Family friendly commuting town that is also affordable?

[Marghe87]

DH and I are planning on buying a property soon but as we have a LO at nursery full time and a low deposit, we cannot take on a large mortgage - infact, a fairly small one (at least for London and surrounding areas).
I was looking into Reading as we’d need somewhere that is very well connected with central London (frequent and fast trains) for our jobs but then I read a few things that put me off it. I’d like somewhere that is safe and childfriendly, with good schools as well as ideal for commuters. AIBU?
Our budget is £300K for a 2 bed.

Thank you!

Look North of London - Northamptonshire is much better value than south and west, and certainly much nicer than a town like Reading.

I'm in Northants, you'd be hard pushed to do door to door in an hour depending on locations of course and it's also bloody expensive to commute, if house budget is only £300,000 then I'm assuming you don't want what feels like another mortgage in season ticket costs! Most people I know in my area of Northants do "blended" working and aren't in the office everyday, especially both of them, with kids. I think you're going to need to be closer, I lived in zone 6 London and still couldn't manage door to door in an hour due to its location in London.

As PP mentioned, start from your final destination in London, which main line station would work best for you to minimise the travel required once you get off the train.

Then investigate locations along that train line.

There is really no prefect solution, there will be compromises required. Good luck.

Chingford?www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/97506650#/

Cheshunt?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76532100#/

Buckhurst Hill?
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88295977#/

OP, so one of you would drop at nursery at 8am and be in work for say 9.30am if lucky? Then one of you start work at 7am to leave by 4pm to get back for 6pm pick up?

It's going to be a very stressful slog. Can DH reduce hours at all? Work from home?

Or look at a childminder who offers 12 hour days?

Redhill is a good suggestion. Fast commute, lots of trains. The town is a bit grim but nearby Reigate is lovely. I commuted from there for a year or so. We hung out in Reigate at weekends.

Have you thought about Romford?
(I know most people think about Romford in the same vein as have you thought about removing your own spleen with a rusty knife , but look further )

The site which used to be Oldchurch hospital has been re developed (about 2015) and there is Queens Hospital just across the road .

There's an Outstanding Ofsted Primary ( Concordia Academy ) very near , not sure where their catchment ends though .
it is only 5-10 minutes walk to Romford Mainline .....and the long promised CrossRail when it arrives . Was meant to be Dec 2019 .

Decent Secondary Schools

There are flats in your budget , parking allocations .
Parking is a 'mare because of the town/station/hospital but you could do away with a car .
Shopping centre pretty good
M25 acess
Zone 6

And no . I'm not selling a flat there

There is going to be more building work round there , the old Ice Rink site (near Queens) and round by the Industrial Park across from Queens are earmarked .

Depends what you want .

At least your commute is un complicated to Liverpool St if that's the area you're after .

Royston, Herts.

Leighton buzzard is 30 mins to London Euston. Lovely town and great schools. I’d recommend Linslade side of LB, it’s distance to train station and train station. Rushmere country park is close by. Milton Keynes is less than 30 mins drive away, convenient for big shopping trips.