Where should we move to?

[FlimFlamFlom]

Just that really. Selling our house in London and want to rent outside of London for the next 2-4 years before we move to my home country. Budget up to about £1800 pcm for rent, would like a 3 bed house with garden.

• DH needs to be within an hour's commute of central London, ideally coming into London Bridge, Charing Cross, King's Cross, Paddington. Don't want to have to drive to a station so needs to be somewhere that has a station within walking distance.
• Have young DC so near decent primary schools, doesn't matter about secondary as we'll have moved by then
• Near nice countryside
• Good facilities - shops, restaurants, things to do etc

Any ideas to help us narrow it down?

St Albans sounds perfect for you

Yes, I thought st albans. Are all the schools oversubscribed? As we will be moving we'll after the primary school application deadline sadly.

What areas of London do you like? That may help give an idea of potential areas outside of London that you'd enjoy.

By 'nice countryside', do you mean places where you can cycle/walk/etc? Or do you want nice views? Or a village-y feel?

Folkestone! High speed rail to St Pancras, easily within your budget and by the sea!

We live in Lewisham and we love it here. We have also lived in Islington and liked it there, and DH grew up in Hackney. But we are looking for a non London lifestyle now. Somewhere we can go on easy country walks.

it depends what school you are looking at. it might be worth contacting a few schools (depending on when you are moving of course, obviously not worth contacting now if you are moving late next year!) samuel ryder primary is worth a look, as is mandeville primary and cunningham hill.

Worth a read (about Folkestone) www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/travel/a27583394/why-folkestone-is-kents-most-underestimated-seaside-town/

Don't flame me, but I've been to folkestone a few times lately as my friend lives there, and I didn't like it much.

Hahaha! No that's ok @FlimFlamFlom - you don't have to live there!

I loved Deal, but it's just too far away to commute really

Deal is where all the well off middle aged folks live, it is the Hampstead to
Folkestone's Hackney

Hitchin! All of the primary schools (bar one) are excellent. Fast and regular trains into several London stations including kings cross. Lovely little market town- much nicer than St Albans in my humble opinion and you can probably get a bit more for your money too.

How about Lower Earley? Changing at Reading for a direct connection to Paddington. The schools are good. Nice for kids.

Hackney is pretty well to do these days!

Here you are- even found a house in hitchin for you 😊 (any excuse to go on rightmove). Within easy walking distance of both town centre and train station, and under your budget. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-85062065.html

You can probably get more for your money in other places but the trains from hitchin are very regular and the fast ones only take about 30 mins direct to London.

Hitchin looks like a great bet.

I do hope we can shift our place in London.

Hi all, I’m trying to decide to stay put for secondary schools or move. If we stay, we likely get Samuel Ryder but I am worried the results are not the best and considering a move to Sandringham, where I am concerned the pressure may be too much. Like Beaumont but too scared to risk the catchment lottery near it. Be great to hear from people with kids at those schools..... it’s difficult with SRA being quite newly turned around to know how it will turn out......how big a gamble is it??

Can anyone help with Parmiters entrance exam? Has anyone managed to get in. Is the academic route? And if so, any tips are greatly received!