Where to live in the South?

Megalomaniac

Hi Guys and Gals,

I'm really not sure if this is the right board to post on - if not I hope someone can move it to somewhere more suitable.

I have a job offer to start next October based in London. The main train stations that serve the area I am working in are Charing Cross and Waterloo. I am currently looking at prices of rail season tickets and rents for places to live. I'll be earning ~£37k a year but this will also have to cover my girlfriend as well until she finds a job (i.e. rent, bills, train etc...). She may have one by the time we move, but I think it's best to expect the worse especially with the worsening job market (she works in accounts at the moment but doesn't really enjoy it).

So I am looking for recommendations as to places to live where I can realistically rent and commute from. I do not want to be in central London, nor anywhere too built up. I would prefer somewhere close to the M25 but with some greenery as well.

Has anyone got any suggestions or ideas as to where to live? Anywhere nice but not overly expensive. Ideally I would pay ~£800 rent for a 2 bed unfurnished house/flat with a door to door journey of ~1 hour between there and Charing Cross/Waterloo.

Cheers!

pawpurrs

Sevenoakes
Tunbridge wells
Hertfordshire? Berkemstead?
Amersham?
Wadhurst?

Megalomaniac

Sounds like it's a matter of wherever you live, you'll have to pay ~£1000 but in differing proportions as to how much in rent and how much in train fare. Is that right would you say? I guess then it means it's how long do I want to spend on my commute each day and where is a nice place to live (with a train station). It's hard to narrow down... except I think either Surrey or Kent! Thanks.

p.s if anyone else would like to suggest anywhere (by the way, we're mid 20's so we don't want somewhere to slow, but somewhere where you can look out and see a tree and not queues of traffic).

tanith

West London has plenty of green areas , I live in Ealing it has excellent transport links to central London and vastly differing price ranges in rented accommodation depending on your own preferences of course... I live closer to the A40 (can be on the M25 in 5/6 mins ) which is probably considered more down market than Ealing town but within 5mins I can be walking along a farm track among fields and cows...

penguine

Richmond Borough has (I've heard) the most green space of any London borough. Richmond, St Margarets and Twickenham are all on the mainline route to Waterloo and the journey is under half a hour. Not too far from the M25 either, probably 10-15 minutes drive.

SouthCoast

Check out the Brighton Lines. Standing room only during rush hours.

Sheep are treated better.

BettyDebt

We've been house hunting around the same price range and areas. We've seen that £800 can get you a decent house(we didnt want a flat) a little way out. Kidbrooke, Chislehurst, Sidcup, Falconwood, Eltham and then further out into Barnehurst, Greenhithe etc They all looked like lovely residential areas, close enough to London but far enough out too.

Too much further out you seem to have a lot to pay for travel. Though Sevenoaks, Tonbridge etc are all lovely and easy commutes.

Then there is of course SW of London which my friends all swear by so it's entirely preference based. We have dogs so green walking areas were a must for us but SW was too far from work for my hubby.

Good luck with the hunt and well done on the new job!

skylight

Datchet and Windsor - close to M25/M4 and direct line into Waterloo.

Have you looked at a map of the train routes into the areas you need to go? You can cross that with motorways and look at the areas then.

mel19632

Woking is very close to M25, reasonable price for Surrey and is about 25 mins into Waterloo.

Megalomaniac

Yeah I have the train routes, season ticket checker, google maps and www.primelocation.com to have an idea as to what the prices were in various areas. I hear all good things about being in West London, but growing up in the suburbs and not wanting to fight my way through traffic when I drive, that appeals a lot more.

I didn't realise how much of a pain it is to locate yourself. Where I have lived before I had to be local to the company. Now with trains, it opens up numerous possibilities! Thanks for everyones help... I think this is going to take a lot of research.

tanith

Megalomaniac wrote: »

Yeah I have the train routes, season ticket checker, google maps and www.primelocation.com to have an idea as to what the prices were in various areas. I hear all good things about being in West London, but growing up in the suburbs and not wanting to fight my way through traffic when I drive, that appeals a lot more.

I didn't realise how much of a pain it is to locate yourself. Where I have lived before I had to be local to the company. Now with trains, it opens up numerous possibilities! Thanks for everyones help... I think this is going to take a lot of research.

I don't think you will find anywhere in and around London that you won't have to fight your way through traffic to be honest... maybe settling for the tube to get to work will be your best bet..