Moved to Bedford nearly 10 years ago from North London as we wanted a quieter lifestyle as both kids were in primary school at the time. Although much slower paced than London the town is multicultural, with lots of green spaces. Quite a few big high street shops have closed over the years. However, Milton Keynes or Luton is just over half hour drive away. No issues with obtaining African or Caribbean, or South Asian foods etc. I commute to London St Pancras, 5 minutes walk to work. I travel by East Midlands railway. If you know your work schedule at least 12 weeks ahead I would recommend getting advanced tickets 12 weeks before you travel you save around 60% on tickets, and are for the specific EMR train only. EMR website provides more information. All in all we are happy with the move, have made loads of friends.
Funny, we actually had this in some of the locations. We removed it for some as part of making the video shorter. Now we know you consider it important, we'll add it next time.
Northampton is great too. The train to Birmingham stops at Northampton and Rugby which you mentioned. Also Milton Keynes, though getting quite pricey. Great job, very detailed information 👏👏👏
You missed Milton Keynes, 35 minutes to London Euston, great amenities, modern city, good mix of countryside life & has a small town feel. Easy to drive to the midlands and also to London. Good schools, grammar school 20 minutes drive, lots of new builds that are not super expensive and large roads! Only downside are the roundabouts & fast drivers but you get used to them.
Love this series! It would also be great to include if there are farmer markets in the area. 😊 This is sometimes an appealing factor, particularly if healthy eating is a priority too. 😊
yayy Bedford. moved to Bedford just over 5.5yrs ago from Wathamstow east london, my wife is from Wembley NW london, got 2 young kids in primary school. Bedford is the best ever, We are never moving back to london. Not gonna lie, if you have to go into London for work via train more than 3/4 times a week, it'll be is quite pricey. should be able to drive into areas outside central london, but you would have to leave really early, like 5:30/6am to miss traffic on the M1 or A1. again factor in fuel costs. If you are able to get some travel costs reimbursed by employer that would be great. if you want proper Westfield type shopping then Milton keynes is 30mins away. very multicultural area. affordable houses if looking to buy. alot of outstanding rated schools. loads of activities for kids. and for us when we need to visit family in London on weekends, 40-50mins drive and we're at Brent Cross on the A406 North Circular. overall very happy with Bedford. if travel costs seem too high, maybe look at jobs closer to Bedford, youll find there are loads
Surprised you didn't mention Canterbury,55mins into st Pancras and easy commute to nearby seaside Town like Whitstable,HerneBay,Dover,Folkestone.2 Universties,very popular small city
That internal dichotomy of wanting you guys to thrive but missing when I felt like you were my secret 😢. I guess I can share😂 Thanks again for the gems guys. I think for sharing this invaluable info. My goals are changing now in terms of buying but you guys seems to always have something for me. Thank you.
Romford has amazing amenities and green spaces (e.g. the wonderful Raphael Park), with a super quick connection to central London, while being part of Greater London. The crime stats seem a bit odd - we've never had any problems. Gidea Park (part of wider Romford area) is absolutely fantastic - established as a 'garden suburb' in the early twentieth century, modelled on Hampstead. Has Raphael Park and cute gastropubs etc on Main Road, plus its own Gidea Park station on the Elizabeth Line. Highly recommended. A hidden London gem.
Thank for sharing 🙏🏾. Yeah, the crime stat is odd but consistent across different sources although it differs for different parts of Romford. Tbh, we'd buy in Romford if we were buying again as I think there is a lot of potential in the area.
Surprised you mentioned Bedford. Universal have also bought land in bedford to build a massive theme park. Guess the cat the out the bag. Moved here two years ago to be closer to work and the thameslink train to london was a pleasant surprise. House prices here are still pretty affordable but over the past few years they have been increasing sharply. However, Trains service on sunday is unreliable.
Hi Joseph Brilliant tip! Someone else also mentioned the Universal point. We appreciate the local insight. Thanks for sharing :). Do share this video with others.
Greetings from London N22. Been here 22 years. 2/3 bedroom maisonettes with own front door and garden, period features, £400-450k. Tubes, buses, mainline stations everywhere. Zone 3 North London
Not on your list bur Guildford rates high in my book. Great schools, One of only 2 Royal Grammar Schools in the UK and high tech industries if you have the skills. Not the cheapest area but cheaper than London and good rail links to Waterloo.
Luton is great. High crime rate. High unemployment. Low economic growth. These sound negative. But it means low property prices and only 40 mins from London 😂
Woking is not great, clubs and pubs are poor the crime I felt was the worst out of all the places I lived in Surrey. The station is good to get to London but there are certainly better places in surrey where I've lived before e.g Guildford or virginia water
I think you've convinced me to move from Birmingham to Rugby - I am travelling to London one long weekend a month for work purposes and plan to live part time in Spain from 2025 so the £200/month rent reduction makes sense! Happy New Year to you both. Thank you for another year of high value! May 2024 host many more incredible blessings for you and your whole family ❤
Wow, we're pleased to read this. Part time in Spain sounds awesome! Any reason you chose Spain? Happy New year 🎉 and thank you for the super kind message 😊🙏🏾
Yup. I'm familiar with Romford. Unfortunately, I've experienced burglaries here...Just the otherday someone tried to break into my car! Theres frequent shoplifting and just anti-social behaviour amongst the youth in some parts. You're pretty bang on the money regarding the positives. Plenty to do in terms of shopping/resturants/clubs. Theres lots of ongoing new build developments too. Romford has some nice parts but for anyone looking...Maybe check out neighboring Gidea park and Hornchurch too!
