Leaving London.

[Dahliasings91]

Looking for recommendations of areas to move to outside of London. We are a mixed race family who have always lived in London.

Criteria:

• Easy to get into London (direct train no more than 45mins)
• Affluent area - low crime rate, high proportion of working families
• Good state schools
• House price around £700k for a 3 bedroom house
• Diversity important but needn't be an overwhelming majority of POC

Direct train to where in London?

Ideally Kings Cross

Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough?

@Dahliasings91

caversham ( posh bit of Reading)
Windsor ( pretty mixed)
St Albans ( pretty mixed when we lived there ) may be over budget for anything that nice
Maidenhead ( pretty mixed) - I'm not personally the worlds biggest fan as not a great town centre-.but does fit your criteria

Hitchin or Letchworth? Direct trains into Kings Cross / St Pancras from there, fast trains around half an hour or so. State & private schools and houses well within your budget. Hitchin in particular is multicultural.

This is quite nice in Albans - good area too - there are a few things in budget but might not be exactly what you are after as it's pricey - harpenden very nice too - but not been for a few years so unsure if it's got the diversity you might want

also around Watford would fit - some nice areas such as kings Langley and bushey - in budget but couldn't say the ethnic mix as haven't been for a good few years- Watford was always very mixed- well connected place too

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157780355#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks all this is so helpful. Lots to research!

Kent isn’t great for diversity, unless you choose North Kent (Dartford, Gravesend).

If you don’t need to be in London everyday, would you consider Hove? Vibrant community close to Brighton, lots going on, great lifestyle. Would make a good transition from London life.

We’ve always loved Brighton but haven’t looked into Hove! I’ll check it out thank you

Cambridge. Very fast, direct trains to KX. You would get a 3-bedroom for that budget. Very diverse. Affluent. Very beautiful.

Also going to say Cambridge. Fits all your criteria. Could go to one of the affluent necklace villages like the Shelfords

Yes , I like Cambridge too- only reason I didn't mention it is it's over 45 minutes if I remember correctly -

Doesn't fit your travelling criteria as it's 1hr 17 mins by Thameslink to Farringdon.

Brighton / Hove is diverse, interesting in a way that many within reach of London places just aren't and it's pretty safe.

Look at Bedford, the area around Castle Road particularly. It’s very diverse and has a long history of that. It’s beautiful by the river and less touristy than its neighbour Cambridge.

Hove doesn’t meet the commuting time criteria

I'd say Bushey fits the bill. Nice place, ethnically diverse, affluent, the SW Herts schools are excellent, trains are under 30 minutes to Euston. Lots of potential housing, eg

4 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Little Bushey Lane, Bushey, WD23

We visited Hitchin this morning and loved it! We drove so will need to check the trains.

The fast trains from Cambridge to KX are 50 minutes i think (long ones around 1hr15?) but if you can handle that it’s otherwise great.

Glad you like hitchin! Also St Albans, Welwyn and Hatfield on the lines out of King’s Cross and St Pancras.