Banbury vs Swindon commuting to Oxford

norealname

Hello All,
Without getting into too much details, I've got an option of buying a house / flat in Swindon or Banbury and daily commute to Oxford. I've been briefly to both towns, with Banbury feeling much nicer IMO,also easier and quickier to get to Oxford but prices much higher than Swindon.
Is there anyone living in this area who could share a thought?
Thank you.

Cash-Cows

You've answered your own question.

Sedge123

Banbury- you can get the train. To be honest though, if you are driving at least you can whizz down the M40 from Banbury. From Swindon the A420 is rubbish and a lot of single carriageway.
Oxford is a nightmare to drive into from any direction though.

DRP

Sedge123 wrote: »

Banbury- you can get the train. To be honest though, if you are driving at least you can whizz down the M40 from Banbury. From Swindon the A420 is rubbish and a lot of single carriageway.
Oxford is a nightmare to drive into from any direction though.

Agree. Oxford is a nightmare to drive to, drive around, and get out of...

If one of your options has the better train options, choose that one.

tarab1986

As someone who has lived in both locations and commuted to Oxford I would definately confirm that banbury is a much better commute and you have the options of the train. The A420 to swindon is a lot of single carriage way often reduced to a 50mph limit (40mph if you get stuck behind a lorry). Banbury has a lot more options with the m40 or the old back road.

norealname

Thank you for your replies, I was just wondering whether Banbury is worth that 30-40k more for similar house than one in Swindon.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

As others have touched on, Oxford is hellish to get into by car - if the job is in the City centre then Banbury and the train is the only sensible option. That said, if you are working on Cowley Business Park, you'd probably have to suck it up and drive - in which case saving money and opting for Swindon could be tempting.

Although you'd have to live in Swindon.

tarab1986

It probably is worth more when you consider the transport links. From banbury you can hop on the m40 for Birmingham or London with relative ease, you can get to oxford easily too it's not far from the Cotswolds etc.
swindon doesn't have the same transport links.

It does depend on where you are working in oxford though and if you are planning on using public transport. Driving you can get from banbury to South oxford in an hour in the mornings to get from covingham to South Oxford I imagine you would need an hour and 15 at least. It makes a bigger difference on the way home though. You can still do banbury in 50/60mins unless your on the far side of the town. But to swindon (leaving South Oxford at 5pm) allow more like 90 mins min to get to covingham.

tillycat123

Not sure where you are looking in Banbury or what your budget is, but this flat is bang opposite the train station, the new multi storey, you could literally leave the flat 1 minute before the trains due in!
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52366463.html