One night in my mid-twenties I’d gone out out after work with my friend Nick and we’d ended up getting empty-stomach drunk on lots of beer. After mulling over our choices, Nick came up with the options of “carry on as we are…or move onto spirits.” I do believe we moved on to spirits, and a massive hangover. And for the next few months, this question prefixed every decision we made between continuing with something, or doing something completely new and different.
I’m telling you this story not to illustrate how sad my liver must have been at that time, but because Alex and I at a crossroads – albeit far less alcoholic, and nothing to do with Britney Spears – and it sprung to mind.
As I’ve said before, London house prices are beyond ridiculous, and we’re coming to terms with the fact that we’re never going to find a lovely, cheap-ish house in a nice area. So the choice at the moment is to carry on and stay where we are – which isn’t feasible when we’re considering the big old second baby question in the next couple of years – or take the ‘move onto spirits’ option of the big and scary step out of the city; to move on and move out.
Everyone asked when we got pregnant if we’d move away and we said no, of course not, absolutely not an option. It seems like such a cliche, and a cop-out. We’ve lived in London for a combined total of 22 years, our jobs and most of our friends are here. But those old chestnuts of space to grow, a garden for the baby that’s not three storeys down, quality of life and the appeal of going up the stairs to bed are whispering seductively in our urban-dwelling ears.
It’s a big step, and where do we go to? Wherever we live still needs to be within a reasonable commuting distance of London for work and seeing our friends. We’d like to be closer to my parents in Bournemouth, and within easy access to driving routes to Sheffield (Alex’s parents). We want somewhere that has all the benefits and features of a city or a busy town, and of course it needs to be a nice and safe place to bring up children.
Looking at the map, this leaves us with a southern triangle where everyone wants to live, and where house prices aren’t that much cheaper on top of a much more expensive commute. And it’s an area we’re pretty clueless about, so any ideas?
Answers on a postcard please (or in a comment! I asked this on Twitter recently but would love any more suggestions. Lots of people suggested Brighton and Hove but sadly I think they’re just that bit too far). But my turn at the bar, right?
Photos are: the view of London from Norwood Park, and the sign from the park with all the major landmarks on.
Catford! No need to move out of London, I reckon. Brockley’s on the up, and the people who used to want to live there (but now can’t afford to) are taking up residence in the surrounding areas. Check it out, if you haven’t already…..
This is really interesting, a few other people have mentioned Catford! Houses seem so much more reasonable there – definitely one for the top of the list, thank you x
I totally get the “going upstairs to bed thing”. We had the same dilemma pre-kid and opted for Walthamstow which we love, it has a lovely community feeling and is brilliant for kids. But not so near Bournemouth
Good luck with it all!
My friend Nick (as in he who came up with the ‘move on to spirits’ thing) lives in Walthamstow! Was just saying it’s a shame it’s not south, or that my parents lived north, as it would be perfect in many respects. I’m always amazed it’s not more popular as transport is so ideal isn’t it? x
I’m forever a fan of N Bucks, where we live. 30 mins into London and because we’re that tiny bit further out the houses are that much cheaper. Commuting costs are a headache though (£6k-ish a year) so Will tries to work from home as much as possible. I wouldn’t live anywhere other than here now though! I love it. x
That sounds perfect – 30 mins into to London is ideal, isn’t it? It’s about what it takes us now on the slooow train. I guess the commuting costs are the price you pay (literally!) for quality of life x
The answer is Walthamstow! Affordable *and* awesome! http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jan/18/lets-move-walthamstow-north-east-london
Awesomstow! It’s a shame it’s north / my parents are south really isn’t it – as it would be lots easier to get to Sheffield…
This is NOT an excuse! It’s easy peasy to get to Waterloo by crossing platforms at Ox Circus, and if you ever get a car, from Walth you go up M11 and then the M25 will take you anywhere. Seriously, MOVE HERE!
I moved to North Essex five years ago (Walton on the Naze) – mostly in the hope we would have a family and not have to raise them in London. We now have an 11 month old. I live ten houses from the beach, two minutes from two parks and there is no over-subscription for the local primary school. The only downside is that the commute to London is horrible – over two hours – and expensive, but I only do it twice a week and work from home the rest of the time so I suck it up. Oh, and I paid £250k for a two bed flat in London. We paid £150k for a three bed house with a nice garden here. It was a no brainer for us.
There’s always Wales
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We’ve been in the same dilema of moving somewhere where we can get a proper sized house (currently in East London) and I’ve got to back everyone saying Walthamstow. The prices are the best I’ve seen and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it….but let’s see if I can tear myself away from central…
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