Where to live that's commutable to London?

[HeyyyMrNoodle]

I've recently started a new job that has an office in London, and they are happy for people to move to work out of that office instead of my local one.

Can anyone recommend some family friendly areas that are a commutable distance to London?

Criteria is:

• 3 bedroom minimum with a decent garden
• budget is £550k max (aware this may not be much for down south!)
• I'll need to commute to Waterloo 2x a week
• very occasionally my husband will need to get to Bristol (longer journey is fine as this is likely to only be once or twice a year)
• amenities such as cafes/restaurants/nice parks nearby with preferably some good shopping not too far away
• our family are in Manchester so maybe north or west of London would be best to occasionally drive back up? This is less important though
• we have one nursery aged child so in a couple of years will need to think about schools
• one important criteria is that my husband doesn't drive so need public transport, schools, nursery, etc to be easily accessible

I've wanted to move to/near London for years but for some reason never done it and now have the opportunity to. Our mortgage is up for renewal in just over a years time so it could be a good time to move. I've just realised since having my child that where we are doesnt offer as much opportunity for her as I would like as there isn't much around where we live, it's just a bland commuter town with not much going on!

Beckenham is a good option. Direct train to Waterloo east approx 25 mins, local town which is walkable, leisure centre, cinema, parks, good community feel with good schools. Easily manageable for a non driver.
Budget achievable with options such as;

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130198313

Mitcham is pretty grim though. Not much by way of culture. Best thing about it is ability to make a swift exit. Some fairly choice folk around there too.

Haslemere fits your requirement. Direct train to London Waterloo. Great schools. Parking at the station is problematic though. But 2 x week only, you can walk, drop off or taxi. Lovely area, and good shopping/outings at Guildford nearby.

Epsom. Trains go to Waterloo. Its easy to get to Bristol via Guildford and Reading. Close to M25 for travel to Manchester.

550k is tight for 3 beds but possible.

Didcot Parkway goes to Paddington, so not direct to Waterloo. But apparently only an hour and a bit total journey time.

Oxfordshire is lovely and Oxford is great for culture. So could be an option maybe.

There is also Guildford and Godalming, Hazelmere. They're not super exciting but there are nice parts and definitely older buildings, not new builds.

Salisbury maybe? I don't know it, but it is between Bristol and London and seems quite cute.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130197755?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

This is in a great area of Epsom.

Farnborough- it's not as nice as some places mentioned but you might even get 4 bed detached for that budget - we did (2 years ago)

Farnham is nice. Farnborough isn't great, but as the pp says, you get more house for your money

I get a direct train from Long Eaton in Derbyshire straight to London St Pancras every morning at 7.40am. Takes about an hour and 40 minutes. There is an earlier train at 6.40am.

I have a 3 bed Victorian terrace in SE London zone 3 that is worth £550. So it's definitely doable in these parts.
Just seem this in se9 zone 4
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129929945

South East London is a great option. You get the London postcode and proximity to central.

South Norwood is 11 minutes to London Bridge (then a few mins to Waterloo with trains every 3 mins), or easy reach of Elmers End for trains to Waterloo East.

Some lovely character house within price range:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62481170/?search_identifier=01e4f3b66efef3d13f5e75e1067c4cd6

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/63303999/?search_identifier=01e4f3b66efef3d13f5e75e1067c4cd6

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62110001/?search_identifier=01e4f3b66efef3d13f5e75e1067c4cd6

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62470297/?search_identifier=01e4f3b66efef3d13f5e75e1067c4cd6

Lovely houses there @Filthycop

If you are looking to live outside London but commute in then the mainline from Paddington through to Bristol or M4 corridor is fine. The fast trains are under an hour from Swindon, and then Bakerloo line all the way to Waterloo. Reliable (insofar as possible) from Swindon through to London. The further out you go they are slightly less frequent which means if one is out of action it can be a while for the next. Great Bedwyn and Hungerford, Newbury etc all nice and on the slow line. Oxford great and again lots of smaller places on the trainline in. Waterloo is immensely doable from any of those areas for two days a week.

Reading- easy to both Bristol and London by train.

