Where to live within 1 hour commute of london

[magicalmollie]

Hi everyone
I am moving out of London in 2 weeks, with my husband and daughter, we were going to stay here but our house fell through at the last minute. Now we are going to have to live with my folks in Hampshire till we find somewhere.
I really need to find a lovely place within an hour commute of london for my husband (including tubes etc, so no more than 45 mins on the train). I would like to stay south london as I really want to be near my parents who live in Alton in Hampshire. We have quite a good budget.
Somewhere friendly with good schools and lots of families with small children, my daughter is 2 years. We were thining of Elvethem Heath in Fleet, but I don't like the town so much. I like guildford but hardly anything ever comes up.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Feelingreally worried and stressed as we are going to be homeless and livinv with my parents isn't ideal. Also I don't want the house market to suddenly go up, and then what I got for my house isn't worth as much. And storage for my stuff is so expensive!
Sorry about the long post. Just trying to get as much information in as possible.
love M

[preggersplayspop]

How about Esher, Weybridge or Walton on Thames? They are all about half an hour on a fast train into Waterloo. I think there have been a few threads on living around these areas which you could search to get a feel for what people think about them. Plenty of people around here who have moved out of London when they have started families.

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

Haywards Heath?

I think that's about an hour or slightly less from Victoria.

It's a nice place, Mid-Sussex, in lovely countryside. I think the schools are pretty good too.

[amidaiwish]

SW London? Twickenham just 22 mins to waterloo, teddington/strawberry hill more like 40 mins but some fast trains at rush hour so 30ish mins. Best primary schools in London. Absolutely tons to do for kids and lots of parks etc.

Esher/Claygate/Weybridge/Walton all v good commute.

really depends on budget and type of house you're expecting to buy.

[Overmydeadbody]

Well Cambridge is 45 minutes from London via a direct train, but maybe the wrong side of London.

[magicalmollie]

Hi
I really wanted to be no more than 40mins from my parents so twickenham etc is a bit far.
I'm looking for a three or four bed between 4 and 5 hundred.
love mollie

[EyeballsintheSky]

Epsom is very nice, lots of nice schools and families here and very green considering it's only 40 minutes from Waterloo

[maddylou]

Godalming is great and so are the schools

[ComeOVeneer]

Thames Ditton. Good commute into Waterloo, good schools, loads of green areas (Hampton Court, Bushy Park, Richmond Park). Good journey to Hamphsire (my parents live in WInchester). Good shopping in nearby Kingston upon Thames. We moved here from North London 2.5 years ago and are very happy.

[cluckyagain]

Godalming, Guildford and the villages surrounding - Cranleigh, Shamley Green, Dunsfold etc. Pretty but good access - fast train is 35 mins from Guildford.

[FritesMenthe]

My friend lived at Elvetham Heath from when it was new until last year, with her DC, and loved it. Lots of children, and the primary school is good. Quite a self-contained family-oriented community. She only moved to go deeper into the proper countryside.

[hf128219]

Woking. 25 minutes to Waterloo. 15 min drive to Guildford for nice shopping.

[CMOTdibbler]

My friends live in Elvetham Heath with their DD, and the school on the estate is very good, plus has a linked nursery who do before/after school care and a holiday club. They tend to shop elsewhere than Fleet, but theres loads to do locally.

[missingtheaction]

Godalming gets my vote - one of the top 10 places to live in the UK according to Kirsty and Phil and one of the top one according to me. this house is (i believe) under offer/sold for about £430k.

Reasonable trains to London; good schools private and state; everything you need locally inc two big supermarkets and proper high street but Guildford only a hop and skip away. Lovely spot.

[magicalmollie]

Thank you all so much for your advice, keep it coming.
Can't believe how nice everyone is taking time to answer.
lots to think about.
Wish I could look into a crystal ball and know what I should do!
love M

[hf128219]

The main thing to me is the commute - and never under estimate it. I work in London, live in Woking. 15 minute walk to the station, 5 minute wait for the train, 25 minutes to Waterloo. So that's 45 minutes already. By the time you get down to the tube it's more like 50/55 minutes.

A lot depends of your dh and what he is really prepared to do commuting wise.

[amidaiwish]

and his hours too. we have friends who moved just a bit further out from us and seemingly just an extra 5 mins on train. But, trains only 2 per hour so in reality often 30mins later getting home, missing the kids at bedtime. That can be tough for dh's (and you!)

[hf128219]

That's another reason why Woking is good - there are 9 fast trains from Waterloo between 17.00 and 18.00 and 6 fast trains from Woking between 07.00 and 08.00.

[dorothygale]

I know people who moved from godalming to fleet and find the commute from fleet loads easier.
Also it depends where in London he has to get to- eg which mainline station is best.

Woking area is supposedly good ..

[HerHonesty]

have you tried Hartley Wintney, which is near Fleet and Elvetham heath but with much more character and lovely community.

winchfield is nearest train station. both state primary school and private schoool are "excellent" rated.

[HerHonesty]

if you dont know the area

www.hartleywintney.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=49

[Egg]

Winchester is great. And you would be just about at the right budget I think to get something (there's a 4 bed house for sale in next road to us for £495,000 but have seen cheaper).

DH commutes to Canary Wharf. It is 55 mins on train into Waterloo. He prefers the commute from here than from SW London where we were before even though it takes 40 mins longer. He sleeps or reads on train.

Not too far to Alton either .

[Meglet]

Basingstoke really is quite nice. If you live not far from town on the south side near the M3 your DH could probably walk to the station but you'd be on the right side to get on the Alton road to your parents house. Lots of fast trains to London, IIRC they take about 45 mins.

[Egg]

Sorry, re-read your OP and see you said no more than 45 mins on train. Winchester may be a bit too far then, but it is nice though!

[HerHonesty]

oh i was going to add winchester. dont some of the trains make it in under 45? worth looking at.