London Suburbs. Where's good?

[Ed209]

Can't afford to save for a house or for the future and live in London proper anymore, so me and my missus are thinking of moving out to the burbs. But I'm worried that they're all a bit ... well ... crap. Does anyone know of any decent burbs with a nice feel and importantly a bit of character? Ideally within hour/1hr15 of South Kensington, and where we could get a spacious nice 2 bed for a grand a month?

I don't really want to end up somewhere soulless and crap ... although I fear its inevitable. So anyone recommend any nice places to commute from? Was thinking somewhere like Guildford maybe. But even there is quite expensive.

London property for anyone other than those on a very very good salary is out of reach nos. Its a very bad situation in our capital.

(And no, we can't really live in a different part of the country. My job is in London and for the foreseeable future I intend for it to stay that way.)

[Guest]

not sure really, but some friends of my daughters moved to Harrow which is a bit cheaper and on the tube

[Ed209]

Never been to Harrow. What's it like? Always thought it was really posh (mainly cus of the school there)

[themuel]

A friend of mine rents in Greenwich and has a very good deal. If you can find somewhere there it's a lovely place to live.

[TheGayTent]

It's all about compromise.

You need to decide what's more important to you. A nice place to live, living costs, or your commute.

Nice places with good rail and road connections are expensive.

Nice places with poor rail and road connections are slightly less expensive.

Not so nice places with good rail and road connections are slightly less expensive.

Not so nice places with poor rail and road connections are cheapest.

If you know your job location is secure, and you only need one form of transport, I'd choose a location with poor transport links with the form of transport you're not going to need. I.e. if you drive to work, find somewhere with good road links but nowhere near a train line. As it'll be cheaper than somewhere with good road and rail links. Or vice versa.

Basically, you need to choose whether a nicer location is worth an extra half hour on your commute or the other way around.

Or whether you'd rather forsake some luxuries and disposable income for a convenient location/nice area.

Good schools is also a massive factor.

Very hard to suggest an area without more details.

2 bed house? What does that mean? New build? Victorian? Small rooms? High ceilings? Big garden, small garden?main road? Country lane? Housing estate?

[Guest]

Never been to Harrow. What's it like? Always thought it was really posh (mainly cus of the school there)

[TheGayTent]

the bits I've seen aren't particularly posh. I have a need to be near a tube station (hi Russy... ), so Ruislip, Harrow, that sort of area has always been in the back of my mind if I wanted to save some money. South east London has some nice areas, Forest Hill, Dulwich... but they're not on the tube, and I'm not sure what the prices are like.

Greenwich is lovely....

[Guest]

I don't know Forest Hill much, someone told me it was nice.... no?

Edited December 13, 2012 by tonyblair

[TheGayTent]

I don't know Forest Hill much, someone told me it was nice.... no?

[Ed209]

It's all about compromise.

You need to decide what's more important to you. A nice place to live, living costs, or your commute.

Nice places with good rail and road connections are expensive.

Nice places with poor rail and road connections are slightly less expensive.

Not so nice places with good rail and road connections are slightly less expensive.

Not so nice places with poor rail and road connections are cheapest.

If you know your job location is secure, and you only need one form of transport, I'd choose a location with poor transport links with the form of transport you're not going to need. I.e. if you drive to work, find somewhere with good road links but nowhere near a train line. As it'll be cheaper than somewhere with good road and rail links. Or vice versa.

Basically, you need to choose whether a nicer location is worth an extra half hour on your commute or the other way around.

Or whether you'd rather forsake some luxuries and disposable income for a convenient location/nice area.

Good schools is also a massive factor.

Very hard to suggest an area without more details.

2 bed house? What does that mean? New build? Victorian? Small rooms? High ceilings? Big garden, small garden?main road? Country lane? Housing estate?

Edited December 13, 2012 by Ed209

[Ed209]

Fuck me! A grand a month for a 2 bedroom place ?

Whoever said it was a grim up north was a lying bastard or had never been ripped off in the south!

[Ed209]

thanks. at least that's one less northerner pushing our house prices up

[Bisque]

I've lived in Surrey all my life in Walton-on-Thames, excellent links to London, Guildford, Woking & Kingston. Expect London prices & your neighbours to be driving both a Ford S-Max, an Audi & an Aston Martin/Porsche for the weekend to go visit the yacht in Port Solent. Best schools in the country too.

Bloody lovely & I have been very fortunate to grow up around here.

