London Suburbs. Where's good?

[TheGayTent]

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

[eFestivals]

Well I am not out of touch on the cost of renting in the North of England... Mainly because most my friends rent.

2 Bedroom houses range from £375 to £750 depending on location and type of house.

3 Bedroom houses range from £450 to £1000 depending on location and type of house.

And the bottom end is pretty much the norm around here in some of the less desirable areas. Of course you can always find ones that break these ranges but I would suggest they aren't normal, e.g. plush apartment in manchester city centre.

I would of imagined by and large these are similar ranges across the country with the exception of London and the outer ring. Obviously Bristol isn't though going off what you posted. So it does seem to get more expensive as you go south.

Bristol isn't anything untypical for the central south, tho of course some places are more than others - for example, prices in the wilds of Somerset can be perhaps as much as 15% cheaper, but they're in the places with little work and not great transport access to the places where there is work.

Devon and Cornwall are cheaper too, but that has much the same going on as the more remote parts of Somerset, but worse.

[jump]

Ed have you been to Kingston? It has a decent music scene with a bunch of clubs and venues that regularly gets established acts, it's also a college/Uni town so you can probably find somewhere cheap to live around the area.

[Ed209]

Thanks everyone for the replies! much appreciated

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.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Ed209

[Ed209]

Ed have you been to Kingston? It has a decent music scene with a bunch of clubs and venues that regularly gets established acts, it's also a college/Uni town so you can probably find somewhere cheap to live around the area.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Ed209

[Ed209]

I guess Reading is an option too. half an hour to paddington and then a 10 minute tube journey (when the circle line turns up) or a 20 minute walk.

Been to Reading a few times. Seems OK if you stay away from the city center on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

[eFestivals]

What I don't want is one of these places where there's a Sainsbury's and a large Mock Tudor chain pub

I think you'll be hard pushed to find anywhere like that in the south east except for stupidly priced villages stuffed full of millionaires (and in the case of some, a Rolls Royce garage in a village that's probably not even 1000 people).

[eFestivals]

I was actually born in Kingston but left when I was two and have hardly been back since.

I just assumed it was quite expensive, but I guess its worth a look. Problem with places like Kingston is that you only get the urban rail links which crawl to Waterloo, when you can live a bit further out for maybe cheaper, and get there in the same time or quicker by getting a fast service. But its worth a look for sure,

woking might be worth a look. A horrible town (so cheaper than many that way), but Waterloo is just 25 minutes.

[Ed209]

I also used to live in Finsbury park, paying close to that for a 1 bedroom flat. Nice area though, used to love Stroud Green Road (Pizza Pappagone being the highlight!). We wanted to buy but couldn't afford anything decent in Finsbury park so moved out to Walthamstow, wanted Walthamstow village but again couldn't afford anything decent there. Now paying much less for a 2 bed flat, still on the tube so about 40 mins into central London.

[TheGayTent]

Its an option for sure. One of my colleagues commutes in from Sevenoaks and its around the 1hr15 mark door to door, so just about doable. I've never been though so not sure if it was nice or not. What I don't want is one of these places where there's a Sainsbury's and a large Mock Tudor chain pub, which just seems what a lot of these places are like. But by the sounds of it Sevenoaks has more going for it than that.

[eFestivals]

I guess Reading is an option too. half an hour to paddington and then a 10 minute tube journey (when the circle line turns up) or a 20 minute walk.

Been to Reading a few times. Seems OK if you stay away from the city center on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

I nearly suggested Reading as it's not a soulless town (for the area, anyway) but decided it was probably too far out.

Personally, if I was in your position with what I know now, I'd spend the money that might be spend on travelling if living further out on a house with a lesser travelling time, and perhaps even a bit more - you only have one life, and to waste up-to around 1/8th of all the hours in a week sat on a train for the benefit of your employer but not your pay packet or life is not something I'd do now.

If you need extra money and there's something that works for you, I'd look to find something to earn extra money with the time you'd otherwise be sat on that train - it might not give any immediate benefit, but it would allow you a greater flexibility on what hours of the day are irrevocably taken with the necessities. And then if your wages were to improve so you could drop the extra work, you're not located somewhere where travelling eats away your life.

[TheGayTent]

Of course, another answer is get a much better paid job and increase your house/location options

[Ed209]

I nearly suggested Reading as it's not a soulless town (for the area, anyway) but decided it was probably too far out.

