Moving from London to Beaconsfield

[ssk106]

Hello,

We currently live in North Greenwich, London and my partner and I are hoping to start a family this year or next. We are considering moving out of London to find more space and a sense of community. Ideally, we would like to live on the edge of a town with restaurants, bars, and some activity, while also having a larger garden. Easy access to London is important for us, as we both work from our office in central London three days a week.

We have looked into the town of Beaconsfield and have found a new build house in Wilton Park by Bewley Homes. Although the development seems to be of good quality, the 3-bedroom semi-detached house we are interested in does not have the best room space. However, the town's vibe and proximity to a buzzing town center have made us fall in love with the idea of living there. The house is priced at £695,000, which seems to be a bit expensive when compared to other larger houses we have seen in Surrey (Godalming, Guildford) for the same price.

I would appreciate it if you could share the pros and cons of living in Beaconsfield and advise if it's worth compromising on the space.

Thank you very much!

[Pipsquiggle]

@ssk106 if you really want to move to Beaconsfield, why not rent there first? Try before you buy. See if you like it

[riverrune]

I too live in one of the places mentioned above- wow, there's such a lot of us on here!- and I know Beaconsfield fairly well. The development you have mentioned is a fair way out of town, if it's the 'buzz' of Beaconsfield you like you might feel a fair way away from it if you moved to that development. To be honest, I've never actually found Beaconsfield that buzzy though. If we wanted to go out for an evening we'd very rarely think to go into Beaconsfield, we'd probably head to Marlow or Cookham instead. Beaconsfield is also eye wateringly expensive- even by the standards of all the lovely picturesque villages and towns nearby.
You mentioned that a larger garden is important to you, with a new build please be aware that you're unlikely to get that generous a garden, and if you're a gardener its likely to be a few centimetres of top soil over little more than builders rubble! You also mentioned that a sense of community is important to you, and I actually find some of the surrounding areas much more welcoming and friendly. The villages of Cookham and Bourne End, as mentioned several times above are lovely, (and as mentioned by a PP the stretch of the Thames between the two is jaw droppingly gorgeous!). Both places have lots going on community-wise too.
But if you'd prefer a town Marlow would be a good fit, it has a fantastic high street, a lovely community vibe, and is well connected for both trains into London and motorways if you want to head in the other direction. Also Henley might be a good fit, which is a bit further out but with direct trains into London, and has a similar vibe to Marlow but on a bigger scale.
Finally, as another curve ball, have you considered Berkhamsted? I absolutely adore where we live now, but if anywhere could temp me away it could be a home in Berkhamsted. It has a lovely High Street, good connections into London, and a good local sense of community.

[ContinuousProcrastination]

Marlow is terrible to commute from. There's no direct train to London so you end up driving to wycombe or maidenhead which makes the total commute time much longer. Its why you get similar prices to beaconsfield but in a pretty riverside town with more facilities.

Bourne end etc are similar in terms of no direct trains, working several days a week in london i wouldn't consider anywhere that doesn't have a direct fast train within a 15min walk. This is why Beaconsfield, Seer Green, Gerrards Cross and to an extent Denham attract a lot of law/finance city workers - direct trains to marylebone are 30 mins (or less!) so you can get in door to door to the city or mayfair in not much more than an hour. That demand from high paid workers pushes up house prices in those towns. I would want a budget of £1m for Beaconsfield. Not many 3 beds come up in villages like Seer Green where the main housing estate has a lot of 4 beds, but you'd get a nice 4 bed there for 850-900k.

Wycombe itself is not great, parts of it are very very deprived, housing stock is either grotty older properties in awful areas or newbuilds with tiny footprints& gardens. The primary schools aren't amazing.

Trains from Amersham are significantly slower than on the beaconsfield/gerrards cross line. Old Town Amersham is pretty, but the housing stock has a lot of period cottages etc that can be small/low ceilings with little scope to extend. New town is much less pretty and the housing stock can be quite generic 70s/80s but bigger. I wouldn't rule out Amersham though.

[ContinuousProcrastination]

I would also be really careful about wilton park with schools. They haven't expanded local capacity - you won't get into butlers court or seer green from there, you could get St Mary's which got requires improvement in its last ofsted & has yoyo'd in popularity. You may even not get that and get allocated a more unpopular school further afield, although the falling birth rate might be on your side. The whole estate will also take ages to finish and has been embroiled in long running planning battles (the local community didn't want such a lot of housing built) which I imagine may have the potential to delay it further so you wouldn't stand much chance selling for ages.

