Best areas for education commutable to London

[ikhan928]

Hi,

My wife and I are looking to move this year and we want to know what areas have good primary and secondary schools and are commutable to London (also family friendly!). Our son is only 3 but we don't want to have to move for a secondary school. We are really interested in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire but would love to hear about all areas.

Our current budget for a house is £475k and we would be going for a new build. We would like a 3 bed house with at least 2 double rooms and 1 single (if any of that helps at all!).

If there is already a thread regarding this or a separate website then please let me know and I will check there.

Many thanks!

Your budget will be the deciding factor I'm afraid - £475k will buy you a two bedroom flat in the areas of Herts and Bucks with the best schools and almost certainly not a new build one!

Have a look at Harpenden as an example. Great primaries and St. George's for secondary. You can get a really decent ex-council house that has been refurbished, a two bed bungalow or flats with your budget. It's the good schools within commuting distance of London that push the prices up.

Without wishing to be cruel your post made me laugh. You're in cloud cuckoo land if you seriously think you can achieve all that. Work out now where to compromise-length of commute is a good start.

Bucks has grammar schools, so if your children are bright they'll get an excellent education without the fees. You may want to look at Marlow and the villages around there. Newbuilds near me (4 miles outside Marlow) are more in the £850k bracket for a 3 bed with teeny gardens.

There's a website called CommuteFrom.com or something which may be useful.

Bishop Stortford.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E164&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=450000

Try rightmove.co.uk to give you an idea of locations and house prices?

This house is in Hitchin. Good schools, lovely house near the station in a nice town. It’s not a new-build but I wouldn’t go for a new build anyway given the concerns about quality at the moment.

A 3 bed new build that is commutable and close to good schools may not be feasible for that budget. You probably need to compromise on what is more important.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/46394573?search_identifier=ed141ab45ed2cc04ae3aaae21e2d0ba5#2r9ZwXdVjXSXHixC.97

This is 'nearly-new', and close to a very good boys secondary school in Epsom (Glyn), the primary schools are decent too.

Was going to suggest Hitchin, what about Chelmsford also Grammar area. Tunbridge Wells? (Grammar area). Tring not Grammar.
Trouble with grammar areas is they are great if your dc passes but may not be if they don’t, or Grammar isn’t right for them

I live in the SE London/Kent border and 3bed houses are around £600k plus. New builds are tiny, you get more space with an Edwardian, 1930 or even a not attractive outside Sixties house.

I would go for an area with a good choice of schools. Obviously you need Primary soon but secondary can change a lot in the next 7 years so look for an area with more than one school. We suffer a secondary school crisis in this land, research If new schools are planned (with planning permission in place ideally).

Think also about choices for childcare if you need them, if both of you commute into London the trip is long and you need flexible care. A small village for example will have reduced resources, also for holiday care.

Hampshire
You will not get New for that price though

Ware?

Wouldn’t get new build near me within walking distance of a station but this 1960s 4 bed townhouse is an architectural compromise but spacy, Ofsted Outstanding Crofton Infant school and Darrick Wood Comp, plus the choice of grammars if you want to go down that route. The property is about 15 mins walk between Petts Wood in zone 5 and Orpington zone 6 www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52215636.html

Hi All,

Thank you for the messages, definitely a lot to get me thinking and yes I guess it was too much to ask for all of that sigh. The first thing I will definitely compromise on is the commute, happy for it to be between an hour and hour and a half to Kings Cross. Also will definitely revisit getting a new build and see what our affordability would be for a pre-owned property. I guess a better question to ask is what area(s) are not that great for education/family? I can then focus on the other areas and hopefully find something within budget.

Somewhere like Grantham is around 1 hr 10 into Kings Cross. You'll probably have around £250k left over after buying a reasonable sized three bed house, somewhat less for some of the villages- example below. Grammar area though with the potential issues that mary21 points out

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52195458.html

That’s totally feasible in other areas, I live near to Haywards Heath in West Sussex, the trains go in to both London Bridge and Victoria and the area has lots of new build developments. The town has some amazing primaries and 2 very good secondary schools. A little further down the line you get better value in Burgess Hill and Hassocks, and it’s close to Brighton and the Southdowns for glorious countryside.

There is plenty in your budget: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E7660&insId=1&googleAnalyticsChannel=buying

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70899254.html

A season ticket in to London is around £5k. Many people in the town commute.

Do you have to come in to Kings X?

If you can come into Waterloo instead, you could look at places like Guildford, where this for £450k and this for £425k are in the catchment for George Abbott school

But I would be wary about choosing a house for a particular school when you don't really know what sort of school would be right for him (or if the school will still be as good as it is now)

Southend on Sea is a grammar school area and 1h train to either Liverpool st or fenchurch street depending on which line you take

If you're willing to be very flexible and move out of the home counties, you might want to look at places like Market Harborough and Corby, which come straight into Kings X and you would have lots of change from £450k, even going for a 4 bed detached house.

Remember that you will need to factor in a season ticket for the train and for your parking if you decide to go for commuting

If you can do Waterloo and are happy with an hour then the whole of Hampshire and its rock solid comps is your oyster

Leicestershire is a comp area, and Market Harborough has plenty going for it. Not sure how much change you;d get nowadays but with your budget a decent size four bed is more than doable Not quite so convinced about Corby as a location, but quite agree that cash left over would be quite a bit more. The added bonus of somewhere like Market Harborough is of course that it would not involve Southern Trains :)

Saffron Walden is very family friendly, outstanding schools, house prices are relatively good. Here's one but quite a commute, trains go into Liverpool Street though you maybe able to drive to a Kings Cross line, think Cambridge line goes into Kings Cross.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52420347.html

Wokingham has excellent schools and you should be able to get a 3-bed for £475k, like this fairly new one (though the 2nd bedroom is smallish for a double). It’s 1hr 10 mins from Waterloo.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63298222.html

I know it should be more about education but can't resist :)

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51954414.html

Haddenham in bucks would get you a 3 bed new build in budget. As would Thame which is just across the border in Oxfordshire. Bucks is great if you pass the 11+ and are suited to a grammar school but many of the non grammars aren't great so that's a risk IMO. Oxfordshire is a comprehensive county with a good secondary in Thame. All primarys are good in both towns.