Open thread: If you moved out of London (to outskirts or commuter town) but still work centrally, where did you move and do you like it??

[sadlyrefreshingrightmove]

It's all in the title really! Have name changed due to potentially outing information.

Work in London (City) and looking to make a move. Impossible at the moment as the market is absolutely batshit crazy but hoping to do some research and visit places now in the hope that when (if) it cools down we have an idea of places to go.

Have sort of exhausted looking at all of the places we know, or near where we know, and am getting to the stage of just looking at a commuter map and trying to find dots on the map within a 1 hour commute of London that seems promising. So shamelessly asking for peoples' experiences. I don't think there's a perfect place that ticks all of our boxes so just want to know places to consider/rule out.

BUT if it helps the key things we're looking for are:

• Commute to city under 1 hr (any of bank/aldgate/liverpool street/cannon st)
• Good schools primary and secondary, ideally including state options but could do private for secondary. Kids currently primary age, have girls and boys.
• Safe and relatively green
• Enough of a town centre that you could spend half a day walking around, getting a meal, pottering around the shops, going to the park. A few good places to eat. Would love a cinema, theatre, buzz, great restaurants but these are nice to haves not essentials.
• min 5 bedroom detached house, with some character, within 1 mile of station and at least half acre plot. Budget £2-2.7m. Obviously would prefer to spend near the lower end of that.

Currently based around Petts Wood and I love the commute, the fact that it is green and feels very safe. Schools good too and the community is actually quite diverse for suburbia which I love. But the town centre is a teeny tiny bit dull and hard to find a larger house as the standard housing stock is 1930s semis and smaller 4 bed detatched.

Have considered moving a bit further out to Sevenoaks but prices are eye-watering and I don't love the town centre, it always feels a bit soulless to me. A few beautiful parks but just can't imagine being excited to get a massive mortgage to live there.

Please help! Just want to know some places which have generated happy commuters!

Thank you so much for all the replies!

Loads of suggestions we hadn't even considered - we used to be Canary Wharf so looking around the north side of London wasn't even an option. Will def look into Hitchin and Reigate/Guildford.

@Kipperandarthur @fingersfy we have thought about Tunbridge Wells, there are some stunning houses and I love the window shopping there (basically 95% overpriced interiors, fantastic). If we stay mostly wfh I think it would work but too early to tell at this stage in pandemic, and friends who have lived there are split on whether the commute is workable or a bit too long when coupled with long hours.

@JassyRadlett Surbiton is lovely, we have friends who live there and we like the feel of it a lot. Think we might struggle a bit with garden though for the budget.

@FiddleStixx I really like Colchester (have friends there and the properties are so reasonably priced) but think it might be a bit too far out for us, all of our friends/family are dotted variously around the M25.

We came out of SE London to a village near Folkestone. Commute (when I was doing it pre-covid) was fine. Door-to-door from here to Tottenham Court Road was only 20 minutes longer than it had been from zone 3 because of HS1.

You won't commute from Guildford to the City in under an hour.

By the time you take in to account getting from your front door to the station platform, 38min on the train, the Drain, then making it to your desk, expect at least 1hr 20m in my experience.

As above - your need for a big plot doesn't fit with walk to station.
You've got a nice budget- what about central St Albans? Trains go direct to the City so no need to change to tube.

Also Guildford is at least as expensive, if not more so, than Sevenoaks.

• Commute to city under 1 hr
• min 5 bedroom detached house, with some character
• within 1 mile of station
• at least half acre plot
• Budget £2-2.7m

I think it's likely you will need to compromise on at least one from the list above to make a move happen.

2m is easily enough to buy a good sized property close to the station in Guildford & Sevenoaks.

Guildford is not more expensive than Sevenoaks

Guildford is not more expensive than Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/101961527#/?channel=RES_BUY - £587/sq ft

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104507975#/?channel=RES_BUY - £632/sq ft

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108044978#/floorplan?activePlan=1&channel=RES_NEW - £598/sq ft

Guildford:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109261964#/?channel=RES_BUY - £668/sq ft

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108500948#/?channel=RES_BUY - £604/sq ft

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108501809#/?channel=RES_BUY - £530/sq ft

Not really much in it I would have said.

