Be Phil or Kirsty for me

[isleofdaydreams]

Hello
Anyone want to do a Phil or Kirsty and advise me where to move to?

Here are the details....

£500k max
Prefer character home and one that needs work
Must have garden
3 bed plus
Good state schools
Walkable to station (1mile)
Either comes into Moorgate, Liv St, Farringdon, cannon st within 45 mins or London bridge, Waterloo, charing x within 30 mins
Want to live somewhere that feels a bit arty, some culture, independent shops, not rough but not posh, somewhere with a bit of character, not a massive town or city but not a village. Surrounding countryside to be attractive.

Not discounted moving slightly further out to get this as well aware that you will all tell me it ain't out there. Also not discounted staying in london either.

Would also welcome ideas for areas in London with similar criteria above (flat not house though) that allow access to Moorgate/liv street within 50 mins.

Help me Phil and Kirsty !!!!!

culture I love that house! The stained glass alone is to die for!!! Do you live in Biggleswade? (What a great name) What are the schools like?

mothership I love it too! Glad someone else picked up on it because I think it's gorgeous and got loads of potential too (that attic could make a great bedroom and bathroom - lots of space for kitchen to be extended at the back too).

I live a few miles away. Biggleswade schools are a mix of good and okay. Nothing spectacular. BUT there's absolutely no competition for places, and lots of great / Outstanding schools close by, so you can pick and choose which one works for you. We go to one a short drive away which is Outstanding - got our first choice with no problems, and could have walked into any one of 4 or 5 great primaries.

Have to admit, I drove past this house this morning , and it's as lovely as it looks IRL as in the photos

Easy walk to the station, too.

Biggleswade - I used to live there & loved it!

We didn't have DC's at the time so I don't know about schools etc, but the town itself was nice. Lots of happy memories

Where did you move to OffDay?

Given that it's under 40mins to Kings X on the commuter trains, I can't understand why Biggleswade isn't better known. A lot of the villages around are lovely and the house prices are (relatively) cheap given how commute-able it is.

Oh, culture just noticed the double yellows out front, is it on a busy road? What's parking like?

But feel free to ignore me! DH can cycle to work, I can get to my job in 5 mins and the kids would probably kill me if I tried to make them move schools so it's all just a day dream...

The house has a drive at the side, so it's got off road parking and no - not a very busy road.

...sounds as though you're living somewhere perfect, though mothership - 5 mins to work! Can't beat that

Back up North culture

We lived in the house by the traffic lights at the end of Hitchin St as you left the town centre - 'twas a lovely house but V noisy with the traffic lights being right outside.

Great for walking up to the town though.

Yes yes to lovely villages all around too

I do love where I live (Ealing) but it's just so expensive! My tiny terrace is worth more than that lovely Biggleswade place, it's just silly.

I know where you mean, offday

Mothership yup - Ealing's lovely.. but pricey. I think being so close to work is a huge bonus, though. Moving out probably starts to make a lot more sense if you're commuting 30mins+ within London.

rachel that house is lovely. I think I would like out that way but not sure DH would want to travel that far - maybe step 2?

culture another amazing house - where the hell is biggleswade?

And good advice too. I think that's what I'm struggling with. I think that the house is the important thing along with good schools and a pleasant enough place for children to grow up in. If there is somewhere driveable nearby to get my culture fix, then sure I can live with that!

Typically, the issue is we have too much choice and a few conflicting pulling factors - like our parents living in opposite directions, working in different areas of London, friends scattered round in various parts. We could move anywhere, and that makes it harder!

I really do appreciate all your comments! MN is such a great place.

Lewes? Forest Row? T Wells? Brighton?

isle I completely understand - we had exactly the same problem. No overwhelming ties to any particular area, which meant we could live anywhere within a 1hr house door-to-office-door commute of London. That's a huge area! Sometimes too much choice is really tricky.

Sounds as though you're doing the right thing, though - thinking about what your priorities are and checking out the areas ad asking round.

It's hard though, isn't it, when you don't know the areas you're looking at well? It's hard to know if a house 3 miles away from a train station will take you 10 mins or 30 - before you've even got on a train.

In the end it was the house that sold it to us. Once we'd found the right house, everything else just seemed to slot into place.

First thought was Tunbridge wells ticks all boxes but a bit further than you wanted from London. Sevenoaks as a second. I'll do some property porn and see what I can find...

Found this in Tonbridge. Tonbridge is more down market than Tunbridge Wells but also much cheaper. It has excellent state secondary schools in the area, especially Grammar schools (I don't know about primary schools). It's not rough but it's not exactly very beautiful or arty, but it's between both sevenoaks and tunbridge wells which are lovely towns.

Reastie - I want that house!

Maidstone, and villages around,is another possibility, with 3 main train stations.

This is near crouch end but not a do upper
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33617284.html?premiumA=true

We were like culturemulcher - looking in an hour's commute of London - parents east and west, siblings abroad/Scotland, so could be anywhere. We were looking in an arc from Tun Wells round to the M4 corridor - in the end a house came up in TW before one came up in Winchester/Surrey/Hampshire and all of the other places we were looking!

Tonbridge is ok - better commute, but as reastie said, it's more downmarket than TW or Sevenoaks, but it is cheaper. Problem is if you have boys, there are fewer grammar school choices.....

Walthamstow - if you want arty. Should be close to budget and not too far from crouch end friends.
If you want to move out what about Whitstable?

Hertford, really good schools and two mainline stations; one to moorgate and one to liv street. Loads of character houses and a great cafe culture. Very much like crouch end, I've lived in both!

How about this www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-22206111.html in Rochester? There's a lovely high street, and this house is in a great area, and close to a good primaries & grammars and a much-admired comprehensive too. Rochester's also close to the Kent seasides, near to the countryside - 15 mins to Bluewater (for those that like shopping)...

wow heartichoke I'm in love with that house! Look at all the lovely fireplaces

Glad you like it too, reastie - it's the sort of house I'd LOVE to live in - from the pics it's got loads of original features as well as those fireplaces, and I like the look of the garden too. It needs a bit of 'updating', but sadly in any case, it is WAY beyond my budget - if you can afford it, though, Rochester's really good value compared to many other nice towns in the South East.