Edit: the OH has got a job in Leeds, I've never been that far North but sounds like an adventure.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Couchy

[t8yman]

you have my sympathy, puts my situation into a bit of perspective. I really begrudge the £800 or so a month mortgage for our 4 bed detached in the relative countryside. a grand a month rent for a smallish flat would make my eyes bleed. Living and working in London wouldnt draw me there "for all the tea in China" as my old Nan used to say...

and far from being a "Londonphobic northerner" I really like the place, I have warmed to it over the last few years having frequented it a little more often. I really dont like the congestion and absolute rammedness of London, but as a place to visit for a weekend etc, its fucking awesome.

[eFestivals]

Can't afford to save for a house or for the future and live in London proper anymore, so me and my missus are thinking of moving out to the burbs. But I'm worried that they're all a bit ... well ... crap. Does anyone know of any decent burbs with a nice feel and importantly a bit of character? Ideally within hour/1hr15 of South Kensington, and where we could get a spacious nice 2 bed for a grand a month?

I don't really want to end up somewhere soulless and crap ... although I fear its inevitable. So anyone recommend any nice places to commute from? Was thinking somewhere like Guildford maybe. But even there is quite expensive.

I'm from Aldershot, which is in the general direction outside of London you seem to be considering. You'll be hard pushed to find anywhere which isn't soulless in that direction - it's proper commuter belt, which means that London is where people go out and so leaves the area soulless. Guildford is about the best it gets.

The upside is that it's quicker to get to central London by rail from there than it is from the likes of Acton using the underground.

It's about 8 years since I lived in that area, but I wouldn't think it's too hard to find a decent 2 bed at around a grand - tho it's probably not going to be well-placed for commuting.

[bunique]

£1400 would pay our mortgage each month twice over, and we're 70 minutes from central London on the train! (and 40 from brum, Manc and Liverpool).

Hope you find something!

[hot_ice]

just remember though if your looking at places like Guildford the average season ticket price for train is £3,000(12 months)

[hot_ice]

£1400 would pay our mortgage each month twice over, and we're 70 minutes from central London on the train! (and 40 from brum, Manc and Liverpool).

Hope you find something!

[Essex_George]

Thanks Tony and TGT for the comments.

I know there's a lot to take into consideration. Currently I live in Finsbury Park and pay about £1400 for a very average 2 bed flat. We're not totally bothered by what kind of property we move into, as long as has 2 bedrooms so I can have one as a study/guestroom. A new build flat or a small a house/maisonette would be my preference though. Had enough of living in converted townhouses and all the noise issues they bring.

We just want to save ourselves a few hundred quid every month and get it put aside. The whole point is we wont be buying yet, this is just so we can start to save so that we can buy in a couple of years or so. Schools aren't a concern for kids as we don't have any and would hopefully have bought by the time they get to that age, although my missus is a teacher so she would be looking for a local primary school to work in, and I would handle the commute, in theory being able to work from home at least one day a week. So we would want walking distance to an overground service that enters Victoria or at least goes through Vauxhall, or a direct tube journey on piccadilly or district. I'm guessing south/south west of London. I think our best bet for money though would be the overground idea and living maybe at on just outside the M25. But I don't know of any nice places that far out ...

[eFestivals]

Fuck me! A grand a month for a 2 bedroom place ?

Whoever said it was a grim up north was a lying bastard or had never been ripped off in the south!

just out of interest, when did you last rent? Prices have shot up loads for renters in the last 4 or 5 years, in all of the south (Bristol included). From what's been reported, similar has been happening all round the country.

And anyway, it's no good having cheap houses oop norf if you've got no jobs to earn the money to buy them with.

[eFestivals]

East Dulwich is nice,

it is, tho some of the residents leave a lot to be desired.

[eFestivals]

Walton-on-Thames

Bloody lovely & I have been very fortunate to grow up around here.

bloody horrible rail station where the underpass floods after a bit of rain (meaning that you have to paddle to get across the line), but looks much better without the horrible office block on the not-town side of the rail line that I used to work in 15 years ago.

[TheGayTent]

I'd look somewhere like Sevenoaks. You can get what you're after within your budget. It's just 35 mins from central London by train, 8 trains an hour, good road links, nice town ti live in and is close to some countryside.

[eFestivals]

Around 2005 was the last time I rented in Macclesfield and it was around £450 for a two bedroom house which I thought was expensive! lmao

around that time I rented a 2 bed in Brizzle for £525. Two years ago the same houses in the same street were renting for £800, and they'll be £850 or £900 now.

I suspect that the difference in prices between north and south isn't as much as you're believing, and it's more that you're out of touch with the price changes over the last few years.

[eFestivals]

I'd look somewhere like Sevenoaks.

it's probably the wrong way out of London for easily getting to South Ken.