Detached house for £600 out of London with train link

[LindaMum]

Hello,
We are in North London and priced out for our first detached home for a budget around £600k. I know that we can get some nice terraced or semis within this range in outer London but we prefer detached. We have been thinking to move away to some quieter place with train link to London. What we need is some amenities such as grocery stores within walking distance and a secondary school.

We are flexible to move to any place as long as it's quiet and good residential area with some amenities and train link to London.

I've been doing a lot of searches but can't seem to get anywhere closer to what we are looking for.

Can anyone suggest some good places for us?

Thanks

North Cambs villages. Short drive to train station. Good schools.
Hour to London. But...you have to be prepared to drive.

(We used to live in n London and moved for similar reasons.)

@Iamtooknackeredtorun

Maybe just a little less dismissiveness about places/houses that people may happily live in or care about? Might get you a bit further.

Indeed. I don’t feel like helping Ms Snippy.

Would rather jump off Dover cliffs than go up North

Next time I'm down south, I'd be willing to help you.

@Eyevorbig0ne

Luton is grim

And if it is...?

It's a dot in the far south of Bedfordshire, which is otherwise a very rural and peaceful county. It's not even the county town.

You can live somewhere really pretty, with great transport links, and never go anywhere near Luton. Yet OP has written off the whole county.

Bracknell

Do you work in London or just need the transport links? Is it an everyday commute or occasional?

Will you be requiring state schools or the independent sector, and single-sex or co-educational, and what ages?

East Hampshire, Liphook or Petersfield. Guildford in Surrey. Horsham in West Sussex. Winchester or Alton in Hampshire. All have London train lines and good secondary schools.

@LindaMum East. Happy to pm you where I live/other local areas with good links to London.

You could be walking distance of a train station and (almost) walking distance here...
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/98048753

My brother has just bough a detached, executive style 'newish' build, 5 bedrooms, in East Grinstead, Surrey, just shy of 700k - great transport links to London.

So a 3 bed should come in within your budget in the surrounding areas.

Hemel Hempsted, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, Oxhey, Bushey, Watford, Welwyn Garden City, St Albans (basically Hertfordshire)

Zoopla!

In Scotland, £600K would buy you the most amazing property with loads of land. But I get thats not what you asked...

Hayward’s Heath / Lindfield / Cuckfield

Finches Park Road, Lindfield, RH16
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/104617070

Franklands Village, Haywards Heath, RH16
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/79438095

Hardham Close, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/90273991

Coulstock Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/71873127

VILLAGE LIFESTYLE | Lindfield Road, Ardingly
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/104445854

Daynes Way, Burgess Hill
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/86749465

Look at the London to Peterborough line. Biggleswade is good, as is Huntingdon.

St Neots is great apart from the schools - they are a bit mmmmm. Shame as it really is a lovely market town with a fast train to London.

Cambourne is popular with north londoners moving out, but doesn't have a great deal. Excellent schools, a supermarket, a hotel, couple of cafes - but that is about it. There may be a train station there in the future. Currently 15 mins drive to St Neots for the train.

Huntingdon is a very nice town, it's improved a lot of the years and has some great schools, plus it is really good for trains.

Shsss stop telling people about Huntingdon or Godmanchester.

Ely is another to look at. Gorgeous city (Tiny for a city) great schools and it's on the main line to London. A bit further out than the others, but if you only want the train to get to London for travel then it's a good alternative. Your budget would get a 4 bed in Ely.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84824317#/media?id=media9&ref=photoCollage

@Eyevorbig0ne

Luton is grim

OP ignore this comment, there are some lovely areas in Luton. Dunstable Downs are pretty nice on a sunny afternoon and Whipsnade Zoo is on their doorstep (as well as the airport) although I do appreciate it's not to everyone's liking, but do your research as property is cheaper in Luton

I forgot to say, you may get bang for buck in Tring (small little town but not far from bigger towns like St Albans, Watford and Hemel) or Leighton Buzzard. I don't know much about the latter but I go to Tring with my kids to the museum and then stop off for lunch but now its all closed :( haven't been in a while

Ooops just realised you said detached. Here you go. Less than a mile from schools and a train station and in budget. 4 bed.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/58188853/?search_identifier=ee8b4ca18c60666c41e22c0a920a539b

Newark.

Depends what direction. Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire you can easily find that. We're near Huntingdon which is about 50 minutes at peak time from KX. On that line you will find places like St Neots, Biggleswade and so on also easily in budget. Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City etc.

Church Lane, Averham
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/79043880

Main Street, Fiskerton, Southwell
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/95507783

Vicarage Lane, Long Bennington, Newark
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/90276763

Main Street, Flintham
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/79071714

Blacksmiths Lane, Kelham, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG23
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/89203126

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/103388840#/

Essex.

Nice parts of Essex or Kent may be within that price range.
I was looking at Leigh on Sea a couple of years ago, prices may have gone up now, but it's a lovely area. Ditto Chelmsford.
(we went much further North in the end!)

Seen a couple of people suggesting Stowmarket and other areas along the Norfolk / Suffolk London to Norwich line. Be wary of this. We moved from London to South Norfolk a few years ago thinking oh how lovely it’s only 1h 20 mins on the train to London etc we can even work in London some days- well, you can if you don’t mind delay after delay and coach replacement services if a leaf dares to fall on the track and whatever else shite. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE where we live and don’t regret moving at all - I don’t miss London at all- but rural train services are generally shit. Very shit. You constantly have to assume the first train you want might not arrive and plan around this.

We only ever use the train for a fun day trip to a London now.

@musmusdodo

No need to jump, I'll push you

😂😂😂😂😂