If I need to commute to Blackfriars/Southwark/Farringdon?

[december2020]

And have a budget of 800k, what areas would you recommend to look at when buying?

We've got a young DS and a dog.
Would prefer a house in an area that has a mix of leafy green and with amenities like restaurants, pubs and things to do.

But with a 30 minute train/tube ride or less - if that's even possible (of course this wouldn't include waking time).

Does this area even better exist for 800k properties? I'm starting to think it doesn't.

St Albans + thameslink is a good commute to Farringdon and to any bits of north london

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/106948205#/

Harpenden/St Albans area?

Petts Wood would fit the bill - you'd get a great house for £800k and could get the direct Thameslink train to Blackfriars or Farringdon. It's leafy and safe too.

A little bit left field. West Hampstead is probably just outside your budget, but a nice short commute, and packed with amenities. Smaller green spaces nearby, but not far from Hampstead Heath.

Penge / Sydenham. I live here and have commuted to all of those places over the years.

There used to be a direct train from Penge through to Farringdon but since covid that seems to have gone. You have to change at herne hill now but it's still pretty easy.

From Sydenham you can get the London Bridge train and walk to Southwark or tube it if feeling lazy.

Compared with your current location, which sounds good for both your work, lots of the locations PPs have mentioned would increase your travel time / difficulty (eg train overcrowding).

You’d only need to be back from work unexpectedly / quickly for DS very occasionally, so wouldn’t give that factor much weight in your decision making.

Blackfriars is 25 mins direct from Tooting Station

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/105555956#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78054534#/

You have Furzedown for family stuff, good schools, Tooting Bec Common, can walk for Tube access or overground access for commuting.

These are amazing suggestions thank you!
And I didn't know that search site existed as well!
We're going to make a list of a few of these places and visit them and see what the vibe is like as step one.

What will help massively is also the ability to "reroute" when there are issues in transport. Currently I'm so reliant on the trains but if they're down, there is no alternative way to get home and sometimes adds another 2 hours waiting time(which is fine when I just need to think about myself but now with DS, I need to prioritise him and I don't think nursery would be too happy if I rock up at 9pm), this would solve this problem as well.

Yes rerouting is a key consideration - I would pick somewhere with overground and tube within walking (less than 25 mins) distance.

Agree with PP about Nunhead. Direct line to Blackfriars/Farringdon, with a backup from Queens Rd Peckham into London Bridge. Plenty of restaurants, pubs etc. plus Nunhead Cemetery nearby en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunhead_Cemetery

Shenfield has a fast train 20-25 mins in to Liverpool Street. Then 5 mins to Farringdon. Nice area, opening into Essex countryside.

Charlton SE7 - overground on two routes plus Jubilee Line and short bus ride as a back up. Great primary schools and close to the river, Blackheath and Greenwich.

I was about to say Higham's Park / Walthamstow.

Then back to West Hampstead. If the Thameslink is buggered you've got the tube (Jubilee line, but simple cross platform to Met line at Finchley Road one stop down), buses from West Hampstead or up on Finchley road. The Overground (generally only useful for certain destinations) too.