Commutable Towns and Cities close to London

[Deleted User]

OP, here's a 3-bed for just £100k!

Okay, the journey is a lot more than 50 minutes. But you'll be the envy of the office when they hear you eat breakfast on the balcony, looking out over the sea....

MysteryMe

I don't live there but I know it reasonably well. Witham is fine for someone starting off, some roads on housing estates not so good but that is the same anywhere. There is a decent range of shops and eating places on the high street a couple of shopping precincts plus a couple of larger supermarkets. Chelmsford and Colchester are easy to get to if you want more shops or nightlife. Direct train into Liverpool street with not many stops and then bus to London Bridge is easy enough or the quickest way would be to hop off at Stratford and get the Jubilee line into London Bridge. 
I'd also consider areas in Kent served by the high speed service.

quirkydeptless

Reading - London Paddington is ~25 mins direct with trains every few minutes, well in normal cicrumstances.

blue_max_3

quirkydeptless said:

Reading - London Paddington is ~25 mins direct with trains every few minutes, well in normal cicrumstances.

Reading is expensive!

movilogo

@OP Is your work doable from home? If yes, you may soon find that lots of companies will now allow employees to work from home for most of the time. If you want to be nearer to London and already leaving in Flitwick, there only Luton is a cheap option.

Luton is not that bad. There are some nice areas on Luton, especially towards the North in Warden Hills, Barton Hills areas.

Getting_greyer

Luton maybe a dive but still the best football team of all the other places listed.

Consecca

D.L said:

What's your budget? How many bedrooms minimum? And are both flats/houses ok?

I guess that will be up to mortgage lender to determine what I can realistically afford in terms of budget, based on my salary.  Minimum 2 bedrooms. Yep, I would be open to both flats and houses as options.

spoovy

I'm in a similar situation. Swindon, Milton Keynes, Northampton & Basingstoke are all on my list as relatively good value options, and are all better than Essex / Kent if you like outdoorsy stuff, and all offer serious alternatives for places to work too with Reading, Oxford, Bristol commutable.

Caz3121

Consecca said:

I guess that will be up to mortgage lender to determine what I can realistically afford in terms of budget, based on my salary.  Minimum 2 bedrooms. Yep, I would be open to both flats and houses as options.

have you used any of the mortgage calculators? would 4.5x salary + deposit give you options?

Consecca

penners324 said:

Wouldn't touch Luton with a barge pole. 1 of the villages nearby though is a different issue.
Leighton Buzzard and surrounding villages, Milton Keynes and surrounding villages...

Me neither pal, that is why I am going to rule it out like East Croydon, both close but cheaper for a reason - and it is not a good one!