Moving out of London

Raz said:
Looks like you can pick up a decent 3 bed house for about £175k.
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What part of Solihull is this?? Solihull is one of the affluent areas of Birmingham, like Sutton Coldfield, but there's some grimy area's that fall under the Solihull council catchment too. Avoid Chelmsley Wood.
 
I don't think you've got enought for Solihull - there is 'North Solihull' aka chelmsley wood - which is where a bunch of scumbags from Birmingham got housed but you might not want to live there. Ditto to most of Birmingham itself. The rest of the borough is a nice place to live but can be a bit expensive. If you can afford 8k a year for your season ticket then you can also afford a bigger mortgage close to London. What about High Wycombe?

I recon a commute from Solihull would be miserable unless your office is close to Marylebone station and your home close to Solihull station - tis 1h30 at least and you don't want to then add a bunch of tube journeys. I'd look further down the Chiltern line close to London.
 
dowie said:
I don't think you've got enought for Solihull - there is 'North Solihull' aka chelmsley wood - which is where a bunch of scumbags from Birmingham got housed but you might not want to live there. Ditto to most of Birmingham itself. The rest of the borough is a nice place to live but can be a bit expensive. If you can afford 8k a year for your season ticket then you can also afford a bigger mortgage close to London. What about High Wycombe?

I recon a commute from Solihull would be miserable unless your office is close to Marylebone station and your home close to Solihull station - tis 1h30 at least and you don't want to then add a bunch of tube journeys. I'd look further down the Chiltern line close to London.
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Yeah, all this. I lived in and around Solihull for 30 years. Solihull (and just south) are lovely. Further north you go towards Brum it gets a bit less appealing.

Also agree on the commute; That's going to get old quick, unless you can do a lot of work on the train.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Reading makes for a pretty easy commute into London... cheap places to be found, as well. Friend recently bought a 2-bed semi new-build for £175k.
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Did the opposite commute for 7 years. Not too bad until the signalling fails or another West Draytonite throws themselves under a train. Which seems to happen once a week at the moment.

Monthly season ticket must be close to £500 now.
 
What are the good and bad parts? 'North' has been mentioned, what about Shirley?

Also, any thoughts on the following in terms of areas?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52085099.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53669546.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50330941.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53609018.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53931101.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34847604.html

I've included properties up to 200k as I may be able to get up to that, but on Rightmove there's some for £170k-£180k as well.

Most of the replies seem to focus on the travel, and with good reason. I spoke to someone today who lives in Warwick and gets the train one stop after Solihull. It's about 2 hours each way for him but he lives close to the main station. Reliable service but he did say as many others have that after adding journey times to/from the main station and to/from my place of work (Westminster) it would be quite long.

On the plus side I also spoke to my manager who was quite helpful. One option I may have is to work two days from home to start off, and then take a career break for 6 months to try get something locally.

In any case, I think we'll look at other areas as well as advised.
 
Not helpfull to OP i know, but when i worked in a tower of mammon in canary wharf there were people who commuted daily from:

Crewe
Boston
Leicester
Grantham

They genuinely failed to make it in to work at least one day a week.

Edit: and left at 5am to get home at 8 or 9 having done a boggo 9-5. Big houses though.
 
That commute sounds hell. Everyone understates their commute. It's probably 2hr journey time station to station then add the rest that's a 5 to 6 hour commute a day. No thanks and you have kids.

Crewe is faster. Manchester is potentially faster.

That sort of travel you could live an hour east or west of Brighton. Drive and parkin Brighton and get the Brighton express in under 2 hours.
 
maccapacca said:
That commute sounds hell. Everyone understates their commute. It's probably 2hr journey time station to station then add the rest that's a 5 to 6 hour commute a day. No thanks and you have kids.

Crewe is faster. Manchester is potentially faster.

That sort of travel you could live an hour east or west of Brighton. Drive and parkin Brighton and get the Brighton express in under 2 hours.
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I did this for a while from Worthing. Cheap houses, can be crappy but seaside. 7am train up, 5.32 back. £400 a month ticket (standard). Had daylight of an evening during the week for 3 months a year!
 
Shirley isn't as bad as Chelmsley wood - tis a bog standard area


the nice areas are the other side - Knowle, Dorridge, Lapworth etc..

if you're able to work from home and are then planning to relocate it might be worth it but I'd definitely try that commute first, the train journey itself is fine, you'll get a seat and the carriages they use for commuting times have nice seats, plenty of space/tables for laptops etc.. have done the journey myself a few times on a Monday morning

it is a good area to live in if you're raising a family - good schools etc..

