uxbridge would be a commute to far we feel).

We have a small baby and i don't earn enough to cover childcare so no wage from me.

We thought that on that money (which we consider rock'n'roll wages) we could find somewhere nice (i grew up in chiswick and my friends and family are still there - so as i am now home with the baby - it would be lovely to be near people i know who could support me, rather than isolated in the middle of nowhere like i am now). But the banks will only offer a 300k mortgage with a 50k deposit (which would mean using every penny we have put by and our pensions). Sadly even with that i can't find anything remotely suitable.

DP is not keen on urban living so we would need somewhere more leafy. He is not from London and wont contemplate rough areas (he considers clapham/battersea rough). We wanted chiswick/richmond/wimbledon areas.

I just can't believe that on 75k we are struggling to find somewhere nice to live, which would mean dp didn't spend more than 2 hours travelling.

Oh, and it couldn't be outside London as we couldn't afford fares on top of the mortgage. (mortgage would be £1600 per month)

If anyone has any ideas i would really appreciate it. Ta. :)

[LittleTyga]

Crossrail is being built at the moment and will come from the west through Paddington Station - and out to the east have a look at the areas it will cover and when it will be operational from (can't be much longer they have been building it for years around here now!) Maybe East London might be an option?

[Spuddybean]

Thanks for the suggestion Tyga, but east london is not really an option. I would still be isolated and i don't think the areas are 'nice' enough for dp. We used to live in isle of dogs (mudchute - which i loved) and i worked in Stratford and he hated it. However, i must confess i don't know the areas too well.

[alison222]

Ealing? Brentford? Hanwell, Uxbridge, Ruislip, Harrow? All easy to get to both Paddington and Uxbridge - and some of them are on a direct line to Paddington.
Try looking at the train stops for the Heathrow connect and the trains to Slough or Reading as they may help.

[Spuddybean]

Thanks for the suggestion alison - sadly ealing is too expensive, brentford (i went to school there) not on the tube, hanwell and harrow are hideous. Uxbridge anywhere nice is too much and it is too close to hillingdon for my liking really!

[Spuddybean]

also i think the fares are quite high on the heathrow connect as you can't use oyster cards.

[Bilbobagginstummy]

Newbury?

[Bilbobagginstummy]

Henley?

[LadyKooKoo]

What sort of property are you after?

[LadyKooKoo]

This is in Ealing. I know it is small but it is nice and could be a stop gap until you are working again?

[Spuddybean]

Aren't newbury and henley outside London and quite expensive? That would mean commuting cost and time. We already live outside London and DP pays £500 per month in fares so with a higher mortgage we couldn't cover it, we may as well stay here.

The one in Ealing is sweet (near my old stomping ground!) but we need 3 beds and i wont be going back to work for years so no chance of an extra wage to help out.

hmmmm I think dp will have to turn the job down and we'll have to move to the USA with his work :( (which is the only other option) I just really got my hopes up about living near family and friends.

[JessePinkman]

Would you rent somewhere instead for a while?

[JessePinkman]

Chiswick

[LulaPalooza]

Putney

Don't like the bathroom and it looks like a 1960s terrace but not too bad for £350k and Putney is an ok area.

[LulaPalooza]

Oh dear, they could have emptied the bathroom bin!

Just did a search for properties in your budget within 5 miles of Paddington. There are some ok places, some not so great ones. If you lived within 5 miles your DH could cycle to work

[Spuddybean]

the putney one looks nice - i am surprised i thought putney would be well out of budget.

We wouldnt/couldn't rent really. It would be too much money (all the places are about what a mortgage would be or more) and you couldn't make it your own.

All the areas i know round paddington are rancid - i was born in harlesden

Sorry i'm being a pain - i've just been told the wedding reception we had planned on in less than 2 months is a no go and i am having to accept i can't have one. It will just be a miserable registry office service then home for us. i am crying now :( today is full of disappointment

[LulaPalooza]

That's not in the nicest part of Putney and I think the house will turn out to be 1960s (hence no external shots).

