How far from London do I need to go to buy a flat for £160k

[Lillibetthecat]

Forgive me, just posting here for traffic.

Have a flat in London that's being currently rented. Tenant stopped paying, has wrecked it in the process too and I'm taking him to court next week. However I'm fed up with the stress of it all, whilst I'm paying my mortgage on the flat and bills.

So, after the tenant is evicted, I'm thinking of selling it and buying a property somewhere mortgage free, if I can. The equity would be about £160, possibly 5-10k more. How far do I need to go away from London to buy something for this price? I think I'd have to go further North rather than South? Somewhere that is well connected to London, would that be too much to ask?

If you go into one of the property sites and set your filter to England and maximum price of £180k, some properties do come up.

I did that but don't know much other parts on England to be honest, particularly the North.

I live in Warwickshire and we bought a whole 3 bed house for £140k
Houses round here regularly still go for similar amounts
Train to London Euston is about an hour from mainline in Coventry.

You have not said how many beds you need or what your commuting, transport requirements are? Do you need a garden? It is very hard to find somewhere without some more specifications.

That's amazing! Thank you for your reply x

And are you happy with ex-local authority for example?

You don’t really give us much to go on - how big does the property need to be, for instance? Would you be commuting into London daily? A couple of times a week for hybrid working? Just coming in occasionally for entertainment and shopping? By rail or driving?

Edited to say I see I’ve cross posted with similar points

Would it be to rent out, or to live in? Milton Keynes would be worth a look, there are some on rightmove for that price or less. Or if you're happy to go further afield, have a look at Gloucester, Leeds and Durham.

I would say anything. Flat, house, just want to know how much can I buy for £160k amd how far from London.

Sorry I should have given more details. Initially I was thinking a 1 bed flat but now I can see you can buy a 3 bed house not far from Coventry.

I'm thinking a holiday house/flat initially. Potentially renting in the future.

Not really

If you want a seaside location then possibly Weymouth -
3 hours ish to central London . Parking could be an issue

Hemel Hempstead - still commutable into London. Stevenage maybe?

How far are you happy to move? I live in Somerset and there are quite a few flats here for sale for £160k

Probably about 2 hours max. We do like Somerset but it does seem a bit far x

You say holiday home, so you're looking for a desirable holiday location that's also commutable to London? On that basis I don't think you'll get much for your budget. I say that as a priced out Londoner who now lives in Essex.

I'll check Weymouth, it's close to Winchester which we love. Winchester is quite expensive.

Tunbridge wells has some nice 1 bed flats - less than an hour in to London.

A small holiday home, 1 - 2 beds in a nice location.

I was looking for cheap flats earlier and saw a studio flat in Stansted Mountfitchet for £140. There were also a few cheap properties in st Neots but don’t know the area.

I'll look into that. I always thought Tunbridge Wells is posh and expensive so didn't even consider it.

You could look at Peterborough or around there because the train into London is very quick. Ok to live but not a holiday destination lol

You can get this in Eastbourne near the beach

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159227900#/?channel=RES_BUY

Those are not holiday areas though, I live near them

your budget would get a 2 bed flat in Peterborough within walking distance of the station which puts you on the main east coast line into Kings Cross.
oh, just seen you want a holiday house, that's a different spec.....