[Closed] Where to live near London....

qwerty - fair play, you're excused. 🙂

Burgess Hill? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35938856.html

Cycling distance from South Downs & Stanmer Park, plus its literally next to the station .

Another possible website to use is http://www.commutefrom.com/ as you can set out what house price you are looking for; what travel time via train you want to particular stations in London and it will tell you the average property price.

Aylesbury should be affordable.

Only 45 mins ride into the Chilterns too.

@phil, as above I was going to suggest Guildford area (I lived there for 25 years) but a 2 bed flat is £200-250. Have a look round Dorking, you are actually closer to the best riding but I think prices are going to still be high £100's for flats. You might like to look around Aldershot / Camberly / Bracknell. Before I get flamed for suggestions I think you are going to struggle to find anywhere 90 mins from London where you can find a flat for £120. Also don't forget commute costs, it used to cost me about £600 a month to get to work with parking/train/tube costs

As a Kentishman that lived in Guildford, that would have been my suggestion. But somewhere in the North Kent Downs might come in closer to that kind of budget than Surrey.
23 minutes HS1 from Ebbsfleet to StPancras. Towns around there are dumps though (imho), but out of town is fine.
Not just convenience getting to/from work, and to/from some trails to ride on, but also what sort of access do you want or need to airports and the like for business? (only ask, since I've lived within 30minutes of the check in desk of the largest european airport hubs for so long that I couldn't imagine living somewhere where getting to the airport for a ski trip or holiday takes effort).

somewhere in kent with access to HS1?

Ashford is a pox-hole, and there isn't much in the way of MTB'ing to make up for that.

As a Kentishman that lived in Guildford, that would have been my suggestion. But somewhere in the North Kent Downs might come in closer to that kind of budget than Surrey.
23 minutes HS1 from Ebbsfleet to StPancras. Towns around there are dumps though (imho), but out of town is fine.
Not just convenience getting to/from work, and to/from some trails to ride on, but also what sort of access do you want or need to airports and the like for business? (only ask, since I've lived within 30minutes of the check in desk of the largest european airport hubs for so long that I couldn't imagine living somewhere where getting to the airport for a ski trip or holiday takes effort).

What is the riding like in the Kent Downs ? I have been looking around there a bit as it is way cheaper than Surrey, and is not too bad for access to the sea either.

I don't need access to airports for work at all, and after 18 months of on and off travelling, think I will be in one place for a little while 🙂

was mostly a roadie back then, and there's more than plenty of that, both in Kent and Surrey. north downs are hilly, plus there's also the Weald, but it's very much a grab a map and explore.
didn't really properly defect to MTB until I moved to holland (work that one out).

Reading. Has some good riding straight out of the door. 120k might not be enough though.

I hear croydon is nice

Give me £120K and you can stay at our place for 10 years, exactly 1.5 hours from Waterloo, some of the locals are a bit weird though

Kemble (Cirencester, Malmsbury or Tetbury). Nearer than Stroud, and most importantly, not Stroud.

I would second reading, good road riding from the town, some offroad routes as well up towards mapledurham, and a bit further out you have the whole of the chilterns and swinleys not far either. On the motorway for escapes and its 23 mins to paddington in the mornings. I think you might struggle on 120k though! Also don't forget to allow for the couple of thousand needed for your season ticket.

Any of the towns along the a25 from Guildford to sevenoaks would probably do a reasonable job of being nice places to live and convenient for London. Unfortunately that's why they're so expensive! Sometimes things do crop up a little bit further in, so maybe have a look at Epsom, coulsdon, caterham or Biggin hill?

In Rutland (Oakham 50 minutes from London) 120k would get you something decent and it's somewhere you would want to be at weekends. I've lived in Manchester, Surrey, Islington, Australia and none of these places made me as happy as I am living here.

Oakham 50 minutes from London

How? By helicopter?

Reading is all that comes to mind. There are flats around for your budget. With Crossrail on the way as well, I guess that prices should keep pace.

MILTON KEYNES!
Not the hipsters choice - but 170k could get you a victorian terrace in the very up and coming Wolverton area. Not far from Woburn woods

You can live inside the M25 and by a mainline station for your budget

Rather you than me though

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46627237.html

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/london-property-market-boosted-by-people-pretending-grim-places-are-great-2013053070398 ]Living in London sounds great![/url]

😆

I had that sort of budget when I was looking ten years ago in Dorking (good combination of local riding and access to the South Coast for keelboat racing). I grew up in Leatherhead, by the way.

Did the commute into Soho for about five years - it was about 90 minutes door to door. Covent Garden is easier - an almost a pleasant walk from Waterloo, too.

As said above, look at renting to see if a town's good for you - although prices will go up in the mean time, of course.

Oakham 50 minutes from London

How? By helicopter?

Indeed, [url= http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OKM/London/today/1000/dep ]1:40[/url] with a change in Leicester...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46627237.html

I wonder if you have to sleep in a coffin? 🙂

Ipswich if your idea of a fun day on the bike is lots of miles on rural bridleways with the odd small hill thrown in. (A flexible approach to cheeky trails is a good idea too). The only fly in the ointment is the mainline rolling stock is very old (as in it was brought in from GWR after one service life) and we're miles from any decent hills.

