House Buying: Confused and stuck making a decision!!!

[slowlyFindingMyWay]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice. I'm a single Female in my 30s. I have been looking to buy a house for a while but I can't make up my mind on the location of whether to buy a house or a flat (with a budget of around 500k-600k). I'm very put off buy having extra costs of flats on top of a very expensive mortgage in the current market, so I would prefer a house with a garden.
I work in Canary wharf but have family in north west London (Ruislip)
I'm looking for a nice, safe, area. Lots of green spaces and things to do with easy commute to CW (Ideally under 40 mins) and west London.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Am I asking for too much?

West Hampstead? Although that budget will not get much sadly.

Somewhere on the DLR is good for CW. Deptford Bridge is close to Greenwich, Deptford and Brockley which covers all bases for green space (Greenwich Park etc) and cool fun areas for young professionals (Deptford and Brockley etc). Also has ace transport links. For the budget you will be looking more at a flat.

For that sort of budget you may need to look at zone 4/5/6. You may also need a few changes in bus / train routes.