Where to live in London?
 

I liked living in Saffron Walden, just north of STN. nice market town. was there 1999-2001

Live as far away as possible, its a real dump now.

One word DON'T. If Stansted based South Cambridgeshire is very nice but a bit expensive property wise.

In my plating days I delivered a car to a bloke who worked at Stansted. He lived in Dunmow. Seemed like a pleasant little place.

As a general rule if you dont work in London dont live there , Ridiculously expensive and while some nice areas there are lots of less nice areas often just down the road, much like many capitals.
So if you can live the other side of STN and if you can find a town or village which doesnt have good rail access to London you will get more for your money because most people want a good train commute.
One thing about London is that it is very big-virtually everywhere inside the M25 motorway s 'London' whether officially so or not . UK infrastructure is not very good so you need to know that unless near cross rail which STN isnt getting across London is virtually impossible/impractical by car and not much better going round the M25.

So if you live north or east of STN build your life outwards not inwards and save London for the odd day out. As an example-I live out to the SW around the same distance as STN is from the City. Sure you can get a fast train from Farnborough station to Waterloo in 35-40 minutes BUT at peak times it will cost close to £40 and the car park another £9 . Good luck with your home hunting

As an ex-north Londoner I'd be inclined to avoid anywhere South of the airport for cost and congestion issues. Assuming you are going to be short haul, easy access to the staff car park will be worth considering. Bishops Stortford used to be a nice market town, but I'm told it has gone down hill, but drop a pin on the map here and investigate routes North, East and West. Also. somewhere which has a fast train access to London is a benefit.London on your doorstep, so you may as well use it! You could use the Rightmove website to draw a custom map for property prices.

Work out how far you can live within commuting distance for the time required to facilitate a standby call out. Then look North.
Try the tool on Rightmove https://where.rightmove.co.uk which allows you to enter one or more locations of interest and defines (based on first part of postcode) where you can live within a certain commuting time

I was based at STN for 5 years whilst living in North London. Area was N13 just off the A406 North Circular road. Took me 35 mins 90% of the time, sometimes if going in for a 5/6pm report it would be 40-45 but as we work shifts and often go against the flow of traffic I found it pretty good. I live in Enfield now, further north and near junction 24 of the M25. Based in LTN and commute times about the same. M1 gets busy but often going against the flow. I found the M11 a pretty reliable road, if it was bad, you'd hear about it! If i were at STN for the longer term and wanted to live in London I'd look toward Loughton and Epping. Tube line into London but also a bit of a town feel. Where I am in Enfield is also pretty good for STN, 35-40 mins commute, 3 bed houses 450-600 depending on area! PM me if you'd like any more info :ok:

Loughton and Epping are pricey .... up and coming (if not already 'on trend'). And ok, against the traffic flow but if the M11 is blocked you're in for stressful moments until you find backroads routes from Harlow - junction 7, and that's not always a given.

Cambridge. 30 minute train ride to STN

Halstead in Essex, Suffolk borders, 25 miles to STN.

Lived there a few years ago. A number of STN based air crew and ground types in the area, drove through recently and there has been lots of property development.

Not a bad area.