2m is easily enough to buy a good sized property close to the station in Guildford

Not easty to find one with character and with at least half an acre.

You said Guildford is more expensive than Sevenoaks, it isn't if you look at sold prices and average house prices.

There are even many properties in both areas that are available to buy that are over the OPs budget.

This is on an acre & near a station with lots of character (although the interior is a bit beige for me)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108125675#/?channel=RES_BUY

arent even I meant.

Guildford has the highest number of seven-figure properties at 5,615, just ahead of Cambridge at 5,426

Sevenoaks came in third at 5,188, with St Albans and Edinburgh completing the top five

www.kentonline.co.uk/sevenoaks/news/town-in-uks-top-five-for-million-pound-homes-199328/

The house in Shalford you linked to is over budget and 2 miles from the mainline station.

It is about half a mile from the local station, but it's not on the mainline and involves a change at Guildford in order to get to Waterloo. Lovely property tho, presents beautifully, current owner is an interior designer!

@FiddleStixx

Have you thought about Colchester? It's 50 min commute to Liverpool St. You'd get a lovely house for half your budget on Lexden Road (nicest central area). I think it ticks most of your boxes but I might be biased!

Yes I was going to suggest Colchester or Ipswich.

I like Colchester, some interesting independent shops, but the traffic can be dreadful. 40 min train ride to London.

Ipswich town centre is nothing special but Christchurch park is lovely. The train is about 1 hr 10 mins to Liverpool Street. It is not always the most reliable though.

Good schools in both. And easy to get out to proper countryside quickly from both towns. Lovely green spaces and coastal resorts. Lots going on for families.

Ideal if you are only commuting 3 or 4 days out of 5 but the commute might get you down 5/5.

With your budget why not Dulwich?

The house in Shalford you linked to is over budget and 2 miles from the mainline station.

Yes but at that end of the market people put in offers....
Nonetheless it's near a station & has a big garden.

Yes but at that end of the market people put in offers....

I sell houses at that end of the market for a living! Sometimes they sell for under asking, sometimes above - it depends, just like any other part of the market really.

But of the 5 main criteria mentioned by the OP this house only meets 3 of them, hence me saying compromise will likely be necessary.

Guildford has the highest number of seven-figure properties at 5,615, just ahead of Cambridge at 5,426

Having the highest number of properties "worth" over 1m doesn't mean it's more expensive as a whole though.

I never said the house would sell for below asking just that it would be normal to offer under if interested particularly since being on since April.

I never said the OP wouldn't have to compromise, I just said there were plenty of options she & the fact remains there are only 3 properties over her budget in Guildford & 1 she could put an offer in for.

I'm not sure why you are so offended! 😆

The garden size and close to a station are going to be the difficulties matched with the 1 hour commute.

Some of your criteria are met with current suggestions:-
Dulwich - nearest to London but expensive and garden size ?!
Tunbridge Wells - commute ?
Guildford - getting the garden size near the station plus the 1 hour commute

Throwing in some new ones into the mix ...
Haslemere Surrey - you will get all your criteria (just) but the commute!
Likewise Oxshott

Lindfield/Haywards Heath. HH has an uninspiring town centre but Lindfield is lovely and within walking distance to HH station. There are lovely properties in both places. Only downside is Gatwick plane noise in non-lockdown times.

Is Weybridge too far out? 39 minutes to Waterloo.

@BlueCowWonders

As above - your need for a big plot doesn't fit with walk to station. You've got a nice budget- what about central St Albans? Trains go direct to the City so no need to change to tube.

If I had £2.7m I'd buy this.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90378196#/?channel=RES_BUY

Unfortunately I don't have that budget but it's gorgeous and walkable to the station. Only 20 mins commute to City

Envious!

I'm not offended

I'm just puzzled as to why you are trying to maintain your position despite evidence to the contrary!

Having the highest number of properties "worth" over 1m doesn't mean it's more expensive as a whole though.

The fact that there are a larger number of cheaper properties which bring the average price down doesn't mean that a big expensive house in Guildford is cheaper than a big expensive house in Sevenoaks.

Anyway, it's Friday afternoon, it's too hot, my office hasn't got air-con, so I'm off home to drink some wine

That's gorgeous @BlueCowWonders