Owning your own home

Yeah me too to be honest, but each their own and all that...

Yep, most of the new builds appear to be in any tiny spot. My estate agent was trying to convince me to look at one that was a group of three townhouses that were pretty much in someone's back garden.

Difficult to lay blame on whether it’s councils fault or the developers too in trying to meet a quota and filling the space as much as possible.
But the space/size clearly is not an issue if there are guidelines regarding how big a room should be.

I deal with all new connections to the water network and it’s amazing how much ‘land’ there is out there that parts of Worcester/Gloucester are seeing developments of 1500pp being planned.

Not London based no more but when I do visit parts of Croydon are developing very quickly

Croydon isn’t London babes.

tbf neither's the 'stow

Question which might be better placed in the 'moving out of London' thread but here goes.

We're looking at a house which is outside of London, its an absolute beaut, top end of our budget but gets us so much more than in London. We would both need to commute 4 days per week, 1 day wfh. The commute would be 3mile brompton, Thameslink into London (Finsbury Park or Kings X) and then either tube or brompton at the other end. So probably 1:10-1:30 door to door. My partner doesn't drive, I do (don't currently have a car). We work 9-5 but I have flexi hours. Don't have kids (yet).

How much of a ballache would this be? How big a change of life would this be? Currently living in Leytonstone, so not super central but worried we would just never see any of our friends, no uber, can't just 'pop' into town etc.

We aren't looking to move out of London as we love living here but this house is really lovely, seems commutable and is near to my partners parents.

Long distance commuting is more tolerable the more time that you spend (as a percentage of total journey) on a single mode of transport IMO

I now have a ~3 minute walk, 60-75 minute train then 10 minute walk which is about as good as it can get for me. Before that I had to do a 20 minute (3-4 mile) Brompton ride across town after the train which was ok but it does gets annoying. Brompton was a lot faster than the tube for me and showering at the office meant I could get up later.

IMO travel between home and station is the most important bit to decrease, a 3 mile Brompton ride home might be lovely in the summer but it's a completely different proposition if you're getting off a crowded, delayed train in pissing sleet in January.

Of course a long commute is always gonna be a bit shit - depends if the positives are worth it for you (they are for me). Mind you I've never lived in London so who knows what I'm missing out on.

If you own in E11 is it perhaps worth waiting for Crossrail?

This is good info. Yeah the 3 mile trip from the house to the train station is the bit I don't like. The other option would be drive to station and tube other end and then train home together in the evening.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66048801.html

This is the house btw.

Sounds promising.

How did you find the "right people" though? Do you have friends there already with some contacts?

Stratford was rough as fuck before Westfield existed though. Now it's rough as fuck with a shopping centre :)

I'm Bristol based, not London, but work with a lot of people who do similar length commutes.

Speaking to them, I get the impression that it is a real drag, and can/does wear you out. It prevents you doing stuff in the evening because of lack of time and tiredness. And any delays on public transport are magnified on a practical & emotional level.

Personally, if I were to do it, I'd assume two days wfh a week.

man thats beautiful

We only do it cos my wife has always been based outside of London so we have friends locally through that - I don't think I'd see the value if we were both commuting.

If kids are on the cards - and they should be judging by the size of the place - check out the kind of services that are available near superhaus - it's difficult to beat what is on offer for new parents in London proper and other large cities and this plays a huge role in sanity retention.

near to my partners parents.

Of course, this would help, too.

house is lovely.
I wouldn't do it, 45min commute I used to do was enough if it happened for a long enough period of time (two weeks) to break me. Brompton helped alleviate it, as did getting a seat and reading. But from the friends I have who've made the break to the shires, making friends in your locale is essential, as friendships with people in london, fade away because of the commitment to heading out to see them. Become special event friendships rather than everyday/weekly/monthly.

How much of a ballache would this be?

It'll be manageable. Humans can adapt to most things.

How big a change of life would this be?

Huge.

Your wife will need to learn to drive tout suite.

My commutes used to be 20min bike or 30-45min on public transport. Now it's 1hr to 1.30hr either motorbike or train (12min walk, 25-35min train, 5-25min tube, 5min walk).

I always miss my old London cycling commutes. But the Thameslink train into St Pancras/Farringdon is usually pretty good. And if I didn't have the tube at the end it wouldn't be as bad.

For us within 1 mile of a station was a must. Over that and your moving into driving territory and car park fees (and depending on the size of your car park fighting for a space). Also cycling from the station in that part of the world is different from London. It'll be 100% cunts.

umop3pisdnumop3pisdn makes a good point on transport changes tho. Mrs Hugo7 used to work near one of the London train stations and started around 9.30am. Consequencally her commute decreased from her London one as the train was only ever 25min max, always with a seat and just a 2min walk the other end.

If you're already on the property lader in Leytonstone and that's your budget I can't see why you would move out. But then that's me.

You won't see your friends much and bar the odd occasion they'll never come to you. But then once you have kids you won't see them anyway, so it doesn't matter and the train journey will give you some peace for a short while.

Not trying to sound like a dick, but what are you actually hoping to gain? Just living in a fancy house?

Brother in law does basically that commute (lives 2 miles over). He hates it and wants to ditch London and job he loves as a result but he's stuck with a stupid mortgage and a stupid car loan etc plus 2 kids.

I'd never do it 4 or 5 days but 3 might be do-able.

TBH best bet is to try it out for a few days.

Travel lodge ~£35p/n

It's winter and school holidays are over so the trains are packed to fuck. Bar the 3rd wk of Jan it's pretty much the best time you could pick to try it out.

I haven't checked but I presume a season ticket from that far north is going to be the thick end of 5 large a year . That's 10 grand of gross earnings to pay the 5 grand net.

I could probably do that commute for 3-5 years but you presumably have another 25/30 years of working left and I don't think I would fancy doing that journey for that sort of time.

Kids wear you out and the last thing you will want to be doing when your baby has been up all night is getting up at stupid o'clock and fannying about with cars bikes and trains just to get to work.

£9,268 inc. travel card. £8,344 ex. travel card.

You missed out x2 if there are two of them.

If that's right that's pretty brutal. We quite liked the idea of Radlett as it's much nicer than where we are now but the ~£26p/d for transport vs £12p/d at the moment adds up, especially when we'll have nursery fees in the next year.

Not sure if trying it out is a particularly valid comparison - you need the mindset which takes time to develop. Helps if you're easygoing about things like delays, getting stressed by little things like that will drive you to an early grave. I don't intend to work in London for more than a few more years.

My season ticket is £4,600 for reference, no travelcard.

We met some folks who recommended someone to help with residency, and I did a lot of research to find an accountant who could help us set up that bit too.

Nothing a few hours of asking questions on Facebook and Googling can't help you find though.

Yeah I can see why you are drawn to that, its bloody fantastic.
I've done various commutes work wise, longest was from Southampton to Dorchester which is roughly what you are talking but I was close to the station.
As others have said the 3 miles ride is going to be what gets you, one other thing thats worth mentioning IMO is that (I think) interest rates are only going to go up, meaning mortgage repayments are only going to go up. I would be nervous about stretching myself financially at this point in time, but this just me, I'm quite risk adverse.

Also don't think that only going in 3 out of 5 days a week means you can do it for 3/5 of the cost of a season ticket. In general going in 4 out of 5 days (on individual day returns) works out no cheaper than buying a season ticket.

Going in 3 out of 5 (on individual day tickets) is usually 3/4 of the cost of a season ticket, etc.

Plus if you do it with individual tickets then you don't have a season ticket for non-commuting trips into London (although weekend tickets are generally cheaper). Buying individual tickets every day is a huge faff too.