If you could move anywhere...

[Mooserp]

That meets these requirements, where would you go?

2/3 bed house (not necessarily large) for under £280k
Easy access to London, not needed on a daily basis, but near a train station with a direct line
Easy access to countryside or the sea
Nice friendly community feel
Politically - not right wing
Preferably no bigger than a medium sized town
Schools not important/ not needed

I’d see if there’s somewhere for the budget near the Surrey Hills. They are stunning with lots of walking and biking + a short drive to the sea. Or somewhere in the South Downs.

Tricky if a commute to London is needed. I've seen Leicestershire recommended on here and Northamptonshire but I don't know these areas other than they're much cheaper than the South East.
Outskirts of Brighton/Worthing/Shoreham? South Downs and seaside...

No commute, just occasional trips to London.

Surrey hills sounds £££££

I'm currently in Northamptonshire. Countryside is nice, but I want to be closer to hills, lakes, mountains

I’m on the edge of London and we drive out to the Surrey Hills and the coast so not sure on exact pricing. I think somewhere like Redhill would probably have a house on budget. It’s very easy for London (trains or a 30min drive to the last tube station off peak). The town centre is a bit Argos/Greggs but Reigate town centre is less than 2 miles from there with fancy restaurants and boutiques, Everyman Cinema etc. Some coutryside on the doorstep, lake with sailing and kayaking, Surrey Hills probably a 15min drive and maybe 45mins(?) to th beach.

sandbatch or surrounding areas - direct line from crewe to london

Medway? Rochester? West Malling?

East Anglia - Colchester/Ipswich areas.

Sorry I'm not sure my original list of requirements was specific enough. I think I'd be looking at further away from London, so I could get a nicer house/location for my money.

Kent and East Anglia look nice but are further away from the places I'd want easier access to. Not sure if being close to the sea would make up for that.

On the Kent coast, Hythe and Sandgate are lovely and have the sea and the coutryside on the doorstep. There are quick trains into London from Folkestone West.

Tbh, though, if you’d like more house for the money, you could try some bits of Norfolk. There are some reasonable trains into London from parts of it. It’s a flat county but more affordable with a lot of coastline and the Norfolk Broads.

Suffolk, Norfolk or Northamptonshire. All easy to get into London occasionally but beautiful countryside and decent size property for the money. Suffolk and Norfolk super easy to get to coast too.

2 1/2 hours from Oxenholme (Kendal) to Euston if you fancy the Lake District. Bit yellow politically round there...

Thanks for the suggestions. Norfolk and Suffolk are too far from places I'd like access to - peaks, lakes etc.

Kendal maybe a bit too far, but I think I need to look north of northants

Norfolk. Train straight into Liverpool Street!

In that case, Sheffield (if you have wellies) or Chesterfield are 2 hours from St Pancras

Both those places give easy access to the Peak District, as does Stockport which also has a direct train into Euston. Plenty of small, lovely market towns around there.

Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

I live in a village in the Surrey hills. Cheapest 3 bedroom around here is around 650k and that’s a project!

We moved to Folkestone a couple of years back and love it. Definitely ticks all your boxes. This is the sort of thing you could get for your budget - close to station with connections to central London in less than an hour www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75451657.html