Another Cheeky ‘Buy me a House/Good Areas to Buy' Post

[Peeperz]

Hello All,

It is in my desperation I make this cheeky post (like a few others before me) asking for suggestions for areas where I can find a humble abode. I’ve been lurking on this site for a good few months reading a plethora of posts. The community here is wonderful! I still however can’t decide on which areas (villages, towns) in which to look in order buy a house, hence the post.

I’m currently single (and glad to be so after being in dreadful relationship) and have no kids. I hold a job in the south of London therefore would like to find somewhere that has a good commuter link into London – I’m not too fussed about the commuting time as long as it is under 1 ½ hours. After experiencing the hustle and bustle of the city, I would like to live in a friendly (I’m of mixed race), safe, quiet, rural (village/town) location that has some greenery – preferably in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, south Cambridgeshire - as I have family up North. A 2-3-bedroom house with a good-sized garden would be wonderful. The maximum budget I can stretch to is £300,000. Any suggestions/information relating to good areas would be so welcome. :)

Thank you once again. :)

Saffron Walden is lovely and safe, good schools and you can just about get a property for that. Train station is Audley End which is about 2 miles away but has fast trains to London. Lots of greenery.

Bishops Stortford is nice too and Ware and Stortford is better on commute, probably bit less safe than SW but still OK, good shops, schools etc. Also bear in mind commuting costs. BS is less rural than SW but countryside around very soon. Just be careful to avoid the area around Stansted airport incase it expands if you go further out think its Takeley. Not sure about multi cultural would guess BS maybe best for that, BS is certainly best for commuting / commuting costs and biggest choice in property.

Thank you catandpanda. :) I will look to see if Ware and SW have any good houses. Not too keen on BS, as you said, the airport may expand. Not to fussed about the commute, as in the future, I'm hoping to change jobs.

If you are committed to South London for work, I'd recommend you look on the Bedford to Brighton ThamesLink line.

Where exactly do you commute to?

The commute into central London from BS can be up to 90 minutes depending on where you work - fast trains are 25 minutes to Tottenham Hale, just under 40 to Liverpool Street, but once you allow getting to and from the station at both ends, and also tube time if you have an onward connection, it all adds up. So if you're committed to working in north or east London, or those sides of the centre, no problem, but I wouldn't consider it if I was working somewhere like Tooting as the commute would be a pain in the arse.

Having said that, BS is very nice and has everything you need in a town - it's not as pretty as Saffron Walden but is better connected and has a good variety of housing. It's also more multicultural than is immediately apparent due to the numbers of people working at the airport.

But in your position, I'd look on the lines going out of King's Cross and St Pancras, so west/central Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire maybe. Not sure how far your money would go - St Albans would be great but too expensive and Hitchin would probably be too pricey as well. Baldock and Letchworth would be worth a look, potentially also Biggleswade. If you can connect to the Victoria line for work, I'd also consider Leighton Buzzard.

Thank you WhereisRabbit. I will reconsider BS, though I'm not to keen on getting a place where it is probable that in the not too distant future the airport may be extended and end up being in the flight path of planes. You did mention Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire as a whole. Please could you or anyone recommend specific areas (villages/towns) to look for?

See my suggestion above! Leighton Buzzard, Hitchin, Baldock, Letchworth and Biggleswade would be worth a look. Can't recommend villages as I don't know the areas well enough. Your main decision will
be whether you want to be within walking distance of a station or whether you're willing to drive - the latter opens up more possibilities but you need to factor in the cost of station parking.

Before you look at property on these lines look at season ticket prices and look how much you can afford versus how far out you want to live. Season tickets are super expensive and eat into monthly outgoings very quickly. Using the price of them as a guide get a map draw a circle round where you can afford to commute from and work within that. It sounds basic but it will help