I'm looking to move away from zone 4 SE London and will most likely be commuting to the Paddington area for the foreseeable future if a career move/training opportunity works out.
My budget is low for London, around £350k (perhaps up to £385k at a push but the property would need to be in perfect condition with minimal work needed). I know this rules out London itself and I'm happy to go outside with a reasonable commute, but don't know the area north of London at all. I'm worried about relying on just a single train line because how do you get home if trains are suddenly not running? Can't exactly take a cab to Reading or Kettering...
Happy to compromise on the size of the property but it absolutely has to be a freehold house with a (small) garden because of my pets. I don't care if it's a period property or new build, mid-terrace or even a bungalow. No need for schools and it doesn't matter if the area isn't that nice, as long as it's not so rough it's intimidating of course. Some green space nearby would be a bonus.
I can see there are potentially options around Slough and with Crossrail coming, journey times would be shorter still. Something like this for example? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/96078881#/?channel=RES_BUY
Where else should I look? My current commute to Paddington would easily be around 80 minutes door to door and I've always had at least an hour's commute so I'm not worried about that. Would prefer to commute from north than south of London for a change though.