Questions about moving out of London

okgo

Also disappointed in your google skills Asprilla

http://www.commutefrom.com/

Is what you want!

mdgutsell

I moved from of south Wimbledon to St Albans last year and commute most days by bike (22 - 25miles each way)

Its a bit harsh in the winter but a utter nightmare when the north easterly wind kicks in

Train monthly pass £250 but as i cycle 4 days per week the cost is approx £80 - 100 permonth
property prices are much lower than Wimbledon/South west london and from what i've seen locally not much is selling.

BelgianBeerGeek

If it was me I would avoid Surrey/Hampshire and the hell that is commuting to Waterloo. I only travel it on business and unless you're on the train at about 6 am (Havant), forget it. And good luck with getting a bike on there. Plus house prices are ludicrous.

I would go for NE London - Essex, Cambs etc.

mybreakfastconsisted

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/28755270

whitebait01

Hertfordshire's nice, Hertford itself is a nice town, bit of diversity (definitely more now than when I was growing up there) and there's two stations, one straight to Liverpool St, the other straight to Kings Cross. Dunno about house prices though...

DonDaddyD

I was thinking of the Aldershot (Ash), Guildford, Farnham area? They any good?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Aldershot might be a bit Army, but yes to the other two (although pricey).

clarkey cat

Have a look at Ashford (Kent) - for £300k you can get something really sizeable. But you'll be bored out of your skull.

okgo

DonDaddyD wrote:

I was thinking of the Aldershot (Ash), Guildford, Farnham area? They any good?

Farnham, expensive, not ethnically diverse. Guildford, slightly more diverse, just as expensive. Though you could live in the horrible bits of both for that money I'd have thought.

Aldershot is just plain grim.

MrSweary

DonDaddyD wrote:

wanted to move out of London...

Don't do it.. it's a waste land out there! Nothing but gangs of feral chavs and homicidal farmers, the food is all a mush of turkey twizzlers and horse sausage , you won't ever drink decent coffee again, the films of Kurosawa are very hard to source and none of the best ballet companies ever visit.

Of course I don't count south of the river as 'London'.

Koncordski

If i might offer some advice based on doing it. I've lived in SW london since i was 21 (now 32) and loved it, trouble is I could only ever afford a two bed flat at best and they come with problems. I've seen some beautiful flats in period conversions that look amazing but have the sound proofing qualities of a paper bag. My last flat was a one bed in Surbiton (15 mins to waterloo) that i made some money on doing a renovation but it wasn't big enough. Looked at loads of places in hampshire/surrey/west sussex that were upto an hour on the train. £250k buys a big 2 bed/small 3 bed with garden and the country lifestyle. All seemed great but the trains into waterloo are RAMMED, i can spend an hour on a train no problem but not if i'm standing up the whole way. Trains from petersfield, haslemere, etc are £4k per year at today's money and that's only going up. Would love to live there put packed trains are not for me.

Essex i just don't like, YMMV but it's not for me and the fast lines go into Liverpool street/stratford and that's not great for the other half.

So we looked at Kent, now if you can afford to get in zone 6 then do it, somewhere like Chelsfield or Orpington aren't perfect and you'll struggle for space at £250K but it's doable. Sevenoaks is nice but is NOT ethnically diverse and again 250K will get you a terrace, maybe a semi-detached with a journey to the station. Tunbridge Wells is nice but feels like a long way out at around 50mins to london bridge. We settle on Tonbridge, TW's less desirable neighbour. It's not got that boutiquey expensive feel that you get with TW or Sevenoaks but it's directly between the two and they're both 10 mins away for shopping. The town centre is ropey but is having a buttload of government and private money spent of delivering new shope and facilities in the next two years. £200K buys a 2 bed terrace with garden, £250K buys a very big end of terrace or semi-detached and £300K buys a 3-4 detached.

I like the commute, it's 5 mins on the brompton to the station, 40mins into London Bridge/Cannon Street and then 20 mins to the office in the Wharf. But the killer is the trains, Tonbridge is a massive rail junction, there are trains every 5 mins or so in the morning peak and they only stop 2-3 times before Charing Cross. You always get a seat and they are not standing room only until Orpington/Chelsfield.

We've sacrificed a lot of our London lifestyle to move there but it's still less than an hour to the West End and when the town is smartened up we should be able to make our next move with some money in our pocket. It's a compromise, be under no illusions about that. But i wouldn't trade our house for a £300k basement flat in london again.

