Questions about moving out of London

clarkey cat

my commute is 55 mins from walton on thames - canary wharf (train or 1hr35 by bike).

i absolutely love living around here. Easy access to the surrey hills. nice chilled vibe. i see my son for about 30 mins in the morning and about an hour at night, unless I'm busy and then I don't see him but my wife doesnt work so it doesnt bother me too much as I know he's getting plenty of parent time. We chillax at the weekends, visiting National Trust properties that kind of thing.

If you're going to spend alot of time on trains get some really really good headphones. Bowers and Wilkins P3 are what I use and help create an insulated bubble so that I just daydream each way.

asprilla

clarkey cat wrote:

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?

Yeah, but you should always have a plan.

We'll be in the current house for the next 10 years as its all about the schools. After that though....

clarkey cat

we're in the process of buying a cottage just off Hersham Green - get little Cat into Burhill. I have to duck to get through the internal doors though. Okay for my 5"1' wife though. But what wife wants, wife gets.
Reckon we'll stay here 5 / 6 years then move on.

rhext

I used to live in Farnborough. It's got a good mainline station that takes you straight into Waterloo, it's not as pricey as Farnham/Guildford, and it's on the right side of London for Hammersmith, it's not a dive like Aldershot was (and presumably still is?). It's not up there on the list of 'most attractive towns in the South East', but communications are good and there are plenty of good local ameneties. The big advantage that it has over places like Aldershot/Farnham/Camberley/Sandhurst/Hook etc is that it's a stop-off for some of the faster commuter trains.

Seriously though, if you're going to move out, do it properly....unless you're in a real 'city' job you don't necessarily even have to take a pay hit and who wants to spend 2-3 hours a day travelling, especially during rushhour? Not Derby though, Derby's not ready for you!

asprilla

clarkey cat wrote:

we're in the process of buying a cottage just off Hersham Green - get little Cat into Burhill. I have to duck to get through the internal doors though. Okay for my 5"1' wife though. But what wife wants, wife gets.
Reckon we'll stay here 5 / 6 years then move on.

New house is within spitting distance of Ashley Park and I like the idea of the kids walking to school. Burhill is a good school but when we were looking to buy there was all that hoo-har about which scoops were expanding and who was becoming a feeder for who so we played safe.

I'm reading ofstead reports and buying houses based on catchment areas. I'm becoming the thing I hate.

greg66_tri_v2.0

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...

Too right. You want to miss valuable time with your son because you're sat on your bike...

greg66_tri_v2.0

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.

Hammersmith? Narrows it a lot. Overland into Victoria, then easy tube for her.

Start looking at areas on lines to Victoria. And start looking at catchment areas too. You don't want to move too many times; stamp duty sucks hoop.

sketchley

For Hammersmith you can take trains to west Brompton then tube. These trains run between east Croydon and Milton Keynes which opens up north of London.

I'd also be tempted to look closely at cross rail, it may not be ready now but might up options knowing it'll be in place later....

clarkey cat

for Victoria you can look at Tadworth / Epsom. Nice area. Not too pricey & you're right next to Box Hill. Train direct into Victoria.

asprilla

Epsom trains are quick but notoriously unreliable and prone to cancellation at the drop of a hat.

We chose Walton over Epsom because of that.

rolf_f

DonDaddyD wrote:

There is no point leaving a City like London (as great as London) to move into another City.

Actually there is. Great though London is, the problem is that it is too big. A lot of people who live in London never get to see the country. That probably doesn't apply to any other city in the UK - eg if I want to cycle somewhere flat, I have to go from West Leeds where I live to the East of Leeds. I can do that in less than an hour and I can choose to do it either going right through the city on its longest axis or skirting the North side of it. I can be in the Yorkshire Dales within an hour or so of leaving my house on the bike.

If you want a higher quality of life, get as far from London as you dare.

warreng

We moved from Tooting to Epsom when we started breeding. Direct trains to Waterloo, Victoria and London Bridge so if you're a job hopper then that gives you flexibility. I only use them once a week but not experienced too much grief. Generally guaranteed a seat too. It's an hour commute into town on the bike

It's an ok place to be I s'pose. But then I've two kids and my opinions aren't that important anymore. The schools are really good, loads of young families and stuff to do for them so as long as they're happy, I'm happy.

