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Original poster

advice on moving to North London / Hertfordshire

113 replies

imaginaryfriend · 31/07/2006 09:53

Dp's got a new job so we have to move from S London to N London / Hertfordshire. We don't have a big budget at all, will be looking for rented places and only have one dd who's due to start Reception next year. Any ideas of somewhere nice with a good primary school but not too pricey? Dp fancies Barnet but I think it might be slightly beyond us ...

TIA!

OP posts:
granarybeck · 31/07/2006 16:39

yes, we're considering st albans and harpenden as they do seem so nice, i love the parks. We just can't decide whether its worth only being able to afford a much smaller house to live in such a nice place. We are thinking it possibly is. And is very quick trainline. Imaginaryfriend, which areas of hertfordshire have you been looking at? My dh is going to be working in faringdon which seems to limit the choice of train lines a bit.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 16:39

granarybeck - -it's a monthly return from Welwyn Garden City to Kings Cross. It doesn't include a travel card so cannot be used on the underground/buses.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 16:40

St Albans costs about the same as London, live there if you like it not because you think it will be cheaper!

cyan · 31/07/2006 16:41

imaginary friend have a look at families website

north west london

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 16:42

granarybeck what is your budget (sorry to be nosey) don't say if you don't want!

granarybeck · 31/07/2006 16:42

Imaginaryfriend, my dh starts his new job beginning of september, so as soon as possible. Ideally we need to sell our house first as would be so expensive to rent before we sell. So hopefully in next few months.

Mrratty, I will have to look into it again as thats half the price i thought, which is good news!

granarybeck · 31/07/2006 16:54

Southeastastra, don't worry am way past worrying about telling all in desperate need for help and advice! Our budget at mo is about £300-£330, which seems a lot to us as our mortgage will more than double and that amount would buy us lovely big house up here.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 16:58

granarybeck - for that amount of money you could buy a three/four bed in the westside of WGC. In St Albns I imagine you would have to be a fair distance out of town to get the same.

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 17:02

this scroll down to the £310 house, that's right next to the station

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 31/07/2006 17:04

granarybeck, you're in a much better position than we are. We're only renting at the moment, having failed to get ourselves on the property ladder in London in any shape or form!

Dp's job is at Trent Park so ideally we'd have liked to move to Cockfosters or Barnet but the rents there are massive, we'd be paying double what we are now for less space. So I'm keen to move out towards Hertfordshire but dp isn't so keen. When we thought of moving before we visited WGC and I liked it but dp didn't. We didn't really look at St. Albans because we thought it would be beyond our budget. Schools are important to us too and WGC seems to have some really nice ones. It's hard for us, I think, to leave London behind as we've been here forever or so it seems!

Gotta go now, will check again later!

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Lio · 31/07/2006 17:04

I think mrratty is thinking of the Dollis estate. I used to live in the cheapest two-bed flat in Barnet (bottom of Bells Hill, near the hospital)and even though it was still Barnet it would have been nicer to live 'up the hill' and nearer Marriott Road, a candidate for nicest street in Barnet. I expect you will go on a trip around the area but IMO it is V expensive. Or rather it was too expensive for our budget: we sold a 2-bed ex-LA flat there and bought a 3-bed house with garden in nice street in Stevenage for not much extra.

Am on maternity leave and can't remember cost of monthly ticket Stevenage to Kings x, sorry, but I have lessened the cost of overall travel by buying a folding bike to take on the train (saves time as well) so no bus/tube required. Except while up the duff. Prob not going to be an issue for your dp, imaginaryfriend.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 17:05

That looks like a lovoely house thuogh Borhemwood does not seem like a particually nice place to live.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 31/07/2006 17:07

Incidentally, misdee, I googled some property to rent in WGC and the only house that came up we could afford was on knella road! So, thanks for that tip.

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southeastastra · 31/07/2006 17:07

obviously as i live there i can't comment! it's very posh and very working class - has lots of different people!

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 31/07/2006 17:08

LOL Lio! I like thinking of dp pregnant AND on a fold-up bike ...

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mrratty · 31/07/2006 17:10

imaginaryfriend - DP always said that he would never move out of London unless to another major city. He is really happy here now as he really feels he is out of the hustle and bustle of London when he comes home from work. It's also much cleaner and less busy here which feels really nice when you have children. I really like to visit St Albans , I was there yeasterday, but it feels like London as the town centre gets really busy and feels dirty espcially when the market is on.

mrratty · 31/07/2006 17:12

southeastastra - I admit I have only been through it in a car and I have been to the station. I'm sorry!!!!!!!!!

southeastastra · 31/07/2006 17:16

it's okay! it's funny

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 31/07/2006 23:15

So if we were going to scout around WGC where would you recommend we begin to look bearing in mind nice primary schools and relatively cheap? Maybe I can sell it to dp if I find a couple of ok-looking properties ...

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granarybeck · 01/08/2006 11:17

don't know about WGC, sorry. But you could have a look at Hitchin while you're there as its only a couple of stops up the train line and seemed a nice, lively town.

masamune · 01/08/2006 11:29

Anything on the First Capital Connect train line is easy to get into London Farringdon say from St Albans would take you 20/25 mins as they have fast trains operating all the time there and back.

The line also has some nice places St albans, Harlington, and some of Bedford is nice. Although Elstree is nice on that line its best to steer clear of Borehamwood if you want good schools.

southeastastra · 01/08/2006 12:01

er please can we stop the borehamwood bashing now?? masamune

granarybeck · 01/08/2006 14:12

We hadn't looked at harlington. One thing that puts us off bedfordshire is the lower, middle and upper school system - just because of the ages of our children it could be further disruption to them, but if your looking at reception age imaginary friend it may well not be issue. Its a shame for us as bedfordshire seems much more affordable.

granarybeck · 01/08/2006 14:13

Southeastastra, don't worry, i've had quite a few people recommend borehamwood to us

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 01/08/2006 17:37

I'll look at Hitchin too then, thanks! It's all very confusing but I'm getting a sense of where to avoid and where not.

Can some of the WGC people give me a bit more info?

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