Good areas within commuting distance to London?

Tropez

I'll spare you most of the boring details but the idea is being "floated" by some suits at work for the office I'm attached to being closed down and all employees being relocated to London. Given I do the vast majority of my work from home I'm not entirely sure why they'd expect me to relocate as I'm still less than two hours away by train on the West Coast Main Line but whatever... (can you tell how thrilled I am at this prospect? )

Anyway, working on the assumption that this may happen and not wanting to be completely under-prepared should this devious scheme come to fruition I'm trying to gain an idea of where might be a suitable place to relocate to?

Living in London is entirely unsuitable. Finding a detached house is hard enough. Finding a detached house with ample garden space is even harder. I have to have a reasonable sized garden for my dogs and just because I quite like having a garden.

St Albans is one place that I've seen recommended and it certainly looks pleasant enough but the rail links are quite poor for going "back home" again to see friends.

Somewhere leafy and green with open spaces but modern enough to have high broadband speeds and ideally north of London would suit me. I gather the expectation is that I am situated no more than an hour outside London by either car or train (probably train, cba driving in London).

Any suggestions on where to look?

I'm sure my partner is going to be thrilled at this prospect. That'll teach her for going to New Zealand! :rotfl:

sarah69696pink

Some Wiltshire areas are an hour by train

I_wanna_live_for_free

Mid/North Essex - Chelmsford, Colchester are less than an hour by train. We have high broadband speeds and we're 10 minutes walk from the country park (fishing, open space, blackberry bushes - you name it!)

skintchick

WHat train line do you need to be on to go 'back home'?

Hard to suggest areas without knowing that.

We could also do with knowing your budget for a 4 bedroom house with decent garden. I am just outside London, although on a branch line, and that kind of house is upwards of 800k here. If we know your house budget it will avoid suggestions of areas you cannot afford. Can you afford St Albans?

Tropez

I_wanna_live_for_free wrote: »

Mid/North Essex - Chelmsford, Colchester are less than an hour by train. We have high broadband speeds and we're 10 minutes walk from the country park (fishing, open space, blackberry bushes - you name it!)

Blackberry bushes you say?

Thanks. Another place to investigate!

skintchick wrote: »

WHat train line do you need to be on to go 'back home'?

Hard to suggest areas without knowing that.

We could also do with knowing your budget for a 4 bedroom house with decent garden. I am just outside London, although on a branch line, and that kind of house is upwards of 800k here. If we know your house budget it will avoid suggestions of areas you cannot afford. Can you afford St Albans?

My "home" station is on the West Coast Main Line so anything that has an easy connection to that is suitable, I think. St Albans sadly has me making 2-3 changes and I'm never fond of waiting around railway stations, plus having looked at the journey times it would likely be quicker to drive back.

I did a property search for St Albans and it is an area I can afford. I'd prefer not to state what my budget is as I'm a little uncomfortable with disclosing my financial status. It's nothing personal, just a quirk of mine. Plus, it has to be said I'd need to see the terms of the relocation deal the company would be offering (I'm guessing £5.50 and a couple of sled dogs, but they may surprise me) as well as decide with my partner whether to sell up or keep the house that we have here and rent.

claire16c

Berks and Surrey are both full of commuter towns. The busiest one being Reading with trains taking 25 mins (when theyre on time...). But you dont have to live in the towns you could live somewhere quieter and connect to the mainline stations. I used to work in London and work with someone from near Windsor for example. And I dont live right in a town I used to take a connecting train.

Its not cheap though, season tickets cost thousands so Id be looking at your employer for some help with that if theyre going to be moving you Or at the very least an annual season ticket loan, most companies in London offer them as you do not want to be paying for a ticket each month.

I think when I did it I used to pay about £3.5k for the ticket. And that was before you adding parking at the station I connected from and the bus/tube in London...And it was 2 years ago.

To be honest though the stress of taking the train everyday, and the utterly useless train companies making me late for work ALL the time, drove me bonkers.

Tropez

claire16c wrote: »

Berks and Surrey are both full of commuter towns. The busiest one being Reading with trains taking 25 mins (when theyre on time...). But you dont have to live in the towns you could live somewhere quieter and connect to the mainline stations. I used to work in London and work with someone from near Windsor for example. And I dont live right in a town I used to take a connecting train.

Its not cheap though, season tickets cost thousands so Id be looking at your employer for some help with that if theyre going to be moving you Or at the very least an annual season ticket loan, most companies in London offer them as you do not want to be paying for a ticket each month.

