Thanks Val
Afternoon all - on a Christmas countdown now - just today and tomorrow and then I'm off for two whole weeks!!!
Can report back on the commute - it was, in a word, PANTS. Going down on the coach Monday was OK but it got in after 9pm, so made for a long working day. Back up Tuesday morning - took 2 1/2 hours, so pretty much to schedule. Couldn't be bothered waiting around for ages to get it back in the evening, so caught the train, which was quicker. Then yesterday, caught the coach, got caught up in horrible traffic after an accident on the M25, c-r-a-w-l-e-d along for ever and I eventually staggered off at Lewisham after five and a half hours....
So a commute by road can't be relied upon; the train is better but costs £4620 a year - so the results of my survey are that the commute isn't doable.
So, I think what I'll do is rent somewhere close to work, which is a bit bigger, and buy an investment property down the coast, rent it out and let someone else pay it off until I'm ready to move.
So that's the plan - until I change my mind