Commuter Areas For London

[the_dork]

Thanks for replies so far, really appreciate it.

I’ve pretty much ruled out St Albans in my mind due to value but it's the only place my wife has mentioned (a nice park with a church seems to just blow away a lot of people).

Need to find out more about Kent, there’s some good value areas but I really don’t know it well at all.

Am also open minded to East, bits of Romford ie Chadwell Heath, Hornchurch, Upminster seem to have some potential

[ARIMA]

I can endorse Redhill/Reigate area - easy trains to London Bridge or Victoria and pleasant place to live, house prices vary a fair bit but there is some value if you scout around. Only problem is Surrey seems to revolve around private schools for some historical reason, which is not ideal.

[winkie]

[harrisd]

I live in Gravesend (Kent) and you can get to Liverpool Street or Kings Cross on the High speed in around 25 minutes. It is definitely up and coming - has a bit of a bad name and reputation not great but have certainly noticed more affluent commuters moving in recently. The area around the town centre is not too shabby though the bits further out are more variable.

You can buy a big 4 bed semi-detached for £350k. It's not as posh as St Albans but has just as much to offer in terms of amenities with Bluewater nearby if you can't cope with the town centre. I have lived in St Albans and although the people are generally more pleasant and the place a bit more up market, there is not too much difference except for an extra £200k for a house.

There are other villages nearby with excellent primary schools and the Grammar schools are good that are a short drive to Ebbsfleet International. Perhaps this is the slight weakness of Gravesend though there are still some decently rated OFSTED schools.

A high speed ticket is in the region of £4160 to either Gravesend or Ebbsfleet (excluding travelcard) though you can get to Kings Cross or Liverpool Street with it.You can also use the slow line to Charing Cross, Cannon Street or make a single change to get to Victoria. Journey times to those destinations are around 50 minutes

I'd be happy to tell you more (I'm not an estate agent by the way!).

[bambam]

Wouldn't the season ticket from Reading, Milton Keynes etc be quite expensive? IMHO once you leave London the savings more than go in train fares, although of course you have to do the maths.

Depends what you are looking for really. You might get what would be a £1m house in a nearer area for £600k, for example.

The more you want to spend, the more it makes sense to move out.

Edited April 9, 2014 by bambam

[Fishfinger]

Well it depends partly where you are working in Central London and the possibility of being their long term.

If you are working near any of the following, Victoria, South Kensington, London Bridge, Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo or Blackfriars.

I would consider the London Borough of Bromley. The prices are lower and the commute to those stations would be quite easy.

Also your commute would be cheaper than the places you mentioned.

Living in the south of the Borough of Bromley - I am 10 mins by foot from the countryside, 10 mins by car to the M25 and a 7 min walk to the station. Alas it all goes pearshaped the minute you rely on Southeast Trains. In theory my train should take 30 mins to Cannon St but 45 mins seems to be the norm and up to an hour is also not unual due to "congestion" at London Bridge.

[iamnumerate]

Living in the south of the Borough of Bromley - I am 10 mins by foot from the countryside, 10 mins by car to the M25 and a 7 min walk to the station. Alas it all goes pearshaped the minute you rely on Southeast Trains. In theory my train should take 30 mins to Cannon St but 45 mins seems to be the norm and up to an hour is also not unual due to "congestion" at London Bridge.

I am sorry to hear that. Although for a few years I relied on Southeastern trains and South Western trains and South Eastern were far far better.

Although I was not going on the Cannon St line maybe that is worse than the Charing Cross/Blackfriars/Victoria lines.

[Smyth]

Since you own outright with no mortgage debt, a decent paying job, and are in one of the most rapidly rising HPI areas in the whole country, I would also consider just staying put and paying for private school through equity release, assuming you want to stay relatively central. For £350k you could still trade for a house in somewhere like Higham Hill/Leyton/etc (although the state schools are probably unusable, at least at high school level)

Obviously doesnt apply if you have 2+ kids in school at the same time unless your job pays very well though.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Smyth

[Fishfinger]

I am sorry to hear that. Although for a few years I relied on Southeastern trains and South Western trains and South Eastern were far far better.

Although I was not going on the Cannon St line maybe that is worse than the Charing Cross/Blackfriars/Victoria lines.

Today due to a broken rail between London Bridge and Cannon Street it took 90 mins!

