£250k commutable to London

[GothicRainbow]

We're looking to buy a 3 bed house within commutable distance to London - ideally no more than an hour and a half each way on the train.

Our budget is £250k so we are struggling to find anything suitable in the current area we live in (Hampshire/Surrey border) and we are starting to consider looking further afield.

We have one DS (2.5) and one more on the way so schools, community etc is important.

Can anyone recommend good areas for us to begin searching??

lovely. Tonbridge is probably not lively.

Yes to Leighton Buzzard. I commute to London from there. No to Luton.

this is what you can get in Tonbridge

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39188007.html?premiumA=true

Well yes, maybe you wouldn't pick the one that looks as if it is about to fall down! But if you have time and luck then it might be possible - these linked below are already sold. As to Waitrose fascination - it's a pleasant place to shop! There's not one near where I live and I miss it. Nothing more to it than that!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49106599.html?premiumA=true

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36690324.html?premiumA=true

Ipswich. I don't live there but have family there. Outstanding value, and Suffolk is beautiful. Would seriously consider moving there if we didn't both need to commute in.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38733372.html?premiumA=true

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57518069.html?premiumA=true
Catchment for Ofsted Outstanding Primary School

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53171090.html?premiumA=true

If you are prepared to live in one of the outlying villages you may find more choice.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50470322.html

This one is quite nice.

I wouldn't want my Dh doing a 1.5 hour commute. 3 hours a day is tough. My Dh did do it, but he now works a few miles away and it is so much better.

It's difficult Obs2016 but sometimes needs must. I'm sure the OP and her DH have discussed the impact on their family.

Even in central london though its often an hour long commute door to door in rush hour for most people. So the OP and her family could buy a 2 bed apt in a fairly rough part of London, shaving 30 mins off his daily commute but as a family they would probably regret it. Plus if you are living locally it is much easier to get a better idea of what is available and apply/cold call HR teams.

The trick is to have a straightforward commute where you get on at one end and get off 5 mins from your destination. Long commutes with multiple changes are shattering.

I agree, 3 hours commute a day is soul-destroying. Plus it would mean OP doing the massive lion's share of the housework and childcare.

If it were me I would look for somewhere closer, possibly compromising on size and/or buying a flat rather than a house, with a view to getting better paid part-time work once the DC are in school.

South Lincolnshire/ north Cambridgeshire village? Trains into kings cross from Peterborough are about 45mins I think.

Has anyone mentioned Ely?

3 hours commute a day is soul-destroying. Plus it would mean OP doing the massive lion's share of the housework and childcare

Absolutely. Before you commit to a house that far out you should both sit down and really figure out what this could do to your relationship and whether or not it will be a permanent thing [eg DH's job is very London specific] or whether there's a 2-3 yr plan for your DH to also find work within a closer commute distance. That might inform your choice of location more if there are some large employers in the region for example.

Ely to London would be total schlep every day for example but Cambridge now has a booming technology park on the north side of the city for example. Ipswich and Colchester/Chelmsford also have some very large companies [financial/legal/insurance] who have based back office operations there.

The other irritant, is with a London commute you ideally want to give your DH some flexibility to switch employers without it having a huge impact on his commute.

From your perspective you are likely to be solo parent to a preschooler and a newborn from 7-7 at a minimum every day. That's hard work. Moving somewhere that you have some local support or will find it easier to build a network eg a small village outside a commute point, with a good school 5 mins walk away might make life much more bearable for you.

Basingstoke?

Look at Milton Keynes, rugby, Leicestershire villages etc
Will post some links

Should say they're all 25-50 min train

Before DS1 was born I commuted from Godmanchester (nr Huntingdon) daily. I worked near Euston and it was 1.5 hrs door to door including the bus to the train station and the short walk at the other end (well, waddle when I got to 8.5 months).
I didn't mind that too much before kids. After DS1 came along I had to resign as it just wasn't doable w.r.t childcare, however even if that wasn't an issue (e.g.if partner was doing the SAHP bit) then I still would not choose to spend so much time commuting with young children.

Its a massive chunk of time travelling and you don't get to see them as they are still asleep when you leave and in bed when you return. Also resentment can build. When the working parent is out of the house so many hours per day the SAHP has sole responsiblilty for the child and its wearing for both parties. So even though the fast train is 50 minutes or so from me, realistically the journey is much longer unless you live and work right near a train station. I would move closer to London than us in order to commute.

Also check out how much the train fees actually are (hefty). Don't move to the middle of nowhere because its cheap, because down the line, your DH may no longer want to work in London, and you may want to find somewhere more local. If you find somewhere you like see what the employment opportunities are closer to home as well. This is what we did. I can drive to work in 25 minutes and DH has only a 10 minute commute and the difference in what we'd get paid in London minus travel costs is negligible.