Good commuter towns north of London
Discussion
I sympathise! I'm going through the same deliberations with my son. He luckily (well not luck but hard work) has got a good job and rents with a mate in Docklands. However he's just woken up to the fact that he really should be buying his own place and has started looking around.
He works for a tech investor in Kings Cross and does a lot of after hours work so being within striking distance of good transport links is really important. What of course he would really like is to carry on living within a short walk of a tube or DLR station, which frankly is pie in the sky given that a 2 bed flat in his block is currently on sale at 600k!
I think he has now realised he will have to move out a bit, I've lived in WGC near the town centre for a few years and it's a nice place. Its ideal for me as fast / slow services into Moorgate/ KX and not bad to the airports.
Potters Bar too expensive for him. As said Hatfield rubbish and most of its too far from the transport links with the exception of old-Hatfield near the station. They are putting some flats up next to the station but not a clue how much they will be
He works for a tech investor in Kings Cross and does a lot of after hours work so being within striking distance of good transport links is really important. What of course he would really like is to carry on living within a short walk of a tube or DLR station, which frankly is pie in the sky given that a 2 bed flat in his block is currently on sale at 600k!
I think he has now realised he will have to move out a bit, I've lived in WGC near the town centre for a few years and it's a nice place. Its ideal for me as fast / slow services into Moorgate/ KX and not bad to the airports.
Potters Bar too expensive for him. As said Hatfield rubbish and most of its too far from the transport links with the exception of old-Hatfield near the station. They are putting some flats up next to the station but not a clue how much they will be
stu67 said:
He works for a tech investor in Kings Cross and does a lot of after hours work so being within striking distance of good transport links is really important. What of course he would really like is to carry on living within a short walk of a tube or DLR station, which frankly is pie in the sky given that a 2 bed flat in his block is currently on sale at 600k!
LGC might be worth a look - good trains late at night. I think that some of the evening trains are < 30mins, and easy enough to get a taxi - even at 2am.I live in Fairfield (Just next to Stotfold), yet I commute on the trains from Hitchin.
The only reason for that, is that you have twice the amount of trains coming out of King's Cross - the line splits for Peterborough/Cambridge after Hitchin.
I would recommend Fairfield, Stotfold, Letchworth, Baldock etc. Hitchin/Baldock can be a good night out and easy to get to, big supermarkets are local, transport links are good.
Lots of new houses going up near Fairfield again soon, the old pig farm is being cleared as we speak.
Avoid Arlesey, although it is better than Luton.
The only reason for that, is that you have twice the amount of trains coming out of King's Cross - the line splits for Peterborough/Cambridge after Hitchin.
I would recommend Fairfield, Stotfold, Letchworth, Baldock etc. Hitchin/Baldock can be a good night out and easy to get to, big supermarkets are local, transport links are good.
Lots of new houses going up near Fairfield again soon, the old pig farm is being cleared as we speak.
Avoid Arlesey, although it is better than Luton.
My goddamn fiancée shifting the goalposts yet again! Arrive home to be informed that she only likes one of the properties in my RightMove list [Leighton Buzzard - dislike the house due to no character]. She spent the whole day looking for properties and found a couple in Chesham (!?). What? £265k in Chesham!? No, she's raised the budget to £280k - she has some spare savings, and would prefer living nearer London even though commuting from Chesham would take her well over 100 minutes each way!
Cancel the Mortgage in Principal, re-apply with higher mortgage and higher deposit but HSBS only will lend 75% LTV. No can do. Get into argument about the ins and outs of affordability (she's not taking on board HSBC's financial modelling), before I decide to rip up the MIP with HSBC and then find out that the Co-Operative Bank (with whom I bank) are on the face of it willing to lend 85% LTV on £280k. The deposit has now ballooned to £50k (c%17.8 LTV).
She has now agreed to put mortgage discussions on hold until Sunday, so we can get Chinese New Year out of the way (cooking for friends and family), and we can then recalculate finances i.e. maximum deposit (inc all necessary fees etc) so we can apply for a representative MIP without further damaging our credit score.
If there is one thing guaranteed to make me go nuclear - personal and professional life - it is people changing the scope without informing me. Especially when all of my calculations were based upon previously agreed inputs.
Oddly enough besides a couple of properties popping up in Chesham, £280k makes sweet FA difference in terms of housing in Herts. Still haven't seen any other properties that match the £265k in Baldock or Royston.
That said, I do like Chesham and the properties meet our requirements. Am suspicious why they are £20k less than others. My money is on Estate Agent advertising 'STC' properties, then showing you other ones in their portfolio that are £20k+ higher in price. Wriggling fish and all that.
