FTB Budget £475k+ with good commute to London

[itsmehere1]

Hello All,

We are first time buyers planning to start a family, currently renting in zone 5(SE) and working in London (10 mins walk from Blackfriars station and Tower Hill station respectively). We have been looking online,booking viewings, viewing houses suited to us for weeks but haven!!!8217;t been able to find the one fulfilling most (if not all) of our priorities.

Our main priorities are as below:

1. Budget (upto £475k - can push a bit if ideal property)
2. Door to Door house to work commute time to be max 70 mins
3. In the catchment area of at-least !!!8216;good!!!8217; primary school
4. 3 bed house (or 2 good sized double bed with storage) (min 950 sqft)
5. Safety of the area

I would really appreciate any insight or advice on areas from people in similar situations.

Thanks in advance!

Well for Bickley you'll be looking around Raglan school or Bickley primary or St George's for a house in your budget (so heading closer to Bromley). Houses around Chatterton Road and roads leading to it are nice. You may get something along Blackbrook Lane or Southborough Lane or Highfields Road area. Although on this side you're way out of catchment for the above mentioned schools. So in that case I would stretch towards Petts Wood. Closer to Bickley station will be too expensive for you. Otherwise for Beckenham at that price I think you're either heading for the roads between Beckenham and Penge (like Birkbeck) or towards Elmers End. School catchments really vary year on year and the area between Penge and Beckenham and main part of Beckenham can be a black hole for secondary choices.

WIth the new train time table from this month, commutes on the Brighton main line are getting faster. Haywards Heath is a good shout. House prices are much more affordable, with trains 50 minutes to Blackfriars. Bonus is that you almost always get a seat too!

Updown Hill, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64890451.html

Have you thought about somewhere further out such as Tunbridge Wells? I thinks it’s about 1h 15 to Blackfriars so just slightly outside your budget. However, great primary schools and high achieving grammar schools if that’s your thing.

Pre children, when DH was working at London Bridge, we moved out to St Albans. Dh couldn’t believe how his commute had virtually halved by moving much further out.

Commute time not budget, sorry.

Don’t rule out flats. Some period flats have much larger square footage than houses in south east London. You have some good advice on this thread. If you are relying on state education you will be hard pressed to find a better combination than the trains line to Blackfriars from Bickley Bromley south and outstanding schools. Focus on secondary catchments. Most primaries in Bromley borough won’t serve you wrong but outstanding secondary schools are far more competitive.

It might be a bit of a push on your 70 minutes d2d criteria, but you would get something quite nice, and certainly 3 bedroom in Hayward’s Heath. Or, if you prefer something more rural, Balcomve, one stop up the line is nice. It’s a bit of a life-style change, but both are full of commuters and lovey areas to raise children.

Could consider Horsham? Really lovely town

Obviously, if you move out to somewhere such as Haywards Heath, you will be committing to the train fare as well as the commuting time - 10,312.00 pa for the two of you to London 1-6 on all routes (you can reduce that by a bit by not having a travel card and not travelling on certain trains). There is one thing we all know - train fares only go up, and it's an additional 130.00 pcm to park in the station car park.