cheapish commutable place to live 1.5/2 hours from London ...

[devonshireduckling]

Some (young) friends of ours are moving over from France later this year, they are planning to start a family in a few years but for now just want to get a foot on the housing ladder over here. They can do some tele-working still but will need to get in to meetings in London once or twice a week. As their finances are tight they are not picky and would be happy with a one bed flat/studio to just get a base and then start to save. My first thought was somewhere in East Midlands like Kettering? I am Devon-based so not the best person to advise them. Would be good to find somewhere they could get value for money, in particular as they are not bothered by thoughts of schools/picturesque surroundings. Any thoughts?

thanks drcrab.
PigletJohn, very good point: they work in the financial sector and most of their meetings will be in the City so I think the Liverpool Street line would be ideal.

Reading (20 mins by train from Paddington)

ooh I've been to Reading, can't believe it's only 20mins from London. Thanks SearchSquad.

Liverpool Street suggests Essex, Herts direction.

There's also Fenchurch Street station in the city - the trains go out Essex way. Not sure how cheap it is.

I'm another Leighton Buzzard

I work in the City, and can do it in a little over an hour door to door

And Suffolk.pigletjohn.

Thanks PigletJohn, Moomoomie. My kitchen table is looking like an operations room (pinned maps, train times etc).

Good idea Yellowraincoat (had never heard of Fenchurch street). Thanks for the Leighton Buzzard lead DadAndy, good to hear from someone who's doing the commute!

I had a brief chat with my French friends and they're super impressed with all this information.

I used to commute to the city and it is horrible. If I had to travel 2 hours each way I would run away to sea.

Oh dear PigletJohn, thank goodness you don't have to any more! I can imagine that heading in to the city once a week could retain some excitement, but everyday would be a nightmare.

Market Harborough is lovely, too. Train takes about an hour to St Pancras. Much nicer than Kettering (but pricier).

Birmingham - London is 1 hr 25mins I think (before they build the high speed link if they ever do), but, as others have said, you'd have to factor in the cost of train tickets, and have a think about which station they arrived at in London and how long it would take to travel on to destination (+£)

Tonbridge in Kent is only 40 mins to London Bridge.

Market Harborough looks pretty. BackforGood - I have some family in Birmingham so I'll see what inside knowledge they have.
Bearcrumble Tonbridge also a good idea, though it looks a little bit more expensive (and also nicer) compared to some of the other options.

My friends are lucky that they don't have to think about school catchment areas etc, they can just go for the cheapest options.

I commute from Market Harborough to London and its a really easy commute. although the fares are astronomical. House prices aren't that cheap but a million times cheaper than London so I think it balances out the train fares.