I am relocating to Hampshire from London at the end of May. I am a bit stumped where to live - we'd like to buy again when we're certain but are happy to rent for a while until we can be sure.
My job will be in Whitchurch so I need to be within 30-45 mins drive in rush hour. My parents live in Southampton but i've been advised to stay north of Winchester due to traffic on the lower part of the M3.
My husband will look after our 2 year old initially, but then will hopefully get a job or study, so needs to be able to access Winchester or Southampton fairly easily and we need to be able to find childcare that has an early enough drop off time. We also need to consider being near great primary schools. We don't want to be in the middle of nowhere - ideally there'd be pubs, cafes and cornershops within walking distance. Even better if there's a decent mainline train station within walking distance so we don't have to buy a second car.
Winchester would have been our obvious choice but it doesn't look like we can afford it. We have an absolute maximum budget of £400,000 and need at least 3 beds.
Any advice greatly appreciated.