Your thoughts on: Bedford, Kettering, Stevenage, St. Neots, Chelmsford, Braintre

As I research areas that meet our criteria to live in when we move over, I wanted to get people's opinions on these areas. Yes, I've done LOTS of Google searches on each of these towns, read lots of articles, watched lots of YouTube videos. Now I'm looking for "real-world" thoughts on them from you all!

I understand you may not have experience in ALL of the areas and that's OK. Just looking for real-world experiences.  (ie: I've been told very strictly by my cousin-in-law over there to avoid Luton because it is a... well, you can fill in the blank). 

Also, I'm using these city names however I'm looking in the general areas. I don't need to live IN Bedford or IN Stevenage or IN Chelmsford. I'm just looking for your thoughts on the general areas.

Reason for these areas:
1.) Train Travel Time - My work will be in London and I'll be traveling to Liverpool Station. So I've been checking the train travel times from each locations mentioned and they are about the travel times I could manage. Obviously shorter would be better.
2.) Yard space - We have 2 Boarder Collies and we want a yard and I know its easier to find rental houses with yards further out.
3.) Rental Cost - Based on our budget of approx £700-1400 a month.
4.) House type/Space - We want at least a 3 bedroom detached or semi-detached.
5.) North of London - His family all lives up in Newcastle so we'll be traveling up there frequently and would prefer to live north of London

Based on my research, the travel times are best along the routes going up from London to Bedford/Kettering area, Stevenage/Letchworth/St Neots area, and out to Chelmsford/Braintree area.

Info I'm Looking For:
1.) How is the commute via train? (I currently live in Seattle and the drive in is usually an hour, the drive home is usually 1 1/2-2 hrs so I'm used to long commutes)
2.) Are there enough stores so you don't feel like you live out in the middle of no-where but also not too many so you feel like you live in a concrete jungle?
3.) Overpriced for what you get in the area? (ie: I know some of these areas are more expensive because they are near commuter hubs but is the pay off worth it for it being a beautiful city, lots of parks, easy to get out of town, low crime, nearby shopping w/o feeling congested, etc.)
4.) Historic - We both historic areas, beautiful old buildings, nice nature areas, etc.

Type of People We Are:
1.) My husband and I like to get out and explore. I can see us driving out to different parts of the country a couple times a month to just explore the towns and Heritage sites.
2.) We are not really "night life" people but we do like pubs. My husband is a musician so we are hoping to find some places that have Celtic music sessions.
3.) We have 2 dogs but we are not really walkers so having a yard they can run around in is important, which I know is near impossible the closer you get to London.
4.) The first place we rent we know is only going to be temporary (maybe 6 months - a year) and once we get there, we'll get a better feel for the area. Who knows! Maybe we'll love the first area we move to, but thats why I'm doing this research now.
5.) While we want to be near enough (within 15 miles) to a city to go to an ASDA, a mall, a movie theater, etc. we want also don't NEED to live in the city. He would prefer a village setting. I just don't want to feel secluded. I love driving and am fine to do it. We'll have at least 1 car, probably 2.

Hope thats enough to go on. If you have definite "DO NOT MOVE THERE" opinions, can you please provide some explanation why? Only because what may be a deal-breaker for some, may not be for others.

THANK YOU!

Hi. You're doing great research!  Unfortunately I can't help you with it (we're in Scotland) but in case you have not come across it yet, rightmove.co.uk will give you an idea of the rental market in the areas you're considering.

Best of luck with it!

Yeah Rightmove (and a handful of others) have been essential to my searches. I just wish they forced the places to state square footage. So hard to guess with some of them.

But Rightmove has helped me narrow down the search to these areas as well.

I can't really give advice on those areas, but just make sure you check into the reliability of the trains you'll be dependent on. Also check parking availability wherever you move. the Google transit times are a "best case" scenario so sometimes it can be a lot longer!

And the enormous COST of train tickets.  Super expensive.  And they go up by a huge percentage every year.

And the enormous COST of train tickets.  Super expensive.  And they go up by a huge percentage every year.

Train tickets are crazy - I live only 120 miles (2 hours on the train) north of London, but if I wanted to take the train there tomorrow, it would cost me £120 for a Day Return or £76 for the cheapest singles (leaving at 7am and returning at 9:30pm).

The National Express bus is 'only' £24, but it takes 5.5 hours each way and there's only 2 coaches per day, meaning I'd have to stay overnight in London.

On the other hand, my parents live 120 miles west of London, and while the 1.5-hour train costs £79 for a day return, I could take a 2.5-hour National Express bus starting at £6 each way.

In comparison, I could get a single AMTRAK ticket across the entire United States (3 days, LA to New York) for less than £150.

And the enormous COST of train tickets.  Super expensive.  And they go up by a huge percentage every year.

Yeah... I was hoping that was part of their planning!

