moving out of london - new area options questions!

sammylou100

I work in London and have lived in south London, Winchester & now Baldock in Hertfordshire.
Winchester is a lovely place to live, but it is quite expensive unfortunately. It is also quite a schlep into London, costs £29 for an off-peak return, takes about an hour to get to Waterloo...it does make for a LONG day.
Where I live now in Hertfordshire the train takes about 35 minutes, that 25 mins does make a difference (well its nearly an hour a day) an off-peak return is £15.50. I wouldn't really recommend Baldock because there is not a lot going on around there but the surrounding areas, like Hitchin or some of the villages (Henlow, Shefford, Stondon) are all near Arlesey station, not too long a commute and its a real country feel. Hope this helps.

nollag2006

I lived in Harpdenden for a while until last year, and I really loved it. It's a lot more expensive than St Albans, but less twee and less congested and you get a seat on the train. St Albans, like any large town, also has a lot of chavs - so be careful where you buy.

From talking to the old neighbours up in Harpdenden, it seems that house prices are really thundering up there over the past six months - same across most of the South East, I suppose.

I really can't say enough good things about it - lovely green parks, great pubs, excellent 24 hour train link, close to both the City and the country, and only 5 miles from Luton airport but without the flight path noise.

Would happily move back there in a heartbeat, but the commute to my new job got a bit much.

bodmil

Another positive vote for St Albans but I do find it quite pretentious. The shops are lovely with lots of boutiques, but who really buys from boutiques regularly? It does have all the essentials as well though. If it's too pricey Hemel Hempstead is nearby. Some say it's a bit of a dive, but I quite like it, the shopping centre is quite lovely now and I much prefer it to Watford. It's still so close to the countryside of Chipperfield and Felden which are gorgeous areas, and the train station is really handy for London. I also quite like Bushey. The Heath is a bit of a let down compared to Hampstead, but it's got a nice feel. What about Ruislip if you want to be a bit closer to town still? Or Oxfordshire towns like Marlow, Wallingford, Henley etc?

keith969

wallofbeans wrote: »

I asked about the best and worst areas of oxford in another thread and got some realy helpul replies so thought i should do it for all the areas we are currently considering...

im off to a great start with Oxford but any more thoughts welcome!

Reading - ive heard caversham is the nice bit but should i get more specific than that or condsider any other areas?

I'd avoid Caversham, there is a real bottleneck getting across the river.

I'm a couple of miles SE of Thame, its easy getting into London on the train from Risborough or Missenden, and the M40 J6 is 5 mins away. Lots of nice villages in the area to choose from.

loopylou121

Marlow Bucks is lovely and close to the main roads with good schools but off the main train-line to London. Expensive though.

sunshinetours

Really depends on budget and what part of London you need to get into I would say. If you come East of london into parts of Essex and Suffolk you may get lots more for your money

wallofbeans

hi all

thanks for the replies.. all really helpful..

we have a budget right now of no more than £600,000 but if we move further out then we are thinking of maybe putting some of that into a small rental in london and use the interest to help pay the mortgage..

london-wise, we like surbiton a lot but it is pricey and there's not much around to buy at the moment (if ever?)..

we have family in kent and in dorset.. which is why we're edging towards south of london.. im still very interested in st albans and that area coz of the great train line and cheaper prices than places like guildford and reigate..

i'll be working in soho mostly but am freelance so could end up anywhere really so focusing on that is pointless for me really!

winchester is also a good bet coz its halfway between my folks and london and cheaper than london.. £29 off peak return does seem a little high though!

we really just want lovely place, nice atmosphere with a few coffee shops and pubs/restuarants and shops.. enough that we dont feel like we're in the middle of nowhere but not too much that we're surrounded by chavs! we'd love to live in a posh burb of london (south west ones we like are surbiton, barnes, kew etc etc) so i guess we're looking for somewhere outside london that has that fee to it but isnt as expensive! might not exist though!

rockitup

You should take a look around Iver Heath which is close to Uxbridge (Tube) and Denham (NR) Stations.

If you can pick up a property on the side close to Pinewood Studios they tend to have rather large front & rear gardens with no parking restrictions on street. A nice quiet area and not too far for your trips into town while still having the countryside feel with nearby villages like Fulmer, Stoke Poges etc close by

Best of luck with your search

wallofbeans

also, it feels like there arent many houses for sale in any of the places we like at the moment anyway!

FTBFun

wallofbeans wrote: »

£29 off peak return does seem a little high though!

If you get a Network Railcard for £25 for the year, this will get you 1/3 discount on off peak rail fares, making it £19 a pop instead. You'll pay it off in a couple of weeks.

Trains from Waterloo at rush hour are not affected by peak restrictions - its only ones going in in the morning that are.