Location, location - Reading?

beckstrous

I wonder if anyone could offer me any advice. My boyfriend and I are hoping to buy our first property together this year, and we want somewhere that has good access to Farnborough, Guildford and London. We are considering several areas and in an ideal world, if they all cost the same, we'd go to Guildford or Godalming. But I think these may prove to be out of our pocket - so we're looking further afield too. Researching around the Guildford area is quite easy since I am Guildford born & bred and if I don't know an area I can usually find someone who does - but there's one place on our list we don't know much about and that's Reading.

It seems our money could go a lot further there and I have an old uni friend who lives there and loves it. I have been lurking on a forum about Reading and a lot of people there seem to love it too - though I suspect they may be a bit partisan! I like the town centre and think it's changed immeasurably in the past 10 years, but I've no idea what it would be like to live there.

My sister's father-in-law and a work colleague both said to me that you have to be careful in certain areas (my friend said to avoid South Reading) and I have noticed too that the crime stats for Reading are about twice the national average according to upmystreet.com. Geographically it looks as if the east side of town is going to be easier for us in terms of the roads so that's the part I am especially interested in hearing feedback on.

On the plus side, there is (as I see it):
- There are some nice Victorian terraces and our money would go a lot further there
- Good rail links to London and Guildford
- Talk of Reading getting city status - does this mean that property could go up in value? We want a home as a place to live not just a vehicle to make money but obviously I would take that sort of stuff into account as well.
- Reading FC are likely to be in the Premiership next year - will this also create a buzz around the town?
- Proposed Southside development ("a new residential and urban quarter", according to the spin on the Southside website)

...and on the negative side, I believe some areas have problems with crime, guns and traffic.

Can anyone give their views on Reading?
I would be really interested to hear a balance of opinions and hope it's not the wrong forum to be posting this

Charlton_Taz

Hi! I've lived in the Reading area for the last five years. Moved here after uni as there are plenty of jobs in the area. I like the town because the town centre has good shopping and there are quite a few good restaurants around town. Access to London is great....loads of trains..and its about 25-35 mins into Paddington. If you like going out in London there are quite late trains home too!

Areas to maybe avoid (hope I don't offend anyone) are the Oxford Road area which is on the east side and whitley wood which is south. Otherwise I would say the rest of it seems fine (well in my opinion anyway).

If you need to get to Farnborough / Guildford I would have thought a good position near Junction 11 or 10 gives you the best access to roads. For that (if you don't mind newer houses) look at Lower Earley...if you prefer older housing look at Earley. There is also an area called Winnersh which is a mixture of old and new housing which is fine.

Only thing I would say is that I'm assuming you need to commute to Farnborough / Guildford and that could be quite a long commute (maybe someone else will know better) but during the rush hour it can be very busy around the area.

If you want to pm me about anything in particular...feel free!!

alanobrien

I have lived close to reading for the last 20 yrs or so.
Plus points are it has good infrastructure and surrounding areas can be nice and green Woodley is an example.

Bad points avoid Lower Early a sprawling "new town" now many years old but at one time the largest new estate of its kind in Europe.

M4 can get nasty at times but that is true of any motorway.

If your looking for house price growth Wokingham a few miles away is a better bet. See here;

http://www.ahomeofmyown.co.uk/advice/most_expensive_property_in_the_uk.shtml

beckstrous

Thanks for the replies, both of you.

Alan, you mentioned Wokingham - funny because we're looking at a few properties there on Saturday on the way out to Reading. I guess we will have to weigh it all up - house prices in Reading are so different to house prices in Guildford. Even the areas I'd class as a bit rough are really expensive!!!

Charlton_Taz

Wokingham is nice too....though I wouldn't say its access to main roads is quite as good as Reading. Train services into London are a lot less frequent and slower if that is something you need. I was under the impression that in the main Wokingham was a little more expensive housing-wise than Reading. It does have lots of nice housing and most of it is very 'leafy'!

