Thinking of leaving London, but don't know where to....please help.

[where2next]

First world problem.
DH and I are currently deciding whether to up sticks and move from London before DD starts school.
DH is happy with our current living situation (3 bed victorian terrace, zone 4), but I'm not such a fan. I feel like although we technically live in London we might as well live outside of London as I'm unable to access the amenities of central London that easily (we do not live near a tube) and I really miss that. Most of our close friends now have children and are spread across London. Trying to see them is equally hard. Also, I've been told by mums in our area that our house is 2 streets out of the catchment of the good school.....which got me thinking, should we up sticks and move???
To give you a bit of background about myself, I grew up in Edinburgh and really miss the lifestyle I had there. I came to London in my twenties and loved living in here as a single person, but now married with a family I am less keen. I cannot help but compare the life I had and my friends with families up north have to my life down hear. I miss the North, although perhaps not the weather! In an ideal world I'd move Edinburgh to an hours commute of London and move there, but I can't move mountains let alone cities! DH on the other hand would be happy living anywhere (wish I was like this), but because of his job (media) we have to remain near London for the time being.

The nuts and bolts of our search:
House, budget ??700K (preferably period)
Good primary
Approx 1-1.5hr commute to Oxford Circus for DH
Access to Norfolk and Scotland preferred, but not essential
Nice independent shops, cafes, restaurants etc.

Not a tall order by any means! Thanks for reading.

This is near a fine Waitrose. My cousin loves living there.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50489414.html

Not in Waitrose! She lives in Hove

We looked at moving, Guildford, Goldalming and Farnham initially but they are pricey (our budget is a little under £500k if we moved now) so we looked more into Hampshire, Fleet and Alton. Fleet is on the reading to Waterloo line and Alton is the last station from Waterloo which takes about 1.5hr - DH was working in Hampshire at that point but moved back to central London so we didn't move. Looking at planned cross rail stations may help, I know someone looked at Maidenhead for this reason. Reading is a possibility for a smaller city. I'm fairly clueless otherwise but do need to relocate at some point. It will be a while as we missed the boat for moving for school and our eldest is in an outstanding local school so worth staying put.

Hove is just next to Brighton btw. We walk down when I visit.

Why don't you come to Cambridgeshire. You could even afford Cambridge at that price. We live about 20 minutes drive away in Godmanchester as can't afford Cambridge - I commuted to London from Huntingdon before children - its 50 min to KX + to and from station. I lived in London in my twenties and met DH there - I also lived in Edinburgh and loved it (DH hated it so we left quite quickly)

Why did your DH hate Edinburgh? Curious!

I'm the other way, lived in London, met DH who was living and from edinburgh and now been in Edinburgh for 12 years. V settled here. My mum and dad are now living Essex/ Suffolk border they sold up from Central London a year or so ago, and now with our two kids we either drive down the A1 (6 hours on a good day) and fly into
Stansted for visits. Id recommend Essex and Cambs as a good base for you particularly for access to Edinburgh and Norfolk. I love Edinburgh, it's a fabulous city.

I love Hitchin and lived in knebworth too which is total heaven for me but expensive commute and not such frequent trains as Hitchin . Cambridge is lovely but expensive - London prices

North Herts
South cambs
West Essex (uttlesford)

It's a lovely little neuk which is below the radar of many.

(We did move from London too)

anotherEmma - DH hated Edinburgh because he was determined to hate it (he wanted to stay in Sydney - long story) but also because of
a) the cold. Fair point
b) the dog muck. I/we lived in a building at the base of Arthurs seat. People just let their dogs roam the streets and it was disgusting. I agree with him on that.
c) he didn't like having the p*ss taken out of him for being English. He likes off-the-beaten track dodgy old pubs where folk don't know him, but unfortunately, this was prime location for punters who didn't like the sound of him
d) he didn't like the fact that everyone in his team was ginger. Including him. I believe this was clutching at straws...
FWIW I love Edinburgh and would happily have stayed there.

Cambridge is wonderful but very expensive. If you want to be near the station, a £700K budget is going to get you something like this. Or something like this. Anything bigger within a mile of station is likely to be £800K or more. But it's very flat so if you lived a bit further out the station would be an easy cycle ride!

How about Leamington Spa in Warwickshire?

• Lots of period housing, mostly Georgian and Victorian
• Several good primary schools
• Train takes about 1 hour 20 mins to Marylebone, so might be over max commute once you add home to station and Maylebone to Oxford Circus.
• Near to M40 for access to motorway network, M6 to west Scotland, M1 to east. (Or, 30 mins to Birmingham by rail then 4 hours to Edinburgh.)
• Lots of nice independent shops, and more cafes/restaurants than you can shake a stick at.

Oxford
Beaconsfield - trains into Marylebone take about 30 ins
Amersham - tubes on Met line or trains

*mins, obvs

New (second) station coming in 2016 to Cambridge which makes commuting form North of the river more possible. I second (third) the recommendation of Cambridge.

Pros: easy commute but big enough to have its own identity, proper city, lots to do, good schools, very family friendly, pretty, culture on tap, independent shops and restaurants, good for Stansted, green spaces in the city, lots of interesting people around and very easy to feel part of a community.

Cons: Man, it is flat. Traffic can be a bit grim in rush hour but you can organise your life so you rarely need to get in a car if you're happy to cycle.

"New (second) station coming in 2016 to Cambridge which makes commuting form North of the river more possible."

Yep we bought a house in North Cambridge and the new station was a factor, we're hoping our house will go up in value when it finally opens. Getting to the existing station is a bit of a pain so I wouldn't want to commute by train every day, but it's fine to do occasionally.

Hi everyone
Thanks for all the suggestions. Leamington Spa wasn't even on my radar - very interesting. Love the properties on offer there, but wonder if the commute would be too far? But one worth considering.

Cambridge sounds like a serious contender. Where are the best areas? Is it equally as competitive to get a place within a good school when compared to London. Hope not!

I'd love to raise kids in Cambridge! We have friends who live there and their children are two of the nicest, most well-balanced kids I know. No doubt down to the parents mostly, but they also seem to have a really nice life there. Quite chilled out, laid back, plenty to do, good schools and the kids have lots of independence as everything is very accessible.

However, I was a student there so I don't think I could ever shake that association and wonder if it would be a bit odd living there without a connection to the uni? plus dealing with all those bloody annoying drunk students during term time

OP "Cambridge sounds like a serious contender. Where are the best areas?"
If you and/or your DH will be commuting regularly, I recommend looking near the station. There are no "bad" areas in Cambridge (apart from maybe Arbury) but most of the best areas are around the station. Mill Road, the main street in that area, has lots of independent shops, cafes and restaurants. East of the station (around Coleridge recreation park) you will probably get a bit more for your money than west. And there is a footbridge which crosses the railway line to the station.
A word of warning: houses sell VERY quickly and for more than the asking price. I guess it's probably similar to London in that sense.

CityDweller "so I don't think I could ever shake that association and wonder if it would be a bit odd living there without a connection to the uni? plus dealing with all those bloody annoying drunk students during term time "
I've lived here for 10 years, 4 as a student and 6 as a "normal" resident. It's a very different experience and I think I enjoy the city more now. Geographically I know most of the city, as opposed to the tiny area covering my college, faculty and the town centre when I was a student. My uni friends moved away but I made new friends through my work and hobbies. I do find the students annoying, even though I was one once - but I'm sure I wasn't like them! I don't see them much though tbh. Hang out in different places now!

Cambridge is a fabulous place to live - glad you're considering it! Most of Cambridge good but avoid anywhere in the immediate vicinity of the Kingsway flats and I'd steer clear of the east end of Chesterton or Fen Ditton. Arbury is apparently up-and-coming, but you probably need to know the area well (better than me and I've lived in Cambridge for the best part of 20 years) to know which bits are still best avoided. Outside the super-expensive areas of the southern end of Hills Road (the big detached, £2m+ houses) Newnham and the DeFreville areas are lovely but expensive, as are most of the parts of the Mill Road area closest to the city centre. I agree with Emma that the Mill Road area is a great place to live.

I second Hove, Hove or Worthing both great for commuting and period homes and Hove has Brighton as it's sister town can't beat Brighton.

We're in West Chesterton and we love it. Ten minute walk to river or short cycle into town across Jesus Green or Midsummer Common. Good primaries, a great secondary, proper community. I don't commute but DP occasionally does - 20/25 mins to station by bike although as I said a new station will be coming soon that will be closer to us.

Thanks for all the feedback and sorry it's taken me a while to reply.

Have made a mental note about Mill Hill....sounds lovely! In terms of house, it sounds like we may only be able to get like for like if we move out to Cambridge, but I had been hoping that we could get a larger property (I know, I don't ask for much!)....something a little bit roomier or wider than our current terraced house. I don't think our budget will be able to buy us this in Cambridge, but wonder if there are any neighbouring villages/towns near Cambridge which spring to mind? It's a long shot I know, as I am conscious of not wanting to add to DH's commute. It may be that we'll have to compromise on house for location.

Brighton, Hove, Oxford and now Leamington Spa are also on our list, but Cambridge and surrounding areas are at the top.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54612233.html?premiumA=true

arghhh. Lost epic post twice. In short. Cambridge boring and expensive. Hitchin lovely and more affordable, see above.