Property Location- Commutable to London?

[Squiggles on Paper]

I've done a few shows in the Milton Keynes & Buckinghamshire area which is reasonably close to london. I keep my horse in Elstree (in Herts) which is only 45mins drive for me from the centre of london. Not eventing but regular SJ and DR shows (both aff and unaff) with gallops and an XC course a short drive away is Patchetts. I go there a lot for shows and its great

 

[ChiffChaff]

Agree with Essex, probably one of the easiest commutes to Liverpool Street. Where I live (Havering) it is about 30 minutes to Liverpool Street and pretty horsey in terms of loads of yards and hacking plus Norton Heath, Brook Farm and a couple of other places nearby. As mentioned already, Ingatestone is AMAZING! Not sure about the higher end competing as that is not something I do x

 

[CBAnglo]

Essex is horsey, but depending on the type of livery you are looking for, might not suit (most yards have very limited/no turnout in winter) unless you move further out than Chelmsford. If he works in Liverpool Street then you can also consider trains into Moorgate which is only 5 mins walk to Liverpool Street and opens up a lot of Herts where you can get better turnout.

Have your parents not started doing the research into suitable areas? Or is the move dependent on where you can keep horses?

 

[rachel_s]

If its Liverpool st - then Essex is your best bet. It can be an hour to cross London (from mainland station to another) and personally I wouldn't want to do paddington to Liverpool st five days a week in rush hour.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

What rachel_s and others say ^^ Essex is obvious for Liverpool Street.

I'm 5 mins' drive from Patchetts EC and from Watford, it's 20 minutes to Euston by train. Housing is very reasonable here.

 

[imr]

If he needs to be near liv st then forget Paddington or anywhere like that which will mean a tube or bus rides and a big increase in journey time. I would similarly forget Surrey or anywhere to Waterloo.
Look at the lines into moorgate or Liverpool st both have lots of horsey places on them.

 

[Jesstickle]

Kings cross to liverpool street isn't too bad. OH used to do it on foot regularly as commuter tube is yack!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Catembi is skating between stations in London, your dad could get/stay fit whilst commuting!! :biggrin3:

 

[ChiffChaff]

Essex is horsey, but depending on the type of livery you are looking for, might not suit (most yards have very limited/no turnout in winter) unless you move further out than Chelmsford. If he works in Liverpool Street then you can also consider trains into Moorgate which is only 5 mins walk to Liverpool Street and opens up a lot of Herts where you can get better turnout.

This is true...24/7 turnout is unlikely, which is the price you pay for being so close to London I guess. Most places that I know of do offer daily turnout throughout winter, except the one that my loan is on (typical!) - if you're in greenbelt territory then you're more likely to get better turnout.

 

[CaleruxShearer]

I live just outside Welwyn in Herts, it's fairly horsey, lots of yards and good motorway links for competing etc. The train from Welwyn North to Kings Cross is about 30 mins or Welwyn Garden City to either Kings Cross or Moorgate both about 30 mins. I would have thought you would be able to find a reasonable house for 450k round here if you only need 3 bedrooms.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I live just outside Welwyn in Herts, I would have thought you would be able to find a reasonable house for 450k round here if you only need 3 bedrooms.

Crikey! £300, 000 round here for 3 beds! And tons closer to London!

 

[UKa]

Check places on the Liv Street to Stansted/ Cambridge train line, the Herts/ Essex border. Harlow, Sawbridgeworth, Bishop's Stortford, Stansted Village. There is also Hertford or Ware on another trainline from Liv Street although Hertford is pricey for property, or check the trainline from Moorgate to Stevenage there are some village stops too.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

here's a couple of examples of what you could get for your money within 50 minutes commute to Liverpool St.

This one has 1.4 acres, so ponies could be at home; http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/18079839?more_details_carousel=1_carousel=1
This one has just under half an acre; http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/27415644

 

[Joeyjojo]

I agree that Essex would make sense if your Dad needs Liverpool street. I always try and minimise the faffing on other lines once your in London, makes the commute easier (and more pleasant if you can avoid the tube)!

