Moving out of London

[HangTime]

Regarding commute, mine is similar (5hrs a day, 4 days a week) and have done it for longer than the 8 months you are targeting. My experiences are this:

-Dealing with the actual commute itself on a normal day is rarely a problem assuming you do most of it on a single train where you can get a seat. Just kick back and read / surf / watch catchup TV etc.
-The time away from home is what is annoying more than the actual act of commuting i.e. basically I get home at 20:15, we eat dinner and maybe watch a 1hr TV program before it is time for bed.
-Try to avoid having to take a connecting train (aside from the tube) as this just adds more potential for delays

In general if you only have a ~£180k budget this implies you probably don't have a massively well paid job. My recommendation would therefore be to rather than move somewhere and then look to get your job relocated there, do it the other way round. Cast the net wide and you'll have more jobs to choose from.

 

[Em3bbs]

But Reading is a ****hole and that trainline is the worst and most expensive per mile in the country 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.

FGW is likely to be the most expensive because it links London to the Thames Valley, where there are many jobs.

I started to use FGW daily this year expecting it to be a nightmare but the only delays I get are either thanks to National Rail signal problems or people jumping in front of trains which has happened about twice. Considering the amount of Crossrail work going on I think FGW get quite a bad press.

 

[Buffman]

5 hour commute a day sounds like hell, and an awful idea when you have kids. I'd move jobs prior to moving that far.

 

[RoboCod]

That commute, plus being surrounded by people with that God awful accent. Not forgetting Birmingham itself is a pit. No thanks.

 

[Efour]

Moving out of one hole to another and torturing yousrelf in the process.
Why on earth would you do this. Religeous reasons? Community spirit?

 

[Raz]

A quick update on this. It's been really busy past couple of weeks and I ended up applying for a promotion that would have seen me working 3 days from Birmingham/working from home. Not quite my area (policing) but still a promotion and I would have got the flexibility. Sadly didn't get the post but have been put on a reserve list for another similar post that may come up in the next few months...

Still, I've managed to speak to a few more people about Solihull and they've all echoed the comments already given - Dorridge and Knowle are the best areas. Shirley is fine but they don't recommend going beyond that.

Given travel considerations we've decided to include the following in our list:

Southend
Littlehampton
Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes seems hit and miss...

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

That's really helpful, will definitely be in touch.

Regarding commute, mine is similar (5hrs a day, 4 days a week) and have done it for longer than the 8 months you are targeting. My experiences are this:

-Dealing with the actual commute itself on a normal day is rarely a problem assuming you do most of it on a single train where you can get a seat. Just kick back and read / surf / watch catchup TV etc.
-The time away from home is what is annoying more than the actual act of commuting i.e. basically I get home at 20:15, we eat dinner and maybe watch a 1hr TV program before it is time for bed.
-Try to avoid having to take a connecting train (aside from the tube) as this just adds more potential for delays

In general if you only have a ~£180k budget this implies you probably don't have a massively well paid job. My recommendation would therefore be to rather than move somewhere and then look to get your job relocated there, do it the other way round. Cast the net wide and you'll have more jobs to choose from.

Thanks. Problem is that as a civil servant it'll be difficult to move to another job as I'm more or less a generalist although I'm developing myself in project management, Prince2 etc. Living outside London but travelling in would see me keep my London wage as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get the promotion soon (I've got the promotion, they just don't have a post for me yet...)

Moving out of one hole to another and torturing yousrelf in the process.
Why on earth would you do this. Religeous reasons? Community spirit?

Solihull is one of the Holy places -

Mecca
Medina
Jerusalem
Solihul

 

[dowie]

A
Solihull is one of the Holy places -

Mecca
Medina
Jerusalem
Solihul

It is known.

 

[Nix]

Southend

Southend is very easy to commute in to the city if you need to.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

 

[Raz]

Southend is very easy to commute in to the city if you need to.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Thanks. We're mainly looking for good areas, primary schools. Similar things to my initial post in this thread - is there a diverse community, travelling times/costs etc.

 

[BigT]

Work out your door-door commute time carefully. Include any drive, parking time, walking from car park to platform etc etc.

I do 1hr 35 minutes from my village in Kent near Ashford to 65 miles away in Old Street and that's quicker than some people in the suburbs. But when I worked in Hammersmith it was a significantly longer commute prone to more disruption on the tube, hotter and more soul destroying.

