If you left central London to move further out...

[ElkieMacjibe]

Do you have any regrets? Where djd you move to?

Affordable is very subjective isn't it. Our 3 bed flat is worth around £550k. I think in the next few years we could stretch to £700k. If we could stay on a tube line that would be good. Have looked at places like Wanstead. To stay where we are is millions for a 'normal' house so lottery win territory only sadly!

Watching with interest. We're currently SE London and need a house soon as due with baby #1 and we're already outgrowing our two bed flat (double + a box room). Budget for a house £500-520k, looking for good schools, nice local area with parks, restaurants etc. Toying between moving a little further out to e.g. Streatham, West Norwood (but not totally convinced on schools etc) or taking the plunge and heading to Guildford where I grew up...

One silver lining I'm really hoping from CV19 is the normalisation of wfh, if we can get to a scenario where DH and I both do a day or two WFH (so it's only a long childcare day on one or two days a week) then being further out looks much more attractive.

I've rented in zone 1 and now live in a house in Leytonstone (zone 3/4). For me it's perfect - I couldn't personally cope with full on "suburbia" but here we have a great community, quiet residential streets and loads of open space within walking distance plus the tube within 10 mins walk and then under 20 mins to Oxford Street. You could get a 3/4 bed house here for 700k (and I'm sure in lots of other similar places too).

That sort of money would buy you a bog standard 4 bed 1930s semi with garden in Barnet on the outer reaches of the northern line OP, it definitely is not a swanky area and nor are the houses visually as lovely as you'd expect when spending three quarters of a million pounds but schools are good, some good green spaces, you have the overground train as well as the tube so good links to central London and very easy to hop up the M1 to your relatives in Herts.

This is the kind of thing you could buy:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66374970.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65520195.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64350354.html

Zone 2 to a bit further north in Zone 2. No regrets.

We did look at Hertfordshire as have friends in a few towns but ended up staying put. In all fairness though we did manage to buy a house which helps as we have a garden and plenty of space ( I have always worked from home).

I would like a bigger garden but not so much that I would move for this.

If we could stay on a tube line that would be good Epping?
Can I suggest Bishop's Storford as well. It has everything you asked for.

I know the Barnet roads @maxelly linked to very well, and they’re definitely worth looking at. But you if 30s semis don’t do it for you, there are quite a few Victorian terraces tucked away behind the Spires shopping centre, or Edwardian semis near the tube.

@SomethingNastyInTheBallPool out of curiosity how does it compare to places like East Finchley, zone 3 but still has a 'london feel'?

I don't exactly regret it because it was the right thing to do at the time. DC have had a safe childhood with clean air, quiet, friendly neighbourhood, loads of countryside to run around in, very low crime, excellent schools. But I am still passionately in love with the area of London where we used to live. I'd move back like a shot and keep looking at houses in the area where we used to be, even though they are ridiculously out of our price range now. But DH wants to live in the countryside when we retire. Not sure we'll ever resolve this one.

Interesting a few of you saying Stortford as that is the frontrunner if we properly leave London. I think it's only viable if we could work from home a few days and only commute in a couple of times a week otherwise we are giving up a lot of time with the kids. The other complication is the two places we would commute to if we kept current jobs are Holborn and Canary Wharf, not the easiest. Keep the location suggestions coming though!

Before covid I'd always pick a place that I could commute to central on a bike so basically 10 miles one way was mg limit.

I've gone from renting in east dulwich to buying in Penge which is zone 4.

Suburbs and close enough.

But now if wfh is going to be the norm e.g 3 or 4 days a week I think I could move out further and get a bigger place or even a detached house!!! That would be bliss - no neighbour noise!

@Desiringonlychild In what respect? It has a very different feel from East Finchley, which feels more traditional Victorian terraced North London, and is much less green than Barnet. Barnet’s much hillier, so you get sweeping views over to Ally Pally, Canary Wharf in one direction and green belt Herts in the other.
It’s much better for shopping than East Finchley, though EF is closer to the delights of Muswell Hill.
Houses in EF are a lot more expensive, otherwise we might have considered it. (We needed to be in the borough of Barnet and not Haringey or we might have looked at the Ally Pally side of Wood Green.)

