Commuter Towns for London - Bedfordshire

oniongirl

If you're willing to try Hertfordshire, Stevenage is ok. It has a "modern" town centre, that's just starting to get revamped, and a "historic" old town with more independent shops and a nicer vibe. Trains are < 25 minutes to either Kings X or St Pancras, and the trains on the latter line go all the way through London to the south coast so stop at places like Farringdon and London Bridge. A year's train ticket is about £4k

On the same line, "nicer" than Stevenage are Letchworth and Hitchin (further away from London) and Welwyn (closer to London). Hitchin has the better town centre by a large margin. All three are more expensive than Stevenage.

I grew up in the area and would avoid Luton. We're in the process of upsizing in Stevenage and could've got a lot more for our money in Luton... but I just can't bring myself to move there.

tink_1983

Flitwick, biggleswade and sandy all have stations that will take you direct to London. Only ever lived in Bedford myself. If you want to walk to station as parking is ££ you need to look at distance from that postcode maybe. Alot of houses within 15min walk 

Lokolo_2

FiveMoreYears said:

I have a mate who lives near Milton Keynes, and he raves about Leighton Buzzard. I've very much liked what I've seen of the place: a couple of excellent independent record shops, good real ale at the Black Lion pub, a small micro-brewery, and a well-regarded non-league football team. From a commuter point-of-view, it has decent train links with London and Milton Keynes. I've always liked Bedford too - a underrated town, I reckon.

A place you might not have thought of is Bletchley (admittedly in Bucks, on the edge of MK). The town centre shopping area is a bit grim (Bedford is much nicer), but it's cheap by MK standards, and within the next two or three years the town will be on the rebuilt Varsity rail line, putting it on a crossroads of railways between London, MK, Oxford, Bedford and eventually on to Cambridge. And you'd still only be six minutes by train from the nice shops and pubs in Leighton Buzzard.

Milton Keynes itself (again just in Bucks) is much nicer than many people believe - everyone I know who lives there obsessively loves the place. However, it's still an acquired taste in some aspects - local pubs are rare, shops are dominated by chains, and you're unlikely to be living within walking distance of the station. The suburb of Wolverton has more in the way of traditional Victorian terraces, plus a station, while Stony Stratford (on the A5) has a bit more independence about it.

Definitely have to agree about Leighton Buzzard, I lived there for a bit over 4 years, lovely place especially if you can buy a property over the "Linslade" side of the town, most of the places are also within 15-20mins walk to the station and it is safe, I used to walk back at 1 or 2am in the morning! The town centre has everything you need and if just popping into town you can park 90mins for free at the Tesco Vimy Road and walk 5mins onto the high street! 
Only down side I noticed towards the end of my time there, more reports of crime in the town particularly by travellers, that is why I would only recommend the Linslade side of town and avoid the new build estates on the other side (Stanbridge Rd/Astral Park)!

Milton Keynes is a functional City, I always thought it was a bit soulless with the many estates and underpasses and unfortunately not many of the ones near the station are nice. Definitely great for a young couple though as everything for shopping and eating out is there and the trains are fast and frequent into London. Great Holm and Shenley church end are desirable areas of MK near the station, Middleton as well but that is not walking distance to the station!

I moved to Dunstable for work purposes but wouldn't recommend that, quite rough in parts and far from stations, about 15mins drive to Leagrave or Luton stations. In fact I am in the process of moving to Gamlingay, near Sandy (which another poster mentioned). The appeal of the countryside, good value for money houses. Though to be near the station if that is a priority then the houses in Sandy are not very inspiring, you can get 3 bedrooms for your budget but not something with countryside views or detached for example!

Not sure about Stevenage, maybe on the outskirts is nicer but the areas around the station seem rough and lots of undesirables hang on the footbridge by the station, Hitchin and Letchworth are definitely both nicer and worth the extra money, though Letchworth has mostly Leasehold houses which is something to watch out for!