DonDaddyD

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Aldershot might be a bit Army, but yes to the other two (although pricey).

I'm seeing sizable three bedroom houses in Aldershot for around £250,000 - £275,000. Is that pricey?

davmaggs

Most of my points have been covered above, but what I would add is that time and quality of life are impacted by commutes.

What I mean by this is my observation on many people who move out to get 'quality of life' or some such phrase end up having a great house, but pay the indirect price of not seeing their kids in the evening or returning home mentally drained by the public transport experience. They sort of overcompensate by obsessing about property size and not on the strain it causes.

If you are going to keep working in London then I really would do the research, and pay the extra and chose those routes that are fast, and don't require commuting to get to the station for the commute (as it were) all to secure an extra 20m of garden that you won't actually spend time on. And/or move to a place where you could move job to when the right one opens up.

corriebee1

Okay, here goes! I've been debating whether to post my tuppenceworth!!

I come from a very nice area of Edinburgh. I work in Cambridge, but commuted into Mayfair for 5 years. I could do the commute to St Pancras station by train in 22 minutes from.... Luton.

I don't expect many of you will be too impressed with the idea, but Luton is vastly changed in the 9-10 years since I have lived here. I live in a nice area in a large 4 bedroomed Edwardian house with a garage and drive overlooking a large park and with another large park/wood at the end of the street. It would cost £220,000 to buy today i reckon. We're 7 minutes walk from the station and can get a non-stop East Midland train to St Pancras in 22 mins or a FCC train to pretty much anywhere through the city and out the other side to Gatwick (London Bridge, Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars etc etc) without getting on the tube. Every month it is noticeable how many more commuters are at the station, how many smarter cafes are opening, how the cars and houses are getting smarter and how the schools are improving.

Last year i bought our 3rd BTL house (a 3 bed Victorian house) for £125,000. We spent £20,000 on it to make it very nice and rent it to friends.

We are within a couple of minutes cycle of country lanes. Uber-expensive places like Harpenden are 6 miles away and we often ride to St Albans for lunch. Loads of country pubs etc in easy distance. For £250,000 you could buy an incredible house! I can be skiing in the Alps in a few hours, home to Edinburgh or anywhere in Europe cheap and without troubling Ryanair!

Diversity. Enter smart-arsed comment here, but we love the big Asian areas of Luton and the market-style feel of Bury Park. Great indian food, loads of cricket (and loads of Polish shops).

Luton still has many problems, and can be a bit...eh... characterful! But if i were to identify the best value commuter town in the South East of England, Luton would be it!!

okgo

DonDaddyD wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Aldershot might be a bit Army, but yes to the other two (although pricey).

I'm seeing sizable three bedroom houses in Aldershot for around £250,000 - £275,000. Is that pricey?

It isn't very nice. I'd compare central Aldershot to a slightly less dangerous Mitcham.

greg66_tri_v2.0

DonDaddyD wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Aldershot might be a bit Army, but yes to the other two (although pricey).

I'm seeing sizable three bedroom houses in Aldershot for around £250,000 - £275,000. Is that pricey?

Dunno. Pricey in my book is just beyond what I can afford!

Have a look at Tonbridge though, as suggested upthread.

junglist_matty

mybreakfastconsisted wrote:

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/28755270

That's not the best example.... Something new in a village (rode past this on my 30mile MTB commute this morning)...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 12089.html

Or within 1 mile of the city centre:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 48371.html

Or olde house (look beyond the bad interior design and clutter)...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 79851.html

cookeeemonster

So remember when your kid grows up he (or she) might want to go to college / friends houses / work and in a small town these things may not be easy i.e. public transport is near zero and it might be too far/expensive to travel into london for their first (badly paid) jobs etc etc. I'm assuming in most small towns minimum wage is all you'll get unless you open your own business.

I know people who have moved out of the so called london hell only to have their kids grow up in a boring town full of kids on drugs cos there's no decent work and nothing to do. So basically avoid the crappier parts of essex/kent and so on, and remember your kid will want to live their life at some point.

Having said that I know there are some great places out there to live and bring up your kids in, so dont be put off by what I've just said

mybreakfastconsisted

That last one's lovely.

asprilla

okgo wrote:

Also disappointed in your google skills Asprilla

http://www.commutefrom.com/

Is what you want!

I was looking 6 years ago though!

il_principe

To sort of echo what others have said, I'd move out of London, but do it properly i.e move your job as well. This is my plan, and it's a tricky one, but I've got no desire to spend years of my life sitting on a train into London, not to mention the cost of season tickets etc. I don't want to miss valuable time with my son because I'm sat on a sodding train...

