Best places/villages outside of London

[Live4mykids]

I hope some of you can help or point me in the right direction - I'm feeling very lost!

I want to take my young family and leave the surrounding areas of ED and move out of London. I want to be no more than an hour away to get back into London in a town or village with good schools and affordable housing. We have a budget of ?300k and looking for a semi or detached, 3 or 4 bed. An area with 'character' would be lovely.

Am I asking the impossible? Can anyone point me in the right direction to help on this quest?

Thanks in advance.

Livvy

[mockney piers]

Try the Hitchin/Stevenage environs (but stay well out of the latter itself).

Places like St Ippolyts, Gosmore, the Wymondlies and a whole host more.

I've no idea how far 300k will get you mind. But the fast train in to Kings X and Moorgate are 30 and 25 minutes respectively from those towns.

For that matter north Essex is picture postcard beautiful and might be worth thinking about, Chelmsford has a good service into Liverpool st and has lovely places scattered around it, Danbury springs to mind.

Use your imagination and cast your net wide and you'll find something to fall in love with.

[Kimmy1080]

Chelmsford is lovely

[brum]

Whitstable on the Kent coast oozes character and is very affordable. And just over an hours drive away....

[Marmora Man]

I took the train from Liverpool St to Norwich a couple of weeks ago - the first hour of the journey reminded me of how beautiful parts of Essex & Suffolk are. Recommend you look along that corridor - but I think prices will be high.

From MM - Essex by birth and upbringing - and I still support their cricket team. Go Goochie!

[Jeremy]

You'll get the most for your money if you head out to Essex. And you'll get a good size house for your 300K if you're willing to live somewhere without a station. e.g. Great Dunmow has a pleasant village centre and is very affordable... but you'll be totally reliant on your car.

[Guest]

I'm with Mockney Piers. I lived in Hertfordshire for a few years and really enjoyed it. If you want to commute by train, try around Welwyn Garden City / Knebworth stations (fast train c.20-25 mins to Kings Cross) on the main Stevenage line, or Hertford North (c.45 mins on stopping trains but some trains start there) on the other, slower line to Stevenage. Hitchin's lovely and there are some great villages around Royston, but they're on the Cambridge line and it may be harder to get a seat on the train; Cambridge itself is technically doable but I know people who gave up on the train in the end as they could never get a seat in the morning. Obviously if you don't need to rely on trains you've got a lot more choice.

If you don't mind flatter countryside, a friend moved to the Bedford area and said it was very affordable so your budget would go further there. Alternatively St Albans is only about 20 mins by Thameslink from the centre of London.

[david_carnell]

High Speed 2 may make the Chilterns somewhat less picturesque.

Perhaps East Sussex. Lewes, Ringmer, Saltdean etc.

[Live4mykids]

Brilliant, thank you so much for your replies, massively helpful. I am on the case!

[Jeremy]

Some good suggestions MsB, but Hertford and St Albans are quite expensive, you won't get a decent 3 bed house for 300K. The Hitchin/Letchworth/Stevenage area could be a good start. Good luck Livvy...

[Guest]

Depends what you're looking for but 3-bedroom house is doable in both areas. Obviously you get more choice if you look outside the popular commuter towns.

[huncamunca]

brum Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Whitstable on the Kent coast oozes character and

> is very affordable. And just over an hours drive

> away....

Please, no Whitstable.

[Brendan]

Whitstable?s fucking cold though. I went there in December and froze my balls off. Not going back in a hurry.

[mockney piers]

Wow, Nathan Rice's old house (not strictly his as he was we were both 8 when he lived there) is up for sale, ?329k for four bedrooms in Letchworth. It's looking eminently doable, especially if you move to slightly characterless Stotfold or Arlesey.

http://www.primelocation.com/uk-property-for-sale/details/id/LBAC1209903/

[david_carnell]

Is that more characterless than that house, Piers? They seem to have run out of bricks half way up.

[Tarot]

Bodiam castle in sussex, is an excellent place to visit, very atmospheric,good for scenic views,Very young kids

would find it boring, but older ones would find it interesting.

Good place for a picnic,older people and little kids would find the moat bridge scary as it has big gaps..there are various history videos you can use.

The steps in the towers are very narrow,and if you suffer from vertigo, give it a miss, not a good place to run up,

A good place if you like photography,or painting and relaxing.

or just want to go with a partner on a day out,then you could go on to Hastings.

Photographs for reference artwork is very good. A hauntingly romantic place.

[Tarot]

Well you cant buy the castle,L,oL.

I didnt know it was a estate agents thread but if you want a day out the castles it.

[PeckhamRose]

Hove Actually?

[????]

if you can get a 3-4 bedroomed house (forget detached) within half an hour of London in a village/town (and I presume you're not counting the likes of Slough for instance in that description) outside of a few 'orrible places (see Slough) or even in them I'd be astonished.

[mockney piers]

Very true D_C, though letchworth does have lots of nice turn of the century properties as well as dull 70s and 80s estates (though I can testify that they were very nice places to grow up).

[david_carnell]

Mmmm.....fair enough.

I grew up in Cheam which is quite nice. Lots of green spaces and a village(y) feel with ok pubs and shops. Good schools (LB Sutton still has grammars) both state and private. Decent transport links - Cheam to Victoria in about 35mins (Zone 5/6).

Some other areas that way are quite decent too but stay away from Sutton - like the OK Coral on weekends.

[????]

... the average price of a semi in cheam is ?296k according to Property finder, I'm astounded

[david_carnell]

Grammar schools, cheap property and a good commute.....get moving ????!

[????]

Surrey! Essex has grammar schools too...

[Townleygreen]

So does Kent - in fact the blooming county is stuffed full of Grammar Schools if that's your bag.