Where should I live?

[Pearceal1]

Possibly a commonly asked question (apologies if so, new to the page) - I am new to London from Melbourne, looking to buy first home with partner. We are early thirties looking to start a family soon

Criteria:

• need to travel to London for work 2-3x per week
• love hiking/space/outdoors - decent garden for dog/kid imperative
• like a village vibe but needs to have some soul/culture/decent pub/access to shops
• budget £800k for 3-4 bedroom house

i think the main decision is - do you want to be in London itself or outside it in the home counties?
both doable with your budget

London suburbs (zone2-4): better and cheaper transport links, some villagey and green depending on your preference, younger, more cosmopolitan, more independent restaurants/ bars/cafes.

home counties (surrey, herts, sussex, kent, buckinghamshire) more like country towns, you’d need a car, older and more conservative population, easier access to countryside & coast etc

once you’ve made a choice between those two broad churches, then you can start shortlisting areas.

I’d also maybe recommend renting for a year as you are so new to London. Just to make sure you are keen to make such a big commitment to that particular area. House prices are stagnant right now or going down, so you shouldn’t be at risk of being priced out.

I would rather be outside London I think (but less than 1 hour train to London). Reason being is I would rather a detached/semi detached property with large garden than a small terraced house with square patch of AstroTurf out the back - which seems to be one of the main differences in terms of properties in greater london vs further in the country.

also we have a car (currently staying in Surrey with family)

Thought we could achieve the same thing by renting an Airbnb for a weekend or something if we found a spot we liked, also we don’t have any furnishings so would be hesitant buying for a property which we will only be in short term. But I see your point

Where do you need to get to for work in London? Sometimes the commute after the commute (i.e. after getting into a mainline London train station) can be as long as the train journey in.

If London Victoria or Waterloo (changing at Clapham Junction) work for you then somewhere between London and Brighton in East/West Sussex might fit the bill.

South Downs and south coast provide plenty of outdoor activity options, and Brighton & Hove (is a single city) has plenty of soul/culture (though coming back into London at the weekend from any commuter town can also provide that experience).

If you don't want to have to drive to a station (and pay parking) then you may need to target something like a small/market town rather than a village.

Hassocks and Burgess Hill are easily within budget. Lewes is really nice, though probably closer to top end of your budget.

I've a pal who travels to London two to four times a month for work and lives in a beautiful house in Holywood, just outside Belfast. If you've got the scope and flexibility it might be worth looking further afield.

she said she has to be there 2-3 times a week!

Yeah, worried about train fares being too far out but also don’t want to be too close to London as I couldnt get over 1300 square feet or a big garden for £800k…30-60mins outside London in any direction is probably the aim

the question about where in London you’re commuting to is the next one to address.
because London is huge with several big terminus stations, which could take 45 mins to get across/ between.

so if you’re 30 mins from LB but work near paddington, that 30 minute journey becomes a 1 hour 15 journey.

so - any idea where your workplace will be?

Obviously up to you but just to flag you absolutely can buy a house on the tube line for £800k. How far out on the tube line and what else you want changes that question a bit, but personally I’ve never been massively taken with the idea of commuting unless it’s max two days a week. Trains are expensive and not always reliable, and the ‘best’ lines and locations often seem to work out similarly priced to zone 3, but without the access you get to the rest of the city that the tube gives you.

I mean yes, £800k detached somewhere nice with a big garden might be a push, but I think that’ll be the same anywhere with an easy commute.

But anyway, have a look at:

Ealing / Acton (in London)
St Albans (outside London)
Highams Park (in London)
Chingford (in London)
Anerley (in London)
Nazeing / Epping / Harlow (just outside London)
Norwood (in London)
Hastings (outside London and not a short commute)
Margate (same as Hastings)
Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells (outside London)
Winchester (outside London)

Your work location is, as others have said, really important if you’re looking outside London, and even to an extent within the TFL network.