Where would you settle ?

[Lumiere]

Any more South East locations which may fit the criteria ?

[Fred Bloggs]

Crewe area, probably Nantwich. Mainline to London in 1hr 40 mins. Mainline to Glasgow. 35 mins to Manchester airport, 50 mins to Liverpool Airport. Crewe is dirt cheap housing, Nantwich is dearer but still cheap compared to London. Nantwich also has a great Pork Pie shop

[Sysman]

If you had £250K in your account for a decent 3-bed, no ties (family, school, etc.) and the majority of your clients based in London (30%), The North + Scotland (50%) and Western Europe (20%).

With 70% being in the North, Scotland and Western Europe I'd favour somewhere in the North or Scotland which has good road, rail and air connections,

[DimPrawn]

Any more South East locations which may fit the criteria ?

Horsham. Near Gatwick.

[expat]

More important questions IMHO are:

1. will you actually choose where to settle, or just let it happen?
2. on what basis will you choose? For example, the OP specified client commutes: will you use that as the main driver of your choice, or as a regretful filter to eliminate places that you would like to stay in fir other reasons, e.g. the Maldives?

[DimPrawn]

If you had £250K in your account for a decent 3-bed, no ties (family, school, etc.) .

Apart from your child and wife?

[RichardCranium]

Bit further north than MK, but what about York? Maybe somewhere else in the Midlands so that you can get to Birmingham Airport?

Not York. The roads seem perpetually gridlocked and for some reason it is always really cold in York. And it is expensive. £250K will not go far.

However, some of the villages and towns around Leeds Bradford International Airport are really pretty. And £250K will buy a lot. Road access elsewhere is pretty good too.

[Lumiere]

Horsham. Near Gatwick.

Must be good for weekends in Brighton, but the worst section of M25 to pass every morning if you drive to the northern cities

[DimPrawn]

Must be good for weekends in Brighton, but the worst section of M25 to pass every morning if you drive to the northern cities

Fly to the North.

[expat]

If you had £250K in your account for a decent 3-bed, no ties (family, school, etc.) ...

Apart from your child and wife?

He may mean other family, taking it that the nuclear family will settle together.

For example in my case we will remain where we are for a while in part because my partner's parents are elderly and have no other close family. So she has family ties, but that doesn't mean her daughter (who has flown).