Please help! have to move to near London from the north and its all so expensive

[Darkchocolatedigestive]

Hello, I don't know if any of you have been in the same boat or can help. We currently live in a lovely suburb of south Manchester but my husband has just got a new job which will involved him working in London three/four days a week and I just don't think it is sustainable for us to stay up here. I've tried wading through Rightmove but just seem to go round in circles - I am reluctant to give up our lovely villagey suburb in a city with millions of amazing things for the kids to do and a bit of an alternative vibe going on, but London itself is so horrendously expensive I think we're priced right out - we' think we can run to £650,000 at an absolute push and with a horrible mortgage and would preferably need four bedrooms and a garden big enough to kick a football in. The thought of commuter belt brings me out in a bit of a cold sweat ( I grew up in Woking and although it was fine, I don't particularly want to return) - but perhaps we are only going to be able to afford something in slightly soulless suburbia. The other pressing point is that my daughter is currently in Year 6 and we are going to miss the deadline for school applications which is tomorrow. arghghghghghg! I also need two primary school places for my sons, so i guess that rules out anywhere massively oversubscribed. The primary school at the moment is outstanding and the high school good - and i don't want to move them to anything worse. I hate driving and love the walking public transport thing. Lewes looks nice but I'm worried the commute might be horrendous for my husband - he will be working in north london. The kids are very very happy here and I really don't want to drag them down to live somewhere without much of an identity. My parents still live in woking so ideally I'd be near them but unless I've missed somewhere, Surrey doesn't seem to have many lovely vibey independently minded left-leaning little towns. If anyone has any ideas I'd be so grateful.

We live just outside Cambridge, and loads of people commute to London. Trains from Cambridge go into Kings X and Liverpool Street.

My dh goes to London a couple of times a week and it's fairly straight forward.

Cambridge is a great city, loads going on, mueeums, art galleries etc, and most schools are pretty good. We're in a village, which sounds as though it's not your thing, but our dc are at an outstanding school, and you can get a great house for £600k. It's pricier in Cambridge than in the villages, but you'd still get a good house for that sort of money.

I really wouldn't live south of London if your dh is going to work in North London.

you're right tread softly, bit daft of me, he will be working near st johns wood - could walk from bakers street or on jubilee line. If only the job came with a little chi-chi pied a terre….

This is true.
Somebody I know lives out of a weekly suitcase and every night goes on late rooms and picks up a bargain hotel room.
He has a fallback cousin but has never had to use him. He says it is the cheapest option and he gets a free breakfast, I couldn't do it but he is a true Scot.

Move to Cambridge - 50 min train direct to kings cross or Liverpool street.

Cambridge is perfect. Honestly it is

Also he could easily drive to north London too from Cambridge. An hour each way.

Bounds Green, Palmers Green, and maybe Winchmore Hill and High Barnet would be in your budget. If you opted for Bounds Green there is Bowes primary which has an outstanding ofsted and Alexandra Park secondary which also has an outstanding ofsted. However, as you sound so settled it may well be worth looking at weekday house share, I've seen them advertised or even airbnb where you can get a fairly cheap room in zone two or three.

I would echo others thoughts on letting him try it out first. I know the school issue is pressing, but you need to know he likes the job/will stay before you all invest time and emotion in planning to move.

Also he will get a sense of where his colleagues live which might help with looking at areas.

St John's Wood isn't that accessible I think, the one tube line (cannot check easily as on the phone). Should you go for it, do base on commute options.

The top of N London isn't that well connected, there is the Overground but it can be slow.

I am sure lots of people would like a nice sensible married man to stay 2/3 nights a week in their spare room if they want extra cash.

Look at Air BnB, for people trying to rent out their places etc. Or maybe gumtree?

Good luck.

x post on the airbnb suggestion!

Definitely live North London / north of London if he is working in St Johns Wood. Surrey / Lewes would surely be a bad plan.

