Hi,
We are currently living in SE5 with a toddler and are thinking about moving to Harpenden but are looking for other areas to consider. My wife has family in Harpenden so she likes it a lot. What attracts me to Harpenden is good state schools - both primary and secondary, having family nearby for kid emergency and also a relatively quick commute to the City (my office is at City Thameslink wife is at bank) as both my wife and I go to the office 2-3 days per week.
Our budget is approximately £1m for a 3-4 bedroom semi ideally within a 20 min walk of the station. We have been looking, and to be fair not that my houses that we like have come up that we like.
We also looked at Reigate where think we can get a bit more for our money and seem like there are more period properties with character that we like down there. However, I am not sure how schools rate against Harpenden and the commute into the City is worse unless we drive to Redhill and park there.
I also looked at Beckenham, for whatever reason my wife does not like it (probably still feels like being in the City) but feels like good community, commute (not sure about how schooling compares).
Before we hone down into one area house search just wanted to see if there are any other areas to consider. We been to Hitchin once - my wife does not like it as much as Harpenden and feels to be miles away from London (driving up).
Thanks