Liberal/ quirky areas outside london

[Southlondoner88]

Hi,

DH and I are planning to buy a house (would consider a flat if location was amazing) we plan to also start a family and our first buy will likely be be a home for about 5-8 years so looking to make a profit in that time (I guess that’s not a guarantee in this climate though?)

We don’t know many areas outside where we live as we’re from a different country and I was wondering if you lovely mumsnetters had any ideas of where to start looking.

We need easy access into London as we will need to commute Mon-Fri.

We used to live in hackney and Peckham and loved the vibe/ independent coffee shops etc but now live near oxleas woods/ greenwich and love the green space. Somewhere with a cross between hackney and greenwich would be amazing, does such a place exist?

We also want somewhere not too urban now we’re getting older, lots of green space, we like living near water (sea, rivers, canals) good schools and community feel. We were looking at Essex but don’t really know the area.

Our budget is 250-300k. Husband gets free transport so that will save us money so expensive season ticket although not ideal, not a deal breaker either. I’d love to find somewhere we can meet like minded people, not super rich like the people we meet in london but more normal earning, left wing folk. I work as a therapist so tend to gravitate towards charity workers etc but also into fashion/ music so have many friends in these industries too and would like to find these people if we move out. I worry the Home Counties will be too stifling for us as we are still quite young at heart but ultimately the main deal breaker is just a nice area with good transport links and things to do.

Thanks in advance.

I think a house for 300k in daily commuting distance of London will be tricky. Life is so expensive (we had to move our of London)

Brighton would be the obvious answer, albeit that I doubt you'd get much for that budget.

Which part of London are you commuting to? If you looked at Brighton then commuting to Victoria would be fine, but Stratford would be a PITA.

Given your budget however, I would consider leaving London altogether - presumably DP's job does exist outside London, as almost all do.

Margate?

Leigh on Sea probably has the gentrified, trendy vibe you’re looking for (lots of ex-Londoners buy there), and the commute isn’t too long. It’s expensive though, so with your budget you’d be looking mostly at flats.

Yes what is his job? There are so many lovely places outside London and anywhere near London is SO expensive.

Brighton/Lewes but budget might be an issue
Margate
Deal

There are no young people in the Home Counties. Don’t look there.

Maybe somewhere along the river out to the south east. Rochester? Canterbury? The high speed rail link is v handy for commute but a bit more expensive. And you still wouldn't get much for your money unfortunately.

Your budget is the issue , otherwise I would suggest Hastings or Lewes, if you didn't need the commute I would suggest Frome or stroud - but you would still struggle at that price- even on flats. If I was you and you don't have kids I think you might be better renting at the moment somewhere ok, rather than buy somewhere a bit crap

Don't be ridiculous if course there are young people! Someone is making use of all the nurseries and primary schools that exist.

Where in London are your jobs based? Which mainline station you need will make a lot of difference to your commute.

I was going to suggest Leigh as well, or Colchester.

I was going to suggest this too but agree about the budget.

I'm assuming they were being facetious with the ops write off of the home counties as 'stifling' obvs not trendy and quirky enough...or its a reverse Cacoon situation where no young person shall pass...best tell the inlaws who live there with their young dc!

Folkstone might suit you. Wouldn't fancy the commute myself but people do it.

Otherwise I think you'd have to compromise on the vibe with that budget and need to be near London. Plus anything with a Hackney/Peckham feel is really specific to London and not something I've found outside the city. Liberal spots tend to be expensive - Lewes, Brighton, some satellite places around those.

You might be better off looking at commutable places with some greenery (the less grim bits of Croydon or Sutton, or Essex as you say) and getting your liberal/quirky hit from the time working in London. But budget will still be a stretch to get much space.

I was replying to this comment from the OP. “I worry the Home Counties will be too stifling for us as we are still quite young at heart.” I live in the Home Counties and love where I live, but often see considerable snobbery from Londoners who are convinced the entire Home Counties is only populated by old people spending their lives watching cricket and having garden parties, so they are looking for somewhere cool and hip which could not possibly be the Home Counties. I was being tongue in cheek but may have been too subtle for some.

Above comment was to @Seeline.

Gah, to @MichelleScarn. brain not working today!

With that budget it’s highly unlikely.
also left wing ‘quirky’ people in the uk tend to be more middle to upper middle class higher earners who went to university.

You might have more luck following the grand union canal up to fit the budget.
Hemel Hempstead/pit stone/ Leighton buzzard type area.
not sure how the vibe fits though.

Portsmouth and southsea are nice but it’s a 2 hour train and the road commute would be brutal.

Southsea. We bought a 3 bed house for £330k last summer. Super vibrant, mixed communities, near the beach and train to London.

Thanks for all the replies, I wasn’t expecting so many and don’t think I can respond to each one.

@Moredarkchocolateplease do you mean southsea in Portsmouth? I’ve never been but just googled it and the commute looks over two hours?

We visited Leigh on sea a while ago and really liked it, I like the sound of folkestone but the commute seems really bad? Same with Margate I think? Due to work commitments, we both need to stay in commuting distance of london for another 5 years at least.

We are definitely open to flats actually and also open to comprising on the vibe, I must say these days I do care more about community/ green space/ quietness than hipster areas and we really love where we live now but can’t afford to buy here unless we went for somewhere really small which maybe we could still do.. haven’t fully committed to moving outside of london yet. To be honest we’re not super left wing or anything and found hackney a bit OTT sometimes but just said liberal as I would hate to move anywhere very small minded, super right.

And sorry l, didn’t mean to be rude about the Home Counties, maybe I’m being judgey, are there any Home Counties we could move to for our budget or would it still be just be flats in our price range?

Oh and to answer about where in London we need to be, anywhere central, it doesn’t really matter, probably more east or north London connections are best so maybe Leigh on sea is a good start? Rochester we will look into, I don’t really know what it’s like there though, any advice regarding that part of Kent?

Forest Row near East Grinstead - trains to Victoria/London Bridge but you would need to drive/cycle/bus to the station. It has a Steiner school, two Steiner/biodynamic farms and lots of lovely shops and greenery. You might just be able to squeak something on that budget . .

If you have to commute 5 days a week then anywhere much over an hour each way is likely to be out.
Aside from how expensive they now are, that will very much exclude Frome/Stroud/Bristol.

Places like Woking have a fast train but the property prices are high and you might just about manage a flat for that. I also wouldn’t necessarily class it as vibrant.