Where to buy within commuting distance of London for a 475-500k budget?

[roamingcat]

Hi all,

We've been living in Croydon for several years but as we start to look towards the future and having children we think it's probably time to move. However, we're a bit limited for choice as we don't have a huge budget (for London) and both of us commute everyday so we can't live too far out. We're hoping the hive mind will be able to help us find some good options. Our current criteria is:

• 475-500k budget (thinking ahead to nursery fees we probably can't stretch any further than this)
• 2-3 bedrooms (we would like to have two children)
• Ideally a trainline which goes into a couple of central london stations, or allows for a change at clapham junction as we work in different areas of London (ideal stations are clapham junction, london victoria, london bridge, waterloo)
• For the area itself we're just looking for somewhere that feels safer than Croydon with a couple of nice independent coffee shops and restaurants, a park to go for nice walks/park run and things to do in future with kids (e.g. swimming pool). We also ideally need to live somewhere where things are relatively walkable as I don't drive but DP does.

Thanks all!

Milton Keynes? We used to live in an old railway town called Wolverton, that got sucked into MK when it was built. There’s a station in the town, that’s on the London main line. The couple who bought our hose both commuted to London for work

@Sunnyshoeshine the tube/train distance matters to the OP wherever she lives because she has to navigate 2 London commutes with young dc, that can make things tough & you want to be close as possible. She wants access to some independent restaurants etc which again she will find more so in CW than the much closer Mitcham high street. Why is your husbands stride relevant? And whilst a lot can change in yrs to come the OP is planning dc & London schools in particular are facing falling rolls which has big implications due to current funding models so you ideally would plan to have a few good options nearby.

I don’t live there & you are the one being very defensive so I’d say I’ve hit a nerve rather than the other way round? As I’ve said Im glad you enjoy it but if the OP doesn’t like where she currently lives she is unlikely to like that part of Mitcham….

Watford has trains into Clapham Junction and Euston (15min), nice park and lots to do. Might be worth looking at.

A colleague has similar budget and needs and did a ton of research. Ended up on a modern estate full of young families in Bracknell. 2 bed for 450.
Not a beautiful town but convenient and fit the bill. In your situation I’d prioritise the shorter commute and compromise on the house size.

👍

One of the commuter towns like Burgess Hill or Haywards Heath on the Brighton to London mainline? You could still get off the train/change at East Croydon (depending on what your commute is now)

Letchworth Garden City. Fast train into London, station is more conveniently located in town centre compared to Hitchin. Also only 20mins from Cambridge. Plenty of amenities and housing is relatively affordable. Safe, clean and a great bookshop (amongst other things!) www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154022381#/?channel=RES_BUY

Gosh I read this post and thought Sevenoaks was a ridiculous idea, but then googled. This needs a lot of modernisation but amazing sized garden for a family https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150493868#/?channel=RES_BUY
Train line goes into London and walkable from the house

Like @Mybestusername I was also going to suggest Watford. Its on the London overground as well and as its in a Tfl zone the fares will be cheaper than some of the other places mentioned. There are loads of places to go for walks and runs- Cassiobury park (inc parkrun), Whippendel Woods, Munden estate , Merry Hill, Oxhey Woods. And lots of stuff in the town - cinema, bowling, puttshack as well as shops and restaurants.
I live close to Bushey station which is the south side of Watford and I go everywhere on foot or by public transport. Its quicker to walk to the town centre (20 min) than to drive sometimes! My journey to work near Victoria takes 45-50 min door to door. There are more trains from Watford Junction station .

Thanks all for the responses so far. Lots of food for thought! Given our jobs are unlikely to move towards WFH I'm wondering if we now just relocate to a slightly nicer area of London to keep commute costs & time down. We will look at Bromlry, Bexley or further out on the Croydon line. We would probably have to get a two bed and the kids would share, but there's worse things that could happen!

We're in south croydon (which we actually generally like) but there are elements we don't. We tend to feel stressed/depressed everytime we go into east Croydon and it feels like there's been an increase in anti social behaviour around south croydon - drunks loitering outside Tesco, fly-tipping, dog fouling etc. Maybe we need to move inti a bit more of a residential area in croydon itself?

I would look on the South East London/Kent border - Hayes, West Wickham, Shortlands, Clockhouse etc..