House prices are a problem though - 3 bed will probably be a bout £350k within walking distance to the station. It's probably the only sensible financial decision I've ever made getting on the property ladder at a young age. I'd be snookered now

Blandiblub

Sketchley wrote:

For Hammersmith you can take trains to west Brompton then tube. These trains run between east Croydon and Milton Keynes which opens up north of London.

I'd also be tempted to look closely at cross rail, it may not be ready now but might up options knowing it'll be in place later....

Should be noted it's not one Tube though - from West Brompton, you'd need to change at Earl's Court to go to Hammersmith.

Mind you, it's not THAT bad a walk between West Brompton and Hammersmith. A good 20-30 mins maybe though. Folder?

MonkeyMonster

As others have said - look at hte overground as viable too and that its fairly easy walk to h'smith from kensignton olympia etc. so therefore Richmond is a viable mailine station to use too.
Hammersmith is a pita from waterloo - so I'd suggest not looking at places that have speedy services to there. Richmond might be your best bet tbh thinking about other things - mainlines into acton as well could be an option as over ground will sort you out closish perhaps. Make your commuting time decisions - ie max on an avg journey, train availability - whether a seat is 100% necessary for the time etc and then work backwards to areas that can provide/allow for your choices.

I spent roughly hour n half commuting from winchester and that was okay because of the weekends and being in such a nice place - plus a wfh day eveyr week. Negotiate with work as well.

You can get used to a number of things but make sure you don't compromise too much or it will go badly.

okgo

Have house prices fallen through the floor over night? Richmond? LOL You cannot buy a 1 bed in Richmond for 250k...

There are many areas that would work, but budget won't permit a lot of what has been said on this thread.

MonkeyMonster

okgo wrote:

Have house prices fallen through the floor over night? Richmond? LOL You cannot buy a 1 bed in Richmond for 250k...

There are many areas that would work, but budget won't permit a lot of what has been said on this thread.

I (and maybe others) meant that you mainline it INTO Richmond, then avail yourself of the overground to get to hammersmith, not live in richmond...

vermin

Considered Reading-way? There are plenty of nice villages around there. I lived in Henley a few years ago and found the Reading to Paddington line pretty good and it's probably only got better. Hammersmith is obviously easy from Paddington. Plenty of countryside and not entirely unaffordable. Not hugely diverse, but much better than where I am now (the last time I saw a non-white-caucasian person was in Brixton a fortnight ago).

jedster

DDD,

I do a bike train bike commute into London (West End) and have been doing so since we moved out of Town in 2006.
Everyone is different but I'll give you my experiences. We live in Marlow (between Maidenhead and Henley on the Thames). Nice place but expensive. Near High Wycombe which El Presidente mentioned - quite a bit pricier though.

1. my door to door commute is between 1 hour and 1:45 depending on time of day, hitting the trains bang on. etc. When it takes more than 90 minutes it feels a bit long TBH. Personally I'd want to be sure that I could do true door to door in less than that (allow for locking bike, getting to the station 5-10 mins befre the train leaves, etc). I cycle about 4 days a week - something gets in the way about once a week. But that means about 80 miles a week on the bike.

2. I don't get to see much of my kids in the week. If I want to be able to spend proper time with them in the evening I need to leave work early or work from home that day. The result is that I give them a lot of my time at the weekend - going out for 3 hours on my bike Sunday morning just doesnt happen. I might sneak out for an hour for a run or a swm of something.

3. We're happy. We liked being in London but the combination of kids being happy in really good state schools, nice country, more space, etc means that the move has worked well. We've made good friends too.

