Where to move out of london

[Londonescape]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are in our late twenties and looking to move out of London in anticipation of having kids in the next few years.

We've viewed houses in Godalming, Reigate, St Albans, Guildford and are also considering Oxted, and Hitchin.

Our budget is up to £1.3m and the most important things for us are

• commute to London (one of us is in the office everyday )
• good place to raise a family
• access to green space/countryside
• ideally we'd like somewhere with a bit going on

Does anyone have any experience with the above places ? Would you recommend/not?

Thanks so much !

I've lived in both Reigate amd Oxted and currently live between the two and Oxted is way nicer, with plenty going on, including the Oxted festival in the summer which is great and lots of nice restaurants.much better commute on a fast line into London too.

If I had that budget I"d buy in Oxted.

Also, we commuted full time to London for years from this area and it's fine .... One of my sons works in Chelsea now and zips in and out with very little drama.

Also, there are no busy roads in Oxted? Is this being confused with Oxshot?

There are some really nice bars and restaurants there, we go there quite a lot for nights out (over and above Reigate now, though live equidistant). The Ginistry, Cucina (Italian) and the tapas are my personal faves.

I had a colleague who commuted 1.5 hours and he was never there for his kids bedtimes when they were little. That's a lot to miss out on..what I found with my colleagues who lived outside London is their spouses tended not to work in London (local business or worked for nhs etc).

We are on far lower salaries, I am pregnant now but basically we have always worked on the assumption that even though our money is all shared, my salary would cover the childcare and kid expenses plus saving; and dh must be able to pay the mortgage, bills, food, expenses on his own (not exceeding 30% of nett income). We didn't have that when we first bought in our 20s but we worked towards that and even in our 30s, that just covers a 2 bed flat in nw London.

You would be able to afford much more, but if you are commuting or have multiple children you may need a nanny which could easily be 4k per month (including pension which is effectively a 65k salary after tax..you are probably on a much higher income but it's still a big chunk of salary.

Another voice against the move. Commute will be gruelling, you won't see your children much or have a quality family time together much. Is it worth it? Is it really quality of life?! You are still young, do you really want to live in suburbia in your twenties? I really don't understand a general obsession with living so far when one or both have to be in the office in London five days a week. Plenty of green areas in London and nothing wrong with raising kids in the city to each their own I guess..

It really is also worth thinking hard about making yourself dependent on just one form of transport. My friend in Reigate had a nightmare during the Southern Rail issues a few years ago - other people lost their jobs or blamed marriage break ups on the disruption.

www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/southern-rail-drivers-agree-deal-ending-18-months-of-misery-for-commuters-a3685526.html

For those saying 2 hours each way is unrealistic; I suggest just plugging in your office and some potential addresses in the area you’d be looking to national rail/ google maps app at peak times. I think you’ll be surprised once you’ve factored in actually getting to the station through all the traffic (and parking), and then waiting for the next train (which isn’t like a tube coming every couple mins) and then walking from there to your office. Take oxford as an example, most can’t afford to live within the ring road so you’d easily be sat in a traffic jam just trying to get to the station before you get on the train. Or Sevenoaks, unless you’re living and working literally next to the stations, you can easily spend 4 hours commuting in a day. Don’t take me word for it, play with google maps!
You also need to be aware that the further out on the line your train is, the more chance of bad weather causing cancellations or delays. Whereas in London a cancelled train might just mean a walk or bus or cab home instead, you are pretty stuck when stuff goes awry and you live that far out.

the reason you get more house for your money is because it’s less desirable.

OP hasn’t come back - I don’t think she liked what she heard!

I really wouldn't build a long commute to your life unless you have to—it can really impact your quality of life.
Staying in leafy SW London gives you the best of both worlds. Richmond Park is huge, and honestly, there’s often more diverse nature in London than in the 'countryside' because it hasn’t been affected by pesticide and intensive farming.

@GreengrassofW if you can afford it then it has an awful lot to offer- I live in Bath now ( am 62) but here and SW London are my favourite places I've lived- and I've moved a lot!!

Someone else who thinks at your ages with your budget and presumably salaries BUT most importantly the 5 x a week Chelsea commute which seems very unlikely to ever change you'll be absolutely mad to move to far out.
Having a young child completely changes how precious your time is, especially if you both work.
Childcare is expensive and most parents want to spend time with their children if possible while they are young, long commutes are hell anyway, but add the pressure of young children...

Oxted - lived here for 10 years.
Transport - Relatively well-served by trains as there are two lines (one to London Bridge and the other to Clapham/Victoria). Both go to Croydon where you can change for other links.
Housing - a little pricey I think (for the area), but that's because of the train links and good schools.
Social - It is a bit "sleepy" I guess - but some nice country pubs nearby, and I do most of my socialising in London anyway!
We're happy here but thinking of moving further out as I WFH now so don't need the transport links as much...

Hi everyone, just wanted to say thanks again for all your advice - there was so much that I wouldnt have thought of on my own!

We have recently moved to Oxted into a rental while our house is renovated and love it so far, my commute is actually shorter than Zone 3 which is insane although getting used to trains not being as regular.