Not being funny but isn't the job/location/re numeration thing a bit skewed? What's the point of working in covent garden and being payed a wage that means 120k is your mortgage limit and you will be paying a significant chunk of monthly income on travel?
Or is your job so very specific that you can only do it there?

The only fly in the ointment is the mainline rolling stock is very old (as in it was brought in from GWR after one service life) and we're miles from any decent hills.

Eh? The mk3 coaches are infinitely nicer than most commuter rolling stock, and they didn't come from Great Western, who are still using their mk3s in HSTs. The loco hauled mk3s are different, Abellio Greater Anglia have had some for years, others came from Virgin after they introduced Voyagers and then later Pendolinos.

Plenty of them still in service with FGW, East Coast, Cross Country, EastMidlands Trains and Virgin West Coast, plus derivatives in EMUs for most of the major TOCs.

Derby is 90 minutes away from London by train the only problem a peak time return ticket is about £170 a day.....

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/all-london-properties-to-become-timeshares-2014031484586 ]TIme-share?[/url]

FWIW, back when I was commuting in to town, my train (Exeter-Waterloo) was always clean and tidy, and I almost always got a seat in both directions (Bar about three occasions when there was weather or "passenger action" disruptions).

Just about an hour of train time, so enough to have a nice coffee, read the paper and do the crossword.

Brompton was the key, though. Made a massive difference to the "either end" element of commuting.

What's the point of working in covent garden and being payed a wage that means 120k is your mortgage limit and you will be paying a significant chunk of monthly income on travel?

I hear croydon is nice

CaptainFlashheart - Am I missing something? How can Exeter to London be "an hour of train time". IS there another Exeter that's not in Devon?

Should have read "(Exeter to Waterloo line)", sorry!

You take public transport Flashy? With the masses? Urghhh. I had you down as more...

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Njee The carriage seating was so badly shagged when I was using it that my L4/L5 disc would grumble after a week in town unless I used the disabled seats in coach D. After 3 weeks I would be crippled. Unless the upholstery has been replaced wholesale (down to the frame not just the covers) since I was using them regularly (which they haven't from a trip to the Dynamo this year) it's a third rate experience at best.
Regular paint-jobs/wraps of the engines and coaches should be lower down the refurb list.

Having commuted for 25 years (75 mins each way assuming all is well) I can safely say it sucks big time !

I would pick Milton Keynes, many of the commuter towns just outside the M25 are over-rated for commuting. The average commuter town: Packed trains, no toilets, stop at about 15 stops before you get to the main London terminal, before having to get on a tube, it sucks from what I can see.

My BiL has just bought a 2 bed end terrace in Aldershot for double the OPs budget, doesn't seem to be in a great area and needs a load of work doing to it. 90 minutes down one of the main lines line the ECML are going to be $$$ as well if you're commuting from anywhere further than Peterborough.

Unless the upholstery has been replaced wholesale (down to the frame not just the covers) since I was using them regularly (which they haven't from a trip to the Dynamo this year) it's a third rate experience at best.

[url= http://www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/blog/2014/09/abellio-greater-anglia-awards-mkiii-carriage-refurbishment-contract-to-vossloh ]You're in luck...[/url]

Don't ever travel on a crowded suburban train if you find those uncomfy! They use the same coaches on London-Aberdeen trains!

MK as said above has other advantages: proximity to Woburn and Chicksands for riding London out of your system on a weekend.

I live near Uckfield in East Sussex. Train time to LB is 1.15 (but patchy service).

Riding is as good as anywhere in the South with South Downs, Friston Forest, Bedgebury all being 20-30 mins away and North Downs less than an hour. Brighton is nearby for nightlife and Lewes is pretty cool too plus we have loads of good village pubs all around. East Sussex has no motorways and is the most wooded county in the South (maybe in England). Sea is close by and the walking is great too with Ashdown Forest on your doorstep - no biking there though booo.

Despite all this, house prices are reasonable compared to Surrey and you could probably get a flat for around £130k.

Another +1 for the "good luck finding something close to London for £120k that isn't a complete hellhole".

Slightly OT, my brother & his gf have just bought a 2-bed semi-basement flat in London, it was £600k and it's in terrible condition having been a rental place for ages. It's not even in the area they originally wanted, they couldn't afford *anything* there and had to compromise by going two tube stops further out. London is utterly mental.

Reading/Camberley is my locale and you might find a studio or 1-bed out here but it'll be tiny and the cost of commuting will ruin it IMO. And obviously tiny = nowhere to keep bikes, which may be an issue if the whole point is to have easy access to biking...

Budget for a 1-2 bed place is 120,000ish.

Change your accent, approach Nottinghill council and say you are fresh here, please give me place to live.

bingo- a nice place for cheap 😀

That flat must still be in a good location? My mate is selling his small flat in Putney for £400k.