DonDaddyD

OK basically another factor is this. Ms DDD is not prepared to leave her firm (job), ever. [Don't ask why, I don't understand why, I asked if she was having an affair]. It means she's tied into commuting into Hammersmith - which is why I was looking in the Surrey area.

asprilla

My plan is to move just the other side of the M25, somewhere on or near the A25. I'm thinking Sheer, Abinger Hammer or there abouts. Then I'll just drive to Walton, Esher or Hersham in a morning, park up and ride from there.

DonDaddyD

Il Principe wrote:

To sort of echo what others have said, I'd move out of London, but do it properly i.e move your job as well. This is my plan, and it's a tricky one, but I've got no desire to spend years of my life sitting on a train into London, not to mention the cost of season tickets etc. I don't want to miss valuable time with my son because I'm sat on a sodding train...

See the thing is, I move jobs - a lot. I've commuted to West London, South East London, Ilford and the City. Commutes that should vary from 45mins - 2.00hrs depending on route.

On average I get home anytime between 6.00 - 7.00pm. Even with my current job I still manage to do this. So I get an hour with him tops. The only gains are in the morning when I get to see him, but he wakes up at 6.00am and when he goes to nursery/school the fact is there isn't much quality time to be gained her. There is the nursery/school run - that can be fun.

Real quality time with the family is spent on weekends.

lostboysaint

DonDaddyD wrote:

OK basically another factor is this. Ms DDD is not prepared to leave her firm (job), ever. [Don't ask why, I don't understand why, I asked if she was having an affair]. It means she's tied into commuting into Hammersmith - which is why I was looking in the Surrey area.

So in her mind her job is more important than your concerns about your son's education and lifestyle?! Interesting. :shock:

clarkey cat

come to Walton on Thames DDD. Asprilla and I will welcome you with open arms.

clarkey cat

Asprilla wrote:

My plan is to move just the other side of the M25, somewhere on or near the A25. I'm thinking Sheer, Abinger Hammer or there abouts. Then I'll just drive to Walton, Esher or Hersham in a morning, park up and ride from there.

havent you just moved?

bigmat

DonDaddyD wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

To sort of echo what others have said, I'd move out of London, but do it properly i.e move your job as well. This is my plan, and it's a tricky one, but I've got no desire to spend years of my life sitting on a train into London, not to mention the cost of season tickets etc. I don't want to miss valuable time with my son because I'm sat on a sodding train...

See the thing is, I move jobs - a lot. I've commuted to West London, South East London, Ilford and the City. Commutes that should vary from 45mins - 2.00hrs depending on route.

On average I get home anytime between 6.00 - 7.00pm. Even with my current job I still manage to do this. So I get an hour with him tops. The only gains are in the morning when I get to see him, but he wakes up at 6.00am and when he goes to nursery/school the fact is there isn't much quality time to be gained her. There is the nursery/school run - that can be fun.

Real quality time with the family is spent on weekends.

Yeah but imagine not seeing him before or after work for a couple of days, never mind a week. Soon starts to feel like a big sacrifice.

notsoblue

You're probably not moving as far out, but I spent two years commuting into London from Bath and vowed never to have a commute that takes longer than an hour ever again. Its not worth working in London if you have a mammoth daily commute.

DonDaddyD

BigMat wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

To sort of echo what others have said, I'd move out of London, but do it properly i.e move your job as well. This is my plan, and it's a tricky one, but I've got no desire to spend years of my life sitting on a train into London, not to mention the cost of season tickets etc. I don't want to miss valuable time with my son because I'm sat on a sodding train...

See the thing is, I move jobs - a lot. I've commuted to West London, South East London, Ilford and the City. Commutes that should vary from 45mins - 2.00hrs depending on route.

On average I get home anytime between 6.00 - 7.00pm. Even with my current job I still manage to do this. So I get an hour with him tops. The only gains are in the morning when I get to see him, but he wakes up at 6.00am and when he goes to nursery/school the fact is there isn't much quality time to be gained her. There is the nursery/school run - that can be fun.

Real quality time with the family is spent on weekends.

Yeah but imagine not seeing him before or after work for a couple of days, never mind a week. Soon starts to feel like a big sacrifice.

If it takes an hour to commute from out-of-London home to work and that's around the same time travelling you'd spend commuting while living in London, how have you lost valuable time with your child?