So how do you choose where? It can be difficult because you have so many possibilities. We ended up going out west because it was the right direction for Grandparents and my wife knew the area a bit. Our main criteria after that was good schools. You know the score - that means catchment areas within towns not just general regions. Then areas that we liked the feel off (people, shops, bars, sports facilities, etc, etc). We went for a town rather than something really rural because we weren't ready to have to get in the car to go to out for coffee and we figured that it would be good as the kids got older for them to be independent without having to be driven everywhere. This has been a good call for us.

On ethnic diversity, it's pretty white where we are. But not exclusively so. In any case there's a lot of London escapees who are used to an ethnic mix and aren't surpised when they end up chatting to black or asian people over a beer at a barbecue! I reckon that's probably the way things are in most of the home counties commuter belt.

You don't get all that much house for £300k in Marlow but there are options. Maidenhead might be worth thinking about (bit cheaper_. Other people's suggestions of High Wycombe, Luton are pretty good VFM if you pick the right (best) areas. Perhaps Watford too? Personally I'd go for somewhere with Grammar schools but opinions differ on selective education

jedster

meant to say - Maidenhead is very good for Paddington/Hammersmith - 20 min non-stop fast trains at peak times

Koncordski

Maidenhead will be getting Crossrail as well, you buy there now and you'll make a mint when the link opens. 45 minutes to Canary Wharf. Bit of a nothingy town though. Marlow is lovely and has Borlase the local Grammar School. Cheaper than Henley, I grew up in Henley and my folks are still there and went to school in Marlow. Still prefer Marlow.

wgwarburton

Rolf F wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

There is no point leaving a City like London (as great as London) to move into another City.

Actually there is. Great though London is, the problem is that it is too big. A lot of people who live in London never get to see the country. That probably doesn't apply to any other city in the UK - eg if I want to cycle somewhere flat, I have to go from West Leeds where I live to the East of Leeds. I can do that in less than an hour and I can choose to do it either going right through the city on its longest axis or skirting the North side of it. I can be in the Yorkshire Dales within an hour or so of leaving my house on the bike.

If you want a higher quality of life, get as far from London as you dare.

Yeah, +1 to that. I see your Leeds and raise you Edinburgh.

It's a bit of a commute from Edinburgh to Hammersmith, though, so probably won't suit you.

You can see mountains (not hills, proper 3000' mountains) from the centre of Edinburgh on a clear day and you're an hour away from some of the best scenery in the world (Loch Lomond + Trossachs National Park).
http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/vis ... d-101.html

Cheers,
W.

Medders

Dont forget motorbike as an alternative form of commuting transport than bike/car/train.

I did the move back in December as really needed more space from 3 bed terrace in teddington. Would have preferred to stay there but schools oversubscribed and next rank up in house would have been a strain financially.

For the price of our place in tedders plus a little more we got a huge place in Walton on the Hill (nr Tadworth) with massive garden.

Commute was going to be the issue. Train is just under an hour into London Bridge or Victoria, it is in zone 6, but unreliable and door to desk is 1hr 40 mins. As its 22 miles each way and basically 5 miles uphill from sutton on the way home it just takes too long to cycle everyday.

So I took my motorbike test and bought a motorbike. 3 days a week on that (an hour max each way) and 2 days a week cycling (1.5 hours each way). Costs about £15 a week in fuel, insurance is £200 a year fully comp (for a new rider so will get cheaper) and parking is free. And you can get a v nice motorbike for the price of a bit of carbon bike porn.

It would just give you more options on location - away from mainline train stations houses get way cheaper and you can cover a lot of ground v quickly once you get out of central london.

And you mentioned Redhill - that would seem to fit your criteria.

Cheers.

Headhuunter

corriebee1 wrote:

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!!

I haven't read through all the comments on this thread but got to this one and decided to reply. I was born and raised in Luton and whilst there are some pretty rough bits, there are also some nice spots, I lived in the Bushmead area which is quite nice and I think 3 bed semis go for around £300k. Schools like Bushmead and Icknield are quite decent state schools I think. The area is about 15 mins ride from Luton station, then you're 20-25 mins into St Pancras on a fast train (up to about 40 mins on a slower train). Luton is quite ethnically diverse, large Asian population and increasing population from emerging Europe.

