Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Have been looking for a decent place to live, commutable to London for years but have not been successful in finding somewhere
I currently live near Ealing, easy enough to cycle to work or get the tube/train in but its pullution belt, jam city, with noise of the planes and isnt what I wanted out of life


Main criteria
Has to be commutable into the centre of London - ideally by fast train as Tubes too slow
Has to be within driving distance of Heathrow as I do a lot of Global travel
Ideally outside the M25 as I like the country and would love my 2 kids to grow up outside of a pulluted traffic jam packed City
Would be great to have a nice pub (or more nearby)
Nice schools
Not stupidly priced so again pretty much rules out a lot of places

Have driven around a lot of areas for many years.

We liked Richmond and Petersham but they are within the M25, traffice jam hell and way, way overpriced - Petersham is much nicer than Richmond but becomes a nightmare if you need to commute into London
Then we looked at Windsor - no decent train links
Then Gerrards Cross - no centre - nothing there, whats all the fuss about, soul-less place
Beaconsfield - much, much better, but very expensive and the housing crash hasnt effected them at all
We've driven all over the areas of Jordans, Chalfont st Peter, Chalfont st giles, they all seem to be missing things
Then theres Rickmansworth - if anyone has ever been to the centre they can just put high walls around it and call it a Prison
Amersham - we were going to move there a few years ago but then we didnt really like the new town bit on the hill and the old town is mostly a hospital and Tescos!
Then we started to go further afield to places like St Albans and found the traffic even worse than were we currently live, housing crap and way, way overpriced and another souless place

Nicest place we've seen is Berkhamsted lately - west of a certain dump, but its got loads of pubs, restaurants, old ruins of a castle and a fast train link in..... but even so far out of London the prices are still high - typically a decent 4 bed is £1m plus (I mean decent not box rooms with no rear garden to speak of)

The above are all personal opinions - if you live in the above dont get overly offended as the intention is not to do so...... I am just looking for a nice place to live but after years of looking simply cant find somewhere to move to that ticks all the right boxes

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Tha needsta live in sarth Yorks if tha wantsta be appy me old love.

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

I come from Yorkshire and aint no way I'm moving back to that place!

hodgy0_2

cambridge

(west Cambridge villages - Barton, Bourn, Haslingfield, Gransden, Barrington, Kingston, Longstow, Toft, Croydon, Orwel etc etc)

depending on where you chose , you gan get trains form Cambridge, Royston, St Neots direct to Kings Cross -- 40 mins

schools -- some of the best in the country, low crime rate etc etc

we moved here from Ladbrook Grove 3 years ago, although we still have our house in London we would never go back -- too much dog **** apart from anything else

yoza

Where is the best place to live in the SouthEast, near London?

Next door to Matteeboy..................

nixxon

None of these are in the country - They're in the Suburbs.
The best place to live near London?
The Golden triangle between Farnham-Haslemere- Godalming.
Waterloo 45 mins from Godalming.
London 1 hour up the A3
Heathrow 30-45 mins
Gatwick 45 mins
Portsmouth 45mins
Channel tunnel car train 1 1/2 hour
Some of the very best schools in the country
Proper countryside, albeit a tad crowded.
Excellent pubs

Not cheap though!

fatherpierre

What sort of house are you looking for, and what sort of money do you have to spend?

Without those vulgar facts, your post is useless!

You have kids so want good schools - a major prices factor for areas.

You want to be in London quickly - the major factor for house pricing here!

thesyn

Fangoria, you were very rude to the member who reminded you of an item you had purchased from him some years ago on your GT3 thread, you banging on about his house made me squirm in embarrassment on your behalf.
The folk with cash on this forum tend not to talk about it.
I grew up in Harpenden, parents still live there, nice driving roads, my wife's folks live near to Rickmansworth.
The magic place you describe to live around London does not exist, it is all a trade off of convenience versus location, and yes the prices you quote are about the starting level.
I live here because I have to.
Hope this helps

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

At the moment dont want to spend more than £1m.........
Ideally would like to be West/North West or North of London
Come from the north and spend a lot of time there so dont really want to be on the South West/South East side

Have driven all over Farnham area and door to door its a bit too far away when you consider getting to the station and the journey the other end

Have even driven as far as St Neotts - I love this sort of area - theres some nice places around the river area - but again door to door it would take a long time

Guess there has to be some sort of time Trade off and really that might restrict me to the areas like Gerrards Cross, Beaconsfield, Berkhamsted, Radlett, etc. Then again if I went another 10-20 miles further out the train journey each way would probably only add 10-15 mins and the house prices would be a lot cheaper (and I'd be closer to some decent racing circuits!) - then again the train fares are a joke!

£20 a day Berkhamsted (approx) and that doesnt even include the Tube when you get to London - ok season tickets are cheaper but the discount isnt that much

fatherpierre

Indeed. It's all a trade-off.

I lived 36 miles from C London (Hitchin) and it was 29 mins to King's Cross. Just moved to Carshalton (14 miles from work) but it takes over an hour now.

My new area is sooooooooooooooo much nicer to live in, so I accept the extra travel time despite being nearer to work. Happy to get up a bit earlier as my living is mile nicer.

