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Thanks for the advice folks - plenty to think about there. I'm not intending to abandon Edinburgh completely as I'm going to keep a flat here. For London I really don't want to do the hour+ commute thing - I'd reckon if I did the last thing I'd then want to do is come into London at the weekends, and I'd really like to makee use of what's there.
The commute thing is key really -
Zone 1, property expensive/small - walk to work. Minimal commute times.
Zone 2/3, can have living style ranging from gritty and urban (Brixton? East End?) to distinctly leafy and suburban (Dulwich? Blackheath?) to soulless new town (Docklands). Commute of 30-60 minutes by bike or public transport
Zone 4+ out to commuter belt - more space, easy access to country, commute of 45-90 minutes or more.
Middle one works for me - I ride a bike almost every day and rarely use public transport. Getting out of town takes time but I'm only doing it once a week. Having hills on my doorstep but spending c15 hours + each week on commuter trains really doesn't appeal.
Thanks for all the advice. I've decided to rent for the first 6-months or so until I get a better feel for the options. We're headed down to take a look at some places next weekend, focusing on two main areas - Blackheath and nearer the office at St. Katherines Dock.
West gets you out to Surrey easily at weekends.
Hardest part is snapping up a place before someone on the phone to a housing agent, who hasn't even seen the property gets in before you.
If you can cope with a 40 mins commute you could live in Berhamstead, which is a great town and has a thriving MTB club.
How about north of the river..........About 200 miles north! Nice people, value for money, not London basically.