Where should we move to?

[Susiethetortoiseshellcat]

Looking for some advice. We bought our first house in Essex a few years ago. No ties to area, just seemed nice and was commutable to London. House is 2 bedroom but very close to high street and train station which is important to me. We now have a baby and would like another in the future so would love a 3 bedroom house but I am DESPERATE to move areas. I just haven't settled here and don't enjoy living in this area at all. My dh needs to commute into London but our budget is only 470, 000. I'm currently not working but am a teacher so quite easy for me to find work/supply anywhere. Does a place exist where we could afford 3 bedrooms, be close to a station/shops and commute into London? I'm beginning to think it doesn't!

What about somewhere in Cambridgeshire along the Peterbrough to King's cross line? So huntingdon or St Neots or somewhere like that? 400k would get you a lot there.

Or North Oxfordshire/bucks perhaps, somewhere like princes Risborough or high Wycombe?

I'm just going to quickly point out how well located Hither green is as I'm in rented there (bought up the road in Blackheath but not moved in yet)

Train station goes into 3 major stations - Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Victoria

And I always get a seat. 14-18 minutes.

Imo Hither green and close to it is one of the best areas to live for a family as there's plenty of families/parks/schools etc.

Mine are grown up now so I don't need those amenities but it's crawling with lovely young families here

North West London? E.g. Edgware/Harrow?

Thanks andshesgone I am really surprised what you can get for your money in Hither Green, I'll definitely suggest that area to dh. At the moment dh's commute takes about 1 hrs 20 mins and he would love it to be shorter. He is pretty committed to his job so is likely to be working in that area for a while and the commute is (although completely normal I know) starting to drag him down a bit. Pilgrimway I'm happy to either move back in or just a different area with more personality. I think it's since having my baby that I have really started top dislike the area as am here all the time. I have made some casual friends but you're right, perhaps my attitude is preventing people from being friendly towards me. Interesting to hear others in same situation.

Try south chingford, it's on all the bus routes, 45 mins total to kings cross on a zone 3 ticket, and even a 4 bed semi is 450-500k. North chingford however is utterly expensive.

My DB and his DP bought a 3-bed flat in Eltham for £180k 2 years ago. It needed a bit of work, is a flat not a house but has a massive garden, and isn't near a station, but surely you could get get a 3-bed house with a garden near a station (Eltham or Mottingham or similar) with 3x the budget?

andshesgone beat me to it!
That was the general area I was going to suggest too. I wonder if there might be possibilities at the eastern end of the jubilee line too?
I'm buying 3 beds for less than your budget in se23.
This looks pretty good value in Catford:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58307341.html
(I know loads of really cool people moving to catford with babies at the mo- give it 18 months and it will be all artisan bread and microbreweries.

Interesting the let's move to was Hither Green this week! www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2017/mar/03/lets-move-hither-green-south-east-london-tom-dyckhoff

Interesting the let's move to was Hither Green this week! www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2017/mar/03/lets-move-hither-green-south-east-london-tom-dyckhoff

Berkhampstead is lovely. For that budget also consider buck/oxon border so Thame/Haddenham/princes risborough.

It's less than 40 mins to Marylebone from haddenham and Thame parkway on the fast trains.
How you feel about grammar schools may sway your decision about which side of the county border you choose.

If you liked Greenwich, you could look beyond the rail line to Charlton, Woolwich and beyond. Families are definitely a bit further east when they look to trade up, so the areas have started to be u and coming. Prices are already rising because of Crossrail coming to Woolwich, but have further to go. Crossrail should make a huge difference and allow you to commute out to commute back in.