You need www.commutefrom.com, which helps you identify what is on the right tube or train line for your commute. I know you say you don't want to live outside actual London, but in fact commuting times can be quicker from outsid London if you are on a fast train line, compared to within London, but on s much slower train. Eg I lived outside London, but my train journey is only 20 mins into Euston.

You will really really struggle to get 2 primary places plus a secondary school place if you move to St Albans, which has been mentioned more than once on this thread, after the schools' deadline. Schools there are horrendously over subscribed. You would need to start by finding a school with places, and then find the house, not the other way around. Presume from your OP you actually need 3 primary places, before your DD goes to secondary school?

The issue with needing school places out of the usual time is that anywhere really nice to live (eg St Albans, Tring, Harpenden) is going to have massive pressures on school places, so you may have to compromise on location in order to get the school places.

With that budget you could afford a really nice house in Watford...? Not a beautiful place, but very well equipped for families (parks, big shopping centre, leisure centres, cinema etc), and much more value for money in property than nice bits of N London or St Albans.

We are planning to let a room in our house Mon-Fri for loads less than that! We are zone 4 though. I love where we live now, but it was a bit of a culture shock from Hackney. Basically took DD1 starting school to help me make a good social group.

When we were trying to stay in north London we looked at Totteridge and Whetstone, don't know if it's still affordable though, as we moved to St. Albans in the end.

St. Albans has a lot to recommend it in terms of schools, ease of commute, and things to do as a family.

Gosh, loads to think about here, thank you vv much. Commutefrom.com looks great, will give that a whirl. I am a bit spooked about the schools thing - the idea of battling for a decent school place, well, three, is a bit depressing when my main concern really is for the kids to be happy. When I think about it I know that, as one of the posters pointed out, your politics and your mind travel with you, and that there are interesting lovely people everywhere. I suppose I dread living in one of those places where everyone closes the door in the evening and there isn't much of a community. But then, as my husband pointed out, living right by the north circular just in order to be in London isn't really the dream either. I'd like hills, vibrant town, good schools, interesting neighbours, good public transport and maybe a deer or two thrown in, or a barn owl- but not sure this place exists in commuting distance of St John's wood or if it does, it costs £zillions
?

They don't have hills down south. Sorry. Try the long distance living for a bit. You may learn to love it....

Ok, the hills aren't essential! I was hallucinating while gorging on the trick or treat chocolates I stupidly bought early and have now consumed

We have all of those. And the north circular as it happens. We live opposite a massive park, a short drive from Epping forest and also next to the A406. I don't know that Woodford is massively vibrant, but it's under an hour into town and fifteen minutes to the Olympic park.

I'm guessing you're in didsbury/chorlton sort of area chocolate. It's only 2hrs 9mins to Euston from Piccadilly now. Could your husband negotiate a season ticket with his work and possibly part towards his accommodation for the time he's down there?

My dh works in liverpool and it takes him about the same amount of time everyday and he negotiated a parking pass and rail pass as part of his being moved away from his office in South Manchester.

We decided to wait before looking at moving, then we decided to move over there, but at the last minute we were offered our perfect house here. Wait before you decide to do a full uproot.

This is a great area to live in for raising kids and beyond. I wouldn't jump just yet.

how did you guess?! And I'm so glad you found your perfect house. I'm from down south originally but I know we've got a great set-up up here. It's just all so easy and walkable and friendly. That's a good idea about seeing if they could contribute towards travel costs. It is the school thing that
is making me panic, as my daughter has told me she would rather go into a new school in year 7 than have to join later on. I know kids can't have everything they want but if we are going to move i want to make it as easy as possible for her. A friend suggested renting out our house and then renting down there as a trial and then it is easy to come back - has anyone any experience of doing that?

Your descriptions are easy if you know Manchester. Why don't toy book some appointments at high schools in the areas you're thinking of and spend a few days down there looking round and getting a feel for the place? When do you have to decide by? Could you go down over the Christmas break?