I think when I did it I used to pay about £3.5k for the ticket. And that was before you adding parking at the station I connected from and the bus/tube in London...And it was 2 years ago.

To be honest though the stress of taking the train everyday, and the utterly useless train companies making me late for work ALL the time, drove me bonkers.

Thanks.

Yes, I noted the cost of a season ticket from St Albans to London. Nearly 4k!

Luckily, I think it is likely that I can avoid most of this expense due to the fact that even if we relocate there's still no reason for me not to continue doing most of my work from home, unless they have some fiendish plot in mind. At present, I am in the office for a grand total of about six days each month which is part of the reason I am quite perplexed and slightly irked by the fact that they would expect me to move when I'm still within a reasonable traveling time of London where I am!

I think somewhere quieter suits me. I used to live in the suburbs of a city, and now live right on the outskirts in a nice semi-rural area, close enough for the amenities of the city but in just the right location where I can imagine all that away with open countryside nearby. Other than the occasional smell of cow crap it is most relaxing!

Floss

Why not treat it as a project and write a brief report summarising the pros & cons of relocation against staying put, if you work mainly fom home? I'm sure any sensible company would want to minimise expenditure on relocation if there is a feasible cost-effective alternative.

Ellejmorgan

Epping, Harlow & Chelmsford are all ok with excellent links to the A414, and the tube is accessible in Epping..
Harlow is 25 minutes to North London on the A406

All have good parks & facilities great shopping in Harlow & Chelmsford both also have excellent leisure facilities including a new pool in Harlow & ice skating in Chelmsford..

Also not far from Stanstead Harlow is 10 miles away, it's known for being very green, lots of grass verges and trees as the town isn't all that old..

Housing in these areas are alright you would need to shop around for the best housing and do some research...

Tropez

Floss wrote: »

Why not treat it as a project and write a brief report summarising the pros & cons of relocation against staying put, if you work mainly fom home? I'm sure any sensible company would want to minimise expenditure on relocation if there is a feasible cost-effective alternative.

I certainly intend to argue my case as to why there is no harm in me staying put. My case will include my excellent on-time record when I am required to be in the office, as opposed to my immediate superior's appalling on time record who lives, literally, three minutes drive from the offices. I may leave that last part out as I don't think that will help.

But I am aware of this "streamlining" procedure or whatever they want to call it. There has been some grand relocation plan going on for a few years. They actually moved people to our office not that long ago (I can only imagine how irritated those people will be!) and now they want to move us down to London. Personally, I think it is a devious plan to keep moving us farther south until the managers get what they really want - for us to set up shop in Monaco.

Ellejmorgan wrote: »

Epping, Harlow & Chelmsford are all ok with excellent links to the A414, and the tube is accessible in Epping..

All have good parks & facilities great shopping in Harlow & Chelmsford both also have excellent leisure facilities including a new pool in Harlow & ice skating in Chelmsford..

Also not far from Stanstead Harlow is 10 miles away..

Housing in these areas are alright you would need to shop around for the best housing and do some research...

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm not sure about the ice skating though. I'm accident prone at the best of times and I have a feeling that if I were to take up ice skating I would somehow remove vital organs, probably just while putting the skates on!

But other than that minor issue, I shall have a gander and see what I can find in those areas

Ellejmorgan

Tropez wrote: »

I certainly intend to argue my case as to why there is no harm in me staying put. My case will include my excellent on-time record when I am required to be in the office, as opposed to my immediate superior's appalling on time record who lives, literally, three minutes drive from the offices. I may leave that last part out as I don't think that will help.

But I am aware of this "streamlining" procedure or whatever they want to call it. There has been some grand relocation plan going on for a few years. They actually moved people to our office not that long ago (I can only imagine how irritated those people will be!) and now they want to move us down to London. Personally, I think it is a devious plan to keep moving us farther south until the managers get what they really want - for us to set up shop in Monaco.



Thank you for the suggestions. I'm not sure about the ice skating though. I'm accident prone at the best of times and I have a feeling that if I were to take up ice skating I would somehow remove vital organs, probably just while putting the skates on!

But other than that minor issue, I shall have a gander and see what I can find in those areas

There are some fantastic areas around here, you are welcome to PM me if you want any further info or try search engines and look for our local papers online, it will give you some further ideas i'm sure..

I lived in Yorkshire before here I prefer it here though...