@SomethingNastyInTheBallPool yes i live in EF and am walking to muswell hill to do my shopping. EF is also quite near to highgate woods(20-25 mins walk from where I am) so we go for walks there.

Does it feel more 'suburban' and faraway from central london. Is it culturally diverse? One thing i like about EF is that i feel like its very easily accessible to central and i get the best of both worlds- central london, the good schools of the suburbs, cultural diversity but also more gardens. Even my 2 bed flat has a garden!

@SomethingNastyInTheBallPool its very interesting about the shops. Yes is it mainly the spires shopping centre or are there more shops?

@desiringonlychild I agree with @SomethingNastyInTheBallPool , definately a step more suburban than E Finchley although plenty of cultural and ethnic diversity still, it is London after all! Just that most people are there for the exact reasons OP is looking, wanting substantial houses with gardens and big schools, so it does tend to mean more predominantly families and older people, whereas in E Finchley I think you tend to have more young couples and maybe houses of young professionals sharing in the mix?

There are more shops other than the spires, there's a high street but it's more useful everyday shops like Boots, banks, post office, charity shops than 'naice' organic cafes and artisian bakeries if you see what I mean? And the spires itself is, ahem, compact, no patch on Brent Cross or Westfields as a shopping centre either

Most people would pop down to Muswell Hill or Highgate or Hampstead if they want upmarket (none of these are far away at all, within cycling distance or a short bus ride), or into central (which is hardly far away!) for clothes or 'special' shopping beyond their everyday needs. But Barnet isn't a total desert, there are some good small theatres and music venues dotted around the place, lots of great small food shops (just not fancy ones), pubsl, there's the everyman theatre which is good...

OP Wanstead is £££ but your budget would get you a four bed in highams park, possibly north chingford, walthamstow, all with great transport links. I’d avoid the northern line!

What about Sevenoaks? It's very lively but also very green. Lots of fast trains into the city and the West End (London Bridge, Cannon St, Blackfriars, Charing Cross and Waterloo.) Very few other commuter trains go into both City and West End.
Don;t know about schools but it seems like a lovely place to raise a family.

Whatever you decide, I'd rent for a while. Don't give up a 3-bed in London until you're absolutely sure.

@Desiringonlychild, I agree with everything @maxelly says. It’s London and therefore culturally very diverse. The usual London mix, and notably lots of Greek and Turkish Cypriot and Iranian families and businesses (and restaurants!) The same ethnic groups as EF, really, as it’s just up the road.

Cockfosters, which is basically part of Barnet, has some very good restaurants.

I do think some of the older residents are more staunchly Tory than in other parts of London I’ve lived in, but that’s changing as more families move in from elsewhere in the city. We still have a Tory MP but it’s a marginal seat.

We have fabulous parks, especially Trent Park, which reminds me a lot of the Heath and shits on Highgate Woods and Cherry Tree Woods from a height.

Moved to Wimbledon and then Hertfordshire. We left for the kids - we'd move back for us.

We moved from Zone 1 (EC2) to a central bit of Zone 2 (NW1). We're still quite central, but it's a very different vibe - quieter and more community-minded. We're less well connected (one tube station and an overground plus a few buses, whereas we had 2 tubes, 2 mainline stations, overground and loads of buses before) but it's still fairly convenient. We're still close to lots of touristy bits, which we love walking to (during normal times). I'd never want to move further out than Zone 2. We moved mainly to be closer to DH's work, and there were also specific schools which we wanted to be near. All of us can walk to school/work now, which is still important to us. I expect DH will return to his office as soon as he's able to.

Moved from Zone 2 to Berkshire. Really happy I did. Single with 1x child. We have a great life, closer to family, fairly good schools. Nice town, good community of friends. Great amenities (hoping for use them again soon!!)

Moved from zone 1 flat to zone 2 house. I hated it at first but now love it. I don’t ever want to leave but am considering looking for smaller place but with a bigger garden. Area has changed a lot.

On the flip side... has anyone managed to defy the odds and stay in London? I just don't see how we can do it even with a budget that is reasonable.

Moved further away and settled finally in Milton Keynes. Love it here