Relocating for job in London. Help deciding where to look for houses?

[notanotherunicorn]

Renting, not buying unfortunately. We are looking for somewhere up to around 50 minutes on the train into London, and no more than £2000 a month for a 3 bed house (ideally less if we can ever hope to buy a house in the south). We are in York, and it's a beautiful place I'll be sad to leave, but it's much too far to commute.
I have a few 'would be nice to haves' and a few 'must haves'.

It would be nice to find somewhere that either has a village/historic feel with great family facilities (even if it's actually in the middle of sprawling suburbia) i.e beautiful shopping streets(I'm thinking a bit like York) and a gorgeous large park with really good play equipment and space for picnics...not just some scrub land to walk the dog. Either that or we'd like somewhere with lots of countryside i.e woods and great walks on the doorstep.

Previously I've lived in Milton Keynes (not keen on going back. I found lots to love about it, the shops, the restaurants, the lake, but it wasn't really us.)
And Leamington spa. I LOVE Leamington and also Kenilworth, Stratford, Warwick, and would love somewhere closer to london that has a similar charm (the community, play parks, history etc), but DH is the commuter and he isn't willing to commute more than 45 minutes because he finds it stressful and we both want as much family time as possible.

What we must have are: Excellent state schools (great results and a safe environment), or maybe an affordable private secondary school for our eldest (definitely not more than around £6000 a term or we'll be living on baked beans). Our eldest is laid back/possibly not hugely academic so a grammar isn't something I'd want (on the other hand she needs to be somewhere that will get the best out of her and push her a bit). The youngest are too young to worry about yet!

I've had a look online and some places that looked interesting from photos: The chilterns area, Marlow looked lovely. St Albans? Guildford? Some bits of surrey i.e near Virginia Water. Kingston upon Thames?

Where else can you get to in under 50 minutes?

I've not idea where to focus our search, help!

Unfortunately Winchester (York of the south) and Leamington are too far out.

I’m sure it’s been said but travel will be expensive from outside London. Oxford street can be reached from Victoria, Paddington, Euston, kings x and there is also the option of living near or commuting to a tube station at the end of the central, bakerloo, Victoria etc lines.

I’m a city girl these days so can knly throw my tuppenceworth in about travelling in the city!

You could, however but the bullet and go smaller closer to the centre and enjoy London life for a wee while! 👹 (devils advocate)

I had a nightmare using southern for the school run for 3 flipping years, so wouldn’t recommend relying on that!

The Horsell area of Woking might fit the bill. Loads of great countryside on your doorstep and villagey feel, adjacent to the main facilities and excellent rail links of Woking, and great schools too.

Not sure if you’ll get something to rent for that budget though.

What about Bromley / Beckenham / Chislehurst or Petts Wood. Commute would be to Victoria or Charing Cross which are easy to Oxford Circus. You are in tfl zones so brings down commute costs a lot. They are suburbia but have their benefits.

Look along south west trainline into Waterloo (out into Surrey and Hampshire). Maybe some of the bigger commuter towns like Woking, Basingstoke, Guildford.

It might be worth looking in the Amersham/Chesham area. I'm afraid you won't get the historic or beautiful shopping streets but it's a nice area with very good schools and it's on the end of the Metropolitan line, so a really easy commute. The Chilterns are lovely.

You are really stretching the realms of possibility OP. You pretty much want the moon on a stick. Do you not think if your whole combination was easily possible we'd all be living that lifestyle? Not accepting there have to be some compromises and living life accordingly.

Meant with all due kindness, but you need to get real.

I would be prioritising your husbands commute and working back from that - he is the one with the shitty end of the stick (I speak from experience) so put his best options first and give up some of your requirements accordingly.

Beckenham/ Bromley way - trains into charing X, London bridge, Waterloo east, Victoria. The latter goes to brixton and Victoria (obviously), which are on the Victoria line to Ox Circus & Warren St (for euston).
Lots of parks
Private schools (in Kent & Dulwich)
Good state schools
Lots of parks

*just re-read and saw you are interested in Ox St, not euston.
Oh did I mention lots of parks

Have a look at Bushey village. The overground train is 15 minutes to Euston, the state schools are excellent at both primary and secondary so def no need for private and you can just about get a 3 bed for £2k a month. It's a pretty village but it is really on the edge of london suburbia although very close to the countryside and just by the M1so easy access up North. There are lots of lovely places nearby to walk the dog, it's a short drive to St Albans, just outside watford for good shopping and easy to access central london.

I would also look along the Southeastern line as it seems to have a reliable train service. Sevenoaks, pretty, green with access to good state and private schools. Chislehurst ditto but also with access to grammar schools. Pushing it for a 45 minute commute though. Likely to be about an hour door to door.

