Places to Live - Working in Croydon

[EssexDave]

Hi guys,

It's likely as of September I will be starting work in Croydon. I'm currently living in Blackheath near Greenwich and I want to get out and find somewhere a bit nicer to live.

My partner still wants to be able to commute to London fairly easily (i.e., one train in).

We're both keen to be close to (i.e., reasonable driving distance) to Epsom and Southend on Sea.

I wondered whether anybody had any suggestions on nice places to live that satisfy those criteria?

We're paying £1,000/month for rent at the minute, but I'd very much like to try and keep that down, however unlikely that may be!

[L3nny]

Milton Keynes is 35 mins from Euston on the train. £1000 pm will get you a 3 bed semi. Train fares are a lot though.

[Heorot]

What sort of property are you looking for? I did a search for Coulsden where my brother lives and a 3 bed will set you back £1350 a month. Coulsden is typical of commuter towns in the Croyden area. Croyden is about the same. For £1000 you are looking at a one bed property in that area.

[EssexDave]

My partner and I have no kids so 1/2 bed would be fine. We'd rather a house/bungalow over a flat/apartment but it would be a case of looking at cost and determining it.

The thing is, I don't know much of the potential areas we could live down south, especially that is a reasonable commute to Croydon but equally accessible to London on the train.

I'm not sure Milton Keynes would work just because it's so far away from Croydon!

[L3nny]

Yeah probably, forget how big London is.

[timwilky]

Christ man

I don't know how you lot afford it. Average rental round here is about £600 for a 2 bed semi and about £800 for somewhere in a nice part.

[ClunkintheUK]

Where in London is she commuting to? as you say, it is a big place.

[ophic]

Christ man

I don't know how you lot afford it. Average rental round here is about £600 for a 2 bed semi and about £800 for somewhere in a nice part.
You're not joking. Having done the north to south move, I'm earning a lot more, but just as strapped for cash as I ever was.

[Trev B]

It's all proportional mate,it's the same everywhere in the world,you can't get 5 stars for 5 dollars!!!

[L3nny]

Christ man

I don't know how you lot afford it. Average rental round here is about £600 for a 2 bed semi and about £800 for somewhere in a nice part.

Yeah but we ave 'lectric n waaader oot taps ;)

Seriously though I could never live in London, my sister lives in Peckham which is a dive and pays £1200 a month for a 1 bed ground floor flat and I can get into the centre in about the same time as her from MK.

Sorry for hijack, a lot of people live there so there must be a good reason.

[EssexDave]

She doesn't know specifically, but she wants the option to commute to Central London for jobs so anything that can get her into London Bridge/Victoria/Liverpool Street/Fenchurch/Waterloo etc would be fine.

For me, I'd rather be a bit more out in the country to save on a bit of cash and have somewhere a bit nicer.

[maviczap]

Live somewhere on the new high speed train route in Kent. You could live a bit further out, but still keep the same commuting time?

Rentals might be cheaper, but your fares are going to be higher?

[EssexDave]

I'll be commuting to Croydon and I'm happy to take the motorbike. I also have the car if required.

Ideally, I'd like to be within a reasonable cycling distance (preferably 6-15 miles, although I'm open to whatever).

[maviczap]

If I were you, i'd have a test ride into your destination at your commute time, as Croydon gets gridlocked

[EssexDave]

I'd probably be getting in at 7:30/8 and hopefully miss most of the traffic. Of course this assumes I find somewhere to live ;)

[figaro]

Come to Surrey mate, God's country;)

Half hour commute by bike to Croydon, and direct train link from Woking. Guildford's nicer, though.

[Heorot]

L3nny, Getting to Croyden from MK would be a b1tch. Train in, underground to west Croyden (2 different trains) and then a walk/taxi to your workplace. Cost a fortune in time and money. Cheaper to rent in the Croyden area even though it's expensive.

[ophic]

L3nny, Getting to Croyden from MK would be a b1tch. Train in, underground to west Croyden (2 different trains) and then a walk/taxi to your workplace. Cost a fortune in time and money. Cheaper to rent in the Croyden area even though it's expensive.
There's definitely a direct train from East Croydon to MK. No idea how long it takes or how often it runs.

East Croydon has trains going everywhere so anywhere near a train station anywhere around Croydon would be easily able to commute in. I commuted through Croydon to London all last summer and it gets busy but motorcycles can normally cut through it.

The main train lines south of Croydon follow the same routes as the main roads as they cut through the same two valleys that converge at Purley. Purley is nice but pricey - anywhere south of here is also reasonably ok. You've got Coulsdon as already mentioned, Caterham down the other valley, and small towns in between, eg Whyteleafe where I live, all easily commutable to Croydon or even central London by bike or train. You might need to push up your budget a bit though.

Failing that you can go outside the M25 and still commute in. In short there are an awful lot of nice places to live in easy commute range of Croydon. As always the trick is to find somewhere nice and affordable. Good hunting!

[BernardBikerchick]

I lived in Sanderstead for a couple of years which is an easy commute to both places and a really lovely area xxx

BBC

[madnlooney]

i used to live in Caterham, which is nice.
Trains direct to London Bridge and Victoria also goes through East Croydon.
M25 about 5 - 10 minutes away