I would look at train reliability too. Nursery years are full of illness at the beginning, one of us was always having to go back and pick them up. Also if the trainline is down, and you get stuck, will you have people local to pick them up. Schools finish earlier, so you will have to employ a childminder for pick ups etc. unless one of you will be able to work more locally in the future, then I would stay within an easy commute of work.

You're going to struggle on that budget when you include 2 lots of train fares.

Bear in mind that all houses near stations are very expensive as people don't want to pay for station parking along with their train fares.

Your trains fares could be £4K be per year which may well be as much per month as a mortgage.

Flitwick would be within budget for OP, with trains to St Pancras, City Thameslink / Farringdon or London Bridge. But as a town I don’t think it will ever shake off being a supermarket with housing estates attached. It’s not somewhere you’d move for the cafe culture! Schools okay though and not too rough.

But once OP and DH factor in the cost of two season tickets, tube fares, and running a car, it might be £1500+ additional costs per month that they wouldn’t have staying in London. Before long one of them would surely want to find a local job instead or WFH.

This beautiful Edwardian house near Flitwick station was for sale recently - a doer-upper but could be anyone’s forever home:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151296452#/?channel=RES_BUY

Have you looked at Bromley or Beckenham? Not sure how far your budget would go there as it’s quite gentrified but it’s nice. Or further towards Purley? You probably could get a terrace for your budget in South Norwood, which I really like as it has a lovely friendly community but it has the same issues you’ve mentioned.

One thing I would say though, as someone whose parents moved out of London and brought me up in a midlands market town that’s often cited on here as a lovely middle class desirable place to live, is that crime and anti social behaviour exists everywhere. As a teenager there was so little to do that underage drinking in bus stops was rife, several people I went to school with got into drugs and crime and went to jail. Yes, it might look prettier than Croydon but as an adult I wish my parents had stayed in London and I’d grown up there with all its diversity and opportunity.

I think this is sensible thinking. Some of the areas suggested on this thread will incur huge travel costs on top of the mortgage and as others have said, you need to have two ways of getting back home/to a nursery/school not relying on one train line. SE London is fairly well connected and there are often stations you can use on other nearby lines if one line has problems/delays. For example Woolwich has an overground line, Dlr and Crossrail, Eltham has two lines running through and New Eltham/Sidcup which runs on an entirely different line but all within a very short bus journey of one another should there be issues.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153567836

This property for example is close to Kidbrooke station (two lines; one into LB/Waterloo and another into Victoria). It's also possible to reach easily by bus from the Jubilee Line at North Greenwich should there be a problem with the rail line or a walk/bus from Lee station also at a push )totally different line). It's not a bad development with local shops and schools nearby and a short walk to Blackheath and Greenwich which are very nice.

@roamingcat

You don't need to move far. I live about 3 miles from Croydon and the only time u ever go there is to catch a fast train. As long as you move far enough to access another main shopping centre that's fine.

Here’s a 3-bed doer-upper in Eltham with a. decent garden. Not move in ready though obviously, and you might still need a car living there:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153692555#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would also suggest Catford (I live here, love it, rapidly gentrifying, 11 mins to London Bridge) but I think the days of a 450-500k 3 bed house unfortunately are a distant memory pre-covid. More like 650-700, unless you're down towards Downham or backing onto the railway line and a decent walk from the station.

You will have more luck around Petts Wood or Bromley I think. I saw a friend buy a lovely 1940s semi with extension and bi-fold doors. Easy access to green space and fast trains.

I wouldn't fall into the trap of paying 6k on a season ticket from Kent.

Croydon as a borough has options, if you want to avoid Croydon itself and not move miles away

Coulsdon / Old Coulsdon with the fantastic Farthing Down on your doorstep is within budget.

Upper Norwood

Norbury -scruffy but safe and good transport links.

This is also a good point. We're lucky at the moment that we have multiple transport options if things go down/for when we need to get home. We would be a lot more restricted if we moved further out.

This is a really interesting perspective thank you. We're going to take a proper look at Bromley, Beckenham and further out towards Purley.

Woking is good for this as are some bits of Guildford plus Epsom

• Woking isn't the prettiest place but is terrific for commuting and has a fair bit of 3 bedders in budget, lots of practical stuff and lots of green areas around it- also 10 to 15 minutes or so into Guildford if you want a bit 'prettier' close by