Closer to London vs much further out

[YolandaTheYeti]

Dh, the dcs and I are (finally) moving area (woohoo)! We have not been happy here and are so pleased we are finally able to make the move.

We had a list of possible options on another thread this week and we have now narrowed it down to;

1. move closer to London (dh works on the outskirts of London). His commute would be a lot better and I would have access to more work in London.

2. move right out to the sticks. DH would have a hell of a commute and have to work flexibly so that it would be viable; ie work three long days in the office and one from home. I would still be able to work, but it would be less due to dh’s longer days and also location. But, we could afford a bigger house, maybe detached and a bigger garden for dcs, (7mo and nearly 4yo).

Full disclosure; I prefer option 1. DH prefers option 2, as he doesn’t want to downsize to a flat, which we would probably have to do to live nearer London. In fact, he doesn’t really relish the prospect of downsizing at all, which makes moving closer to London very tricky.

Any opinions much appreciated.

Apologies for the second thread on a similar subject within a week btw, but it really helps to ‘talk’ things through and read others’ opinions.

not bristol - its expensive and far.

midlands might be good idea though :) its a big place, some of it quite rural.

I have some relatives near Leicester actually, so Midlands could be nice. Not that I’d see them daily or anything, but nice to have a connection.

Argh but what am I talking about? It isn’t realistic really.

Thanks, I think it would be fine with his work, but then we’d need to find accommodation for dh on those days which would be expensive

Ah I see. The people I mentioned at my work are put up at the expense of the company. I guess it's different if someone chooses to move away though.

Yes, I think the company would say no to that... If he was recruited in and said from the get go that he needed to commute from Newcastle or something, maybe they would foot the bill, but I imagine it would look a bit cheeky to ask now. He has one colleague who commutes from N Ireland! Wonder what he does...

Thanks, I think it would be fine with his work, but then we’d need to find accommodation for dh on those days which would be expensive

Airbnb? It could still be fairly cheap for a couple of nights a week. My mortgage for a 3-4 bedroom house in the South West is about half the rent I was paying for a tiny zone 2 studio.

I think your dh is set on the idea of living in the sticks hence why he is inferring you can only afford a flat but I don’t like the idea that he gets you to move out of London where you can’t work you are left looking after children then he stays in London during the week.

I would not be moving that far out in those circumstances

There are houses in the Windsor area for your budget. I think you can get trains from Windsor and Eton Riverside to Feltham. I don't know Windsor well enough to comment on the area that the houses are in.

I would move further out of London in the direction of DH's work so he could have a short commute or commute into London in the future if e changed jobs. In the long run you'll probably appreciate more space, more choice of schools, less crime with growing DC.

Look along the railway line from Reading to Feltham. Reading and environs ( Winnersh, Wokingham etc) might fit the bill and you could afford a house.

Have a look at where the Elizabeth Line will be going (when it opens!), e.g. Southall. I also think London is safer for teenagers than somewhere remote and quiet

Does living in the sticks need to be as far away from London as Bristol or Birmingham though? You could live somewhere like Essex which is largely rural and still be close to london. I think you could get somewhere detached with 3 bedrooms quite easily in your budget.

The reason we thought as far as Bristol / Birmingham is because it would need to be significantly cheaper to justify the commute. Essex probably isn’t much cheaper than where we are currently and would still be a long commute.

Maybe something in the middle though, like Oxfordshire or Hamish, might work if dh could do flexible working.

I love Windsor, but the nicer parts of Windsor are still £££££.

What area are you currently in? Sorry if you've already said.

Ah I've just seen you dh need to commute Feltham. Sorry, didn't read it properly! Haha yeah that would be a hell of a commute!

Why are you sticking to £450000 for either Birmingham/Bristol area or Kingston/Windsor/Sunbury area.

Surely if you move closer to his work not only will you be able to work if you want but the transport bill and Airbnb/apartment/travel lodge will mean you have significantly more available funds each month and could afford to up your budget.

From a quick look on Rightmove I am getting the impression there are 4/5 bed detached houses on estates around Birmingham a few miles from the station
But in the area nearer London you are looking at you will get 3/4 bed semis or a few detached on similar looking estates.
If you upped your mortgage then you probably could afford a much better place around London area.
If you can’t afford to then I would question if you can afford £450000 around B’ham/Bristol.

Neither area really looks like they are in the sticks.

I get the impression your dh wants to drop you in a farmhouse miles from anywhere and he disappears back to London.

If you take into account that you are the one not wanting to move to the “sticks” how will you feel being moved to a part of the country you don’t want to be in and left to look after dc whilst your dh high tails it back to London Monday to Friday

No, I said £450k max! For further out we’d hope to pay less.

If you are looking at Kingston/surbition then also look at chessington. Can be cheaper than the first two but mainly it is still nice and you could get a house for £450k

Oh thanks! Hadn’t thought of chessington.

We are in London, zone 5, outskirts so far as 800 m from my home there's countryside.
My DD got a job in the CIty, she can be at her desk within 65 min of leaving home (which has a much lower value than 450K)
My son goes to Uni in London and again is there within one hour. (train and tube).
From the age of 14 they were using public transport to go to other parts of London.
They both walked to their schools and I was able to pick between jobs in Central London and South East.

There's so much more offered for kids as after school activities nowadays. Garden is important, but a small one for us was enough as they stop using it from the age about 11-12 for playing in and now is more about lounging and reading a book so it is nice to have that outdoor space. We have parks 5 and 20 min walk.

Feltham is grim! And be very aware of the impact of a new runway at Heathrow will have on houses prices in that area. It’s already crazy disruptive.

What about a lovely village outside of reading? You’re still on the feltham line, not close to Heathrow.
Beautiful countryside but within a decent distance of both reading/oxford/London

How cute is this little house!

m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/48956443?search_identifier=20a41da4fbc5d7f929570d1644f13c82

No, I said £450k max! For further out we’d hope to pay less

So what do you think you will get for lesser money in B’ham that is going to be any different than what you can afford in Surbiton area for more.

Remember both Birmingham and Bristol are commuter cities. I know a few school children and adults who make those journeys every day. I don’t think they are as cheap as you think.

Why is your dh so insistent you can only afford a flat around the Feltham areas you are looking at

I think I said maybe Bristol or the Midlands. Not necessarily Birmingham or Bristol. We could definitely afford something more central to Bristol than we ever could to London. Not that either of us has our hearts set on either one of those places.

Bristol on the outskirts but centrally I wouldn't think you could get much different on the outskirts of London.

I wouldn't think the upgrade in house would be worth not being able to work.

I am interested in how you are going to feel dropped in the back of beyond whilst your dh is back in London when I think you aren't that keen and he is the one pressing for the move yet won't be joining you.

I would not live in either Feltham o r Sunbury.

Staines has a good town centre.

What about Maidenhead? Cheaper than Windsor.