Nikkster

Oliviab21 said:

jimbog said:

I know the Castle Road area of Bedford very well having lived there once. Next to Russell Park, the river and great walks around Priory Country Park a 10 minutes walk away. Town centre is 15 min walk and train station is 30 min walk. Properties are sought after. This is typical:

We rang about one in this area yesterday and it already had bookings sorted for rest of week and is likely to be snapped up straight away. So can tell it is very sought after!
I've read a few negatives online about the town center not being very nice and it being full of crime.. I take it all with a pinch of salt but trying to get a clear picture. Thanks!

The town centre has suffered from the decline in department stores - it's lost Beales and M&S with Debenhams on the way out. There are lots of lovely independent shops and restaurants though and a good community (there is of course crime and antisocial stuff too, same as everywhere else).

Lokolo_2

Nikkster said:

Oliviab21 said:

jimbog said:

I know the Castle Road area of Bedford very well having lived there once. Next to Russell Park, the river and great walks around Priory Country Park a 10 minutes walk away. Town centre is 15 min walk and train station is 30 min walk. Properties are sought after. This is typical:

We rang about one in this area yesterday and it already had bookings sorted for rest of week and is likely to be snapped up straight away. So can tell it is very sought after!
I've read a few negatives online about the town center not being very nice and it being full of crime.. I take it all with a pinch of salt but trying to get a clear picture. Thanks!

The town centre has suffered from the decline in department stores - it's lost Beales and M&S with Debenhams on the way out. There are lots of lovely independent shops and restaurants though and a good community (there is of course crime and antisocial stuff too, same as everywhere else).

Definitely still nicer than Luton! Though Bushmead, Stopsley and Putteridge are nice areas of Luton, the surrounding areas are not...also these are not walkable to the station unless you find a 30min+ walk acceptable walking through the rougher areas of Tin Town and High Town! Saying that I guess everyone has different tolerances, it could well be no rougher than parts of East London 

getmore4less

LB Town compact and a bit of everything. 
Still got a couple of decent pubs and a spoons hotel. 
Decent Tesco morrisons and Waitrose for essentials. 

As with everywhere some good bits and bad bits. 
Located reasonably well for access to London motorways and bigger towns. 
Some decent countryside around as well. 

Seems better balance to some of the places closer to London like Tring and Berko. 

Before lockdowns there was some grumbling over some town centre plans, don't live there it was discussion with landlords on a day out checking the pub scene. 
Worth some research of local plan and nay local based news sites. 

oniongirl

Lokolo_2 said:

Not sure about Stevenage, maybe on the outskirts is nicer but the areas around the station seem rough and lots of undesirables hang on the footbridge by the station...

I walk from the station at 1am, !!!!!!, with no fear. Also sober, when I would be more likely to be scared of 14 year old boys. The worst bit about the underpasses is they sometimes flood. As with all places, I find you can't condemn a whole estate. I was warned off Bedwell, the closest estate to the town, but the road we're in is lovely. Picket fences and hanging baskets. 

But you're right, the outskirts are nicer. Poplars is a nice estate of 90s built detached houses, Chells Manor is the same. But houses start at £450k for both. The ex-council 3-bed terraces go for £230k upwards, with a nicer one costing at least £280k. 

Murphybear

Fionaanne141 said:

Hitchin is lovely but expensive to be in walking distance. Letchworth is a little cheaper. If you could be further away from the station then Shefford is a lovely small town just north of Hitchin. Arlesey isn’t my kind of place as no high street really but you’ll get lots for your money in walking distance of a station 

This may or may not be helpful.

My brother and family lived in Letchworth for years and loved it.

when he retired about 4 years ago he moved to Shefford.  He also loves it.  

He is super fussy about where he lives 

allIcouldwishfor

As @Lokolo_2 pointed out, Letchworth is a bit of a weird one. It has a heritage foundation that has very strict rules regarding external property improvements in the town so the planning process involves jumping through a *lot* of hoops and many get rejected.
If you find a house in Letchworth that you might want to extend in the future, don't automatically assume it may be possible.

pbhb

Have you thought about St Neots? It’s Cambridgeshire but only just. It’s a great market town with train devices direct to london and Peterborough. I’m not a fan of Bedford. I would never feel safe there at night! Hitchin is great but very expensive, Stevenage has a lot of crime!