Renting, not buying unfortunately. We are looking for somewhere up to around 50 minutes on the train into London, and no more than £2000 a month for a 3 bed house (ideally less if we can ever hope to buy a house in the south). We are in York, and it's a beautiful place I'll be sad to leave, but it's much too far to commute.
I have a few 'would be nice to haves' and a few 'must haves'.
It would be nice to find somewhere that either has a village/historic feel with great family facilities (even if it's actually in the middle of sprawling suburbia) i.e beautiful shopping streets(I'm thinking a bit like York) and a gorgeous large park with really good play equipment and space for picnics...not just some scrub land to walk the dog. Either that or we'd like somewhere with lots of countryside i.e woods and great walks on the doorstep.
Previously I've lived in Milton Keynes (not keen on going back. I found lots to love about it, the shops, the restaurants, the lake, but it wasn't really us.)
And Leamington spa. I LOVE Leamington and also Kenilworth, Stratford, Warwick, and would love somewhere closer to london that has a similar charm (the community, play parks, history etc), but DH is the commuter and he isn't willing to commute more than 45 minutes because he finds it stressful and we both want as much family time as possible.
What we must have are: Excellent state schools (great results and a safe environment), or maybe an affordable private secondary school for our eldest (definitely not more than around £6000 a term or we'll be living on baked beans). Our eldest is laid back/possibly not hugely academic so a grammar isn't something I'd want (on the other hand she needs to be somewhere that will get the best out of her and push her a bit). The youngest are too young to worry about yet!
I've had a look online and some places that looked interesting from photos: The chilterns area, Marlow looked lovely. St Albans? Guildford? Some bits of surrey i.e near Virginia Water. Kingston upon Thames?
Where else can you get to in under 50 minutes?
I've not idea where to focus our search, help!
Unfortunately Winchester (York of the south) and Leamington are too far out.
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Relocating for job in London. Help deciding where to look for houses?
75 replies
notanotherunicorn · 22/01/2018 23:52
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Lalalaleah ·
23/01/2018 02:12
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