Can you help us to find an area to live in (South East)?

[londonlostsheep]

Can you help us find an area to live in?

If you have any knowledge of this part of the country, I’d be really grateful. We are going around in circles trying to find a place that meets most of our requirements:

⁃	Easy commute to Waterloo station, London. Ideally no more than 1hr if this is possible. 
⁃	Easily accessible to Hereford by train - ideally a direct line (or direct to a station that we can get a cab to / easily pick guests up from). 
⁃	Easy access to Heathrow or Gatwick. Ideally around 1 hr. 
⁃	A nice high street / cafe culture / sense of community / some culture / nice restaurants.
⁃	Suitable to raise a young family (baby + dog).

We have no links to anywhere in the UK other than Hereford. We’d like to be able to get there as easily as possible (via car and train) to maintain links with family and our only support network in the UK. However, we need to be near London for work.

We have considered:

Guildford: We love Guildford town centre. It’s a good commute to Waterloo. The issue is that there’s no good train link to Hereford (Guildford to Reading, then change on to Hereford) but this is still a front runner.

Oxford: We really like the town centre and it’s easy to get to Hereford via train and car. However, unsure whether commute will be manageable when considering travel to station + train to Paddington + tube to Waterloo?

Reading: We haven’t visited Reading yet. What’s it like? It’s good for transport to Hereford and a decent commute to Waterloo. Is it a nice city?

Part of the problem is that we don’t know any of these areas well so it kind of feels like sticking a pin in a map and hoping for the best! We will rent before we buy, which offers some flexibility, but I’m nervous to make the wrong choice with a small baby.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Reading is ok but nowhere near as nice as Guildford. To be honest, I'd focus on south west London near the M3 and M4 and look at their train services to Waterloo. The links to Hereford are not super simple from London and you'd be going to London more frequently than there, so prioritise the commute.

There's a triangle between Richmond Park and the M3/M25 junction and the M4/M25 junction. This is close to Heathrow and includes some Londony places and some more Surrey-y places.

Somewhere in the Woking area? Fast train to Waterloo, theatre, Guildford nearby, but a bit cheaper. The only caveat is transport link to Hereford, but I think that’s the same wherever.

How long a commute would be acceptable to Waterloo?

Reading is not that nice compared to Oxford and Guildford.

Winchester Area.

Fast train to Waterloo (DH commutes to the city).

We are at Heathrow in an hour.
Direct trains to the Midlands on Virgin XCountry and so links to Hereford.

Gorgeous place to live. Vibrant. Great schools.

Try looking at Wokingham. It's near Reading but has a nice family vibe and lots of green spaces, good schools. You're then on the M4 to get out west. There's a train into Waterloo from Wokingham but it is long and stops everywhere. But there's also the option to drive to Twyford and hop on the fast service into Paddington or the Elizabeth line into Paddington.

Epsom? New Malden? Worcester Park? What’s your budget and what are you looking for?

Windsor?

The train from Reading to Waterloo stops at every station in between (and there are many) and takes at least an hour and sometimes up to 1.5 hours depending on time of travel. It's not an easy commute.

The issue you have is that it's mostly trains from Surrey/Hampshire which go into Waterloo, and trains from Berkshire/Oxfordshire which go west to Hereford. I don't think you'll find one location which ticks both boxes.

Somewhere near Basingstoke would get you an easy Waterloo commute, and then you could drive to Reading for travel to Hereford. Reading itself isn't great, but there are nice areas in it like Caversham. Basingstoke isn't great either, but there are nice towns/large villages nearby.

Reading isn’t a city. It is grim - overcrowded, dirty, poor facilities.

Budget?!
And for what type of property?
How often will you travel to either destination?
I am in one of the towns on the train line which runs from Waterloo to Reading. That seems ideal, just depends how close you want to be to London.
Second Wokingham. Don’t like Reading. Or if the London commute needs to be prioritised then maybe around the M25 area. Staines upon Thames? Very good transport links and much cheaper than Richmond or Twickenham. Would be around £2 - 2.5K for a 3 bed.

Unless you want to go via Birmingham, trains to Hereford leave from Paddington. You can go via Oxford or Newport in Wales. Total travel time is about the same
Some of these trains will stop at Reading.

Thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to reply. Lots to consider and I’ll be checking out all of the locations suggested!

To answer some queries / provide some more info:

Completely appreciate what everyone has said about the difficulties in being close to Waterloo but also near a good train link to Hereford.

DH will be commuting into Waterloo 2-3 times a week. I’ll be on maternity for 1 year. Understand the need to prioritise DH’s commute but also worried about being isolated and keen to try and make travelling to and from Hereford as straightforward as possible with a baby and small dog.

After maternity leave, I’ll also need to commute into London 2-3 days per week.

Looking to rent a 3 bedroom house with small garden. Currently paying around £2750 for small three bed flat with amazing balcony views but no outdoor space. Budget for a house around £3000 per month.

In the future, would like to buy 3-4 bedroom home in a nice area - budget likely to be around £750k. Appreciate this may not stretch far in Guildford?!

Thanks. Think we’ll scratch Reading off the list!

1 hr? We have been fortunate to have 30 min commutes so far so unsure what is manageable.

I live in Horsham and it’s the best town ever in my opinion :) close to Gatwick, easy to get into London but not direct to Waterloo and not an easy train ride to Hereford at all. But has a great cafe/pub/restaurant culture etc. to be honest I think you need to decide which in your list is the top priority

Thanks, will check it out!

I agree we need to make a priority list. Thanks for your help.

Guildford still seems to be a top contender. Anyone have any experience of Guildford?

No experience of living there but it’s a lovely town with great shopping, roads can get busy on the weekends because of that. I’ve always said if I didn’t live in Horsham, my next choice would be Guildford, although it’s a bigger town and I think a bit more expensive

Dorking, Leatherhead, Ashtead? Shorter commute than Horsham but not far from airports or Guildford.

Guildford is my nearest big town and one of my daughters lives there.

I think it's a great place to live - it's a decent commute to London, there's a direct train to Gatwick and Heathrow isn't far.

It's a good size - has a theatre, the G Live theatre/conference/music venue, the cathedral and a number of smaller music and arts venues. There's a big leisure centre with ice rink, bowling and swimming pool with slides etc. There is also a sports park, an outdoor swimming pool, and various gyms.

There's a (small) castle, a big park and it's surrounded by lots of lovely green spaces. The university means that there are always young people around.

There are some great state secondary schools but as you'd expect house prices are much higher in the catchment areas of those. If you're Catholic you will have access to a very good one. There are also a number of excellent independent schools in Guildford and the surrounding area.

Shopping is not what it was. There is a good selection of shops but in the last few years the two department stores (Debenhams and House of Fraser) have both closed.

It has a safe feel about it. My daughter (in her mid 20s) has no worries about walking around by herself at night and nor do I when I go in.

Possibly consider Fleet where I am.
Ticks the commute box.
High st isn’t the greatest but lots better than many other small towns, plenty of eating and drinking options. Some great pubs in surrounding area.
25 mins or so to Reading but that’s driving. Same to Basingstoke on the train for big shops.
Certainly a lovely place to raise kids imo, good schools, superb countryside, feels safe.

Egham? Henley and surrounding villages are nice.

Personally I can’t stand Guildford. I lived there for 5yrs and found it dull, lots of chain shops and restaurants, very samey.

Are you both going to be in London on the same day? I would try and live a short commute from work as having to rush home if nursery phone you with an ill child, or the train line is down and you can’t back back, it’s much easier to be close especially if you don’t have a support network.