Can't believe alanobrien said avoid Lower Earley!! Obviously I'm bias as its where I live. Agreed if you don't like new housing then definately avoid...but if its something you consider definately look there! I like it because housing is reasonably priced, I've got a supermarket on my door (means i can walk and not have to drive bloomin everywhere) and most importantly for me (if I'm honest) it makes my commute easy....takes me less than 10 mins to get on the M4 at junction 11 in the rush hour which is a life-saver.

alanobrien

beckstrous wrote:

Thanks for the replies, both of you.

House prices in Reading are so different to house prices in Guildford. Even the areas I'd class as a bit rough are really expensive!!!

Come have a look in South Bucks the prices here are really scary :eek: Best of luck with the house hunting.

Edna_Bucket_2

Caversham Heights if you want period property - expensive up there and less in the way of flats (if that is what you are looking for) but worth a look.

Cristy

Hiya, we've lived in Reading for three and a half years and, aside from the traffic, which is hideous, we have enjoyed it. It is a lively town, excellent shopping and sporting facilities, it has a Uni so lots of young people, and the nightlife is pretty good too (or so I hear, we don't get out much!). We haven't really encountered much in the way of crime at all, but as someone else said on this thread, if you stay away from the rougher areas you should be OK. Unfortunately South Reading has one of the highest crime rates in the country. Some streets in the town centre also get rowdy at night.

We are in Woodley, east Reading, and think it is a very reasonable place to live. It is quiet, yet on the doorstep of central Reading. We have a local Waitrose and Iceland, and Sainsburys is a 10 mins drive away. Woodley centre is a bit unexciting but it has all the high street banks plus a couple of BSs, two chemists, clothes shops and even some 'lifestyle' furniture shops House prices are a touch dear for my taste, at least for the more beautiful properties in the leafier streets, but if you've looked at Guildford then they'll seem cheap to you! What is your budget, if you don't mind me asking?

Much as we like it here, work commitments (and the realisation that housing is cheaper there!) are forcing us to move to Basingstoke - perhaps another place you could consider as it is on the M3 and close to all the towns you mentioned. B'stoke (we lived there for a couple of years) is much quieter than Reading but it is not as dynamic IMHO. But it is fine for us since we're new parents and we have no life anyway

Anyway, if you have any specific questions just ask away and I'll do my best to help!

beckstrous

It sounds like, for us, the biggest worry will be traffic.

Yeah, the prices are a massive contrast to prices in Guildford. In Guildford, £170k will usually get you a two-bed flat or, if you are very lucky, a tatty house in one of the rough areas. Our budget is about £165k max - plenty seems to be available for that, or less, in Reading, but we will have to weigh up the commute and so on.

My mum did suggest Basingstoke, but you can't get a direct train to Guildford from there. We're considering Woking but I can't say I like it that much - and Farnham, which is nice but expensive (ditto Godalming, except even more expensive!) and Haslemere as well as Wokingham and Sandhurst (where we currently live), Fleet, Ash and Ash Vale. Quite a lot to narrow down!

black-saturn

I think the reason the crime figures for Reading are twice the national average is because of the Reading Festival. If you look at the crime figures for that festival there are 100's of drugs offences, rape, vandalism etc etc. I think if you can keep away from that area of Reading while the festival is on you won't hear of much more crime.

elaine373

I am from Reading and have lived here since i was 17..........I am now 41. I came from Henley-on-Thames which is completely different and it took a while to get used to..I dont think Reading is any worse than any other town of its size. It did have alot of bad publicity after the murder that took place last year in Prospect park..This incident was linked to the Oxford Road which does have a bad name(Drugs etc) .Its an interesting town with alot to offer, as i see you have mentioned. Of course the nice areas never get mentioned, but i am certain there are more nicer areas in Reading than bad. I am happy here and so is my family.This is home to me and i certainly wouldnt go back to Henley. All the best........