I need the collective knowledge of OcUK - spec'cing an area to live in.

  • Thread starter Thread starter ntg
  • Start date Start date

ntg

ntg

ntg

Associate
Joined
24 Nov 2008
Posts
2,499
Alright OcUK'ers, I need your brains.

I am in the market to buy a house (detached/semi/terraced all will be considered). My req's are as follows:

a) min 2beds
b) Price max: £150,000 (meaning properties with advertised prices of up to £170k with the expectation to knock off 20k).
c) Max 1:30h one-way commuting to London Victoria, door-to-door time.
d) The Train Annual season ticket needs to be as low as possible - I would prefer under £3k if possible.
e) Don't mind rural areas (in fact I prefer them).
f) I would consider flats only if there is a very good incentive due to train ticket costs or commuting time.
g) Do not worry about tube season ticket costs as I got that covered.

So please give me some good suggestions of areas near/around london that offer a good trade-off between these factors and livability but please be specific on which areas to avoid/look at.

I'm really at a loss of where to look as I'm not very familiar with areas outside london and it's a real pain figuring out what they are like from the internet without the time to go around there and see.

Many thanks for all replies.
 
Last edited:
With that budget Im not sure what you'd get really. You could look around my way (High Wycombe) or up into Amersham as it has a tube station.

Maybe somewhere in Hertfordshire like Hatfield might be in budget but isnt an overly nice place to live.

Surrey might be a good option, maybe Farnborough or Camberley? Some alright areas
 
J.B said:
With that budget Im not sure what you'd get really. You could look around my way (High Wycombe) or up into Amersham as it has a tube station.

Maybe somewhere in Hertfordshire like Hatfield might be in budget but isnt an overly nice place to live.

Surrey might be a good option, maybe Farnborough or Camberley? Some alright areas
Click to expand...

I've looked at Amersham, up to 5 miles radius, and nothing was within the price range and decent.

High Wycombe is as expensive isn't it??

I'll check the other areas you mentioned, thanks.
 
My parents just bought a small 3 bed house for renting purposes in Grays.
They paid £170,000 for it.

Grays isn't the nicest area, but its not that bad tbh.

C2C into Fenchurch Street takes half an hour.
 
gjrc said:
cheap parts around basingstoke / andover / salisbury / fleet

down M3 way basically.
Click to expand...

Basingstoke is £3.4k per year for a rail season ticket and much further than 1:30h commute (I do about 1:20mins from Reading West to London now and I know basingstoke is a good 20-30mins further away isn't it?).
 
Deep said:
My parents just bought a small 3 bed house for renting purposes in Grays.
They paid £170,000 for it.

Grays isn't the nicest area, but its not that bad tbh.

C2C into Fenchurch Street takes half an hour.
Click to expand...

Is the area called just Grays? I'll look into this, thanks.
 
Where are you communiting to in London? I can be in Paddington in 25 minutes but it takes me about an hour and a half to get to our Old Kent Road office.
 
Wicksta said:
Where are you communiting to in London? I can be in Paddington in 25 minutes but it takes me about an hour and a half to get to our Old Kent Road office.
Click to expand...

I go from Paddington to Victoria so it only takes me about 25mins to the office once I get to Paddington.
 
J.B said:
With that budget Im not sure what you'd get really. You could look around my way (High Wycombe) or up into Amersham as it has a tube station.

Maybe somewhere in Hertfordshire like Hatfield might be in budget but isnt an overly nice place to live.
Click to expand...

Hertfordshire can be quite pricey depending on the area. In Maple Cross you might be able to find yourself something it has a few nice parts but isn't particulary big. But is just down the road from Rickmansworth 5-10 minute drive. Croxley Green & Rickmansworth are probaly slightly out of budget. Might be able to find something in Watford but again like anywhere it has some parts to avoid.

Anywhere on the Metropolitan line will get you in to central London in about 40-50 minutes. On the Chilternline which runs on the Met line you'll get to Marlyebone from Rickmansworth in just under half an hour.

I quite like Kings Langely. St Albans is another you could try. Might find something in Leavesden but has a few iffy parts.

Hope some of these areas are of some use.
 
BennyC said:
Hertfordshire can be quite pricey depending on the area. In Maple Cross you might be able to find yourself something it has a few nice parts but isn't particulary big. But is just down the road from Rickmansworth 5-10 minute drive. Croxley Green & Rickmansworth are probaly slightly out of budget. Might be able to find something in Watford but again like anywhere it has some parts to avoid.

Anywhere on the Metropolitan line will get you in to central London in about 40-50 minutes. On the Chilternline which runs on the Met line you'll get to Marlyebone from Rickmansworth in just under half an hour.

I quite like Kings Langely. St Albans is another you could try. Might find something in Leavesden but has a few iffy parts.

Hope some of these areas are of some use.
Click to expand...


Many-many thanks, I will look into them although I remember that Rickmansworth was indeed a bit too pricey for me. Watford is again a good choice if I can find a good place.

Thanks.
 
Basher said:
Is it typical to knock 25% off a house during negotiations?
Click to expand...

Well I have a few things to my favour:

a) I'm buying during Winter when the least number of people are out there to buy anything
b) I got no chain and I'm ready to buy so the best possible option for a seller
c) I expect that all sellers add a premium to their listed price to have some wiggle for negotiation
d) I've been noticing quite a lot of price reductions by the margin I'm after during the past 6-10 months in properties across property websites, which is indicative that a lot of people are having a hard time selling their properties
e) All outlooks suggest that house prices at best will stay the same with a lot of downside so I need to factor that in in my offer
f) Finally, if you don't ask you don't get and you can only bargain upwards! At least that's my perspective.
 
kgi said:
Basingstoke is £3.4k per year for a rail season ticket and much further than 1:30h commute (I do about 1:20mins from Reading West to London now and I know basingstoke is a good 20-30mins further away isn't it?).
Click to expand...


no its on my train route to andover home....

40 mins probably from waterloo... andover is beyond it and thats 1hr 10 mins.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom