Home county relocation

[Beleagueredad]

Apologies in advance for any formatting or stylistic errors. I'm a mumsnet newbie (and a dad) but I saw some really insightful and constructive advice on this forum and wanted some for myself!

My wife and I are late 20s. DD is newborn, DS is 3. Currently living in East London on the Essex border. We're looking to upsize a bit and enjoy a slightly greener, quieter and safer lifestyle (crime/asb is a particular local issue).

We've targeted the home counties, as both need to commute to Central London a couple days a week, but feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of plausible locations.

Any insight or experiences into this kind of relocation would be very helpful, as would some suggested locations.

Specifics:

Budget of about £1.5m for the right home but independent schools are not something we're likely to pursue.

Kids aren't raised with a religion, and we'd prefer to avoid faith schools where possible (although we both attended them)

Neither of us drive, although I'm looking to resolve that problem within the next 6 months.

Both of our careers are unfortunately very london centric with no realistic prospect of going fully remote. Ideally, a commute under an hour would be great.

We would ideally be close to a reasonably sized town to access amenities. As I say, I hope to drive by the time of the move, but having never driven before, I have no idea how long it would take me to pass. Besides that, it would be nice to be able to walk to a high street.

We have family connections in Manchester, so anything that makes that semi regular journey easier would be a nice bonus.

Hope thís doesn't come off as too demanding! I am happy to share my own experiences on other threads.

Which main line stations in London work best for your office locations?

Probably Waterloo/London Bridge for me, Victoria for my wife. I'm on the strand, she's by St James.

I only know for Waterloo. Head out to West Byfleet/Pyford. May enough enough budget for Guildford?

Would you move further into Essex? Elizabeth line now runs from shenfield and there are some great grammars, Leigh on sea, ingatestone , saffron Walden, finchingfield, dedham vale is beautiful if you can go that far, I have friends in manningtree and that's nice. You've also got Epping forest area if you want closer to London and tube access

We relocated to bucks due to the same issue with central London jobs, wanting to move out and family connections in Manchester - this last one took us to NW of London

Suggest you spend a day taking the train out of Marylebone and get off at a few stops along the way. No idea what £1.5m gets you along that line these days but we liked: Denham, beaconsfield, gt missenden. Gerard's cross and high Wycombe less so but have a look at them all and see what you like. Amersham also lovely and is on the tube as well as train. Schools are great in bucks too and chiltern trains were very reliable when we lived there.

We ended up in beaconsfield - 25 mins to London on the fast train (40 on the slow one) and 2hrs 40 to Manchester (town is right by the M40)

To come into London Bridge you're looking at Southeastern and Southern rail; just Southern for Victoria. So looking at Kent, Surrey, sussex areas.
Thameslink also uses London Bridge so you could go north to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire etc there.

Have a look at the rail maps and see where those networks cover (and how much the commute costs....)

West Byfleet/Weybridge

Harpenden. Lovely little town, good schools, on the Thameslink.

I would agree with this to ease the trips to the NW (we have often done round trips is a day to Manchester and Liverpool) - also for work Marylebone is on Bakerloo line so v quick to Waterloo.

You can walk from Marylebone to St James in 20 mins or hop on a bus / bike / tube.

Lots going on for young families in the towns and villages.

Quick to get into town for a night out can drive in (as right on M40) in 30 mins or take train. Also have interesting historic towns nearby Windsor / Oxford / Marlow / Henley and amenities for families - Black Park, Burnham Beeches, Lego Land, Odds Farm, Beckonsott, Cliveden, as well as stunning countryside walks in the Chiltern Hills on your doorstep.

Chiltern line is very reliable and civilised!