Sydney to England with 1YO and £1M budget

[Svani30]

Hello, throwing a bit of a wide net out but would love any opinions around great places to live in the South. A bit more about us and what we’re after:

• me and husband are mid-30s, in professional roles and will be working remotely when we move (though may have occasional meetings in London)
• we will have a 1YO at the time of move
• husband is English, I am Australian. We met whilst I was living in London and then lived together in Herts before moving to Sydney (where I’m from) where we’ve been for about 5 years
• husband has some family and friends scattered across England (mostly in Bucks) but we’re not tied to any one area due to family
• somewhere safe and with green space is our main priority
• other good to haves - close to transport, close to airport, area with young families, some amenities (a small market town is fine)
• we have a budget of £1M and would love at least a 3 bedroom with private outdoor area

Appreciate the above isn’t super specific but we deliberately want to keep an open mind about what’s best for our young family and where we might get the best value for our budget (whilst balancing safety/convenience/amenities). Have taken a look online at places like Amersham, Tring, Reigate, Harpenden, Radlett, Kingston, Windsor but really want to cast a wider net too so we weigh everything up. Open to areas in London too if they fit.

Thanks in advance

Tax….before the last election a person getting hitting £50k ( a friend of mine ) got taxed like this. 40% tax, 2% national insurance over the £50k threshold, 10%student loan repayment, 9.8% pension and 20% high income child benefit charge. A grand total of 82%. An absolute joke

Well, it's definitely the funniest thing I've read this morning! I hope you don't work with figures.

If you move back please focus on the positives or you will be miserable if you start comparing and concentrating on the negatives

I’d also say that, while the UK has some major challenges after the years of austerity and cuts, and Brexit, I don’t recognise some of these ultra bleak descriptions. My children are in excellent state schools (York here too), my car hasn’t been wrecked by a road, the crime rate here remains low, we live near lovely countryside, and don’t live in fear of extreme weather. I’m living in hope of improvement in our public services but I have at least been able to access my GP same day when urgent (and non-urgent is getting slightly better although far from ideal).