Taking my equity out of London - where to go?

[Sideofnoreturn]

I’m feeling totally burnt out at work (stressful job in the city) and fantasising about selling up and buying somewhere outright and taking a much easier job. DH would have to be in South west London 2-3 days a week but not necessarily during rush hour (he’s an academic so flexible schedule).

I reckon we’d have £600-700k in cash - where could we go?

Also should say have 2 primary age kids so need 3-4 beds and good schools.

Which London stations do you need to get to? May influence your results.

How long do you want the door-to-door commute to be? My dh is roughly two hours - 30 minutes to drive to station, park and wait for train. 45 minutes train. Plus twenty minutes across London. Then 15 walk and buy a coffee .

Ah yes good point - Paddington/South Ken and I think sub-2 hours would be ideal.

Wiltshire/Dorset? One of the train lines goes into Paddington (via Reading). Not sure of the commute times but I think probably sub 2 hours.

Wiltshire, or anywhere you can drive to didcot? Even Bristol parkway is under 2 hours, takes me 2 hours from my house west of Bristol to Paddington including parking the car but we are getting a station in 2 years time which will be great. Where I live £450k buys a townhouse or semi by the marina or a detached on the hill, £600k gets you 4 beds near Marina

People commute from Poole/ Bournemouth into Waterloo a few days a week (it's 2 hrs or change at CJ for Victoria). Has grammar schools (single sex) and a couple of good comprehensives too. 700k would get you a 3/4 bed in a decent enough area and if you would consider a small mortgage you could live somewhere quite chi-chi. It is quite a chill place to live without feeling like you're in the sticks.

Fleet maybe?
What are you looking for- do you want rural, how much space. Countryside, coast?

We went to Berkshire- along the Elizabeth line. It then goes straight into Paddington with both tube and gwr

Somerset. Look at houses around castle Cary station, under 2 hours to Paddington

Thank you! I know nothing about any of these areas (not from the U.K.) so will investigate. I think town rather than rural. Schools very important.

Somerset would work in that price bracket, although the villages around Castle Cary station come with a premium because of the fast train link. Price-wise it depends whether you want a nice Hamstone period farmhouse (prob not doable in that price bracket), or whether you're happy with something less glam. Train takes about 1hr 40 mins from Cary to Paddington, though there are slower (and often cheaper) trains to Waterloo, which also go via Yeovil/Crewkerne/Chard (but that would be stretching it for a commute to London).

You could also commute from the less-fashionable bits of Somerset via the trainline from Weston and Yatton to Paddington - Clevedon and surroundings are lovely, though not sure how regular or fast the train link is.

There are lots of fab primary schools in Somerset, assuming you're after state rather than private. Might be worth thinking ahead about secondary schools though - unlike London, it is perfectly possible to get a place at popular secondary schools, but you only get transport to your catchment school, so you'd want consider logistics. If there's a regular public bus then that would work (although you'd have to pay the cost yourself), otherwise you're committing to years of drop-off and picking up.

Agree although I’m biased as I live there. It’s got two good secondary schools, surrounded by lovely countryside and has a relatively calm and safe kind of feeling( if a little dull)

Pretty easy for London, fast trains are c40mins to Waterlo and road links are great. Very happy to be bringing up DS in this area, you’ll get a reasonable detached 3/4 bed easily within budget.

Frome in Somerset maybe. Bath is expensive, full of wealthy, relocated Londoners. Bristol is an acquired taste. Chippenham? Other Wiltshire towns? Cheaper than Berkshire. Best to look at a map of the rail network and check fast train services. Those from Dorset towns are generally slower and longer, and most go into Waterloo. So maybe towns on GWR lines. There used to be a great website called commute from that worked out good rail links to London terminii, I exact there are current equivalents

What kind of easier job would you be aiming for? Do you need to be within striking distance of a big town/ city which has those kinds of jobs? Would you be ok to be somewhere where the only local jobs are care / hospitality / retail?

Is there a new line opening up?

Fleet is very good for commuting to London, but the town itself isn’t inspiring and bus services are poor. It’s a nice place to live if you have your own transport.

Sussex is a couple of hours from London, or closer, depending whether you want coast or more inland. Horsham is a decent sized town.

This sounds like Portishead where, yes they are reopening the line through to Bristol.

There are plenty of places in London you could get a place for that and not have to do the long commute, have you considered that? The though of a 2 hour commute each way is fine in theory but when things go wrong as they very often do it can be much longer, plus it is very expensive! Once you factor all that in it might be worth looking at some cheaper London areas.

Obviously you may want out of London, but thought I would suggest it!

Where do you live currently in London and why did you choose it. What are the vibes you love about it that you would want elsewhere (once you have got rid of the job). How old are you DC and what after school activities are important to them? If you are not from the UK do you need access to airport/ferry for family and how important is a diverse community to you - or would you be looking for some religious or specific community involvement. My brother is in Bournemouth - we are Irish Catholic but there is a big active community from the Philippines at his church for instance. Maybe something to consider for heritage / cultural enrichment / connection for your children and family.

Great news - thank you very much

Have you considered SE London? There was a thread earlier about some areas there and lovely houses cited as examples of what you could get. They also have grammar schools which might be of interest. Fast trains to get into town for leisure or for your H to to SW London.

Anywhere as far west as Bristol or Bath. I'm in Keynsham, which is in the middle of the two cities. Its marginally cheaper than them and has some decent schools, as well as a station with direct trains to Paddington. It also has a direct bus to Bristol Airport.

60-70 minutes by train from Paddington would get you to Chippenham/ Bath, or Malmesbury/ Corsham with 10 minutes in a car. Good state schools, and property isn’t too expensive compared to London.

Canterbury. 56mins on the HS1 to St Panc, tube to South Ken. You could do it in less than 90 mins, and £700k would get you a nice 4 bed near the station. Very good schools, although you would have the 11+ to think about.

Don’t forget to factor in the time AND cost of commuting. You need the door to door commute not just train time into London.

Some of the places being suggested would have heavy train commuting fees as well.