To think the place DH wants to move to doesn’t actually exist?

[AngeloMysterioso]

DH and I are desperate to move for a number of reasons, but mostly because we hate our flat and we hate our neighbours even more. DH is also desperate to move out of London.

We can’t take my income into account for a mortgage as I’m currently on a short-term contract with no guarantee of a permanent role, which has obviously had an impact on our budget. Our current flat is shared ownership, which I’m happy to do again as we’ll only be in the next place for a few years, until I have a steady salary and we can go somewhere better. However DH is refusing to consider it unless we can get a 75% share which isn’t going to happen.
Otherwise the criteria is this:

• Budget: £240k outright or £300k Help to Buy (in which case it has to be a new build)
• Ideally a house, or a flat with outside space/a balcony
• Minimum 2 bedrooms as we hope to start ttc reasonably soon
• Within 1.5 miles of train station; I can’t drive and DH doesn’t have a car so needs to be walking distance
• Max 1hr train journey to London; we both work in the City
• Max £3.5k annual season ticket; we currently pay £1960 in Zone 4
• Ideally not a crappy area, but obviously anyone would say that!

DH is turning down virtually everywhere I suggest as the commute is too expensive/we can’t walk to the station/it’s a rough or rundown area. There just doesn’t seem to be anywhere that fits the bill, at least I haven’t found anywhere after many evenings searching!

It doesn’t exist, right?

Kent?

You might get something in Crawley / Three Bridges if you can use Thameslink to get the season ticket cost down (Three Bridges is marginally cheaper for season tickets as there is a choice of routes). There are nicer places if you go further south, but the ticket price also increases. However, anywhere in that area has (in)famously unreliable trains at the moment.

A few places that might end up within budget and have gardens (there’s a lot more choice if you’re happy with just a balcony)

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65889667.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64986982.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73345508.html

Or if you wanted help to buy and are ok with just a balcony, there’s this development

if you're thinking Haywards Heath - then maybe Burgess Hill - £4k for a season ticket, www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64600000.html £230k?

Season ticket from Hitchin is 3.9k to "London Terminals" Kings x I guess) or 4.2k including Thameslink which you'll probably want if you work in the city. I don't think you will get much cheaper.

Bit over budget but also a 3 bed www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55356102.html

This is nice. Help to buy. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70634933.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/fullscreen/image-gallery.html?propertyId=65815846&photoIndex=1

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66323977.html

I could keep going... loads of option in budget and within a mile of station.

Would you consider getting bikes? That would increase your distance from station.

Leigh on Sea?

Long Buckby in Northants?

Maidenhead if you can squeeze a couple of hundred more on the season ticket.

£3.2 k commuting costs

Folkestone has a high speed rail link. Not sure re cost of season ticket but £240k would get you somewhere with 3 beds.

Are you not better off staying out until you are happy with your work situation? Then you’ll have the budget to get somewhere that works.

Croydon? Bits of it are quite nice, specially if you're willing to go a mile or more away from the train station. (We didn't, we lived 5 mins walk from the station and really liked it.)

High Wycombe? Shorter train journey but season ticket including tube is £4.4k and just to Marylebone is £3.6k.

Aylesbury

Basildon, you'll get a 2 bed house for that of you move quickly but there's been a lot of up market development lately and prices are rising quickly.

35 mins from Fenchurch St and very reliable trains. Some rough parts but on the whole not bad at all.

Leicester is an hour and 5 minutes by train. You can get a lot of house for 240k here and it's a very nice city to live in.

Avoid Hitchin! Lovely place but the train service got completely messed up in the recent changes. You could consider Stevenage, which while not as nice, still seems to have a reasonable train service.

Personally, I'd go for Petts Wood. The 2 bed would cost you somewhat more than your budget, but I think you'd find the travelling reasonable (the Evening Standard stated a while back that the Petts Wood area is best when considering season ticket price/length of journey/house price all together). Orpington has frequent fast trains into London Bridge/Victoria.

Royston? Not sure of season ticket costs, but you could definitely buy a property for that.

I'd second that if you work in the City then you want to look at train lines coming into the east or maybe north central London. I commute into Paddington and have a tube journey which takes as long as the train.....plus be realistic on trains. It's all very well saying "an hour is fine" but when that hour turns into an hour 15 or worse for 60% of your journeys it really starts to get you down.

Ramsgate. Admittedly it's 1hr 15 on the high speed link into St Pancras. But it's where we're going for similar reasons.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1111&maxBedrooms=3&minBedrooms=2&sortType=1&propertyTypes=detached%2Csemi-detached%2Cterraced&primaryDisplayPropertyType=houses

I used to live in Chelmsford so I'm all too familiar with expensive and unreliable train services! I'd be happy to wait until my work situation is steadier but DH is just desperate to get out of our flat and I don't really blame him- between how hot it gets, how small it is and our neighbours constantly smoking pot which comes in through our windows it's not a very pleasant place to be.

East and west malling? Wateringbury?

You want to look north east from the city. Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Hoddesdon, Ware, Hertford East. Or Stevenage or Hitchin.

A fair few new builds going up in each town and reasonable transport links/costs.

Kettering Northants. Both 1hr commute to St Panc. You can get a 3 bed for around 200k and with the spare spend the extra on commute (it's about 5k)

What about a job change for your Dh? Is his job only available in London or could you move elsewhere?

We have lived in several places for Dh's job (never London though) and we now live on the outskirts of Leeds.

Your budget would buy you a 3 bed detached house outright or at the to end of your budget a 4 bed detached house in catchment of outstanding primary and secondary schools.

A season ticket from my local station into Leeds would be, brace yourself, under £500 for the year, yes £500 not thousand.

Recently viewed this property but DH refused because he thought the garden was too small. The development was nice but I prefer older properties. Your op made me think of this house in particular though. Worth considering the genrral area though. Quick train ride into London, gentrifying town centre, easy to get into the countryside. Saw some nice victorian houses similar distance from the train station as well but they needed a lot of work

www.haart.co.uk/buying/3-bedroom-semi-for-sale/peterborough-cambridgeshire-pe2/hrt030010169/