Yes, there's loads of places in Harlesden/ Willesden area... I wouldn't live there either and I live in Sarf East London!

There was a relatively nice place in Bermondsey in the search I did. I had no idea that Bermondsey (which is near where I live, in Rotherhithe, is only 5 miles from Paddington. Actually, I think it probably only is as the crow flies. But, there are plenty of places in London that are commutable to Paddington. Try doing a 5 mile radius search.

Oh hon, you really are having a totally crappy day, aren't you? Why is the wedding reception a no go? Can you do the registry office then a nice meal somewhere? for you x

[mummytime]

Why not Maidenhead? It's outside London but only £250 a month season ticket, and you can get lots of 3 bed houses for your price range. I would look at the price of train tickets on the national rail site before discounting outside London. (Schools can be better/slightly less hard to get into too.)

[Spuddybean]

we had to rush the wedding for a us visa, because dps job is going to the US (hence why we are looking for an alternative here). The first venue we booked called 3 weeks ago and said they had double booked. The second place a friend works at so has saif they would do me a discaount, knew the budget was 3k and have strung it along for 3 weeks 'putting together a great deal'. It turns out the great deal is £65 per head for a buffet and £5 per glass of juice/bubbles plus £1500 venue hire. So it works out £6000.

i am gutted, i am just so disappointed.

Cheers mummytime - i was thinking maidenhead but don't know the area at all. Not sure if the £250 is doable with the mortgage. I'll see how long the journey is. :)

[alemci]

Nothwood Hills, Pinner, Ruislip Mannor, Ruislip (expensive), Ickenham all easy to commute from. The Watford branch of the Met line from Harrow is slightly quicker than the one going to Uxbridge and you get more fast trains.

[LulaPalooza]

Oh man, that sucks.

Can you find a nice restaurant, book a table for 20 people, don't tell them it's a wedding reception and have a lovely boozy meal?

Don't get disheartened about a move closer to London. There are loads of places out there. Agree re Maidenhead

[Spuddybean]

i just feel there are so many caveats to everything. dp is so fussy when it comes to area and size - grew up on farms and doesn't really understand city space restrictions or why thing are so expensive when they are so small and in what he deems as shit areas. he guessed a flat in battersea would be 40k!

same with the wedding. everywhere in budget is shit. very frustrating.

[SunnyUpNorth]

Poor you,hope you get the wedding sorted. Perhaps hire an area in a nice bar or restaurant and do a more casual affair? Could still be really nice.

I don't know Acton very well,but when someone mentioned cross rail I immediately thought of it as I think it is one of the areas due to be regenerated with the cross rail going through it.

I can't link from my rightmove app on my phone but I I did a search for 3 bed flats in Acton and some really nice period maisonettes came up. I know it is a flat rather than a house but if you found a garden flat on 2 floors it would probably still feel quite like a house. It could be a worthy compromise given what you would gain lifestyle wise from your move.

Good luck with it all.

[BettyandDon]

If I were you and location was important, I would buy a 2 bed in the Chiswick/Richmond area. We are around here and have a smallish 2 bed with huge garden which we bought for £265k a few years back. It's now worth just over £300k as we did it up. It would be ideal to buy somewhere that you could extend in future (lofts maybe). Most people I know on £50-75k have 2 beds unless they have ex-pat contracts or rich families. We are about to have another baby, so there will be 4 in this place, but really we don't mind about kids sharing as we love the area. It's very family and tons of green space and I'm not ready for the burbs yet.

[nancerama]

RG4 postcodes are nice places to live - a walk or bus ride to Reading station, then a 30 minute train journey. RG4 isn't far from beautiful countryside. Season tickets are £4.5k a year though, but you get more house for your money than living in London. That's why so many people commute from the Thames valley.

RG31 postcodes are also nice, but less rural - you get more for your money.

Wedding reception - try restaurants. Often places that don't usually do weddings will get quite excited and push the boat out to make your day special. What area are you looking at for the reception? Can we help you find somewhere?

[firsttimemama]

You can use Oyster on the Heathrow connect from Paddington to Hayes so that would not cost extra.