Affordable, family-friendly commuting town near London

[giovanabrei]

Hi everyone
I'm new here and I hope I picked the right thread!
I'm moving to England in a couple of months, as my husband got a job in London. We are Brazilians currently living in Japan and we don't really know London except as tourists.
Our idea is to live in a commuting town approximately 1h from central London, where we hope we can rent a 3-bed house with a little more space for the kids. We have a 2yo boy and another bun in the oven.
I'm really worried we could miss out on something critical during our research and end up in a trap for not knowing the city secrets...
I'm also worried about some news about a "London exodus" and prices going through the roof in commuting towns...
Husband will work from home 3 days a week, so commuting costs will be reduced, yet not negligible. Any advice on this? AIBU? :-)

Horsham, West Sussex is lovely but you could probably only afford a two bedroom place on that budget.

If you go out far enough for property to be significantly cheaper, commuting costs will be very high.

I’d go for further out as commuting is only 2 days a week.

You could try Hitchin. Trains to Blackfriars cost about £27 per day return (journey time of about 45-55 mins), there wont be a huge choice for £1,300 per month but there will be some. Although, if you've been living abroad you may find that you'll need to pay six months rent upfront.

St Neots or surrounds is fine, trains to London frequent and take well under an hour but I'm not sure how far it is to Blackfriars from Kings Cross

@AKAanothername

You could try Hitchin. Trains to Blackfriars cost about £27 per day return (journey time of about 45-55 mins), there wont be a huge choice for £1,300 per month but there will be some. Although, if you've been living abroad you may find that you'll need to pay six months rent upfront.

Yes unless you have a UK guarantor do watch out for potential big costs with renting - though if your family income is triple the rent they are asking for it should be ok (tripple was the stipulation the estate agent had for me, could be more or less depending on who you are with).

@OhWifey

St Neots or surrounds is fine, trains to London frequent and take well under an hour but I'm not sure how far it is to Blackfriars from Kings Cross

About an extra 20 minutes

Also commuting only two days a week will not mean only 2/5th of the commuting cost, as expensive as London season tickets are, they do reduce cost per journey quite a bit.

A season ticket from my station to London (allowing for annual leave) averages out as £18 per day. However buying a daily ticket is about £28.50 per day.

Pound Hill, Worth in Crawley. Fast train to London every 10 minutes in rush hour from Three Bridges that take 35 minutes.

I think flexi tickets will be coming soon as lots of people won’t be going back to the office 5 days a week.

It's technically in London but you can rent a 3 bed house in Wallington for 1500/month

There's good schools, it's close to loads of stuff, there's pretty good transport links although not ideally suited for Blackfriars, although a quick ride to hackbridge would put you onto a direct train line

The commute will put you a bit over budget though

Affordable is the tricky bit here. If he only needs to go into London two days per week could he commute slightly longer? You could explore Uckfield or Crowborough in East Sussex which has a line up to London Bridge but will be a bit longer than an hour.
Or you could try Horsham or Billingshurst in West Sussex which would probably be about 1hr 10 on a line that goes into Victoria

You could move to Plumstead which is on the direct line to Blackfriars, somewhere like this

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/46409286?utm_source=v1:5bWFDybfWx7C7AGpeagt7mP3PgcqjuqJ&utm_medium=api

A single fare is £5.80 so definitely achievable

YY to your income being 3x rent. They’re are ways round it, such as paying 6-12 months rent in advance.

In terms of areas many parts of Kent, Bromley, Chislehurst, Orpington a bit further out Tunbridge Wells is lovely too. you’d get a small 3 bed semi for £1500. But as many have said the costs of commuting would be far more than you’ve budgeted for.

I'd go for Bromley too. But looking at Zoopla you'd be in the cheaper areas in your budget. But you could get a 3 bed for £1500pcm

If what you really want is a location that is family friendly and not too grungy, some parks and amenities close by and a bit of a feeling of community, plus suitable nurseries, primary schools, you might find you can achieve this in Zone 3-5 of London itself for the money, rather than, as others have pointed out, quite high commuting costs if you live outside London. OR you could make the commute a bit longer (if it's only 3 days a week) and live by the seaside in either of Kent or Essex.

So you may be able to widen your options from "commuter town" only

Do you want it to be near London? Cause with about an hour commute from Blackfrias you can get quite far where prices are lower. well commuting charges increase but you can get 3 bedroom with £800ish in East Midlands. And then you can commute from Cambridge, Brighton, Northampton type areas.

I lived in St Albans when I was a student. Lovely place and close to London. It is fairly expensive but I do think £1600 is doable.

Have a look at Hatfield Garden Village or Welwyn Garden City. Direct trains into Kings Cross, Finsbury Park and Moorgate, so really easy to switch lines to get to Blackfriars. Good primary schools and lots of parks etc.

Crawley would be doable. Some good schools, Lovely green spaces nearby, good children’s centres, has its own hospital, good leisure centre.

@Swimmum1206

Have a look at Hatfield Garden Village or Welwyn Garden City. Direct trains into Kings Cross, Finsbury Park and Moorgate, so really easy to switch lines to get to Blackfriars. Good primary schools and lots of parks etc.

how long has "Hatfield Garden Village" been a thing? it's so fetch

Alton? Lovely countryside and great for families. Farnham / Haslemere is closer to London but more expensive.

Hornchurch or Upminster?

Mainly posting so I can follow the thread as my follow option seems to have disappeared!

I live In Sidcup, zone 5 of south east London.

You can get a 3 bedroom terraced house for £1500 a month and travel costs aren’t terrible because your in the travel card zones

Schools are great and it’s one of the safest areas of London.

I get the feeling you are talking about £1500 a week for rent and travel... if so then Bromley and Chislehurst are both nearby and lovely. £2100-£2500 gets you a great house in Sidcup

bedfordshire. .,somewhere like Harlington
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/102282464#/
one hour commute

Bromley is in London but on the edge. Good schools and even has its own Brazilian shop.