This is a great website for working out train commuting times - it'll give you all train stations that have a 50 min commute to Liverpool st http://www.commutefrom.com/

 

[littlemare_]

As another option what about berkhire? Dorney/taplow is rural and there are plenty of good facilities. Bury farm and boomerang are close enough! There are some decent liverys round there and youll never be short on grazing.

Its 40 minutes into paddington on the trains..

 

[imr]

Another idea is the thameslink line into farringdon or city thameslink, which would take you to south beds (flitwick, harlington) which isnt especially pricey, or one of the kent/sussex lines which go into cannon street, blackfriars or london bridge, or the south essex lines into fenchurch street.

To be honest it really depends on exactly where your dad needs to get to and then just work out what is within 50 minutes of that, then start narrowing it down by looking on rightmove etc. Also beware of a few things - walking to the station, or not, for example. Station parking is expensive. Some places get lots of trains, others very few. I don't know what sort of hours your dad does or how regular but if they are dead regular then infrequent trains are less of a problem, whereas if they are irregular you want quite a frequent service so you arent stranded for hours waiting for a train. It makes a big difference to live in ingatestone or hatfield peverel to living in chelmsford for example (chelmsford gets lots of trains, the others, not so much !) I used to do hertford to moorgate and now i do chelmsford to liv st and tbh its quicker and a lot more frequent (but more of a squash and costs more) although both are basically ok commutes. You couldnt pay me to go back to doing rickmansworth to moorgate on the met line (awful, awful, long, unreliable, infrequent, reduced me to tears on the platform repeatedly) or to do any of the lines into waterloo followed by the drain into bank (the drain in rush hour is possibly the most vile form of public transport ever) or to come in from the west and have to tube across london from paddington or the like which takes at least half an hour and is vile.

 

[OliveBuffy1129]

Another idea is the thameslink line into farringdon or city thameslink, which would take you to south beds (flitwick, harlington) which isnt especially pricey, or one of the kent/sussex lines which go into cannon street, blackfriars or london bridge, or the south essex lines into fenchurch street.

To be honest it really depends on exactly where your dad needs to get to and then just work out what is within 50 minutes of that, then start narrowing it down by looking on rightmove etc. Also beware of a few things - walking to the station, or not, for example. Station parking is expensive. Some places get lots of trains, others very few. I don't know what sort of hours your dad does or how regular but if they are dead regular then infrequent trains are less of a problem, whereas if they are irregular you want quite a frequent service so you arent stranded for hours waiting for a train. It makes a big difference to live in ingatestone or hatfield peverel to living in chelmsford for example (chelmsford gets lots of trains, the others, not so much !) I used to do hertford to moorgate and now i do chelmsford to liv st and tbh its quicker and a lot more frequent (but more of a squash and costs more) although both are basically ok commutes. You couldnt pay me to go back to doing rickmansworth to moorgate on the met line (awful, awful, long, unreliable, infrequent, reduced me to tears on the platform repeatedly) or to do any of the lines into waterloo followed by the drain into bank (the drain in rush hour is possibly the most vile form of public transport ever) or to come in from the west and have to tube across london from paddington or the like which takes at least half an hour and is vile.

He works about 10 mins from Liverpool street but he walks from the station to his work, ideally he'd have to get peak time trains to be there for 9am ish and then come back after work at 5/6, thank you very much!

 

[OliveBuffy1129]

Thank you very very much to everyones suggestiond on this post! I will take a further look into everyones suggestions and have a look on rightmove etc, once again thanks again

 

[teacups]

here's a couple of examples of what you could get for your money within 50 minutes commute to Liverpool St.

This one has 1.4 acres, so ponies could be at home; http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/18079839?more_details_carousel=1_carousel=1
This one has just under half an acre; http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/27415644

Wow. I've just looked at the first link, and around here you don't stand a hope in hell of getting that much house + land for that money! We live in North Yorkshire. What an interesting thread!