My tactic will be to wait until she has finished playing PaoPao (Chinese Candy Crush Saga - the girlfriend pacifier) before broaching the subject again. I need to also make sure the chopping knife is nowhere near me because I can feel myself channelling the spirit of Jack Torrance!
Cancel the Mortgage in Principal, re-apply with higher mortgage and higher deposit but HSBS only will lend 75% LTV. No can do. Get into argument about the ins and outs of affordability (she's not taking on board HSBC's financial modelling), before I decide to rip up the MIP with HSBC and then find out that the Co-Operative Bank (with whom I bank) are on the face of it willing to lend 85% LTV on £280k. The deposit has now ballooned to £50k (c%17.8 LTV).
She has now agreed to put mortgage discussions on hold until Sunday, so we can get Chinese New Year out of the way (cooking for friends and family), and we can then recalculate finances i.e. maximum deposit (inc all necessary fees etc) so we can apply for a representative MIP without further damaging our credit score.
If there is one thing guaranteed to make me go nuclear - personal and professional life - it is people changing the scope without informing me. Especially when all of my calculations were based upon previously agreed inputs.
Oddly enough besides a couple of properties popping up in Chesham, £280k makes sweet FA difference in terms of housing in Herts. Still haven't seen any other properties that match the £265k in Baldock or Royston.
That said, I do like Chesham and the properties meet our requirements. Am suspicious why they are £20k less than others. My money is on Estate Agent advertising 'STC' properties, then showing you other ones in their portfolio that are £20k+ higher in price. Wriggling fish and all that.
My tactic will be to wait until she has finished playing PaoPao (Chinese Candy Crush Saga - the girlfriend pacifier) before broaching the subject again. I need to also make sure the chopping knife is nowhere near me because I can feel myself channelling the spirit of Jack Torrance!
Chris Type R said:
Spindoctor said:
For around 250k you can probably still just about get a nice 2-bed place in a fairly nice part of Letchworth, or surrounding places like Stotfold and Langford. Fast trains from Letch to Kings X are 25 mins.
You get more for your money in Stotfold vs Letchworth - the trade-offs are the amenities & distance from stations. Having said that, we're happy that we moved to the former from the latter. Chris, are you stalking me?
We also moved from Letchworth to Stotfold. Bought a place for about half of the cost in Letchworth.It's a 10 min cycle ride to Arlesey station from where I live (not that I've done it though)
I think you will have to make a compromise between travel time and property size. The further you move away from London the more you get for your money.
Grandad Gaz said:
You can't get a lot in Letchworth for £250k anymore unless you want to live in the "undesirable" parts. Even the ex council houses on the Grange are going for more than that.
Chris, are you stalking me? We also moved from Letchworth to Stotfold. Bought a place for about half of the cost in Letchworth.
It's a 10 min cycle ride to Arlesey station from where I live (not that I've done it though)
I think you will have to make a compromise between travel time and property size. The further you move away from London the more you get for your money.
Too busy fixing up the house in Stotfold to have time for stalking Chris, are you stalking me?
We also moved from Letchworth to Stotfold. Bought a place for about half of the cost in Letchworth.It's a 10 min cycle ride to Arlesey station from where I live (not that I've done it though)
I think you will have to make a compromise between travel time and property size. The further you move away from London the more you get for your money.
We're in a 60s property near Hitchin Rec. Interesting that you mention Arlesey station - I work from home & only go in to town for meetings. These tend to be followed by a meal and booze. Very awkward getting a train back to Arlesey late at night. I find I'm still using LGC station and paying £11 for the cab trip.
In terms of value for money, by moving 2.25 miles we managed to afford to change from a small 2.5 bed semi on a busy road to a detached with a footprint roughly 3 times the size in a quiet cul-de-sac. We are having to do a lot of work though, and have added 115k to the mortgage. Our property in LGC sold at asking within 4 or 5 days iirc - that was a year ago.
loudlashadjuster said:
I'd also consider everything VERY carefully before considering Chesham. 
Ditto and this is coming from someone who lives in Aylesbury
Apart from a very small but nice old town part it isn't very nice,the town centre is rubbish, radio and phone signal is patchy at best and there is a fairly large gypsy community Although Aylesbury is not the perfect town it has much more going for it, train is 60 min to London but i know people who drive to Tring or Amersham for a quicker train. Leighton Buzzard is also not a bad choice
We also looked that this area before choosing to go else-where. Tring was also discarded, as well as small villages to the south of St Albans-Hertford.
