Where in the UK meets this criteria?

[indigox]

Currently in Edinburgh. Need to be closer to London for bfs job. I've only ever lived in the north west of England and Edinburgh so really have no idea about the south, and there's only so much Google can tell you

Looking for something that meets this criteria:

• 2 hours max from London via train - but this train journey cant be extortionately expensive (difficult I know), ideally no more than £250 a month for 2 days in the office weekly (ruled out way too many i shortlisted myself)
• Close to a main airport (30-45mins car journey)
• Large 3 bedroom house with garden for £1600 pcm or less
• A town/city that actually has something to do during evenings/weekends and cafes/bars/restaurants, I don't want travelling into London to be the only way we can do stuff especially if its reaching our max 2hr desired commute.
• Good secondary schools (DS needs extra support)
• Near countryside but not "rural", I don't want to have to drive everywhere for a basic shop trip and so on

Then all the generic safe, low crime rate etc.
We have family in the north west so ideally an easy rail connection there but this isn't a big deal as we can always just connect via London.

Some places I'd looked at and thought may be suitable were Swindon, Newmarket and Royal Lemington Spa but other than them meeting the commute, and rental prices I don't know much about these places and train prices are SO high 😖.

OP's train budget is for 2 days a week. Most train companies (certainly South Western Railways) offer a two day a week season ticket for around half the price of a standard one. Guildford to London flexi season is £210 for 8 journeys - roughly twice a week each month.

Horsham, West Sussex

Swindon is under an hour on the train to London, very cheap to rent, definitely fits the semi rural box too. Has bars and restaurants, depends what your style is and how snobby you are.

Thanks, I'll look into these. I do think that all of these criteria will be hard to meet but I have a very idealistic bf who seems to think somewhere exists out there we just don't know about it 😆

Needs to be in the Tower Bridge area, I don'tknow enough about London to know whether this makes it harder

If you were looking Midlands around leamington then rugby is the fastest line.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132131714#/?channel=RES_LET

£1650 so slightly over budget but I think worth the extra £50

Peterborough isn't anything like as bad as it's made out to be and is surrounded by lovely villages like Helpston and Fotheringhay. It's about 50 minutes to King's Cross.

Used to commute two hours. (Pre pandemic) to London my season ticket was over 10k per year! That was when I was going into London five days per week and inc zones 1-6 on tube .

Long. distance commuting isn’t cheap, but bearable if you are on a fast line not London.

Which London station will the commute be into?

Chippenham, Diss/Norwich, may fit your criteria can be in London (Paddington or Liverpool Street ) in two hours or less. Not sure on rental prices, but both areas have enough going on.

Pre Covid a friend was paying just a tad under £1000 per month to commute daily between Lichfield Trent Valley & London Euston. Also Lichfield wouldn't really meet the "stuff to do in an evening" criteria, although Tamworth probably would.

Oh, and it doesn't have 'home counties' house prices either.

Kent? Rochester,Maidstone?

50 mins fast train
11+

Tamworth had absolutely nothing to do in the evenings, Nuneaton even less so.
Lichfield is nice with good cafes pubs and restaurants, but rent is quite pricey.

I’d look somewhere along the Waterloo to Reading SW train line - Wokingham was a good shout. You’ll be close to Heathrow and a train pass for 8 journeys is about 250 a month.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133250438

When you say "Tower Bridge area" do you mean North of the Thames? In which case look at the train lines running into Fenchurch Street station; or do you mean South of the Thames? In which case look at train lines running into London Bridge? As PP has mentioned travelling across London can add a LOT of time to your commute. The train journey for my commute is 35mins, but by the time you've added in walking to the station, allowing for arriving 5 mins before the train arrives, once in London walking to the tube platform, waiting for a tube, walking to the office at the other end, the total commute door to door is 1hr 20mins - and that's with one fast tube. If you're changing tubes you'd have to add more time.

Tower Bridge is East London so you should look at places that travel into London Bridge (Thameslink) so that brings in Sussex or from eg Essex into Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street. If you go for somewhere going into Victoria, Waterloo or Paddington that will add at least 30 mins onto your journey to the Tower Bridge area.

www.c2c-online.co.uk/our-network/our-routes-and-stations/ this is the railway line that runs into the nearest mainline station to that area (Fenchurch Street).

For just over 2 hours commute you could move to Paris. Don't know what the rental prices are.

York is similar vibe to Edinburgh and 2 hours to London?

Newbury? Didcot would fit but woukdnt describe as that nice- however very easy access to nice countryside and Oxford it newbury

I think you would be pushing it on rent for a large3 bedder but these are an example-

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133470416#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132729173#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132729173#/?channel=RES_LET

Wow, that is a lot - presumably less for 2 days a week though? I think the Op might have this problem with a lot of the suggested commutes, train travel is so expensive. It's many years since I lived in Lichfield, but there are some nice pubs and restaurants for the evening as well as the small theatre. It's a lovely city.

Come to Liphook. 1 hour fast train to London and A3 outside your door. Most of the town is walking distance to a large sainsbury and a really good secondary school. 3 bedroom rental is about £1100. Train is not expensive

There's a place in Melbourn Cambridgeshire for 1,600, 3 bed plus garden and that has a secondary with autism cabins so would imagine reasonable for SN. Train costs may be a bit higher and its not a huge place but has train to Cambridge and basic shops etc and very safe.

Windsor & Maidenhead area

Something like this in Reading suburbs- Reading isn't the prettiest place out there- but great connections, and not bad for shopping etc-

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132915620#/?channel=RES_LET

Hertfordshire? Not so sure about schools but somewhere like Welwyn Garden City or Stevanage/Hitchin as someone else has mention tick most of those boxes