Property: When you're sick of the city: Couples with children often yearn to move to the country. Anne Spackman meets one family that did, and one that didn't

Even the most committed townies question the benefits of city living once they have children. They agonise: should we move to the country for the freedom and fresh air, but suffer the tedium of commuting? Or should we find a city area with enough green space to get by, where we can be home from the office before bedtime?

The answer will largely depend on available money. For pounds 150,000 you could buy a four-bedroom detached house with a garden in Gosforth in Newcastle or Sneyd Park in Bristol. The price for the smarter areas of Birmingham, such as Edgbaston, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull, is more like pounds 200,000. For four-bedroom houses in London, pounds 200,000 will get you a terrace house in a suburb. Families who want to be more central may need pounds 300,000.

Prices in the most attractive, commutable locations are barely lower than in the cities. Hexham in Northumberland costs as much as Gosforth in Newcastle.

But irrespective of the money, the decision to stay or go depends on which things matter most in life. Here, two couples, faced with similar circumstances, tell why they made different choices.

The ones that went

'There's so much dog dirt on the streets in London that I felt I ought to walk in front of the pram waving a red flag and shouting 'Left] Right a bit]',' says Charles Phillpot. 'Then you wheel it all into the hall, where the pram takes up so much space you can barely get past it. It was a nightmare.'

His wife Claire remembers setting off one day to buy some nails. 'We got into the car and sat in a traffic jam for about an hour, just trying to get over Battersea Bridge. I felt like a prisoner,' she says. 'I think the final straw was having to put the children's paddling pool on a rug in the summer, because we didn't have a blade of grass. That was probably the moment when I agreed to go.'

Charles and Claire Phillpot and their children, Emma, three, and James, one, moved from Chelsea to Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire in February. Although Charles now has to commute to his job as managing director of the Property Marketing Company in Sloane Square, he is the one most delighted to be out of London.

'My hobby is old cars and I have a couple of MGs,' he says. 'Storing them in London was almost impossible. I'd get them out and drive into a solid traffic jam.

'We had a four-bedroom house on four floors, with a tiny stone- flagged garden. The nearest open space was Battersea Park. It got a bit depressing going round there with the pram every Sunday. The weekends were the pits.'

Now the Phillpots fling open the kitchen door and the children can run free. 'The children spend the days in the garden,' says Charles, 'It's perfect for them.'

Claire Phillpot, however, thinks the children enjoyed Chelsea, too. 'Children love London,' she says. 'They love going on buses and visiting museums. I think if we'd had a bigger garden and a garage we could have stayed.'

When the family first moved Claire continued to travel to her advertising job in Covent Garden. Now she works from home and travels out to see clients. 'Leaving my nanny and my children and driving into London was torture,' she admits. 'In London it didn't seem to be a problem. Everyone was going to work.'

Claire misses the buzz of London a bit, though she still goes up to town once or twice a week. And she is very happy with life in the country. 'The single biggest difference is that driving through Burnham Beeches in the morning is an exhilarating experience, whereas driving round Trafalgar Square is exhausting.'

The ones that stayed

Dominic and Sarah-Jane Grace's two children, George and Rupert, are the same age as the Phillpots'. The family was living in a comfortable four-bedroom house in Battersea, but it didn't have much of a garden. 'We realised that to throw open the kitchen door and let the kids out would be a great relief to all parties,' says Dominic.

The Graces had toyed with the idea of moving to the country once before, but decided to commit themselves to London for another five years. They moved to Wandsworth, a very popular family area south of the Thames, where they bought a double-fronted house with a good-sized garden.

'There is a fantastic village community here,' says Sarah-Jane. 'I feel I live in Wandsworth village. I think people underestimate how strong the sense of community is in some parts of London.'

For both the Graces, travel time was a major consideration. Dominic is a director of Savills and runs their Knightsbridge office. He arrives by 7am and rarely leaves before 7pm. He often has to stay on for functions in the evening. 'I cannot imagine commuting, working the hours I do,' he remarks.

For Sarah-Jane, a partner with the interior designers Thorpe & May, the journey to work is equally important. It takes her a maximum of 15 minutes to drive to her office at Chelsea Harbour. 'I could not look after my clients and see my children if I was commuting,' she says. 'If I didn't work, I think I'd feel differently.'

The Graces have found a happy compromise, but they are not immune to the lure of the country. 'At least half of our friends have moved out,' says Sarah-Jane. 'Sometimes I feel it's a shame for the children. They always have to be supervised.'

'We are still committed to London,' adds Dominic, 'but long- term, we keep thinking about moving out.'

(Photographs omitted)