450k, an hour from London - where would would you choose?

[sageandrosemary]

Me and DH considering moving to the south and I’d be grateful for any suggestions for areas to consider as feeling a little overwhelmed right now.

Budget is 450k for a three bed (or two with scope to extent in the future) and we’d like:

• Within an hour of London but there wouldn’t be any regular commuting so doesn’t need to be a particularly easy/reliable connection
• Amenities all within walking distance from our doorstep as that's the main thing we like about our current house - restaurants, cafes, community centre, library, doctor etc are all within a five minute walk
• Have two toddlers so safe area, community feel and good (state) schools

Both wfh permanently and no family connections so while that gives us a lot of freedom, it also makes it difficult to narrow down our search. Would prefer somewhere that doesn't feel too 'sleepy'.

Aware that our budget might not stretch as far as we’d like!

Would be hugely grateful for any help! TIA.

Winchester is lovely but you would struggle to get anything central for £450k. There are some lovely areas of the city a bit further out which would be 5-10 minutes on the bus to city centre. Badger farm, Olivers battery, Weeke

Folkestone is about 50 mins to London st Pancras; 40 mins to Stratford London.
20 mins to Canterbury
Many Londoners moving down with WfH changes, so need to be quick as prices soaring.

Another vote for Rugby. You'd get 4 or maybe 5 beds here for that budget.

It does look and sound lovely but that's what I thought after a look on rightmove... feels like we have no chance of finding anywhere centrally for our budget and that's a really important factor for us, to have everything on the doorstep. Think we'll have to rule Winchester out 🙁

I've read mixed things about Folkestone but it's been suggested a few times now so going to have a more in-depth look! Thank you

Thank you for the suggestions!

In Kent we've already been considering Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells (though I think we'd really be pushing it budget-wise for the latter) but I've noticed none have been mentioned on this thread... do you happen to know either and have any thoughts?

Thank you

My grandparents grow up in those houses they would be absolutely shocked to see how much they are now.

There are some nice Victories terraced houses in lower Caversham that are within budget and walking distance to the train station

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126210944#/?channel=RES_BUY

@sageandrosemary it might be worth looking at the towns along the train line between Ashford and London. Headcorn, Marden, Staplehurst etc. Cranbrook is lovely but I'm not sure about transport links. Tenterden is also lovely, but I suspect transport isn't the best and it's a tad retired.

Is Sevenoaks in your budget?

We had a little road trip round West Kent and East Sussex after Easter in lieu of holiday. Tunbridge Wells feels very affluent and is quite big. South Borough is on the edge and is sort of leafy.

I think you might want to consider the size of place and what you are looking for. Tunbridge Wells has lots of shops and amenities, but chances are you won't be in walking distance, and a smaller community may be more friendly, community minded and welcoming.

Thanks for the info!

Yes, I think you're right. At the moment, we live in an inner suburb of a large city with a high student population so it has a 'buzz' and a lot going on, we have everything we need on the doorstep, and yet there's still a strong community feel. I'm not sure how or where we'd replicate that in the south, or whether we could on our budget.

Think Sevenoaks is out of budget.

Thank you to everybody who made suggestions, you've given us lots to look at, really appreciate it!

Chichester. University there, Festival Theatre, lots of cafes and restaurants, South Downs, easy to get to Portsmouth, Southampton, London.

Fleet is mega expensive, but good train links.

Horsham or Broadbridge Heath, West Sussex. Good schools, very safe
Market Harborough also decent

One of the villages on the outskirts of Reading / Wokingham

Crowborough in East Sussex may fit.

Another vote for Canterbury, so much history and culture, surrounded by beautiful countryside, proximity to great coastal resorts and Europe, high speed to St. Pancras (the best London station) in just over 50 minutes. What's not to like?

DD has recently bought a very nice 3 bed semi in Wokingham for £450k. Wokingham has very good schools & it's just over an hour from Waterloo, or Paddington if you change at Reading - and the Elizabeth Line will soon be fully open if you want to get to the other side of London..

Bedford is absolutely shit! Run down and a bit rough these days! We moved out but much further out than you need.

Market Harborough is lovely. And agree with PP that there are some really nice parts of Milton Keynes.

Letchworth, or possibly Hitchin. Easy commute to old street when required.
Loads going on in Letchworth, green spaces and feels on the up with independents etc. Outdoor swimming pool, great farm for littlies, some great outdoor spaces.
Hitchin bigger, seen as the more classy option, secondary schools great - both mixed and single sex. Both towns have nice restaurants/pubs,coffee shops etc.

Beds villages a decent shout too, parts of Bedford but the town centre is dire unfortunately!

Definitely Folkestone. We had this dilemma four years ago and looked all over the South. Folkestone won hands down on pretty much every front. Not a single regret and car hardly ever leaves the garage unless we are doing a countryside ramble (about five minute drive) as everything is walkable. Not a single regret - well other than wishing we had done it sooner!

Manningtree is nice

West Sussex/Hampshire.
I'm in W Sussex, just on the border with Hampshire. It's lovely here & I was born & worked in London. Highly recommended 😄

I do agree about Wokingham but what I find strange about this thread is that OP has not given an indication of whether they have preferences for North, South, East or West of London so we are all randomly suggesting places that may be way off where she wants to live. I find it hard to believe someone would have no preference. re which part of the country they want to buy a property in & it would be helpful to know.

@Twiglets1 I did point out in my first post that bc we wfh permanently and we have no family connections to consider, it gives us a lot of freedom - almost too much, really.

As a bit of backstory... we left our rented flat in London to move to a northern city so that we could buy our first house. We've never really settled here, we both miss London, and I also find the weather difficult to cope with here. We're lucky to now have a bigger budget (thanks to DH career progression), so we're considering moving south. We're realistic that our budget probably isn't going to stretch to a house in an area we'd like in London itself, but having it within easier reach would be nice!

As we've been looking at places the last few days, I'm also feeling it would be nice to also have the coast within reach... so that would maybe push us towards Kent/Sussex/Essex?