Look in the London Borough of Bexley DA14, DA15 or even Greenwich SE9. Train zones 4 and 5. Plenty of 3 bed houses within that budget. 20 minutes on the fast train to Waterloo from New Eltham Station for example. High St at Sidcup and Eltham , excellent primary schools, Grammar for secondary, green and easy to get out to the countryside, M25 and to the seaside.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123563918

Milton Keynes 😊 ignore the haters, excellent transport links, loads of leisure destinations, green spaces, decent housing jn your budget. 36 minutes into Euston.

Salisbury is out in the back end of nowhere. Definitely not commutable to London for evenings out, etc.

I live in Chippenham, which is on the direct line into Paddington (we're 10 minutes on the same line from Bath and 20 from Bristol). Takes an hour to get into Paddington. We're also 4 miles from the M4 junction and can be in Manchester in 3 hours by car or change at Bristol to go up by train.
We regularly go into London for the day/evening. I recently took DS2 to see an evening showing of Frozen. We got the 11.30pm train home, but could have comfortably made the 10.30pm one. We went up at lunchtime and had a lovely day wandering around beforehand.

You'll comfortably get a 3 bed with a garden for 550.

Definitely don't move to Mitcham! I grew up in Wimbledon, and lots of my friends lived in Mitcham, so I spent a lot of time there. Grim sums it up, though it does meet your criteria for commuting/price.

Chippenham is a market town with a good sense of community, lovely nurseries, and excellent schools. John Coles Park is excellent and has Green Flag status.
We sort of ended up here after initially moving from London to Bath. But it suits our needs perfectly. Lots of families here are in a similar position. Didn't plan to move here, but now wouldn't leave.

Great shopping in Bath, Swindon and Bristol. More limited in Chippenham itself.

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129842135

This one is a 5 minute walk from two excellent nurseries, 2 minutes from a great primary school and 5 minutes from a good one, about 7 minutes from both town and the train station.

The area I live is between both places, approx 1 1/2 hours from each. Lots of public transport, half an hour from Southampton for the big shopping areas (20 mins by train) and about a 4 hour drive up north which we used to do a lot to visit family. We do have a fair amount of cafes and restaurants too and most is walkable. I don't drive so need to walk most places which I manage fine.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1165&insId=1&radius=0.0&minPrice=&maxPrice=550000&minBedrooms=3&maxBedrooms=&displayPropertyType=&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false

Salisbury is out in the back end of nowhere. Definitely not commutable to London for evenings out, etc. it absolutely is! I have several friends and family who have done this, daily, for years.

Thanks for all the further suggestions, especially all the links! All really useful information and I really appreciate it.

@filthycop - wow that first link in particular is a beautiful house! I'll look into the area, thank you very much

@50BookChallenge20202 - I'm surprised it's only an hour from Chippenham, thanks for the suggestion! Nice that it's so close to bath as that's one of my favourite places! I think I'd want to be closed to London but I really appreciate the suggestion ☺️

Came here to also recommend Mitcham. There are some lovely parts that are walking distance to Colliers Wood tube for commuting. Easy 10mins on the tram to Wimbledon and 15mins by bus to Tooting for highstreet vibe. Morden Hall Park is beautiful green space.

Just RTFT @50BookChallenge20202 and @KiwiMum2023 - we have lived in Mitcham for 5years. Yes there are grim parts and the centre is still a bit run down but the parts that run into Colliers Wood, Tooting, Streatham etc are gentrifying fast and there is a lot of improvement going on. You def need to take local advice though as it seems to make a big difference street by street.

You can afford some areas in zone 4/5 as mentioned, you don’t need to look in a commuting town, given the Bristol connection is not a priority.

Someone mentioned Beckenham, South Norwood may also be an option, Eltham, Woolwich etc. if you are only going to Waterloo twice a week I would prioritise a more “London area”, even if that area isn’t directly on a Waterloo line. Anywhere that connects to London Bridge/ Blackfriars/ Victoria will all be easy to Waterloo, and some of these areas will offer what you are looking for.

SWW London/Surrey works for Waterloo & some houses in that budget