[jacksonlamb]

Actually Bourne End is pretty good in terms of London access: it's an hour door-to-door to Canary Wharf. There's a branch line to Maidenhead to pick up the Elizabeth Line or fast trains to Paddington.

[ContinuousProcrastination]

Jacksonlamb I've never managed it in an hour even close. What train times is that?

According to trainline the train journey alone is 1h 17 from bourne end to canary wharf, and that's before you add in walks to/from stations at either end. Changing trains is a faff.

[ContinuousProcrastination]

The fastest service is 1h 14, the slower ones are as much as 1h 27.

[Pipsquiggle]

You can get from Bourne End to Paddington in 35 mins. Paddington to Canary Wharf takes 17 mins. I actually did this a month or so ago. I went to the O2 and couldn't believe I was at the other side of London in that time.

[Furries]

@Pipsquiggle

You can get from Bourne End to Paddington in 35 mins. Paddington to Canary Wharf takes 17 mins. I actually did this a month or so ago. I went to the O2 and couldn't believe I was at the other side of London in that time.

What time of day did you do that journey? I don’t think you can rely on that being the norm during rush hour commuting.

[Pipsquiggle]

@Furries

What time of day did you do that journey? I don’t think you can rely on that being the norm during rush hour commuting.

@Furries
It was early on a week day. The key thing was to get the fast train from Maidenhead, no stops to Paddington. It comes a couple of minutes after the Marlow train arrives at Maidenhead. When all the connections work, it's great

[Pipsquiggle]

@Furries about 07:15 in the morning

[ThisIsTrifficult]

I don't use the standard trains, I did during covid because they were empty and amazing!
Parking at Beaconsfield adds £8+ onto an already hefty ticket.
The Lizzy line is cheaper and you can reach that from Burnham or taplow which is a 15-20 minute drive although I haven't investigated parking. Still pricey for the tube though.
I currently drive to Hillingdon and catch the met line from there. About 30mins to central.
Early in the morning it takes about 17mins from J3 of the M40. It's not much farther to west Ruislip or south Ruislip if the central line is more your bag. BUT, if the ulez expands, it will include these stations. Our ancient diesel will be very unpopular in our house!

[AvonCallingBarksdale]

We’ve been in Amersham for nearly 20 years now!! Both DC have been at Grammar so for us it’s been great, but although the state alternative in Amersham is good, that’s not the case everywhere in Bucks. We’re getting to the stage now where I’d either rather be somewhere more rural with more outside space (so probs not in Bucks) or back to a city - but we and the DC have been very happy here. Personally prefer Amersham to Beaconsfield and it’s way cheaper for going to London 😀

[Delectable]

@Pipsquiggle

Beaconsfield is nice, as is Marlow.

Just a word of warning if you want to start a family, is that Bucks is a grammar county. Quite a lot of pressure for a 10 year old.

We live over the border in Berks so have access to the grammars (if you live close enough) or the great local secondary schools.

Windsor is lovely and I would check out places along the Lizzie Line if you need access to London.

St Albans & Harpenden would be worth checking out - good train links and schools. Berkhamsted might be a bit too far

All the above towns are expensive but have good town centres, good train links and great schools

Berkhamstead is closer to London and other parts of the SE than Harpenden is.

[Delectable]

@Tormundsbeard

Great Missenden is on the Chiltern Line and close to Amersham and Beaconsfield

Prices in Great Missenden seems quite good and only 5mins longer by train to Maryleborne in comparison to Amersham. What's it like? Is HS2 an issue?

[Tormundsbeard]

@Delectable

Prices in Great Missenden seems quite good and only 5mins longer by train to Maryleborne in comparison to Amersham. What's it like? Is HS2 an issue?

Great Missenden and Prestwood are small villages with good local schools and a nice community feel. We moved there 20 years ago to bring up our family living next to farms and fields but be 49 mins from London. HS2 means seeing beautiful countryside currently being dug up and works traffic but supposedly no long term effect.. we have been v happy here. You can pop into London for a night out, there are 4 trains an hour at rush hour, two the rest of the time. You always get a seat. Also 30 min drive to Heathrow.

[Delectable]

@Tormundsbeard

Great Missenden and Prestwood are small villages with good local schools and a nice community feel. We moved there 20 years ago to bring up our family living next to farms and fields but be 49 mins from London. HS2 means seeing beautiful countryside currently being dug up and works traffic but supposedly no long term effect.. we have been v happy here. You can pop into London for a night out, there are 4 trains an hour at rush hour, two the rest of the time. You always get a seat. Also 30 min drive to Heathrow.

Thanks for sharing. I visited it once and liked it.