New job near Heathrow - advice on housing/commute please?

[sebhaque]

Hi all, I've recently accepted a job offer that's based very close to Terminal 4. Since I currently live in Bristol, the commute would be rather problematic if I stayed here - so I'm looking at sensible areas to rent that are quite close to work (I'd like to live pretty close to the office). So far, Ashford seems like a nice enough place without paying exorbitant rental rates; some places in Stanwell look pretty reasonable too. It's just me and the one car, so a little 1/2 bed semi-detached house would suit me very well.

Couple of questions though - are there any areas that I should avoid, or any others to consider? Also, what's commuting around the area like? I appreciate I'm working near a sizeable airport so it's never going to be completely void of traffic, but is Google Maps' estimate of 16 minutes to get from Ashford to T4 reasonable at commuting hours?

Thanks in advance.

[sebhaque]

Thanks chaps. Will bear your thoughts in mind when I start earmarking houses (planning on popping down in two weeks, I'd like to be in before Christmas so it gives me a chance to move stuff in over the holiday season). Good shout RE flight plans too, any excuse to fire up FR24.

[sebhaque]

Thanks for all the suggestions chaps.

[sebhaque]

GreatPretender said:

good information

I've moved to Stanwell Moor. It's not the most friendly area to live in, but it's quite handy for commuting. I've never really experienced any traffic on my commute to T4, and it never takes me longer than 20 minutes to drive there either.

I would love a motorbike but I'm a short chap, so getting my leg over (so to speak) can be tricky on some mounts. I was strongly considering getting a bike before I moved here, but now I've seen how forgiving the commute tends to be, it's on the back burner.

I'm thinking of moving to East Bedfont when my contract is up, mainly because while commuting is easy from here, doing any form of grocery shopping is quite difficult as you get snarled up in the rush hour traffic.