Where to buy outside London?

TheLittleSaver

Hi everyone

do you have any suggestions on places outside London where the house market is more affordable but is still at a reasonable/commutable distance from the City?

I know there are a few, but perhaps having some insight from people who actually live in those areas might be good, to have a sense of how is actually living there, and not choosing a place just because the houses are cheaper.

Thanks

Edi81

Where in London do you need to get to? 

There are lots of places outside London that are relatively speaking affordable. Budget, how long you wish to be on a train (I assume) for. 

You need to give us a bit more info to help. 

TheLittleSaver

Thanks Edi81 for the reply. I don't have a specific place I need to get too on a regular basis, as I am a freelance and I always work on different locations within London, so I guess as long as I can get let's say in stations like Padington or Waterloo or any other major station within 40-50 mins, ten I would spend around 20 mins on a tube to get where I need to go... which means an average commute of 1hr (which is pretty much my current average, and I live in zone 5).

In terms of budget, ideeally a place where I can get a 1-2 bedroom house (NO flat) for about £300,000 (maximum).

Hope that helps clearing things up!

MalMonroe

Why not have a good old google about it? That's what most people here would probably do before advising you anyway. 
Have a good look around on the internet and see what is available. I really do enjoy doing that kind of thing . . . but I'm not looking to live near London. Yet. 

Noneforit999

We live in Medway, Kent.

Strood to St Pancras is 33 minutes on the High Speed train. A little further up is Ebbsfleet/Gravesend where its about 20 minutes to St Pancras.

As others have said, you just need to do some googling as there are multiple counties within commuting distance to London and probably hundreds of towns/villages. 

[Deleted User]

Romford seems to be a place people are going. Most of these areas are going to be in the middle of regeneration. As long as you don’t mind that it’s very acceptable to live in from what I have been told. You will get the odd event etc. But that could easily happen in London.

amnblog

Good in theory, but look at the costs of the rail fares.

If an South East area is less expensive it can often be partially due to links to the Capital being poor.

getmore4less

You could start with the outer reaches of TFL  and see if there are any options.

You also need to factor in main travel cost and time cost to get to the transport link

Then frequency of service can be important to reduce waiting times.

if you play with draw area on RM you can create pockets and exclusion areas all around London 

here is an idea of 2bed £220-300 in a drawn area no flats.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=USERDEFINEDAREA^{"polylines":"oj~xHuhhA_hJ_hr@r`Lkd|AvwJadaBntcCvy|AqnKhiiG{ehBfceDafv@~xEaw`B}mi@ofCeqfBht^qifCrk}@u{i@hdVztIjeC~UlbDf_Ty{A|_MiaYd_QguMd{k@`bHt}iAx|WduOrrXog^nNwauA_xQm}]nnCc|Q"}&maxBedrooms=2&minBedrooms=2&maxPrice=300000&minPrice=220000&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=499&propertyTypes=detached,semi-detached,terraced&primaryDisplayPropertyType=houses&viewType=MAP&mustHave=&dontShow=sharedOwnership,retirement&furnishTypes=&keywords=


popped up this in Chesham 10min walk to the underground.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111103466#/?channel=RES_BUY

Under budget and a bit of a project.

TheLittleSaver

Thanks guys for the replies.
To the ones who told me to search on google, I have already done that, and I have my ideas. The purpose of this post is to have insight from people who actually live in areas that might be of interest to me... and also getting tips on things I might have missed to consider (for example, like amnblog said, the fact that a place is cheaper, can also mean thst the connections are poor).

Anyway thanks all for the tips, I will check them one by one... keep them coming!

TheLittleSaver

Noneforit999 said:

We live in Medway, Kent.

Strood to St Pancras is 33 minutes on the High Speed train. A little further up is Ebbsfleet/Gravesend where its about 20 minutes to St Pancras.

As others have said, you just need to do some googling as there are multiple counties within commuting distance to London and probably hundreds of towns/villages. 

I was considering Ebbsfleet/Gravesend area actually. Do you know the area? Is that a nice place to live, you reckon? safe?
(I like quite areas, so as long as I have stores around and I can get my food/amazon deliveries, then I am set)

TheLittleSaver

any more ideas?