Personally, if I was in your position with what I know now, I'd spend the money that might be spend on travelling if living further out on a house with a lesser travelling time, and perhaps even a bit more - you only have one life, and to waste up-to around 1/8th of all the hours in a week sat on a train for the benefit of your employer but not your pay packet or life is not something I'd do now.

If you need extra money and there's something that works for you, I'd look to find something to earn extra money with the time you'd otherwise be sat on that train - it might not give any immediate benefit, but it would allow you a greater flexibility on what hours of the day are irrevocably taken with the necessities. And then if your wages were to improve so you could drop the extra work, you're not located somewhere where travelling eats away your life.

[Essex_George]

I live on Tollington Park, so its the same neighbourhood. I really love the area. Pizza Pappagone is awesome, a lot of really nice pubs, restaurants and the travel links from Finsbury park are incredible. Pretty much unrivaled in zone 2 London. But the secret it is out (hence why we are there!) and prices are really starting to rocket, still cheaper than a lot of the surrounding area though, we were in Kentish Town/Tufnell Park before and prices there have totally got out of hand. You can barely get a one bed for £1300 round there now.

I

guess moving a few stops up on the Victoria line is an option though. Its a great line to live on

[Ed209]

Of course, another answer is get a much better paid job and increase your house/location options

[Ed209]

I was paying £1300 a month for 1 bed flat and that was a couple years ago. It is a nice area though and your right about transport links, really good from Finsbury park and victoria line is by far the best tube line! I do miss the pubs though, but saying that I can just jump on the tube and few stops and I am at Finsbury park. What is the name of the Thai place on SGR, was it called Cats? Loved that place . The only issue I had with living there was that it is far too close to the Emirates, on match days the tube could get mega busy.

[eFestivals]

But I just don't want to live somewhere dull and crap.

I'd say that the nearest place to London which isn't crap is probably Brighton.

[Ed209]

I think you're probably not far off the truth

[Ed209]

and I considered Brighton, but that's just a bit too far.

[Chas]

Have you looked on Rightmove to get an idea of rents in various towns around London? The ones featured there tend to be through Letting Agencies though, so can sometimes be a little more than if you rented privately. I have a 3 bedroom end of terrace house in Aldershot I rent out for £950 a month and my old 1 bedroom flat in central Guildford I rent out for £850 a month. I worked in Fleet for many years and that wasn't too bad and it's on the Waterloo - Basingstoke mainline just a few stops further on from Woking. I would look at the various rail timetables, pick out possible towns that have a short commute, then look at the rents in that area and then factor in the cost of travel. Once you've narrowed things down a bit and if you've got a car, spend a day having a drive around to get a feel for the places on your shortlist. Can't really offer much more advice than that. Good luck.

[Essex_George]

Yup Cats is nice. I love Petek's, the Turkish restaurant there too. Yup,you do have to work your day around kick-offs and final whistles. But I actually really like the match day buzz of living near a premier league stadium

[eFestivals]

I have a 3 bedroom end of terrace house in Aldershot I rent out for £950 a month

where's that then? </nosey cos I'm from Aldershit>

I worked in Fleet for many years and that wasn't too bad and it's on the Waterloo

hmmmm... it used to be the case and it's probably still the case that Fleet has the highest average income of anywhere in the country, meaning that property is not cheap. And my gawd it's a dreadful town. It manages to make Aldershot look like a desirable place to live.

A mainline suggestion that might not occur to you is Ash Vale - two stops down from Woking (Fleet is three, tho on a different line cos it splits at Brookwood). Ash Vale is a nothing place, but is close to all of Aldershot, Farnborough and Camberley, and 20 mins by car from Guildford, and 30 mins from Reading. It's also very well served by trains going in various directions on different lines (with more options if you include North Camp station too).

[AcademicPistol]

East Dulwich is nice, Greenwich is lovely. Forest Hill though?? Not having that!

[Guest]

I'd say that the nearest place to London which isn't crap is probably Brighton.

[eFestivals]

isn't Brighton as expensive as London now...?

add in the commuting costs and time...

yeah, I'd guess it's not cheap. London-by-Sea is pretty apt.

And while it's got it's nice bits, it's got big problems too - it's got the highest heroin addiction rate in England. A friend of mine who went there to live there very quickly backed out and moved to Swindon instead, and thought it much nicer place (which I can't help but laugh at).