Where to move? One hour from London

[Mummypeach]

Hi All

DH and I are looking to move out of our tiny central London house but have no idea where to go! Can you help?

He'll need to commute to London everyday so we're looking for lovely places within an hour's commute. I'm freelance so can when work flexibly.

We have two DDs so schools are important (primary & secondary).

I love whitstable but commute is too long and schools not so terrific? I'd love to live in a town of that size and vibe - stuff going on, independent restaurants and shops, community and close to nature (doesn't have to be near the sea, but that would be nice).

House wise, we want to hold on to our current house in London for investment and can afford to spend about £500-600k on a new place.

Wish list:
3/4 bedrooms
A utility room!
Outside space
Space - apx at least 1,500 sq feet
One hour or less commute to London
Good / outstanding schools
Smallish town close but w/ stuff going on close to nature

Is it even possible to match our dream with reality?!

[Callmecordelia]

I think Folkestone is great, but possibly not so good for your one hour limit. The fast train gets into St Pancras, so your DH would have a tube journey on top, and you can get a direct to his station (much cheaper) slow train, but it takes a long time. If the one hour thing is not so important, it's great, and we love living here.

[WhiffyBiffer]

Liphook Liss or Petersfield? Hampshire/Surrey border. Great schools especially bohunt for secondary. They're on the Waterloo-Portsmouth line.

[Cressandra]

I like Winchester but it's too far. No matter what the train timetables say, once you add in time to get to the station and the onward journey from Waterloo, it's way over an hour. Anyone's life is too short to spend over 3 hours a day commuting.

Do not, do NOT underestimate the value of train frequency. Makes an enormous difference to the commute, especially coming home. Have to say MrsF is seducing me to Tonbridge! Don't go too far away while his job stays in London. There really is a quality of life hit if he has a 3 stage journey (car, train, walk/tube/bus) and the middle leg is an hour with only 2 trains an hour.

[jevoudrais]

Get lots for your money near Colchester and some very nice schools in parts of Essex too. Lots of nice little villagey places. Kelvedon is 50 mins to Liverpool St, Chelmsford is 35 mins etc. Take you longer for Waterloo though.

[Bostin]

Haslemere. 50 minutes and 4 trains an hour.

[travailtotravel]

I'm East Hampshire (Petersfield mainline) and commute. Just over an hour. Actually we live just south as Pfld expensive ,(but lovely) so drive 10 mins to station. It's worked for us but commuting is a drag. It makes you tired and a little grumpy at times as its a waste of time. But the benefits of a bit of space can't be denied.

[dotnet]

Is your house sold yet, or can you link me to the ad - someone I know is looking for a house in London (he has a 3 bed flat at the mo) and would be interested to take a look at the details if the price is affordable.

Thanks a lot!

[Kirjava]

Winchester is beautiful but v expensive. You wouldn't get much for your budget without living far away from the station.

[Millionprammiles]

If your dh is commuting there and back, 5 days a week and potentially working late sometimes you really need to look at frequency of trains as much as the duration.
If he misses one how long till the next?
Are there alternative routes if trains on one line aren't running?
How many tubes and how many stops does he have to take on top of the train journey?
A 50 min train journey can rapidly turn into 90 min door to door. Personally I wouldn't want to spend 3 hours a day commuting (unless I only had to spend 7 hours in the office).

Also how near the station will you need to be (will he have to drive? Will there be parking? Will you need two cars?).

[Cedar03]

As a long term commuter I'd say look closely at the price of the commute itself and the frequency of the trains to your station. Then before buying I would try out the commute during rush hour. Look at how closely you live to the station. Personally I insist on living within walking distance to the station because traffic can be awful and parking rubbish around stations.
An hour train journey is probably an hour and a half door to door minimum.

[Mummypeach]

Good tips on the commute...much to think about and consider.

He'll be going from a 20 minute cycle ride door to door past famous landmarks to a longish journey on the train.

I don't think it's quite hit him how different it will be....but trying to find what we want, where we want it fit our budget is challenging. We do love where we live so wherever we end up has got to give us what we're currently lacking to make it worthwhile.

