Thoughts on St Albans

meester · 21 January 2009 at 2:32AM

Unclepetey wrote: »

Does anyone have experience of living in St Albans? My wife and I don't know much about the place but it is a possibility for us as it has very good transport links to London (where I work) and is well situated for the M1 and the north of England (where our families live).

Budget up to £650k and would need 4 bedrooms. Also need somewhere near good schools.

Any recommendations for areas/streets much appreciated.

Thanks

We had a look a while back.

Hideously overpriced. The town centre has too much traffic and is not as nice as others I have seen.

The most expensive area is on Fishpool street, near the Cathedral. Ancient 600-year-old properties that are not all that practical in 2009, and cost an absolute fortune to do anything to due to the highly restrictive planning regulations.

When we looked it seemed £600k bought only a semi, or even a terrace on Fishpool Street, which is quite simply obscene. One place we looked at was very close to the train station but had thundering road noise in the garden (which was narrow) due to the road behind the fence. We also looked at a ok-sized dull semi for a similar price about 3/4 mile from the station, and a three-storey Victorian property. Not impressed with any of them.

It didn't strike me as excessively salubrious, certainly not compared to Surrey.

I'm sure there are nice detached family homes on good-sized plots in easy access of the train station if you look hard enough, but we certainly didn't find any.

I just had a quick look on rightmove and it seems that people are still asking £600k for 4-bed semis with horrid little gardens:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-17733532.html

Looks like prices have a long way to fall, what with the St. Albans demographic losing their jobs in large numbers.

You'll get a LOT more for your money in Milton Keynes:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-19625818.html

mattwallisuk · 21 January 2009 at 3:04AM

I recently moved (and bought) in St Albans a few months ago. I am living right in the centre and absolutely love it.

Not sure i've been here long enough to answer any questions, but can certainly vouch that its a great place to live and worth paying a premium for

mattwallisuk · 21 January 2009 at 3:05AM

You'll get a LOT more for your money in Milton Keynes:

My god why are you comparing Milton Keynes to St Albans?

Someone who wants a Ferrari and can afford it probably isnt going to opt for a Ford Puma.

mattwallisuk · 21 January 2009 at 3:06AM

You'll get a LOT more for your money in Milton Keynes

My god why are you comparing Milton Keynes to St Albans?

Someone who wants a Ferrari (and can afford it) probably isnt going to opt for a Ford Puma instead.

[Deleted User] · 21 January 2009 at 9:26AM

I would chose Harpenden over St Albans. Be warned, it is just as expensive.

blue_monkey_2 · 21 January 2009 at 10:24AM

mattwallisuk · 21 January 2009 at 10:30AM

blue_monkey wrote: »

You could choose Watton-at-Stone, they have a station within walking distance, it has a by-pass so no traffic really and easy reach of loads of towns:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21060692.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E25981&radius=0.25&pageNumber=1&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FsearchType%3DSALE%26locationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E25981%26radius%3D0.25%26displayPropertyType%3D%26minBedrooms%3D%26maxBedrooms%3D%26minPrice%3D%26maxPrice%3D%26maxDaysSinceAdded%3D%26_includeSSTC%3Don%26sortByPriceDescending%3D%26primaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26secondaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldSecondaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26newHome%3D%26retirement%3D%26auction%3Dfalse%26partBuyPartRent%3Dfalse%26x%3D115%26y%3D22

Or Knebworth (also has a station)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=STATION%5E5282&maxPrice=700000&radius=0.5

You can get loads for under 700k and I've seen a 7 bed advertised for that price but here is the Rightmove list for 'within 3 miles of Watton at Stone' but it depends what you want in regards to a house really. Just saying it might be worth looking further afield. Not sure I'd go for Milton Keynes myself, much further from the City. Have you thought of having a weekend away and having a drive around before you decide.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E25981&radius=3.0&displayPropertyType=&minBedrooms=&maxBedrooms=&minPrice=&maxPrice=700000&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldSecondaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&retirement=&auction=false&partBuyPartRent=false&x=84&y=11

Your missing the point somewhat about why St Albans IS so popular and expensive.