If you don't like the idea of living in Luton itself there are some lovely villages in the beautiful surrounding countryside (The Chilterns) which you could bike from into Luton for the train to London. I spent some of the happiest times of my youth mountain biking through the rolling countryside or on rides with my dad along relatively empty country lanes in Bedfordshire and Herts. There are also some lovely hiking routes.

If you lived in Luton You could even ride all the way from Luton to London in the summer - I have ridden from where I live in Brockley, SE London up to my parents in Luton quite a few times and a guy I know cycles a couple of times a week into The City from St Albans which is not far from Luton.

rjsterry

+1 to the Epsom/Tadworth/Redhill suggestions. A nice bit of the world, easily commutable, and most importantly, the cycling opportunities of the North Downs are on your doorstep.

DonDaddyD

Redhill isn't 'country' enough for me and just seems a little er... well... yeah. Might as well live in London.

What I would like is to live on a road where one side is houses and on the other side is a green crowned by 2 pubs, a butcher, baker, post office and shop - maybe a restaurant or two, maybe. Behind my garden is a field full of lambs. (Like where ITB lives).

Down the road by, which I mean a few miles, is a 'town or village' with more shops maybe even a Supermarket. Further still is a City.

mtb-idle

DonDaddyD wrote:

Redhill isn't 'country' enough for me and just seems a little er... well... yeah. Might as well live in London.

What I would like is to live on a road where one side is houses and on the other side is a green crowned by 2 pubs, a butcher, baker, post office and shop - maybe a restaurant or two, maybe. Behind my garden is a field full of lambs. (Like where ITB lives).

Down the road by, which I mean a few miles, is a 'town or village' with more shops maybe even a Supermarket. Further still is a City.

I think you need a time machine and move back to the 1970's. Or failing that, the Isle of Wight.

tailwindhome

That Notting Hill looks charming.

mrbobuk

if you do mean truly out of london then expect, to be the only black man in the village, even in the leafy SW suburbs it's a sea of white.

I'm white, the missus is black and I have dual-heritage twin 5 year old boys. We moved from the city of Derby to a small village with a well-known motorbike racetrack a couple of years back - there are hardly any black folks here. I have to say, we were a little worried at first, as when we did an initial recce before we bought the cottage, it was spot the person of any colour. Now, I'd say we feel more comfortable as a family in a predominantly white village than we did in the city. My wife feels secure, the kids feel secure and we're all happy. There are some black folks about and we always give them the nod/acknowledgement. We laugh about it and make a joke that we are pioneers moving here! Haha. Village life is awesome though. So quieter and laid back and safer too. Kids love it.

Get yourself into a village and in the mix DonDaddyD, you'll never look back! Like Kieran said, you have all the proper country pubs too!

It's bob-on.

Rob

rjsterry

DonDaddyD wrote:

Redhill isn't 'country' enough for me and just seems a little er... well... yeah. Might as well live in London.

What I would like is to live on a road where one side is houses and on the other side is a green crowned by 2 pubs, a butcher, baker, post office and shop - maybe a restaurant or two, maybe. Behind my garden is a field full of lambs. (Like where ITB lives).

Down the road by, which I mean a few miles, is a 'town or village' with more shops maybe even a Supermarket. Further still is a City.

My parents are soon to move somewhere that nearly fits that description - when they retire. It's 3hrs from Hammersmith.

Nearer to home: Tadworth? Banstead? Woodmansterne? Chipstead? Warlingham? Nork Park?

jamesco

Rolf F wrote:

Great though London is, the problem is that it is too big. A lot of people who live in London never get to see the country.

+1 We live in West London (Ealing). Despite having a motorbike it's a drag to get out of London to see different parts of the country. Riding it from work, where it's kept, and fighting through traffic to get home is no fun, either.

On the other side, the 2 hours spent everyday commuting through central London puts a damper on the idea of going back into town on the weekend. It's just a bit too much like the trip to work.

Dunno what the perfect solution is, but it's probably either living in a cheaper & smaller city which is still large enough to have cultural events, or living outside London (without commuting daily into it) and only coming into town for fun.