Bishop's Stortford on the Herts/Essex borders ticks a lot of your boxes - brilliant schools, small, attractive town centre, easy train commute to Tottenham Hale where your partner would be able to get on the Victoria Line straight to Oxford Circus.

Tunbridge Wells might be worth a look?

Also Blackheath and Greenwich. Wonderful royal park, lovely 'village' atmosphere, farmers markets etc. Both Greenwich and Blackheath lines have frequent trains into London Charing Cross or London Bridge in 15 minutes then 10 mins tube to OC. This means you can enjoy going out in London with the children too but can retreat easily. Your budget would get you a 3 bed semi or flat but it won't be a lovely period property probably.

Primary schools very good. Secondaries not great but many private schools run buses from both Blackheath and Greenwich (Eltham College, Dulwich College, Colfes to name a few).

3 bedroom house in Old Merton Park

You're really close to South Wimbledon tube here, which is on the Northern Line. That goes to Stockwell, to change on the Victoria Line into Oxford Circus. The journey will take you around 30-40 minutes.

Old Merton Park is really quiet, despite proximity to main roads, and you have easy access to lovely Morden Hall Park, as well as being only a couple of miles away from Wimbledon Common.

Wimbledon Village is lovely too!

There are always lots of doomsayers on these threads. You'd easily get a perfectly nice 3 bed around here (Surbiton/Kingston) for your budget and from Surbiton it is an easy 18 minute commute to waterloo. Oxford Circus easily within 45 minutes if you time it right.

Also locally (i.e. Merton Park/Wimbledon) we have excellent schools (state)

Your husband could get a fold up bike which gives more options in terms of distance from rail station.

Worth looking in Beaconsfield. I am surprised but property prices do appear to be in your budget.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-69342086.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-63513370.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46214583.html

Someone else mentioned Wanstead, E11. It is within London, on the Central line,two tube stations, it has a lovely feel to it, good community spirit, excellent private and state schools. It's still London though, not as charming and village as what you may want, but there is a lovely forest (Wanstead Park), a golf club, etc

hi there, you mentioned virginia water, just to warn you it does not have a historical feel, and there is almost no shopping here! So I would cross it off your list.

Areas I know are lovely areas are: Kingston, Twickenham, Richmond, Blackheath and Greenwich. Not sure about budget and schools though.

What about Rickmansworth?

Hertford, ware, Bishops Stortford, Stansted mountfitchet...all commutable, and a three bed should be achievable within that budget just about. All have great schools too. North of London so might be better if you still have family/friends up north you will be going to see regularly. Living south of the river can add a couple of hours on to a journey up the M1.

I think if your DH is worried about the commute, then you have to start from that, make a shortlist of places that would work with the commute, then narrow them down.
Rather than starting with the place you would like to live and seeing if the commute would work.
Having moved around a lot, and commuted a lot into London, I feel it's something really worth getting right.

Keep in mind that sometimes you can have a shorter commute if you live further out (but that it will cost more).

Being able to walk/cycle at at least one end of the commute is good, not sure how your DH feels, but having to wait around to get a bus, or having to leave early to make sure you can snap up one of the rare parking places (that you are paying a fortune for) is not a good start to the morning.

Have a look at the train times - will your DH always have to be racing to catch the train after work and subsequently never get a seat? Or will he have to spend ages mooching around the mainline station each evening waiting for his train?
Will the train in the morning be too crowded to get a seat? Are there plenty to choose from, or is there just one an hour. Is it a fast line? If there is a problem on the line, will he be stranded, or is there another line that could get him back (at least to somewhere relatively close)

My personal commuting requirements are: ability to walk to station at home end, alternative ways of getting there/home if the line is blocked, several trains an hour, good chance of getting a seat, direct transport link (ie one bus or tube journey without a change, or even better, walk) at the other end. Personally I would much rather have an hour- long journey that met these requirements than a shorter one that didn't, but everyone is different. I'd spend a bit of time thinking about them though, as it isn't necessarily as straightforward as just "less than 45 minutes".

Lots of options open to you, so might be good to prioritise your wish-list and consider any other realities.

Eg do you need to visit family elsewhere in the country regularly (or they visit you?) as it is worth then focusing on a N, S, E or location as it can take 2hrs to drive across or around London if you are on the wrong side.

Also if you want urban or semi-rural. Lots of upmarket urban areas with own character outside London which have goods schools and shopping - St Albans, SW London, Guilford ...same identikit high streets with the same middle-class chain shops and restaurants that you probably have in York.....so you might want to consider what else you need locally to you - access to river, open countryside, horse-riding, museums, theatre etc