Wanting to move closer to London - Looking for suggestions on areas

[LeaFinalGirl]

Hello, I want to move closer to London and am looking for recommendations on the best areas to move to within 1.5 hours train journey of London.

Also would love suggestions on where to NOT move to.

We will be looking to do a house swap (social housing)
We are a couple 40 & 46 with no kids, so schools don't matter.
Looking for somewhere a bit vibrant/diverse but not too crazy, would love some green space/nature for walks etc.

Must have good transport links to London
Must have a local cinema
Reasonably low crime rate

Any recommendations really appreciated! So far I've been looking into the following places

Greenwich, Blackheath, Watford, St Alban's, Winchester, Woking, Richmond, High Wycombe, Guildford, Harrow, Letchworth, Rugby, Welwyn garden city, Finchley, Hitchin, Leighton Buzzard, Windsor, Brentwood, Horsham, Wokingham, Newbury, Sevenoaks, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Redhill, Bishops Stortford and Stevenage.

What do you guys think?? Thanks! 😊

I'm in Havering, the Easternmost London borough. The nicest parts are Upminster, Hornchurch and Gidea Park.

Fantastic public transport links especially from Gidea Park which is on the new Elizabeth Line, with direct trains into the city, West End and Heathrow. Because we're in a London zone (6) the fares are low and trains run frequently and uanntil late. All 3 areas have decent pubs, restaurants, cafes etc. Hornchurch has an excellent theatre, The Queen's.

Romford is the main town centre, it's a bit of a dump unfortunately, like so many, but handy when you need the big chain stores or the cinema etc.

We have some beautiful green spaces - Raphael Park, Hornchurch Country Park, Bedfords Park, The Manor/Dagnam Park, Langtons Rainham Hall...

Just a few mins drive away around Brentwood it becomes very rural. And it's about 40 minutes to thrle coast at Southend/Leigh-on-Sea/Chalkwell.

It's a pretty diverse area with a lovely community. We're very happy here as are the majority of our friends.

What's your budget OP?

I live in East Dulwich which has everything you require but it's fudging expensive here (Leaving as soon as I can to the East Midlands!)

Market Harborough is s nice and under 90 minutes on the train.

Avoid North Kent. (Shudders)

Brighton? Lewes? Shoreham?

Op is looking to do a house swap, she presumably doesn’t have a budget.
Where are you now, op? I doubt many Richmond residents are champing at the bit to move to Hull, for example.
You might need to manage your expectations.

High Wycombe and Redhill are not great if you are looking at the social housing areas.

You have quite a list! St Albans, Sevenoaks, Woking and Windsor are much more affluent area then Hemel, for example.

I second Romford/Hornchurch/Upminster.

Although it's sadly going downhill fast, it's still for now a safe-ish bet compared to surrounding areas.

With social housing house swaps, are you more /less likely to get a house swap to some locations than others?

When you say "local cinema", do you mean independent not chain cinema, or just that there is a cinema in the town?

The ones on your list I know about:

Watford - trains take 16-22 mins to Euston, very frequent. Also on the tube (Met Line and London Overground. Perfectly nice town, good shopping centre, all the amenities you might expect, not particularly pretty. Nice big park /nature reserve. Two chain cinemas.

St Albans - about 20 mins to London (Kings Cross or other Thameslink stations). Very desirable for London commuters. Very attractive market town. Expensive house prices. Lots of independent shops /cafes /restaurants as well as chains. A billion threads on here about moving to St Albans. Independent cinema (the Odessey)

Letchworth - nice town, bit further to get to London. Maybe 30-40 mins on the train? Don't know about cinema.

Welwyn garden city - similar to Letchworth in my mind. Don't know about cinema.

Hitchin - similar to St Albans, maybe a bit smaller? Very desirable, expensive house prices, further away from London though. Don't think it has a cinema of any kind.

Berkhamsted - quite small. More like large village. Expensive houses. Independent shops /cafes. Independent cinema (the Rex).

Hemel Hempstead - modern, generally fairly unattractive. Pretty boring town centre. Chain cinema. Not sure why you'd move there, out of everywhere on your list.

From what I've observed it is a case of getting what you can. I'm sure you could find something in most of these areas

Letchworth Garden City has a cinema, Hitchin doesn't.

Stevenage is a lot bigger so you are more likely to get a social housing swap.

Greenwich, Blackheath and Richmond are all in London and are nice places to live.

My expectations are managed just fine, why assume otherwise? This is something I've been thinking about and looking into for some time. *[post edited to remove location]

I've had a lot of interest from people in many areas and had many conversations but still unsure so want to just make a decision and not waste anyone's time.

I've been offered numerous swaps from many places and don't need to just get what I can. Yes I can find something but I'm not desperate and don't need to settle.

Thank you, I've heard a lot of good things about these areas. There is a lady in Greenwich who might want to swap so I might go view her house as the area seems lovely. I've not yet seen anyone trying to move out of Blackheath or Richmond so must be very lovely areas!

Ooh thank you for that information. I couldn't live without a local cinema lol. I've seen quite a few people from Stevenage swapping so that might be a good idea to look into properly

Bromley

Okay thank you very much for that info. I've lived in some great social housing areas and some not so nice areas so just trying to be really careful where we go

Horsham is good. It has a cinema and a theatre (which also does some cinema screenings at a very reasonable price). It has easy access to good walking areas and a direct train to London (Victoria or London Bridge directions).

How do you qualify for social housing as single middle aged couple? Not digging just very curious. Would not occur to us to apply but similar demographic

Greenwich and Blackheath are lovely areas. I know this area very well so if you're curious about the exact area/road/estate they are offering, then I'm happy to advise. Social housing in the borough of Greenwich is mixed.

We have family who have lived in Stevenage I wouldn't particularly recommend it as a place to live.

Redhill town centre is going downhill, doesn't feel nice community wise. Has a rundown vibe.

As a compromise Reigate is close and much nicer if you can be near there - you have a lovely large park in the town centre.

More going on in Guilford in terms of shops and arts.

Horsham is nice - decent park, has a theatre and independent cinema.

None of these places I would describe as diverse - the only place in Sussex I can think of that is diverse is Crawley.

I lived in Greenwich and really liked it.

Have you moved now? If you're still considering, also consider Booker/Cressex area in High Wycombe. 30 minutes to London Marylebone, good access to M40, John Lewis nearby, Marlow is only about 10 minutes drive for fancy restaurants, nice neighbours and natural beauty. Booker (HP12) is particularly nice (near Booker common) with relatively lower price compared to other towns nearby (Marlow, Amersham, Beaconsfield). Good luck with your move :)

Hi OP I know this is almost a year old but did you manage to find anywhere.
I am in a 2 bed HA flat in Harrow. Very close to Rayners Lane station which has Piccadilly and metropolitan lines into central London.
please let me know
thanks