Knebworth is nice, but is a Quaker village, so no pubs. I used to live in Henlow as well, but it was just too far out for me and the commute. If you are looking to commute, please chgeck the lines. A 13 minute train from St Albans-Kings X was great, but it rarely ran on time. The Welwyn line is the main north-south line, so they do everything possible to keep it open and running to time. 10 months commuting, my train has been delayed over 30 mins 5 times. Not too bad.
Knebworth is nice, but is a Quaker village, so no pubs. I used to live in Henlow as well, but it was just too far out for me and the commute. If you are looking to commute, please chgeck the lines. A 13 minute train from St Albans-Kings X was great, but it rarely ran on time. The Welwyn line is the main north-south line, so they do everything possible to keep it open and running to time. 10 months commuting, my train has been delayed over 30 mins 5 times. Not too bad.
What's luton like these days? I've heard by reputation it isn't the nicest of areas, but development seems to be pouring in ahead of the airport expansion, so i'm thinking it could be a wise investment.
Me and the gf are saving for our first place, and unfortunately st albans is off the menu due to prices.
we should be able to afford up to £220k..but that doesn't seem to buy a lot in terms of being on rail links into london.
Me and the gf are saving for our first place, and unfortunately st albans is off the menu due to prices.
we should be able to afford up to £220k..but that doesn't seem to buy a lot in terms of being on rail links into london.
no kids, house would be the preference but flat is probably more realistic. 2 bed minimum, which is pushing prices up a little.
I work in radlett, so will either drive or train it...gf works in theatre so just needs to be walking distance to a station that runs into london, she works weird hours so peak/rush times aren't an issue.
I've also been looking in hemel, which would suit, but seems a bit more expensive than luton, also not that much seems to come up near the station.
I work in radlett, so will either drive or train it...gf works in theatre so just needs to be walking distance to a station that runs into london, she works weird hours so peak/rush times aren't an issue.
I've also been looking in hemel, which would suit, but seems a bit more expensive than luton, also not that much seems to come up near the station.
designforlife said:
What's luton like these days?
It was voted the worst town in England last year and its not hard to see why, the only place i have been to that competed with its general s
thole ranking was Blackpool and that had more to do. There does seem to be massive redevelop plan but i do not think it will be enough, the town centre is run down and pretty average but the rest of the town just feels like one big deprived council estate with the odd kebab shop dotted about, the nail in the coffin for Luton is that Milton Keynes is just up the M1Hemel is not a bad town, not perfect and wasn't as many good places to eat/drink as here (Aylesbury) but its certainly better than Luton
Your money will go much further in Aylesbury or Leighton Buzzard and your budget will either get you a very nice flat or a reasonable 2 bed house. Its not the bargain it was a few years ago but there is plenty of redevelopment going on with prices only going one way
Watford is 30 mins down the road, and you have 2 train stations to get to London. LB is a smaller town with less nightlife etc so depends on what your after in that sense
What did your partner not like about Baldock putonghua73?
We are a long way from getting onto the property ladder, but we rent in Baldock and absolutely love it here. We have two young daughters and the schools here have a very good reputation, so eventually we'd love to buy here (large financial winnings pending).
I travel for work but have had to attend meetings in London on occasion. It works really well, but the station at Baldock is quite small. That said, it was never overcrowded. I do wonder whether the planned development / expansion has taken anything into account with regards to upgrading the station though...
It's so quiet - we moved from Stevenage, which is in the flight path for Luton airport (they loop round before landing, planes are a constant background noise). You can hear the gentle hum of the A1 on a quiet night, but it's not intrusive.
I travel for work, covering the home counties and North London. There are some great road links around here that make my life very easy for getting about.
I know you haven't asked about Baldock specifically but I thought I'd sing it's praises anyway, as I'm so fond of it. I've no idea what sort of property you'd get around here on your budget, I'm a bit hopeless in that respect!
We are a long way from getting onto the property ladder, but we rent in Baldock and absolutely love it here. We have two young daughters and the schools here have a very good reputation, so eventually we'd love to buy here (large financial winnings pending).
I travel for work but have had to attend meetings in London on occasion. It works really well, but the station at Baldock is quite small. That said, it was never overcrowded. I do wonder whether the planned development / expansion has taken anything into account with regards to upgrading the station though...
It's so quiet - we moved from Stevenage, which is in the flight path for Luton airport (they loop round before landing, planes are a constant background noise). You can hear the gentle hum of the A1 on a quiet night, but it's not intrusive.
I travel for work, covering the home counties and North London. There are some great road links around here that make my life very easy for getting about.
I know you haven't asked about Baldock specifically but I thought I'd sing it's praises anyway, as I'm so fond of it. I've no idea what sort of property you'd get around here on your budget, I'm a bit hopeless in that respect!
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