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

thesyn

You made me reread what I'd written - yes I see your point. We all have to start somewhere and I've moved up the property ladder over the last 12 years...... to nothing exciting but in London, dependent on the area you can get little for what a non-Londoner would consider a hell of a lot of money
I dont consider myself as someone with cash, if I was I probably wouldnt have a Subaru...... and there are plenty of people richer than myself (plenty poorer also)

Yeah - lots of Tradeoffs. The areas we want to live are usually too far to commute from where the work is. I should have been a specialist IT consultant earning a fortune and able to live where I wanted and only commute to work to give some rare presentation... I know 2 close neighbours who do exactly that, but they pretty much were born in the area and like the place

I guess the thread is more me getting frustrated that I just cant find the ideal place...... for some of us we stumble upon the areas, others never get there and like we all know, you get used to what you have

thesyn

We all strive for the same things.
I wasn't meaning to have a go.
I hope it all works out for you,
Alex:

David Lock

We had a similar dilemma when we had two young kids and lived in Battersea. I didn't want to worry about them if they walked to the corner shop, got shoes covered in dog mess and went to schools where drugs were a daily part of the routine. I had previously lived in Rickmansworth and my wife in Stanmore. "Ricky" is a bit grim now and Stanmore is mostly run by the Taliban.

So after much thought we decided to look South and targeted property within a 10 miles radius of Horsham, Sussex. After much searching we received details of a newish property in a smallish hamlet near a place called Loxwood. Detached in a wooded area, an absolute delight with a third of an acre. About the same value as our London place. Some cracking schools (state) in the area and there is even Christ's Hospital school in Horsham which I think is one of the wealthiest schools in the country.

BUT commuting to London was a pain. 10 min drive to Billingshurst and then the slow, 65 min, main line to Victoria. There was an option of driving to Godalming or Guildford and getting a faster main line to Waterloo. Driving to London was up to Guildford and then onto A3.

We now live about 6 miles further South but the M25 is close-ish and the coast is 30 mins away. Brighton is a fun place for our now grown up kids.

I never want to live in London again

dl

Matteeboy

Last time I looked at a map, Cornwall was most definitely in the South WEST.

dpb

Normandy

oldsplice

Berkhamsted.

I live in Kings Langley, but work in Berko. Train from KL to Euston is 25 minutes. Right next to M25. Semi-Rural.

KiwiGTI

Best place by far would be in East Sussex. Plenty of nice villages around Haywards Heath with fast, reliable and new trains (Southern) into London Bridge and Victoria. Or if you don't mind a longer commute then Hove/Brighton/Lewes all offer excellent quality of life with easy access to the South Coast and South Downs.

Just look on that main London-Brighton train-line and the towns and villages that are around there.

AJF

iTrader: (1)

east horsley

might need a little more money
guildford 5 mins
m25a3 5 mins
good schools

Matteeboy

That's where I lived (well West Horsely) for 8 years...

Nice place and Bell and Colville are just down the road...

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

I lived in Chesham for a while and then in Aylesbury. There are plenty of small towns/villages around the area. Have you considered Milton Keynes - or the surrounding villages?

David Lock

I'd still vote for West Sussex but I wouldn't argue too much And of course you got Brighton and we ended up with Crawley

Want to swap?

dl

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Milton Keynes
Went house hunting or the sister in law 5 years ago - we all hated the place so much that the job she'd been given she said 'no thanks' I'd rather not.........
Some well rough areas
Plus with all the roundabouts you'd be wearing those tyres out in no time......... ;-)

East Horsely - will look. Had a look at Sunningdale a few years ago but the train commute door to door would have been too much as the line isnt fast enough. Had a look in and around Woking but what a dump of a centre

Will check out this place though and some of the other places mentioned - Oxford sounds interesting and some of the villages around it cant be that expensive as its so far from London - not sure how long the Train would take into London from Oxford or one of the peripheral stations on the Oxford line?

FlightMan

Fangoria, if your not keen on plane noise, PM me when you've found a place and I'll give you the aircraft noise info for that area.

MattW

My business partner lives in Stadhampton, Oxford and commutes in to Marylebone. That is mid way between Didcot (45 mins to Paddington) and Haddenham (40 mins to Marylebone). Prices are reasonable on the Chiltern line (Haddenham) too.

belliott69

iTrader: (3)

a little place called hascombe, bout 10 minutes from A3, 20 from guildford and is just an old country village with a pub and beautiul surroundings.

greatgonzo

iTrader: (1)

Have you looked at Kingswood in Surrey 5 minutes from M25 (junction 8) lots of trains near to get into London about 35 minues. 1.5 hrs by car, great pubs and great walks.

Matteeboy

Fangoria - train from Horsely to London is very quick.

Gordo

look at the villages to the west of woking (surrey). woking has fast trains in (about 25 mins to Waterloo from memory). it's outside the m25 but useful for heathrow etc. an airfield to the west of woking keeps the big aircraft away.

good luck.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Its 55 mins to London bridge from the station, which is shocking for a place inside the M25. However most drive to Coulsdon South.

Love the area though