Looking to upsize near London for our growing family

[emmarose94]

Hi, myself and DH are looking to uproot from our 2 bed flat in Ipswich to a 3 bed house good commuting distance of London as we currently have a 2yo and want to expand our little family in the near future.
Myself and DH have both recently gotten positions in London offices and so are looking to settle somewhere closer by simce we feel that an almost 2 hour commute every day door to door is getting too much for us both.
We're used to Ipswich's fairly run down high street and so we're looking for somewhere a tad nicer to raise children with good schools nearby and good green spaces. So far we've looked at areas in Hertfordshire - particularly Bushey as we've heard good things about schools there.
Our budget is around the 450-500k mark. Does anyone have any insight into good commuter spots near London that would suit our budget and needs?

Manningtree?

@emmarose94

In which parts of London are the offices you will be working in?

I'm based near Islington and hubby is based in Chiswick.

@emmarose94

I wonder whether somewhere on the Eastern side of the Elizabeth Line would work for you. It's very fast.

The advantage would be that you would also be within reach of Ipswich, if you wanted to visit family or friends.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/elizabeth-line-map.pdf

good advice

You can get to Euston from Milton Keynes in 35 mins. Not sure what the tube the other end would look like for Islington and Chiswick, but you’d easily get a nice house in MK for your budget.

Bishops stortford, ware or Hertford

We will look into this. Thanks!