moving to Milton Keynes (or area) any suggestions?

larfido

Although there is a mix of housing in each area of MK there are certain areas already outlined in previous posts that may be less desirable.
The new developments tend to be much higher build density that those built a few years ago and from what I have seen the construction is of considerably lower quality, but that's true nationally. Where to focus your attention rather depends on budget but you appear to have already been given good advice.
I would suggest the Sout East corner of MK is worth a look - parts of Walnut Tree, Old Farm Park, Browns Wood, Wavendon Gate & Caldecotte. These areas offer quiet locations with easy access to the M1 and the A5. Walton High school in Walnut Tree has a very good reputation.

I would suggest that places to add to your "avoid" list should include those in close proximity to the sewerage works and the MK Bowl - reasons fairly obvious.
MK is a fantastic place to live, excellent facilities to suit every need, virtually free from traffic hold ups, superb shopping, beautiful lakes and landscaping, thousands of acres of parkland, etc, etc - I've been living in MK 8 years and wish I moved here 28 years ago.

Good luck and don't take anything an Estate Agent tells you at face value.

Seesaw_2

One of the best schools in the country for under 12's is in North Crawley which is very close to Newport Pagnell - the village has a couple of pubs and a Spar... the prices are around the same as the better areas of MK.

If you would like to know any specifics let me know - MK estate agents all advertise in the MK Citizen which comes out on Thursdays - this includes MK and surrounding areas.

jockettuk

i agree abt the comment on dont take what estate agents tell you .. after all they after the sale.. when my other half looked at aylesbury we asked a load of estate agents the same few questions and didnt get the same answer back twice.. one of the questions was is there an area to avoid.. we found out that they would say the one area they didnt have a lot of sales in .. this way you would avoid buying from another estate agent..

What i did was stop and ask people in the street what they thought of the area.. i asked teenagers elderly people .. mothers with babies.. and there was only one area in aylesbury i got positive feedback.. this was the area one of the estate agents said no to.. its also a ex council estate and with that comes snobbery on some peoples part...

we saw some beautiful houses but didnt get the positive vibes from the area.. people staring people growling lol... if you look at property over a weekend you will also get to see how the kids behave themselves outside your property.. ie are they playing football , might that ball smash my window damage my car etc... do they kids play nicley and would my children settle in here etc...

good luck and im sure werever you decide to move to you will make it your home... ps just out of curiosity which area are you moving from ..

Suggs

Just thought I should put my thoughts for you.

Not sure if this website has been mentioned or not, but a very handy one is.

https://www.upmystreet.com

You can look up areas my postcode, find you nearest schools, obtain the annual reports etc, it is a very handy site.

I have lived in Milton Keynes, and the area for 18 years now.

Bradwell village
Bletchley - Lakes Estate
Bletchley - Duncombe Street
Newport Pagnell - Greenwich Gardens (Green Park)
Bletchley - Diddington Close (Edge of Lakes)
Giffard Park - Wandlebury
Newport Pagnell - Wolverton Road
Newport Pagnell - St Margarets Close
Newport Pagnell - Welland Drive

The last location I bought, the rest with one exception are rented. All and I repeat all locations were fine locations, though some have a bad reputation, and I know I was lucky.

The one thing you cannot allow for is your neighbours, One of the Newport Pagnell houses had a living breathing Victor Meldrew living next door, who would think nothing of shouting at my children for daring to play in the garden!!

I'm very lucky where I am now, a very nice cul-de-sac, very close to the local first and middle schools, (shame my wife left me and took the kids! but thats life), nice local shops, good doctors, close to J14 of the M1.

The locations suggested are all very good locations, Ask the vendors about the area and the neighbours, if I recall correctly they have to reveal any problems to you.

Feel free to ask any questions,. happy to help.

Caro75

Quick update! Saturday, we saw 7 houses... yes... 7. We were supposed to see 10 but for the first one the estate agent took the wrong keys (bad start), then the owners weren't selling the house anymore and for the third one, well, even with a map we couldn't find the street (where is Picton street??).

And the winner is Giffard Park. The area looked nice and we kinda thought there was a feeling of community there. We might be wrong. So Suggs can you tell us more about living in Giffard Park. Was it a good experience for you? The house is great, big enough for 2 kids, big garden. We might have to change the deco but that's nothing really. And it's not far from the local school. I went to upmystreet and the results of Giffard Park Combined School are very good. So everything looks good. The only downside is the price of the house. We think it's a bit overpriced. So we are probably going to make an offer and see what happens.

Saying that I already have booked some more viewings for next Saturday. We saw a property in Emerson Valley which was quite nice and big as well but just over our budget. We saw another one in Woolstone. The area was lovely - it's a shame we didn't like the house.

jockettuk, I am moving from Hemel Hempstead. Also asking people in the street is a very good idea. We might do that from now.

Thanks all for your advice

Caro

jockettuk

funnily enough we looked at hemel hemstead and i couldnt find a area there that i thought was child friendly lol... all i ever seen out and abt were teenagers .. thought all the youngsters had been abducted lol.. hell thats not a bad idea !!

so its not to far for you to do it all in a day so you can get to have a good look around... one other thing if you see a house you love and put in a offer you must check that out at different times.. you can always pull out if you dont like.. we checked out my oh area daytime. night time and weekends.. only problem we could see was the parking on the roads but we solved that by turning the front garden into a drive..

jockettuk

Caro75 wrote:

.

jockettuk, I am moving from Hemel Hempstead. Also asking people in the street is a very good idea. We might do that from now.

Thanks all for your advice

Caro

i did the asking hee hee boyfriend was to embarressed to stop people in the street but its the only way you will get a honest opinion of the area..

especially stop people who have kids abt the same age as yourself .. they can give you ideas of the schools and clubs for kids etc..

kazd

Cranfield is another option, ten mins from Milton Keynes but a nice quiet village, with good schooling.

Squidgy

I have lived in milton keynes all my life (all 24 years of it). Have lived in Bletchley for most of it but have also lived in the following areas (and would certainly not recommend them:
Fuller Slade (had parts of my car stolen - ie the engine!)
Netherfield (had car stolen and written off!)
Lakes Estate (the housing assoc bit which was lovely).

I work at the paper so would suggest you visit the website

www.miltonkeynes.co.uk

I would agree with most of you regarding the slyness of estate agents, although some are better than others (ie my husband!). He reckons Gifford Park is ok, although there are definatly better places in MK to live. I suppose it just depends on the kind of thing you want. If you want a huge house for a small amount of money then you'd have to go to some of the places that others have told you to avoid (fishermead, netherfield, wolverton), if however, you want something newer in a "nicer" area you have to be prepared to pay a lot more.

If you want anymore advice feel free to PM.

Squidgy

jockettuk

sqidgy .. you work at the local papers .. if you get any vouchers for gullivers world give us a shout lol.. been told they only come out in the milton keynes papers which is no good to me in peterborough