We would stay but desperately need more space, London air pollution is starting to bother my lungs and now I have anxiety about how safe the city is. We live in central London.

Dotnet - We're not planning on selling out house, which really makes everything harder, but I'm adamant we hold on to but for long-term investment. Plus I think it would be fun to have it to live in London when we retire and the DDs have flown the nest.

Have him look in the Thorburn conservation area of Bermondsey. It's a little enclave of three bed terraced houses that are currently completely undervalued for the location. I'll try and see if I can dig out a link somewhere.

[Mummypeach]

Typos - sorry! Writing on phone

[Mummypeach]

This is a link to a house in Thorburn conservation area of Bermondsey that was auctioned. Sold for £620k, needed complete redoing. Houses normally valued at £800-850k in this area, which considering most London houses are £1million*, is a relative steal.

[Mummypeach]

Oops!! Link!

catalogue.auctions.savills.co.uk/london-national/Previous-Auctions/

[PettsWoodParadise]

Petts Wood in London Borough of Bromley is a great place to live. Lovely community feel, safe, nice independent shops, boutiques, restaurants, still edge of London, also close to lots of open space as well as convenient shops and entertainment: best of both worlds. All parts have great primary schools and Crofton end has great secondaries with Darrick Wood. Eligible for 3 grammar areas at least. 22 mins to London Bridge and 30 mins to Charing Cross plus lots of other destinations like Victoria, Cannon Street and Blackfriars - all direct from zone 5. Some of the 1960s style in Crofton/Petts Wood borders are keenly priced as they are less desirable than the majority of the local stock which is 1930s. My commute for example consists of 10 min walk to station, 28 mins on train, then 17 min walk to office. my office could as easily be on top of my mainline station and suddenly I'd have a 45 min door to door commute which my zone 3 colleagues can't even compete with. And yes my friends think I have shares in Petts Wood, it is such a nice place to live.

[PettsWoodParadise]

Not perfect but some Examples:
m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38065490?search_identifier=3e105f87d049571431b207635a2f79ea

Or
m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38147711?search_identifier=3e105f87d049571431b207635a2f79ea

[eternalopt]

Wherever you're going, bear in mind that changes to stamp duty post April 2016 could make the stamp duty higher and affect your budget? New tax area will apply to second homes. Not sure how it will work if you are buying a second house as your main home and flipping the one you already have to a buy to let, but might be worth some further investigation in your circumstances? www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34922738

[eternalopt]

Rates, not area

[Fermin]

If he works in Soho then commuting from somewhere in Kent direct to Charing X would be a good option. I used to work in Covent Gdn which is a 5 minute walk from Charing X station so Soho should be 15 min walk max. Or even quicker on a bike (either Boris bike or folding Brompton that he can take on train). Eliminating the need to use public transport once you actually get into London makes a big difference as fighting your way on to a busy bus or tube once you've got off a delayed commuter train every morning is soul sapping. Gives some control back to your journey iyswim.

[WiryElevator]

When you say you have looked at state schools in Kent, have you looked at non grammar schools? Are you certain your DDs will pass the 11+?

[LadyStark]

Come to Surrey! I think Cheam or Ewell would be a good fit. Train about 30 mins to Victoria from Cheam and Ewell East or Waterloo from Ewell West or Stoneleigh. Majority of schools outstanding or good.

Pushes the budget a bit but this is nice in Cheam www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38107170.html

Stoneleigh www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52104811.html

Ashtead would work too - it's a bit further out, nice village feel. This isn't the prettiest house externally but great space www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55441343.html.

[Cressandra]

I agree with Fermin that walking from the station at the London end helps.

I would sacrifice a huge chunk of square footage for being walking distance to the station from your house too. We moved from a rented 1 bed flat in sight of the station to buy a 3 bed house in the next town, and it just stopped being sustainable. It's ok for the first year or so but the journey really grinds you down after 4, 7, 10 years. No point have 1500sqft when you are only in it between 8pm and 6am and permanently knackered.

[IguanaTail]

Tunbridge Wells nice. Tonbridge too. But remember there is the 11+ in Kent.

My friend lives in Haywards Heath and really likes it - lots of trains to Victoria and also Brighton nice and close.