Moving to Buckinghamshire - HELP!

camilleraoul · 3 March 2014 at 7:43PM

Evening all,

I just got a job in a grammar school in Marlow, bucks, and being from France, and having lived in the North West for 3 years I know nothing about the area.Where are the best places to live knowing that I probably won't be able to afford Marlow itself? High Wycombe and Reading look more affordable but what are the good areas?

We will be moving in the summer...

Thank you very much for your help

Camille

bluebeary · 3 March 2014 at 8:27PM

henley on thames is lovely but if youre willing to travel a little way, aylesbury or tring

dgtazzman · 3 March 2014 at 9:36PM

Depends on how far you want to travel. Northampton is just under 70 miles away and is probably one of the cheapest areas in that neck of the woods (I live in Northampton itself and have no complaints, has all the facilities I could hope for and as I don't work locally, the low amount of jobs in the area isn't really of concern). Milton Keynes is a little closer, still probably cheaper, though probably already around 20% more expensive than Northampton. Any further South than that and prices seem to go up fast.

jjlandlord · 3 March 2014 at 9:42PM

Marlow and Henley are nice but expensive, indeed.

Reading, especially Caversham, which is on the 'right' side of the Thames to go to Marlow is nice as well but a bit farther.
Of course, Reading is larger and thus also has crappy areas.

I'd also look at the High Wycombe and Maidenhead areas.

Bonne chance!

System · 3 March 2014 at 10:56PM

Depending on budget, Burnham, Taplow and Maidenhead are fairly local to Marlow.

Perelandra · 4 March 2014 at 12:03AM

Everywhere around High Wycombe is pretty nice, but expensive. HW itself is a bit more of a risk. Depends on your budget...?

unmissable · 4 March 2014 at 12:37AM

I live in Marlow and my son goes to the grammar school. Where to live on a budget depends on what else you want out of life. All the suggestions made so far ring true, there are parts of High Wycombe and Reading that will be affordable to many budgets. How far are you willing to commute? if you live in Reading, driving through Henley to Marlow is hard work!

I would look at Maidenhead and it's surrounding villages according to affordability. It is an easy commute, has good rail links to London, and the practicalities (not aesthetics) of Slough are within easy reach, I mean out of town megastores etc.

Have you got children of school age? That will make a difference, Bucks has the grammar schools (like your job) however, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire do not! Marlow is expensive because it is picturesque, and has fantastic schools ( both grammar and upper schools) and is still easy reach of London, motorways and Heathrow. A lot of pilots based at Heathrow seem to live around here!

getmore4less · 4 March 2014 at 12:45AM

transport links.

I suspect handy cross is still a nightmare.

So anywhere over the M40 can hit traffic.

Then you have the river crossings that become bottlenecks

Northampton to Marlow is obviously a joke.

Aylesbury and Tring will hit 40mins to 1hr.

High Wycombe and areas has good to terrible

Commute and budget will dictate the choices.

Rent first and learn the areas.

camilleraoul · 4 March 2014 at 8:26AM

Well, thank you so much for your answers ! We will definitely have to rent first and look around... I feel like Maidenhead will be the more 'practical' one when it comes to traffic. We are a fairly young couple (both 24) so no children yet but we would like to live somewhere not too quiet (although we both like the countryside and village life and would not like to live in a massive city)
High Wycombe could be an idea as well but what are the 'good' and 'bad' parts of this town?

Thank again for you valuable comments!

camille

Tenyearstogo · 4 March 2014 at 8:30AM

Try places just over the Oxfordshire border such as Chinnor and Thame. Only a junction down the M40 but are a bit cheaper as they out of the catchment area for grammar schools so people aren't as keen to live there.

Mrs_Soup · 4 March 2014 at 9:02AM

There are actually grammar schools in Berkshire - they are in Reading but have a huge catchment area. Personally I wouldn't want to live in Wycombe, when it snows the place is an ice rink because of the hills. As with any big town there are nice bits though. Same with Reading where I live but I wouldn't say the journey from there to Marlow is great and you would definitely want to be on the right side of the river as crossing Reading during rush hour is not fun. When I worked in Wycombe a number of colleagues lived in Aylesbury which I think is generally cheaper than Wycombe. Henley I would imagine is similar in price to marlow if not more.