Where can we live (to commute to London)?

[Arpeggiator]

Hi

We're in a real quandary about where to move to- we currently live in London in a 2 bedroom house (well, 3 bed if you count the boxroom) with a teeny tiny kitchen and a handkerchief sized garden. It was perfect for a couple with one child, but 5 years down the line we have two more children and we are itching for more space. We have, at the very very most, £700k.

We'd love to live in a 4/5 bedroom house (the extra room is for our office/guests) in a more rural location, a detached house with a nice garden and a field (ideally), walking distance of a shop, pub etc, but within 8 or so miles of a market town or similar that has a good connection to London and a station car park so that we can commute to work in London- we both work flexible hours with some WFH so it wouldn't be every day. We grew up in the countryside so well aware of the downsides and not expecting a rural idyll! I love getting involved in local stuff and am very community minded and sociable so I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere, but we also want room to just breathe a bit.

Where is this mythical location? Does it exist? Should we just look for jobs elsewhere in the UK if we want more space? Thank you for any suggestions at all!

What about Lincolnshire - fast line to London from Grantham and you'd get a decent sized house there, grammar schools and countryside. Not sure about the parking at station though

Thanks everyone, I've been having a trawl on Rightmove with all these suggestions and I think the kind of house we want, for the kind of life we want, is just not available in a sensible commuting distance to London with a young family, even if it's not every day. Pp have mentioned commuting costs and time, and I don't want to spend half my life on a train/in a car and not be able to actually enjoy living in a location that we want!

It's a tough one. I think we might start making some trips around Hampshire/ Wiltshire (some gorgeous houses (maybe in need of a little TLC and I think a thatched roof would be a massive PITA) eg www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121513757?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=whatsapp#/&channel=RES_BUY) to see what places are like and to start to think about where we could work that isn't London- we need to be close to university towns basically, for work, but still down south to be close to family. I've been living in London for 20 years so it's hard to get out of a London-centric mentality.

There are lots of nice houses in the commuter belt but I've never been able to get a feel for any of the places like Epsom, Horsham etc, though I am sure they are lovely.

Where are Kirsty and Phil when you need them?!

I would say Epsom is more of an outpost of London rather than a commuter town, I would try a bit further out tbh

West Sussex villages such as Copthorne and Crawley Down are really good with getting involved in all the local stuff. Commute from three bridges is half an hour and trains every 10 minutes in rush hour. It’s a half hour drive to the coast and you are near the beautiful South Downs. Schools are good and you could get a chunky four/five bedroom house with that budget.

The real question is, are you happy to drive to the station on commuting days or do you need to be able to walk?

You are right to consider the impact of the commute. It is an absolute drag. For example, Bishops Stortford would be a good option and you could get the number of bedrooms you want within budget, coming into Tottenham Hale (25 mins then Victoria line) or Liverpool Street (40/45 minutes). But for land, you would definitely have to be in a village nearby and even if you got it in budget, that could push it from a 1-1.5 hour commute to a 2 hrs or more commute plus an extra £1k or more to park at the station. Don’t underestimate either the financial or mental cost of a commute if it’s more than a day a week each.

For what you want, your money would go much, much further within commuting distance of somewhere like Bristol, Sheffield, even Manchester, or Nottingham. I don’t know the latter two as well but the first two are fabulous cities, lots of academic opportunities, easy access to countryside and much better value for money than the SE.

@BellaVida

Henley-on-Thames or villages surrounding Reading- 30 mins direct trains to central London.

Hahaha. 700k would get you a 3 bed terrace here, maybe

Have a look at Bletchley

@MacaroniCheeseCat

For what you want, your money would go much, much further within commuting distance of somewhere like Bristol, Sheffield, even Manchester, or Nottingham. I don’t know the latter two as well but the first two are fabulous cities, lots of academic opportunities, easy access to countryside and much better value for money than the SE.

May I humbly suggest the Midlands? In the right spot you could be within commuting distance of the universities in Birmingham, Warwick, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford…

The only place I can think of that ticks all those boxes is one of the villages close to Banbury. Oxford is close by road or rail, and London is an hour by train.

Coulsdon, South Merstham, all those areas on the way to Gatwick. Maybe Purley? Trains go fast to London Bridge after East Croydon. You’d have Thameslink and trains to Victoria.

And Birmingham is 30 minutes ish going west.

Canterbury is on a high speed line and takes 40-50 mins to get to Stratford or St Panc.
Lots of lovely villages surrounding it with gorgeous old pubs if you want to be more countryside.

If I were you, I'd look in Kent - maybe around Orpington or Rochester or Tonbridge. Good schools, very fast London trains - into the centre in well under an hour, and way more house for your money.

@gingerhills

If I were you, I'd look in Kent - maybe around Orpington or Rochester or Tonbridge. Good schools, very fast London trains - into the centre in well under an hour, and way more house for your money.

Not around Tonbridge anymore! 700k will get you a 3 bed semi in tonbridge and the surrounding villages. It’s shot up in price thanks to all the Londoners coming down and driving up the prices. Rochester and east Kent you may get more options but certainly not tonbridge/Sevenoaks/Tunbridge Wells areas

Yes, Kent. One of the villages near Folkestone, Dover, Martin Mill, Deal or Warmer stations. You would be likely to afford the land you want, though I think it is more tricky to get it right next to the house.

@Ohshitiveturnedintomymother - I did wonder about that. I was looking in Tonbridge a couple of years ago as a place me might retire to. Looked again recently and it really had shot up. But Rochester and Orpington still have good houses in budget.

You might get something around North Essex, one of the villages around Colchester. We're walking distance to a branch line that meets the mainline into Liverpool Street and can also easily drive to two stations on the mainline (although parking isn't free at those). We have just about what you're looking for but the commute is an hour into Liverpool Street.

Farnham?

This isn't chocolate-box but fits some of your criteria and is close to two stations.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121512134#/?channel=RES_BUY

[quote gingerhills]@Ohshitiveturnedintomymother - I did wonder about that. I was looking in Tonbridge a couple of years ago as a place me might retire to. Looked again recently and it really had shot up. But Rochester and Orpington still have good houses in budget.[/quote]
Yep, it’s gone mad round here in the last two years. Totally inflated house prices which means that local people are prices out by London money.
The problems of living near a mainline station with a 40 min commute to central London…

For random reasons I Googled trains from Ipswich to London. Not only were they cheap (£10) but quick too! So there maybe?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122440268

Ipswich station 0.3 miles away

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122250908