relocation to London-ish

[RickTheUncivil]

So I have sort of been offered a job in the big city.
The trouble is, I live a 2 hour train ride away so have the daunting prospect of relocating the family.
And that city isn't the cheapest place to get a place, so I'm looking for info and advice on where to look for a reasonable cost of house in a reasonably nice place within reasonable travel time of the city centre.

or a friendly RBer who will put me up on their sofa weeknights!

 

[02gf74]

The further out the cheaper it gets in most cases. I dont know that ma.y places but woukd suggest watford, one of the cheaper olaces with good connection via train and underground plus cole to m1 should you wish to head nortb, m40 close too.

 

[Gramo]

Budget, size of house, schools, amount of time you want to spend commuting by train, car, bike?

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

Brother in law moved out to Bishops Stortford as it meant he could have his own place. Takes him no longer to get to work on the train than it used to to get from Muswell Hill to the city centre.

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Cheers for the responses so far.
Difficulty I'm having is being completely blind on local knowledge. Staines sounds horrible but don't know. Reading looks close but isn't and is just as expensive. All towns around the M25 look to be pricey but maybe I'm not looking right. Inside the 25 looks even worse.

Job would be near Waterloo station so travel links are pretty good in all directions but wifey seems to prefer West / North direction as it's 'closer to home'

Even looked as far out as MK but not keen on being that far out really.

 

[kingbling]

Staines isn't so bad west is best though Laleham, Ashford also spring to mind but you won't want to live near Stanwell moor because of Heathrow
Look at places like Walton on Thames, Shepperton & Egham all have a direct line into Waterloo they're not so bad areas. Rooms are not cheap around there either, though neither are houses.

 

[02gf74]

You need to look at a map and choose a few locations, see what commute time is like then go on zoopla to see house prices. Make sure you are sitting down as it will be £££££

Will you be renting m-t and go home on weekends or bringing family down.

Until you pass the probation i would suspect the former.

 

[Gramo]

When moving to London, people usually go for a location somewhere on a line between the centre of town and their own hometown. I think it's more to do with having a psychological connection with 'home' and feelings of security than being able to make a fast getaway. TBH as long as you've got good access to the M25 anywhere should be fine. How about somewhere around Dorking (very near Box Hill)? Very picturesque and good cycling country in them thar Surrey Hills. I'm zone 2 SE London but I'd happily move there. I think there's a half decent train service to Waterloo too although I have no idea how much you'll get stung for a season ticket.

 

[WandsworthRouleur]

Having moved out of London (SW), I swapped a 25 min cycle commute for a 90 min cycle-train-cycle. But, Tunbridge Wells has a lot to recommend it. Trains from the main station take a little unde an hour (mostly!) to get to central London -- choice of London Bridge, Waterloo, Charing Cross and Cannon St., so the main office job areas are covered.

The major plus side for a Retrobiker is Bedgebury Forest being nearby, plus easy access to the South Downs and a few other areas. There's good road cycling too, if that's also your thing.

Downside is that houses aren't massively cheaper, and you've got to stump up nearly £4.5k for your train ticket

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

You could do worse than advertise in the local papers, Loot and gumtree, etc. if you could do the Monday to Friday thing initially. My uncle lives in the USA, but keeps a pied-à-terre in Battersea for visits. He lets it to some commuters working for his old firm, and when he comes to town they do their normal long commute and leave it to him, or he crashes with them, if he is alone. They pay half a normal rent.

We let our basement to social housing on a long term lease to pay off renovation, and the rest of the house is now let to business clients, half of whom are only in town weekdays generally. It leaves us with some peace when we make a trip down, as my wife does twice a month.

Lots of ways to skin a cat.

Hope it is a decent length contract if you are going to all the hassle.