 

[Nix]

Thanks. We're mainly looking for good areas, primary schools. Similar things to my initial post in this thread - is there a diverse community, travelling times/costs etc.

Travelling times depends on where from and which line. There are two lines going into London.

1. Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street
2. Southend Central to Fenchurch

I'd say the latter is the faster and nicer line. Liverpool street can take anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half. The Fenchurch line is typically 50ish minutes.

Southend has some very good schools here due to the grammar school system still being in place, but consequently also some bad ones due to the skew those good schools cause. Primary schools tend to be similar except for a few really bad ones.

As a general rule, it gets nicer coming away from Southend and going towards Leigh.

The demographic is pretty diverse in terms of racial and class. It is also from what I've read one of the few places in the country where house prices went up recently.

 

[Trifid]

As a general rule, it gets nicer coming away from Southend and going towards Leigh.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with this. Thorpe Bay would be my area of choice if it wasn't so expensive and the southern tip of Shoebury is very nice too. On the other hand I'd avoid 90% of the Westcliff area and I don't particularly like quite a bit of Leigh either (the streets with rows of terrace houses and no off street parking). However the nice parts are very nice and if you want to be reminded of what London drinks prices are like you can spend £4 (or more if a event is on) in the pubs in the Old Leigh fishing village part.

For secondary schools, Westcliff high (separate boys and girls schools) are exceptionally good.

 

[elmarko]

I worked in Solihull for a few years & when comparing against much of the rest of Birmingham it is indeed much better - but saying that there are significantly nicer places to live outside of the Birmingham area to live in.

Sadly there is just too much poverty & unemployment over a large area to keep anti-social behaviour & crime down.

 

[HangTime]

It is also from what I've read one of the few places in the country where house prices went up recently.

House prices went up pretty much in every region in England last quarter (obviously when you drill down to smaller areas there will be some pockets that experienced falls).

 

[skaif]

Any thoughts on other areas that we could look into? We’ve looked at Basildon, Luton and a few other places as well but other than the travelling distance and costs, we can’t find any faults with Solihull. There’s a few articles on commuter towns as well, but some are quite expensive.

I'm based in Luton if you have any questions?

 

[balky12]

Any thoughts on other areas that we could look into? We’ve looked at Basildon, Luton and a few other places as well but other than the travelling distance and costs, we can’t find any faults with Solihull. There’s a few articles on commuter towns as well, but some are quite expensive.

Laindon? Almost Basildon, but on your time scale (8 months) they are building along some greenbelt (Dunton Fields) from Laindon to West Horndon. Get some nice 3 beds their for ~£250k.

On the c2c line (Laindon is end of the line on a certain route so always seats ) and about 35 minutes into Fenchurch Street.

 

[Raz]

Travelling times depends on where from and which line. There are two lines going into London.

1. Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street
2. Southend Central to Fenchurch

I'd say the latter is the faster and nicer line. Liverpool street can take anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half. The Fenchurch line is typically 50ish minutes.

Southend has some very good schools here due to the grammar school system still being in place, but consequently also some bad ones due to the skew those good schools cause. Primary schools tend to be similar except for a few really bad ones.

As a general rule, it gets nicer coming away from Southend and going towards Leigh.

The demographic is pretty diverse in terms of racial and class. It is also from what I've read one of the few places in the country where house prices went up recently.

thanks. We're going to head up there in a few days to see what the area is like.

I'm based in Luton if you have any questions?

Laindon? Almost Basildon, but on your time scale (8 months) they are building along some greenbelt (Dunton Fields) from Laindon to West Horndon. Get some nice 3 beds their for ~£250k.

On the c2c line (Laindon is end of the line on a certain route so always seats ) and about 35 minutes into Fenchurch Street.

Thanks both. I think Luton is definitely off the list but haven't really looked into Lainon - will have a look.

 

[thep02]

As above, Solihull is in a really nice part of the world, and Birmingham itself is underrated as a big centre nearby. I lived in Brum/Solihull for 5 years, and am pretty sure that I'll be back one day.

Sutton park alone makes Birmingham a worthy city, if I was a civil servant I'd definitely make the move, you get a much higher quality of life for money earned and good transport links to anywhere.

 

[Quartz]

If you want cheap housing then I've just been reading that Northern Ireland is the place to go. Property prices really crashed in 2007/8 and haven't recovered.

 

[Raz]

Anyone have any thoughts about Milton Keynes?