The comuting costs are insane! We were thinking to buy a house in Welwyn Garden City but comute costs put us off. Also trains are not reliable these days because of strikes and delays. We are considering now to buy a flat in London and try to pay off mortgage as soon as possible.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. My problem with flats is the uncontrollable service charges, lack of space and the fact that they usually don't rise in value as quickly as houses. What part of London do you want to buy in?
That's so true! And leashold system is another headache. It is difficult desicion to make. We are currently renting in West London, Harrow on the hill. So looking in the same area. It is hard for us first buyers right now.
I moved from Streatham, South London to Milton Keynes. My view the best decision I ever made. Firstly, 1hr to London. Cheap houses and very low crime. However, with the move to flexible working, I no longer consider London being my reason for living in Milton Keynes, it's really the space I needed for my daughter.
I'm looking for getting a place too, and I.have been looking all over the places for my dad and I, 3-bedroom house would be perfect for us. Love milton keynes, if I am.not mistaken, houses are very pricey. Maybe I was looking @ a different area.
@@yvonnesanita7230Consider looking on the Whitehouse development. They have affordable properties and I think some of them are shared ownership. One of my colleagues lives there with his wife and he loves it!
@@yvonnesanita7230 i would definitely recommend Milton Keynes. Prices have gone up but you will get a lovely property for say £400k - £525k. ( you can get ofcourse get a house for less than this though) I recommend the west of MK.
Basingstoke and Reading are possibly one of the best commuter belts in the country. Affordable housing and job opportunities, both close to the M3 and M4. Plus both areas are diverse, especially Reading. Only downsides is entertainment and shopping to some extent. Oh, if you work 5 days a week in London, then commuter costs will be as insane as the other towns that these guys have mentioned.
My whole family live Hitchin! It’s the best place to Live really 33mins into Kings X plus the outstanding grammar schools and charming character town centre is so so good
Hitchin is certainly an attractive old market town, with good schools and easy access to London, Cambridge and Peterborough. You can also consider the neighbouring North Herts towns of Letchworth, Baldock. and the old town Stevenage. New town Stevenage, though not far, is much bigger and has an entirely different character.
Thank you for sharing. This has been really informative! Appreciate all thw information youve shared. I was just wondering whether youve covered places like Oxfordshire?
You should add Wellingborough to this list. 4 huge new housing developments with all the usual house builders here. 56mins into London st Pancras via EMR. I work for London Underground and have alot of colleagues that live up here also. Was renting a 2 bed flat in dalston London until we moved to Wellingborough a year ago purchasing a 4 bed house for our family if 4. So many ex Londoners and Milton Keynes folks up here now. Best move we've ever made. 2 new primary schools have opened in the town/developments and a new secondary school is due to be built. The town is growing fast!!
@@Tee-l4h This is the exact question we asked ourselves before committing to our move. Ultimately we spent time researching the town/community. 1. Spoke with local businesses that reflect the community and cultures that were from. 2. Looked at the various schools performance & cultural make up of pupils and curriculum around faiths/cultures. 3. Spent a week in an air b&b to gauge what real life day to day living would be like. 4. Visited each of the developments we were interested in to get a feel for the environment and speak to those already living there. Not only is Wellingborough multicultural but I find Northamptonshire multicultural. Great transport links to London, Birmingham, Luton, Cambridge, Milton Keynes and so on. Just a great place to be on the map. 1yr 6mths later and we couldn't be happier with our decision. I wish you and your family the very best
Thanks both! I've quickly gone through this video, the previous and recent one about why you moved out of London because we're considering moving and thinking of getting my daughter into a grammar school or outstanding one. So, these two videos have been extremely helpful in narrowing down some places to consider that are affordable but also close proximity to London as I still need to commute in three days a week. Personally, I would love to hear your views about the process of applying to a grammar school. I don't think within our community it's not widely known as an option, probably because many of these schools are located in Kent now, but if someone like me is considering moving anyway, knowing the benefits and cons for your children would be great.
I've lived in or near a few of these places! 1. Reading - feels like a town in decline despite crossrail, huge homelessness problem and very far from London, if trains not working, no backups. 2. Dartford - grim but self-contained (has everything you need in it). 3. Sevenoaks - nicest parts are way out of most people's budgets, might as well buy in London; affordable parts are grim. 4. Stevenage - absolutely grim craphole, smackheads and racists. Horrendous transport and town centre. Do not even bother. 5. Maidenhead - pretty but boring, nothing there - you will need to travel to other towns often. 6. Epping - don't know. 7. Gravesend - depressing as hell, feels like the end of the world. 8. Horley - don't know. 9. Redhill - don't know. 10. Chatham - feels like a nothingplace.
@@batemanlife For commuter towns: St Albans (best vibe), Watford (best commuter links), Amersham (best quality of life). Basically Herts and Bucks. Not commuter towns but Edinburgh (best city in the UK), Bristol (best city in England only), Norwich (amazingly slept on city, very affordable housing) - in that order!
Luton has a bad reputation but I think it’s better than Bedford for living and commute and I’ve lived here most of my life. Also, there are some nice residential areas on the outskirts of town at affordable prices.
@@Mr.GeeKhan786 brother I’m Asian. My wife is from Luton. Saints area, near Wardown park. Don’t you watch 24hrs in Police Custody. I don’t just say stuff on the internet for clout. I actually know Luton well. Hence why I think it’s awful.