I'd be tempted to do it myself in a few years - albeit I'd want a job in West London close to Marylebone station and a house in Dorridge close to the station... failing that I'd personally look closer to London
 
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I know. The thing that we're keen on is the fact that it's a fairly decent area (well...some of it), quite a few good schools, a good community mix and fairly stable. Spoke to my wife about it and she's happy to move there but thinks I need to be absolutely sure about the travel.

I'm going to spend some time looking at civil service jobs in Solihull and around West Midlands and send off some applications.

Will definitely look more local though, but I'd be looking for a house, ideally 3 bed.

dowie said:
Shirley isn't as bad as Chelmsley wood - tis a bog standard area


the nice areas are the other side - Knowle, Dorridge, Lapworth etc..

if you're able to work from home and are then planning to relocate it might be worth it but I'd definitely try that commute first, the train journey itself is fine, you'll get a seat and the carriages they use for commuting times have nice seats, plenty of space/tables for laptops etc.. have done the journey myself a few times on a Monday morning

it is a good area to live in if you're raising a family - good schools etc..

I'd be tempted to do it myself in a few years - albeit I'd want a job in West London close to Marylebone station and a house in Dorridge close to the station... failing that I'd personally look closer to London
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I'll have a look in those areas. Would definitely move jobs locally mid to long term, sooner if possible.

It's possible that we may just trying renting for a bit, see if my wife finds anything locally if she likes the area and potentially get a larger mortgage as well.
 
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another option is maybe you can find somewhere within budget that is a short drive from Warwick Parkway... could do for your temporary London commute and is an easy commute into Solihull or Birmingham when you get a new job.
 
dowie said:
another option is maybe you can find somewhere within budget that is a short drive from Warwick Parkway... could do for your temporary London commute and is an easy commute into Solihull or Birmingham when you get a new job.
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Good idea, thanks. Will look into that.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Did the opposite commute for 7 years. Not too bad until the signalling fails or another West Draytonite throws themselves under a train. Which seems to happen once a week at the moment.
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I believe there are extra lines now and the Fast train goes direct to Paddington on the Down Fast track, which is far enough from WD platforms that they'd have to jump like Superman to affect it. Only thing that train slows down for is crews working on/near the line... which often includes me, so I'm quite happy about that! :D
 
ttaskmaster said:
Reading makes for a pretty easy commute into London... cheap places to be found, as well. Friend recently bought a 2-bed semi new-build for £175k.
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But Reading is a ****hole and that trainline is the worst and most expensive per mile in the country :p Horrendous service. I hate FGW with a vengeance and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I think it was this program that featured FGW and the Reading line heavily.
 
Raz said:
What are the good and bad parts? 'North' has been mentioned, what about Shirley?

Also, any thoughts on the following in terms of areas?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52085099.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53669546.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50330941.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53609018.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53931101.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34847604.html

I've included properties up to 200k as I may be able to get up to that, but on Rightmove there's some for £170k-£180k as well.

Most of the replies seem to focus on the travel, and with good reason. I spoke to someone today who lives in Warwick and gets the train one stop after Solihull. It's about 2 hours each way for him but he lives close to the main station. Reliable service but he did say as many others have that after adding journey times to/from the main station and to/from my place of work (Westminster) it would be quite long.

On the plus side I also spoke to my manager who was quite helpful. One option I may have is to work two days from home to start off, and then take a career break for 6 months to try get something locally.

In any case, I think we'll look at other areas as well as advised.
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Putting aside the commute issue (don't even consider commuting to London 3 days a week unless you have a swift exit plan) I can offer some advise on the area... I live in Shirley :)

You won't get a decent 3 bed semi in a decent area in Shirley for less than £220k these days, unless it needs £50k spending on it.

House 1 - Near a dodgy ex council area
House 2 - 4/10 area, seems very cheap, suspicious
House 3 - They might call that Solihull but its not, its in the ghetto and far too close to Yardley wood
House 4 - Dodgy ex council area
House 5 - This road is not too bad, again getting closer to Yardley, house needs a lot of work though
House 6 - Don't consider Olton as Solihull

Solihull encompasses a large area, the closer north and towards the centre you go the cheaper it gets, but the more like regularly Birmingham it feels. If you want the benefits of living in actual-Solihull (Its not Birmingham / feels like you won't get stabbed / nice schools / nice shops / etc) then you will need a decent budget.

If you are seriously considering the area and what an impartial set of eyes with local knowledge to view some houses with you, drop me a message in trust :)
 
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