Market Towns - Commutable to LHR

[SighthoundSusie]

Ideally looking for Market Towns upto 1-2hours away from Heathrow.

Also require 4/5 bed property, good side gardens, utility and garage plus primary/secondary schools.

Would like all the usual amenities but especially local parks and, National Trust, type spots too.

Where springs to mind? I'm drawing blanks.

For schools Bucks and Herts areas are grammars with the 11+ system, Oxfordshire is comprehensive. Banbury is on the M40 and a nicer town than Swindon. Aylesbury is in Bucks and lots of new builds, could get to Heathrow in an hr.

Bracknell or Staines would be easier commutes but not realistically in budget. You are very unlikely to get a 4 bed in the SE in a nice/desirable area for 400K. You might be better looking for a nice 3 bed?

Just looking on rightmove Bicester and Aylesbury not offering much in your price bracket.

Banbury looks more promising if you need 4 beds.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143140895#/media?channel=RESBUY&id=media0&ref=floorPlanPage

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138243413#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142666259#/?channel=RES_BUY

Milton Keynes is about an hour from Heathrow on a good day. But even there 400k might not get whatbyou want. Newport Pagnell or Northants are close to M1 and cheaper than MK.

I was going to say High Wycombe but would be a three bed max or a doer upper. We do have good connection to LHR and also national trust and woodland though.

You are all being super helpful. Thank you.

@TizerorFizz

To digress briefly:

" And these pilots live in 4 bed detached houses costing £400,000?"

Who knows, the top seniority training pilots on legacy contracts may be rolling in it but not everybody is on their sort of money, especially not the newbies.

Wellingborough is too far, and not that nice either.

@notimagain Are the houses in the road £400,000? All we know is that you can drive to LHR from there. Plus Heathrow doesn’t have Easy Jet and Ryanair. These pilots will be working for scheduled airlines, eg BA and Virgin. They do get paid enough to spend more than £400,000 on a house. One has a Porsche so one assumes not other uppers. Unless it’s a very ancient Boxter!

Pilot husband - we live south Bedfordshire. About 1h 10m to LHR staff parking

@ThePlacesYouWillGo123 Can you get a pleasant 4 bed house in south beds? Luton maybe? I would definitely choose Banbury over some areas of Beds.

Also M40 is much easier to LHR. M1 can have lots of issues. Also from M40 at Wycombe you can easily divert to M4 at Maidenhead if you need to.

We are on the a1. Simple journey down - m1 is a nightmare. Look at places such as Hitchin, Sandy, St Neots, Biggleswade, Shefford etc

Much further to go on the M25 though. Getting through to Heathrow can be very slow. The M40 is usually better as it’s less time on the M25. Agree Hitchin is quite pleasant but no 4 beds for the price. Shefford is on the money but I’d take the countryside around Banbury over Beds. More places like Daylesford Organic are within easy reach. Plus loads of lovely pubs and places to visit.

M4 corridor as far as North Wilts and Swindon areas.

Marlborough, Royal Wootton Bassett, Cirencester, Cricklade, and lots of nice surrounding villages.

I've just had a look on Google maps. It's currently 1hr 50 mins to Heathrow (not sure what that would be during the week) and we're between Bristol and Bath.

@KnickerlessParsons Cannot see any 4 bed properties for the money the OP has in those towns. Swindon is the only option where property is noticeably cheaper.

Devizes is a proper old school market town with masses of beautiful 17th & 18th century buildings and lovely Wiltshire countryside. Easy access to LHR. It's somehow not fashionable so much cheaper than towns like Marlborough or Hungerford just along the A4/M4. You don't get a high street full of desirable indy boutiques but you do get more house for your budget.

Anywhere along the M4 corridor as far as Newport is commutable in under 2 hours.

My DH used to commute to LHR from Gloucestershire. He was long haul so not ever day. Much cheaper housing! I’d recommend looking at stroud and Cheltenham.

I guess look at towns that are not on main rail lines or are outside the magic 90 mins commute to C London, so you aren't paying commuter premiums. Then discount towns with grammar schools (unless you need one) to escape the 'no need for Indy' premiums. Then rule out towns with Waitrose or Daylesford (sorry, @TizerorFizz !) because they attract a premium.
What compromises can you make other than £££?

We're in Wendover in Chilterns. Lovely market town 40 mins from Heathrow, 50 mins direct train to London. 4 bed detached from around £1m, semi around 700k upwards. Smaller surrounding villages are cheaper. We have best of both here, rural all around us, with Oxford, MK, London all within an hour. Amazing schools and community feel.

@Scottishgirl85 I am close to
you and unless you look at Aylesbury there are NO 4 bed houses for £400,000. Everyone is ignoring the budget of the OP. Villages are all expensive and I’m in one!

@Fangirl79 The reason I mentioned Daylesford is that Banbury is not that far. Neither are other areas that are very pleasant around Chipping Norton. With the budget, the OP cannot live there but can use the Waitrose at Banbury! It’s win win.

I live a few miles from Heathrow (on its London side), and can reliably be in central Bristol in 2 hours by car, so basically anywhere on either side of the M4 is within your timeframe. Your budget is more challenging for a 4-bed house, I think.

Sounds good @TizerorFizz and the countryside thereabouts is pretty too.

A 2-hour radius of LHR is a huge area to work with, but if you put Waitrose and Daylesford out of easy reach maybe the budget could stretch!

@Fangirl79 Well maybe but further away can take you to towns that are not that nice or don’t have quite the quality of countryside. Plus more uncertainty over travel. So why not choose somewhere with good access to extremely pleasant areas and Heathrow in just over an hour? Lots of places in the M4 corridor, other than Swindon, come at a price. I know the area quite well but 4 beds for £400k will be a challenge.

That's going to be a real push for that size at that budget OP. I think maybe wilts is your best option

These will be about 1 hr 20 drive. Here's my pick

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142124549#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135594020

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143431184#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133941881#/?channel=RES_BUY