For reference: we live in Bracknell, my husband travels to Waterloo Station once a week. It costs the same for transport weekly as it did when he was commuting daily from SE London, with a 1.5+ hr commute each way now. Our house is decent and in your price range, but if that commute was daily he'd need to earn a lot more! But in London in a crummy part of town £850-900 would get you a tiny cramped flat with no garden and likely no kitchen (I mean we had a cooker but half a sink and just over a foot of counter space over a terrible washing machine)... Quality of life here is nothing like the states anywhere near London!

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Yes, train tickets are already factored in. Living inside the London ring is not an option so already budgeted in all the train tickets and parking at train station (if needed). Really just trying to figure out what those cities are like and if I can type any out ahead of time.

We are coming over next July for a cousins wedding and will be coming down to London for a handful of days so we can explore each of the areas, ride the train in and see how they are, etc. just trying to proactively rule any out by other characteristics since it’s hard to judge a city based on online info alone.

Yes, train tickets are already factored in. Living inside the London ring is not an option so already budgeted in all the train tickets and parking at train station (if needed). Really just trying to figure out what those cities are like and if I can type any out ahead of time.

We are coming over next July for a cousins wedding and will be coming down to London for a handful of days so we can explore each of the areas, ride the train in and see how they are, etc. just trying to proactively rule any out by other characteristics since it’s hard to judge a city based on online info alone.

Sadly, you'll find that even though the train tickets are very expensive, it will be highly unlikely you will get a seat on the train.  Nothing like standing for 90 minutes on a cramped train and paying a fortune to do so.   

You honestly may want to see if you can find something along the Northern Line tube. You may be able to increase your housing budget a bit by decreasing the transport costs, and the other bonus is being near the end of the line means you get a seat most times! My husband lived in Muswell Hill for quite a while with roommates and it was lovely - close to Camden and not a terrible commute.

Maybe others could chime in, but aren't all those places in the middle of Essex? 

Have you ever watched TOWIE?  Are you ready to live it?  God forbid if there are children involved and you have to name them Chardonnay and they say "Brill".

I can only assume from the detail of your question that you actually have researched other places, but why not South West London?   Or Ascot?  The rents aren't that high.

Only 2 of those places are in Essex. The rest are in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

I'll take a look at where you suggested however, we are preferring to stay to the north of London. 

Or Ascot?  The rents aren't that high.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hi, I live along the train line that runs North out of London through Stevenage and St Neots up to Peterborough. Here's what I know:

Your cousin-in-law is right about Luton. I'd add Stevenage to the list of places not to live (unless you reeeeeeally like concrete).

There are about a zillion little towns and villages along the northbound train line (we live in Biggleswade), and because it's a decent commute into London the house prices have skyrocketed in the last few years and they're building thousands of new houses while planning to build thousands more. You can see where they're planning to build here: http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/planning/policy/local-plan/landing.aspx

(The plan hasn't been approved yet, but based on my experience seeing how these things go over the few years I've been here, it's all going to go ahead because people with a lot of money have sorted it all out in advance with their buddies in government. Don't get me started; they're going to build something like 6,000 houses on the farm fields about 20 feet behind my house, so I'm a little annoyed. )

Sorry for that digression.

How is the commute by train?

You mention working near Liverpool Street. Currently the train would take you into King's Cross (the time would obviously depend on how far North and how far from your local station you'd live ), and you'd have to get a tube train for another 25 minutes or so to get to Liverpool Street.

They have just introduced a new service that goes to London Bridge, and you could get that to Farringdon which is only 6 minutes by tube from Liverpool Street, but at the moment the new train schedule is utter chaos, so I can't comment on how reliable it will eventually be. From Biggleswade it's rare that I don't get a seat on the train at rush hour, but from Stevenage south, it's more common to have to stand.

Even before the new schedule their service wasn't amazing; figure one day a week where you'd be delayed by weather, broken trains, absent staff, suicide somewhere on the line, broken track somewhere along the line, or some other random stupidity.

As others have said, the cost of a yearly ticket is exorbitant. I work freelance, so I only go in a few times per week, and I pay £32 for a round trip ticket from Biggleswade.

Stores?

If you live in a little village you'll be lucky to have a village shop. Smaller towns (Biggleswade has 16,000 people) have a mix of big box stores and local shops, but some towns are better than others. Biggleswade tends toward hairdressers and coffee shops, Hitchin has a better mix.

Overpriced?

Along the northbound train line, Hitchin and Letchworth are the towns I know are nice (good parks, nice local shopping, etc), but they're also both crazy expensive.

Historic?

I don't think any of the towns along the line are particularly historic. There's the occasional big fancy home like there are all over England (Hatfield House, Knebworth House, etc), and lots of the villages have 800 year old churches, but Stevenage itself looks like it was built in 1974 by Her Royal Majesty's Bureau of Concrete, and there are a lot of "retail parks" which is British for the kind of outdoor mall you'd build around a Wal-Mart in the USA.

The idea of renting a temporary place to get a feel for the area is a good one, and I wouldn't worry too much about feeling secluded. We live in the middle of farmland outside of town with only 4 neighbors, but it still only takes a few minutes to get anywhere. In my experience most of England is pretty compact.

I hope that helps. I know it was pretty disjointed, and for that I'm sorry.

That was perfect. That you camoscato.