Belles30

Oh brilliant!

cheeky_monkey

Ummm because its Essex...its where the beautiful people live...kent is next to France so has a faint whiff of garlic and BO.

Droidling

Say that when your vantage point is Grays,Thurrock. With everything covered in 1/2" soot never has a place been so aptly named !! Now that is the *rse end of the universe !! You've been watching far too much TOWIE !! We always used to say the water went down the plughole the other way round in Essex !!

cheeky_monkey

i never seen Towie i just grew up and lived in Essex that's all so i know exactly what is like. Anyway look on the other side of the estuary..nice big isle of grain power station..there

Droidling

Each to their own ;-). The best bits of Essex ? Ongar,Epping forest,Rayleigh,Southend at a push. Unless you go to the whoop whoops. The rest is all modern dross like Sth Woodham Ferrers and Basildon/Pitsea ... Yeeeuuuchh.
No amount of money/beer/essex girls I'm afraid !!

MagsB

Soooo Jasey, are you back yet and what is your verdict on Kent?

Bo-Jangles

Ohh yes, I too would love to hear the verdict.

MagsB

Jasey, yooohooo! Are you there?

britwhore

Resurrecting an old thread but I wanted to see if Belles30 has had a chance to look at Westerham?!?!?! Looks like we might be renting in that village. Turns out the bus from Westerham goes to Bromley south (30 mins) and then the train goes from BS to Victoria (20 mins) and it's all under Zone 6!! So you can either use an oyster card or a travel card.

It's a lovely village with some great pubs and lots of history. My husband likes it as it's near his family (Tatsfield) easy to get to other family in Canterbury but also easy to get to the City for work. We've visited 3 times now.

Also he did mention something about "no staffies and tattoos on necks..."!!!!

Maltoo

be careful about downloading propertybee it installed all kinds of crap(spyware and nuisanceware on my computer, had to uninstall my browser and loss all my bookmarks to get rid of the toolbar it installed without asking

love this thread though

Pistolpete2

That's a nice tip ref the bus/train link from Westerham to Victoria, even though I think it more likely to typically run just over 1hr 10mins from Westerham Green to Victoria door-to-door, so to speak.

Was always a fan of the place when we lived in Sevenoaks, along with Brasted. Typically I follow part of that bus route (through Westerham and Biggin Hill) when I routinely drive from Gatwick to Bromley Common (see below junctions).

Only drawback I can think of is that it is rather hard to get onto the M25 there as you either have to almost go into Sevenoaks (Junction 5) or way past Godstone (Junction 6) the other way. Plus you cannot make a right to get onto the M26 towards Canterbury at Junction 5 so might as well go all the way up the M25 until it connects to the M2. Not really a big deal! Anyway, drawbacks can sometimes be positive news when they are not a major inconvenience to you personally but can potentially slash useful pounds off the rent or house price.

mayhemuk

Not read the whole thread in detail but is there a reason Hertfordshire did not come up as a possible?

Pistolpete2

When the OP first OPd as I recall, he was looking at Kent and access to Charing Cross because that is where the work was or was likely to be. So Hertfordshire was not really of particular interest. OP was also from South Africa (not a Brit) and was looking at SA communities, one of which is apparently in Ashford, Kent.

OP wanted space, a detached property at a budget and plenty of room for his multiple animals to run around and thought he favoured Kent, though possibly also Essex.

So not much talk of Hertfordshire. Plenty of other threads cover that side of London favourably.

rroodhardt

Folkestone is improving.. and there's lots of investment going on and a fast train into Kings Cross St Pancras... one to consider, I'd say.

UK IFA

Unfortunately you are in a difficult position, everybody has there opinions on good or bad areas based on their experiences.

Having been in this position myself many years ago, all you can do is make your arrangements as flexible as possible to suits you basic needs, ie close to work to reduce travel costs, cheapish renting, and good travel facilities.

This then gives you the time to "explore" and come to your own decisions. I appreciate schooling may be an issue and it's one thing you may need to deal with sooner rather than later, and if so, may be you time your move to coincide iht school holidays.

Unfortunately it is a time exercise .