Just do a search on how long it would take to get to St Pancras from your recommended locations "close to a station".

Watton-At-Stone for example is 1 hour and 6 minutes at best.

St Albans is 18 minutes! (exactly why its popular - best train in the UK).

Use thetrainline.com to get times from anywhere you consider living and commuting from.

blue_monkey_2 · 21 January 2009 at 10:53AM

Er.... right, I live in near Watton and I can be in Kings Cross in 25 minutes - less sometimes depending on what it is like getting into Kings X. Watton is 5-6 minutes drive from Stevenage (I am 3 minutes from the station) so at tops you are talking 40 minutes including the drive. However, if you want the convenience of not driving and paying for the car park then you can go from Watton, or Knebworth, both of which are 5 mins from Stevenage Station where there is loads of parking anyway. If the OP was in SA he would actually have to get to the station unless he was living next door so this adds more travelling time onto your day as well (walking/driving to town centre/parking)

The OP does not state he needs to go to St Pancreas - I used to work in London but it was near Finsbury Park. Which from Stevenage is about 18 minutes. So what is convenient for you might not be for him so we was all giving the other options available. Also, on the way home it is usually faster and the train has a 5 minute wait as they get get to Stevenage quite quickly from FP so usually it is 20 minutes from KX to Stevenage, a little less if you get the Peterborough trains as they are the express ones - but The Trainline will not tell you this, experience from other people will and the OP asked for opinions, well I live nearby and I have worked in SA town centre and this is my opinion.

I would not choose MK but I'd certainly recommend looking at the surrounding villages, most of the good sized homes with decent gardens are not in the city centre so the OP would still have to drive/get the bus, only I have had experience of getting in and out of SA in rush hour and it is a nightmare, yet if the OP went 7 minutes 'up the track' he can get home from the station in 10 minutes at the most after a 25 minute journey.

Sometimes you have to consider all the options but as the OP has not said excatly what kind of house he is looking for or where he works then how can we judge. He might want a town house with a minute walking distance from the train and the noise of the city or he might prefer to live in the countryside and so there are other options to consider.

Oh, and you can also get the all the Heathrow Terminals with just one train change at Finsbury Park from Stevenage so no messing around if you are off on holiday, just get the train.

It depends on your lifestyle really and what you want so we have been giving the OP choices.

Unclepetey · 21 January 2009 at 11:00AM

Thanks everyone - I should have said what we might be looking for.

I work in the City so a train into Moorgate, Farringdon, Cannon St etc would be ideal. We'd probably like an older house rather than new - Victorian or Edwardian.

Thanks for the tip about Harpenden - we'll have a look at that.

Already have one little one so good schools are a must...

Thanks again

carolt · 21 January 2009 at 11:06AM

St Albans is lovely; agree Harpenden is lovely too but much smaller and further away, so transport costs are greater. Schools are generally OK, not that great.

Amused to hear of one secondary school, Francis Combe I think - told that 'it has a creche'. Sounds good, until you realise that the creche is for the babies of the teenage girls at the school. :eek:

Secondary schools not as good, but lots of fine primaries, I believe. Lots of nice villages nearby, but also city centre is nice and your 600K should easily find you a lovely 4 bed plus with no difficulty.

I'd recommend it no questions asked.

DO PM me if you want advice on specific areas/properties.

House prices in ST Albans shot up in 2007 but are coming down fast too - don't be afraid to put in cheeky offers.

Good luck.

Oh, and it does have a swimming pool, wonderful park, fantastic bi-weekly market plus farmers markets/French/Italian markets, theatres (though no dedicated cinema), good local shops/restaurants, lots of nice playgrounds etc etc.

Thoughts on St Albans

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