**Living in Hertfordshire - London Commuters**

[BringMeTheCoffee]

Hello Mumsnet community!

I'm looking for advice on "affordable" and recommended areas to live in Hertfordshire.

Recently married (no children yet!) - moved down South for work. DH works in Royston, and I regularly commute into central London. Most of our family live in the Midlands or North London - so we're looking for somewhere with good travel links.

Is St Albans worth the hype? (Smaller house, but more going on?)

Any recommendations for Welwyn Garden City? (Looks like we could get more for our money?)

Hitchin is lovely - currently renting here. But are the house prices worth it considering we don't have school age children?

First time buyers - budget around £430k

Appreciate the help! x

What about Hemel Hempstead? Not as far as MK

Yes avoid Luton! Ampthill is lovely. not too far from train in flitwick and junction 12 for the M1.

St Albans is possibly the least “affordable” place in Herts. Along with Harpenden.

What are you expecting to get for £430k? A two bed flat no garden, or a three bed house with decent garden? That will hugely affect what’s “affordable” for your budget.

Have you ruled out Royston itself? What about Letchworth - more affordable than Hitchin? If you know Hitchin, can you get the size property you’re interested in there for your budget?

Leighton Buzzard has lots of new builds, and a good train link into London. It's certainly more affordable than St Albans and Harpenden.

We moved to WGC from North London ten years ago. I was wary at the time but we have loved it. Beautiful walks and parks, lovely woods and great for families. It has a much more village-like feel than we expected and there is a "wonderful WGC" committee that organises food fares, Christmas lights, cinema on the green events etc. We're actually in a different position that we're trying to moved from a 3 to 4 bed and finding Welwyn much pricier than Hertford/Ware etc.