£400k budget, 2-3 hours from London - AIBU to ask where you would live?

[HensInTheSkirtingBoard]

DP and I currently live on the Surrey / London borders and want to move.

We have a budget of approx £400k (although could be stretched a little for the perfect place) and I will need to be in London for work, max once a week, so needs to be commutable within around 2.5 hours on the train.

Minimum 3 beds, good size garden for chickens, bees and veg (yes I know it's a cliche )

No new builds or 'executive' estates (sorry). Quirky is fine.

Would like to be within walking distance of a village at least (don't want to have to get in the car if we run out of milk) and ideally somewhere that has a bit of a 'community' feel - pub, cafe, etc.

No school-age kids so we don't need to worry about catchments.

Where would you move to in our situation?

Also in Hampshire have a look at New Forest around Ashurst where there's a main line station. Convenient for the coast too. Brockenhurst is great but very expensive.

I would like to live bear Poole/ studland in Dorset. The studland beaches are my favourite U.K. beaches (prefer them even to Cornwall) and I’d love to live a few minutes away (currently around an hour).

@HensInTheSkirtingBoard come and look at the Fens. Cambridge itself and South Cambs are expensive. But have a look at Ely and the surrounding villages, lots the fit your requirements. Ely is 1.20 into London.

Suffolk and Norfolk will also have properties that are well within that price bracket and lovely.

Another vote for Cardiff. Awesome place to live, lots to do, great beaches and mountains within easy reach as well as all the cultural stuff you’d expect from a big city.

Stony Stratford or Stoke Bruerne in South Northants, might need to up you budget a bit though.

Another vote for Bedfordshire (central or north). Ampthill is lovely as is Woburn (though that might actually be bucks). Only a ten minute drive and then less than 1 hour train into St Pancras too!

I'm in Kent and we have the high-speed to St Pancras so can we in London in about an hour.
I love being close to the coast so Whitstable, Hythe, Sandgate, St Maragrets would be lovely. £400k would get you something quite nice too.

Try Ely or Littleport in Cambs. Definitely within your price range and an hour 15ish from Kings Cross

Honeybourne - its a tiny village but has a direct train to London!

Look at the trains on that route too. The villages. I think it goes Cambs, Waterbeach (pricy), Ely, Littleport and then into Norfolk is Downham Market, Watlington and King’s Lynn

The Suffolk coast, for sure.

No. The locals have grown very weary of outsiders moving here over the last couple of years. You will not be welcome. That goes for the entirety of Suffolk not just the coastline.

Wilmslow? Direct train to Euston in 2 hours but a small town with lots of nice walks.

York. 2hrs to KingsX, fab bars and restaurants, and it’s in God’s own county Yorkshire 😂😂😂

@mygenericusername

The Suffolk coast, for sure.

No. The locals have grown very weary of outsiders moving here over the last couple of years. You will not be welcome. That goes for the entirety of Suffolk not just the coastline.

What a load of bollocks

Norfolk

Look at suburbs or Reading. We are buying a 4 bed house for under £400k. Short journey into Reading and 20-30 minutes in the train into central London.

Suburbs of Reading*

You may call it bollocks. I call it experience @ lcdododo.

10 years in the Suffolk countryside and I’m still very much an outsider.

The locals are absolutely sick of people coming here, buying up property and creating a need for further housing.

As in Cornwall, the people will be friendly enough but you will not be welcome. This may be different in towns like Ipswich but in the ‘naice’ villages it is very much a reality.

Warwickshire!

York is just under 2 hours on the train and you'd get a cracking house for 400K. Plus it's a lovely place to live.

I live near Bournemouth and love it here. Two hours on the train direct. Coast, countryside and lots of entertainment all available

If you are going to commute you might think about convenience of particular terminals.
We now live in Poole which is incredibly dreary if resident. Car essential many busses stop at 6.00pm. I would not advise anyone to have to use Waterloo, it can feel a long way out especially if you need Mayfair or City.

We used to live East London so could go to Mile End for District Line or Central line. Central Line is good and fast.
Liverpool Street is good for Central Line
Northants gets you into Euston, Milton Keynes has fast frequent connection to Euston. I think Wellingboro and Peterboro go into Kings Cross.
When we lived in London car only used once a week sometimes, (We used it for caravan week-ends mostly).

We considered MK, stayed there for a weekend as a trial, but it is so sprawled and the buses are not easy. Car essential to get to station I think.

Kings Lynn. And they’ve prepared the veggie patch for you already.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74878629#/

@mygenericusername

The Suffolk coast, for sure.

No. The locals have grown very weary of outsiders moving here over the last couple of years. You will not be welcome. That goes for the entirety of Suffolk not just the coastline.

'You will not be welcome'. Charming.

Try St Neots area of Cambridgeshire. Fast trains get you into kings X in 40 minutes and some nice villages around that vicinity