More of a WWYD? / WWYM? (where would you move?)

[YolandaTheYeti]

Any ideas at all please?

We are planning a move away from our —naice— affluent market town. It is in Berkshire with very good links to Reading and ok links to London. DH works near Feltham on the outskirts of West London. It’s a longish commute for him (50 minutes by car, about an hour and half by train and bus), and we don’t have any family or friends here, so it’s sort of the worst of both worlds. We’ve decided to try and move before eldest dc starts primary school if at all possible.

I work flexibly in the evenings and weekends, so location isn’t really a consideration for me work-wise.

Options are:

A) move really close to DH’s work, obviously shortening his commute. We’d have to downsize, probably to a flat. Not sure about schools there either. We’d be nearer London, so more work opportunities for me, (realise I’m contradicting myself a little here as I just said it doesn’t matter where we live for my work! Both statements are true though if that makes sense).

B) move somewhere with a shorter commute to London but not that close to DH’s work. Job opportunities would be better for me as I could access London more easily and DH’s commute would be better. We could move to a less expensive town and downsize, saving money on the mortgage and possibly meaning we could stretch to paying for private school for dcs, but don’t know.

C) move somewhere well outside London, (midlands or West Country maybe?), with a similar commute time to what dh has now, but cheaper housing, so we could have a bit more space.

D) move a short flight away, (where I am from), with DH working some days from home and having to commute by plane to his job. This is the one I’m most reticent about, but I can also see the benefits to us moving there; cheaper housing, family nearby etc.

B.

Though whatever you do, don't move to Feltham. If you do decide to move near by, Hampton and Teddington are both lovely, though pricey.

Thanks peach!

Oh right, is Feltham that bad? I’ll have a little look at Hampton and Teddington.

I always found Feltham really grim but to be fair it's been quite a while since I lived round there. Hampton, Teddington, East Molesey, Surbiton, parts of Kingston, all lovely. And obviously Richmond and Wimbledon but they're a bit far out and very expensive. Avoid Hounslow.

Thanks, I really like Surbiton and Kingston. Hadn’t thought of East Molesy. Wimbledon might be a good commute, but as you say, pricey.

Oh yeah, my sister loved briefly in Hounslow and wasn’t keen.

Lived*

I lived in Surbiton for a few years and loved it. I'd move back in a heartbeat if I could afford it. Such great links to central London but still a lovely villagey feel. I'm very sad not to live there any more tbh.

You could look at Staines/Egham - very close to Feltham and an easy commute to London.

Or further down the line you have more expensive areas - someone has already mentioned Teddington, you've got Richmond, Barnes, Putney etc. Or perhaps Ealing?

Otherwise you could look at other places on the rail line to Feltham like Camberley or Wokingham.

Ds has been at university in Egham for the past 4 years and says it has most things he needed. Staines supplied the rest. Egham has a nice Waitrose and a Tesco, good restaurants, a Costa and a cracking charity bookshop. Access to London was easy, and £9.80 one way I think.

Thanks both.

Yes, I sympathise with the homesick feeling peach! I miss my home town a lot too, but sadly, I think that’s a no go. I don’t want DH doing that bonkers plane commute every week and neither does he.

I am quite happy to leave Berkshire tbh, so don’t think we’d go for anything like Camberley / Wokingham etc. It’s just so expensive here but also a bit of a shlep to dh’s office. We’d love Richmond, but don’t think we can afford it really. Not without massive mortgage. Will look at Barnes & Putney too.

And thanks scary, I’ll look at Ethan too.

Egham*. Who’s Ethan??

Barnes and Putney are both gorgeous but maybe a wee bit pricey given the distance DH would still need to commute. I'm so envious, you're moving to the best part of the world imo!

Ooooh... I’ve just seen somewhere a bit lovely in Surbiton... Excited!

We need to sell our house first though, so probably shouldn’t get too carried away.

Does anyone know what Lower Sunbury is like by any chance?

Have just realised that option C doesn’t really exist. Could do somewhere like the midlands or West Country, but it would involve a much longer commute. Would only be doable if dh could work flexibly and commute a few days a week, as with option D.

Just moved from Hampton to the Midlands, avoid Feltham, Hounslow and parts of Hanworth. I love Lower Sunbury by the river but parts of Sunbury are grim. Hampton, and Hampton Hill are lovely but to be honest I'm glad we had the chance to move away. London life wasn't doing it for me anymore!

Lower Sunbury is nice, still very close to feltham (probably 10/15 minutes depending on where in Feltham) but much nicer. Lower Sunbury is generally nicer than the other part of Sunbury, I would look South of the roundabout towards Kingston rather than north towards Feltham if you have the option!

Hmmmm I know why you say that re London doris.

I think option C might be worth looking into. DH would still have to do a big commute at least three days a week, but maybe it would be doable from somewhere like Bristol or the Midlands if he could work flexibly. Don’t know though. The realities of that mightn’t be so nice and we still wouldn’t have any family nearby.