Need advice on home location as DS got admission in Habs

[aartishrimal]

Hi,

We are currently living in Harrow on the Hill and both working in Central London. Our DS has recently got admission in Habs boys school for Y1 (St. Albans) and so we are looking out for the right place to move (rent). Few considerations

1. Unfortunately, Both of us do not drive car. We are now learning driving but there is no guarantee that we will clear the test by September when the school starts.

1. We want to reach to our offices in not more than 1 hour journey after dropping our son to school.

1. We want to move to a place which is near to the school so that we can pickup/drop our son to school quickly.

1. He will go to preprep school in St. Albans for next two years and will move to main school in Elstree after the same.

Based on the above, wanted to check if there is someone in this group who is in the same situation (child going in Habs or nearby school and work in Central London).. It will be great to know how is this situation being managed in terms of home location and commute.

We have till till July this year to move.

Thanks in advance.

Aarti

Can't help re the house or location but my sister did an intensive driving course so passed really quickly. I personally had lessons that were either 2 or 3 hours long because other people said just as you are getting into the driving the lesson is over. Worth a thought.

Where is the site in St Albans? St Albans station has a fast commute to Kings Cross so would suit your requirements but maybe not close enough to the school.

@TheUnwillingNarcheska: Thanks for this input. This is really helpful.

@poster newstart15: School address is:

The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' Pre-Preparatory School,
Hazel Road, Park Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2AH

I am exploring areas like Radlett or Elstree (Habs school provides coach service from main school in Elstree to preprep school in St. Albans). Looks like i can't hide away from learning car in next couple of months in any case.

The pre-prep's not really St Albans (well, not if you know the area well!) - it's Bricket Wood/How Wood. How Wood station is walkable. It's on the St Albans/Watford line. Coaches from St Albans and Watford to the main school. If you don't drive, Watford may be more manageable - mainline and tube. Cassiobury Park area used to be where many Habs families lived...

@poster BlackbirdOnTheWire: Seems like train frequencies is not that good from How Wood (if I miss 8:30 AM train then next train to central london is at 9:20!)..

Yes, Watford looks promising. I have been told that Habs can't guarantee coach services for pre-prep as actual plan will be published by mid july (just 3 weeks before the school starts!) so I need to go with probability and hope that watford comes in the final coach plan for pre-prep. Hope it makes sense. As of now three areas look promising to me Elstree, Radlett and Watford.