[Turned Out Nice Again]

Oakleigh Park 20 mins into town on fast train.......I think London is on the whole a very safe place always has been, and the people are interesting and varied.....the pace is fast and can be exciting, but the congestion, air quality, traffic, claustrophobic feeling, many faces with no expression going places like worker ants.....they say I should like it, want to go there, want to do this or join that, but I tell them I don't.

We lived in oakleigh park for just under 10 years before leaving London for the south coast (Worthing) 2 years ago. As London suburbs go, I'd say it's one of the nicest, with oak hill park and woods + the suburban village feel of east Barnet, safe, good schools etc. and as you say, very handy for town on the overland train (zone 4).

strangely though it hasn't yet been embraced by aspirational bourgeois types in the way surrounding areas have. I figured that buyers automatically discluded it due to its distance from the nearest tube, even though the train is way better! And maybe the lack of chi chi cafes and bathroom figment emporia.

We got out in the end to buy a bigger house for less money by the sea/ south downs.

It now takes me 1 hr 20m direct to Victoria or 1:40 to farringdon (changing at Haywards) which, as I only do it 1 day a week off-peak isn't so bad; and since a super off peak travelcard only costs 15 quid (with a 28 quid pa. railcard), it doesn't really feel that different from coming in from a London suburb. That said, I wouldn't want to commute in every day to London from Worthing (although many do) and if I need to get an in-house job now, I'd be looking locally, probably in Brighton.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Turned Out Nice Again

[sf-02]

Living in the south of the Borough of Bromley - I am 10 mins by foot from the countryside, 10 mins by car to the M25 and a 7 min walk to the station. Alas it all goes pearshaped the minute you rely on Southeast Trains. In theory my train should take 30 mins to Cannon St but 45 mins seems to be the norm and up to an hour is also not unual due to "congestion" at London Bridge.

Southeastern are useless and TfL need to takeover asap (useless Kent council block it) but congestion is a real problem. Rebuilding London Bridge has begun and will finish in 2018. Costing many billions and part of it is 6 through platforms become 9 through platforms so bunching up waiting for a free platform on the approaches will reduce.

Edited April 11, 2014 by sf-02

[the_dork]

Hi Folks

I spent yesterday mooching around various places out East.

I have gone off Potters Bar as you’re so reliant on the one train route and price gap to North London seems to have narrowed since I last looked, still a reasonable option for some

Brief impressions..

Barking: Not as bad as people say, town centre is reasonable but still on the rougher side of things in terms of frequency of pound shops, chicken shops, dodgy market stall. Not family friendly enough for me to consider but considering prices I would have happily considered if younger single commuter. There are some ok-ish new developments quite near the station.

Hornchurch: Involves changing from district Line to trains at West Ham or Upminster (then coming back) but quite a nice town centre. Felt defiantly safer (or possibly just ‘whiter’ and more mono-linguistic than Barking).

Chadwell Heath: High Street is grim, there are some decent newer houses quite near the station though. A bit similar to Potters Bar in feeling like a commuter town. Not for me

Upminster: Felt most like a small town, decent town centre. Downside is easy to end up with longer walk to station

Gidea Park: More awkward transport as no Underground. Obviously filling up with Essex man stereotypes fleeing East London, not much to it in terms of amenities. Seems ok but not for London commuters

I am now keeping an eye on Hornchurch and Upminster. There seem to be a few old properties needing refurb available for quick sale after probate which can be a decent option and having the option of both fast train and slow district line is appealing. Would appreciate any other thoughts on them in particular

[iamnumerate]

Southeastern are useless and TfL need to takeover asap (useless Kent council block it) but congestion is a real problem. Rebuilding London Bridge has begun and will finish in 2018. Costing many billions and part of it is 6 through platforms become 9 through platforms so bunching up waiting for a free platform on the approaches will reduce.

I really don't like to praise Southeastern because I used to travel on the line from Charing Cross - which is poor -but the Victoria line to Bromley South and below is fine.

[thecrashingisles]

That's brilliant - we could segregate all schools by whether you own your home or rent.

The equivalent in Britain would be the exact opposite - a grim tower block overlooking nice houses.

[Starla]

Where I work (Kuiper Belt of London) a lot of people don't even bother with commuter areas. They'll have a family house in Dorset, Norfolk, wherever, and stay down here in a cheap crash pad close to the office Mon-Thurs. It's not ideal, especially for families, but I'm half tempted, as the £400ish a month you'd pay for a Mon-Fri bed-sit, isn't far off what people spend on train fares/petrol to commute in. Plus you save 10+ hours a week not being at the mercy of public transport.