Can anyone tell me about living in Amersham / Chalfont St. Peter / Rickmansworth?

Sausage11

Hello,

We're considering a move to Chesham. We'd be looking to buy a place quite close to the tube station. We've been researching prices in the surrounding area. From everything I read it's not considered as desirable as some of the other towns and villages around there but that's reflected in lower property prices.

Can anyone advise on what Chesham is like? Also, are there any particularly good or bad areas? Especially any within 10-15 minutes walk of the station.

Any help much appreciated!

danslenoir

Sausage11 wrote: »

Hello,

We're considering a move to Chesham. We'd be looking to buy a place quite close to the tube station. We've been researching prices in the surrounding area. From everything I read it's not considered as desirable as some of the other towns and villages around there but that's reflected in lower property prices.

Can anyone advise on what Chesham is like? Also, are there any particularly good or bad areas? Especially any within 10-15 minutes walk of the station.

Any help much appreciated!

I moved to Bucks from the other side of London last year and looked at quite a lot of properties, including a few in Chesham.

In the end we decided not to buy there as it is definitely one of the least nice towns/villages in the area. As you say, you will get more bang for your buck though, if that is a priority for you.

The nicer parts are the Old Town (around Church Street) and around Chartridge Lane, though expect prices to be higher in these areas and parking in the Old Town to be potentially challenging as most of the houses don't have off-street parking.

Sausage11

Thanks Danslenoir.

Like yourself we took a good look at Chesham and decided it didn't appeal to us. We're now focusing on Rickmansworth / Chalfont St. Peter and Amersham. We've had a good drive around and we're viewing properties on Tuesday.

Can anyone give any feedback on either of these two places? Is there much crime in either area? I read that Mill End in Rickmansworth was the 'rougher' end of the town but does that mean that uncouth types might sometimes split their infinitives or rather that they're likely to rape and pillage the surrounding areas? :eek:

chelseablue

A friend of mine lives in Chalfont St Peter. Its a lovely area, him and his family are very happy living there (they've been there about 3 years now)

neilio

Hi Sausage11. I am originally from the Rickmansworth area, I grew up there, so I can recommend living there for sure.

You're right about Mill End, albeit it's not dangerous, just on the undesirable side. There are some gorgeous parts of the town, take a look at Nightingale Road, Highfield Way, Hill Rise, The Drive, and any streets off of those. The town centre is small but charming. Watford is just up the road for a larger town centre and associated amenities, like shopping.

Transport connections are excellent. The Underground station provides quick journeys into central London either a stopping service on the Metropolitan Line or fast to Marylebone on Chiltern Railways. Rickmansworth is served directly by two junctions of the M25, or if ever it gets snarled up, the A412 (and the A405 and A41 beyond Watford) allow lots of options for bypassing the traffic - you could bypass all the way between junction 16 and junction 21A or even 22 if you needed to). Good onward connections to the M40 and M1. Heathrow is less than half an hour's drive away.

Schools are generally good, some good state schools and a few desirable private schools. You're close enough to London without being in London; you could say that it and Watford are the last point of urban sprawl before you get to the countryside, not that it feels like urban sprawl at all. There are a lot of country parks and walks around there.

Try looking at some of the surrounding parts of Rickmansworth as well, such as Croxley Green, Chorleywood, Moor Park (if you can afford it) and Harefield.

Generally, that part of southwest Hertfordshire is quite affluent without being up its own backside.

I'd have no qualms about living in the area again. The only reason I don't is because I grew up, moved out of home, lived in central London for nearly ten years, then chose a different suburb for my next adventure to settle in. My parents and family friends are all still there.

Sausage11

Thanks Neilio - that's very helpful. Sadly, the roads you've mentioned look to be beyond my price range. Could you recommend any decent mid-range areas? We're looking to be away from major roads but my son will have to travel to the train station for school each day. So ideally no more than 15-20 mins walk.

Can anyone make similar recommendations for Chalfont St. Peter or for Amersham? For Amersham we'd need to be within walking distance of the station. For CSP there are a couple of school coach pick up points so most areas should be viable.

We're looking for detached or semi. 3/4 bed with 120 sq m or more. Budget is 600-750K but the top end would stretch us a lot. We've rebuilt a bungalow before but would only take on something needing significant work if we could either add huge value or we could build a forever home.

I'd say I've looked at every property in these areas that fits the criteria that is currently on the market. However, we can take a few months to find something so it's more important to understand where we should be focusing the search at the moment as opposed to finding the ideal house.

Everyone's help is much appreciated. It's really difficult to get a sense of where to focus the search when we have to drive some distance to view and we're not really able to be there in the evening.

neilio

No worries. I mentioned those roads as a point to make that in this area you could be looking at anything between a less desirable area like Mill End right up to the big houses on the streets I mentioned. As for specific streets containing the type and price of house you're looking for, that's difficult to answer. I'd suggest looking at anywhere in Croxley Green, which is located between Rickmansworth and Watford. The majority of Croxley is 1930s 3-bed semi-detached housing stock, and probably what you're after. Croxley has its own station on the Metropolitan Line as well. The station is located right in the middle of Croxley and a maximum of 20 minutes walk from the farthest points. Also, google "Croxley Rail Link" to learn about the improvements to rail connections in the area.

neilio

To clarify the "boundaries" of Croxley Green when refining your search and looking on Google Maps, Croxley is triangular in shape, formed by three main roads - Watford Road (A412), Baldwins Lane, The Green - all the streets within this triangle or branch off the edges is Croxley Green.

The "boundaries" of Croxley are: Scots Hill in the southwest corner where the A412 leads towards Rickmansworth; the northwestern extremity of The Green which leads towards Sarratt; the short section of the dual carriageway over the canal where the A412 leads towards Watford in the east.

Sausage11

Thanks Neilio. We're viewing a couple of Croxley Green properties tomorrow to start to get a sense of the area. Is Croxley considered a part of Rickmansworth? Is there a lot more retail in Rickmansworth? I'm familiar with the main shopping street there.

Another place we're looking is Seer Green which is just west of Chalfont St Peter. We'd have to get our son into CSP each morning (and pick up in afternoon) for the coach to the school. Can anyone advise on how easy it would be to get to and from Seer Green into CSP at 7.30am / 4.30pm?

neilio

Croxley Green is considered a part of Rickmansworth. The post town of Croxley is RICKMANSWORTH, and is in the same local authority, Three Rivers District. The reason it feels geographically separate is because Croxley is at the top if a hill from Rickmansworth and has a small river separating it.

There is very little retail in Croxley, except for a few parades of local shops and convenience stores. There are some nice pubs on The Green. It is pretty much purely residential and has a good community feel about it. Rickmansworth has a town centre and high street but it's not very big, although last time I checked it did have a small Boots, small WHSmith and M&S Food. There is a Waitrose near the station and a medium-size Tesco in Batchworth. But for your main destination shopping needs you'd need to go to Watford town centre.

If you're looking at the eastern end of Croxley you'd be closer to Watford town centre than Rickmansworth anyway. Cassiobury Park in Watford is the main big park in the area and is close to Croxley at the eastern end. Rickmansworth doesn't have a big park of its own except the Aquadrome which is primarily a series of lakes that you walk around and do watersports on.

Cakeguts

From what I remember of Croxley it is a very large 1930s housing estate. There are a few older houses but it is mostly 1930s. Rickmansworth has a variety of ages of housing. One end of Croxley is nearly in Watford and the other end is nearly in Rickmansworth. Croxley though is not like Rickmansworth.