Oxford and London | Happy Medium

[LC31]

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get a bit of advice on location from you lovely peeps about a move we need to make in the very near future.

I currently live and work in Oxford and my partner lives in East London, and works centrally. We're both renting at the moment and as our leases come to an end, we're looking to make the leap and move in together. The difficulty is that we just don't know where! At the moment we're at a slight impasse in that I don't want to move (or work) in London, and the OH doesn't want to live or work in Oxford. My ideal is to move somewhere in the middle where we can settle down and start a family, with good schools and parent groups.

We don't have a huge budget, around £1,200 a month between us, as the cost of a train ticket into London is just astronomical. I would be driving to Oxford daily, happy to do so up to 1.5 hours.

We're looking at areas in Buckinghamshire such as Wendover, Amersham and Princes Risborough, as the Chiltern line to Marylebone is a lot more reliable than the First Great Western into Paddington. Plus a daily walk to the train station is do-able.

So finally, my question...does anyone know these areas particularly well? Or are there other areas that you would recommend us looking at?

Thanks so much! :)

Lou

We live in Amersham, it's a good area for families I think, certainly lots of babies around and plenty of local activities. Schools generally thought to be good although catchment area for some is very small. Lots of nice countryside nearby, reasonable selection of local shops and the old town which is pretty.

You also have the option of the Metropolitan line which can be handy depending on where in London your OH is working and the train fare is cheaper compared to some other areas. It gives you an extra option if there are problems at Marylebone too.

However, it's a reasonable drive to the M40 to reach Oxford so imagine you'd probably be towards the limit of your preferred 90 minute max commute.

Happy to help if you have any specific questions.

are you looking to be in a village or a town?

is the £1200 a month for rent or mortgage?

what sort of property are you looking for?

off the bat, i'm thinking beaconsfield or high wycombe (both decent train commutes into london, and not terrible drives to oxford) - beaconsfield is far nicer, high wycombe is much cheaper! both have excellent schools for all ages (both state and private).

if you aren't wed to buckinghamshire, there's Thame, and further out, bicester might work - much closer to oxford, but still only 45 mins into marylebone by train.

Bicester? New fast train line to London due to be completed next year I think, plus trains into Oxford of course. Property prices and rents much lower than in Oxford.

Thanks all for the replies!

We've not looked at Bicester, but the new fast train line sounds promising. Do you know what the trains are like from there at the moment?

kronenborg - in answer to you...

We're looking for a town ideally, but a village with good road and rail links wouldn't be ruled out. Unfortunately the £1,200 a month will be for rent, as trying to get any kind of deposit together seems an impossible task at the moment! In terms of property type, we'd absolutely love a house (who wouldn't?!) but know that with our budget we can't afford to be too fussy. The dream would be a 2 bedroom house with a garden, but a 2 bedroom flat would work I guess. It's just the outdoor space which would be amazing.

Bicester is now huge with lots of new developments. Unfortunately some are not very attractive. However, it is an easy commute to Oxford and rental will be cheaper. Personally I think Thame is a lot nicer and you can easily drive to Oxford from there. The Haddenham and Thame Parkway station is on the Chiltern Line into Marylebone but the station is actually in Haddenham. I would definitely look at Haddenham too as it is a large village. Alternatively, Princes Risborough is a pleasant town and the station, Chiltern Line again, is an easy walk but you are a bit further away from Oxford. I know Wendover well too and it is very good for families. Again, a bit further from Oxford, but again the railway is good. Rental should be in budget. There is some new housing but it is a far more compact town than Bicester.

If you moved to Reading you would be able to get the train to Oxford and your partner could get Crossrail from Reading to East London.

Not sure when services start, though.

with your rental budget, i'd think you could get a reasonable place in bicester - the train service is decent enough (fastest train to marylebone currently takes ~50 mins, but as has been mentioned, should have about 10 mins chopped from that at some point next year). also, should you choose to take the train from bicester to oxford instead of drive, there will be a new service opening next year which should take that journey to 15 mins.

i also think thame is nicer than bicester, but you would likely need to drive to the train station (which is ~10 mins drive from thame town centre). it definitely looks and feels more "upmarket", with more restaurants/cafes and generally more gentrified.

£1200 pcm should be enough to get you a 2 or 3 bed house in either place, with a little outside space.

your OH might feel rather more comfortable in thame, as its not quite so far out from london as bicester.

lots of people rave about haddenham (and its popularity is reflected in house prices, and speed of sale), but when we were in market to buy (within the last 12 months), we looked at a few places there, and didnt really warm to it that much.