Areas in Surrey/Hampshire/Berkshire to buy in

Milerix

Skiddaw1 wrote: »

Reading? Then you have choice of Waterloo or Paddington. I lived there for the best part of 30 years and it really isn't a bad town at all.

I missed this somehow. We did look at Reading at the beginning. It was hard to tell which areas are dodgy and which are nice. We were told to avoid Whitley at all costs but accidentally viewed something there (we lined up something like 12 viewings over Friday and Sat) and the immediate area seemed quite nice. Finally we saw a house we were ready to offer on but then went to view stuff in Farnborough the weekend after and loved how green and quiet-but-not-too-quiet it was. Also found "the house" (which now fell through) and that made us commit to Farnborough back then. Maybe a good idea to look at Reading again.

AnotherJoe

Milerix wrote: »

Feltham, Sunningdale, Hampton, Sunbury, Twyford, New Malden and Chessington. As we live in London it's not easy for us to make a trip and get a feel for the area for all these places, so I was hoping to get an initial steer here... which would you advise for and against? Any other suggestions? TIA!

Seriously? Less than an hour by train and "it's not easy" ? Take a week off work and explore. Explore on Weekends.

zagubov

When we had to find somewhere to live we were commuting in opposite directions North Surrey and Waterloo. We triangulated and New Malden fitted neatly.

We had one car, which we could be used for the Surrey commute. In the morning why not googlemap a route from NM to Staines in Rush hour. It was a doddle as I was driving against the commuter traffic.

The trains into Waterloo were fast, cheap, regular, and there's the Waterloo-City line plus endless buses from the station.

You'll probably get more for your money though, somewhere like Wokingham. Not as easy to get to nightlife from there though, and when kids come along, no idea how good the schools are. Plus, crawling with the commuter crush for both of you.

Lots to think about.

Murphybear

Davesnave wrote: »

I used to be a little left of centre with a BA1 postcode....


Then I became more extreme and went EX.


Still a long way to go to reach TR though! :rotfl:

We lived in EX for years. Now we’re DT. I love TR but it’s a long journey to get anywhere :rotfl:

MysteryMe

No idea when it will open but stations along the Elizabeth Line seem to serve both Heathrow area and the City

OldMusicGuy

IMO the "nice" areas of Reading are up by the University campus, bit of a walk from the station. Caversham is nice but again not that close to the station.

I worked in Farnborough for a couple of years and wouldn't choose to live there. The centre is rather run down and dated and apart from the airshow every two years the town doesn't have anything to recommend it. Just MO of course.

Bracknell has got a lot better since they redeveloped the town centre, that is now quite nice. Used to be a right dump (again IMO).

Skiddaw1

Milerix wrote: »

I missed this somehow. We did look at Reading at the beginning. It was hard to tell which areas are dodgy and which are nice. We were told to avoid Whitley at all costs but accidentally viewed something there (we lined up something like 12 viewings over Friday and Sat) and the immediate area seemed quite nice. Finally we saw a house we were ready to offer on but then went to view stuff in Farnborough the weekend after and loved how green and quiet-but-not-too-quiet it was. Also found "the house" (which now fell through) and that made us commit to Farnborough back then. Maybe a good idea to look at Reading again.

Having lived there for 30+ years, IMO there really isn't any area of Reading that's really dodgy. Bits of Whitley and Southcote/Tilehurst, possibly (individual streets more than whole areas) but there's nothing that's a real 'no go' area. As mentioned, East Reading/University area is nice as is Caversham and it really isn't far at all to walk to the main station (you can just drop onto the Kennet & Avon or Thames towpaths) and if you're on the Woodley/Earley side of Reading you can pick up the Waterloo service at Earley, Winnersh and Winnersh Triangle stations. Plenty of detached houses in Lower Earley (and whilst it's a large housing estate it's not as grim as it sounds- loads of green spaces and walkways and you have Dinton Pastures right on the doorstep) and ditto in Caversham (Caversham Park Village borders on proper open country).



Sorry- sounding like an advert for Reading but I have a soft spot for it...:)

OldMusicGuy

Slightly different view from me. I lived near Reading for 20 years and find the central areas a bit grim once you get away from the Oracle centre and the few nice areas of shops. It's only recently I've appreciated how nice it is around the University area. Good place to be near but not a place I would want to live in except in a few areas.

It depends on the kind of lifestyle you want. Reading certainly has a lot going on, like any large place with all types of people it can be a bit varied and "lively".

My wife grew up in Whitley Wood and they definitely cleaned the windows with hammers back then. Hopefully it's better now......

Crashy_Time

https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/property/house-prices-plunging-across-berkshire-17108002

epinjy

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

IMO the "nice" areas of Reading are up by the University campus, bit of a walk from the station. Caversham is nice but again not that close to the station.

I worked in Farnborough for a couple of years and wouldn't choose to live there. The centre is rather run down and dated and apart from the airshow every two years the town doesn't have anything to recommend it. Just MO of course.

Bracknell has got a lot better since they redeveloped the town centre, that is now quite nice. Used to be a right dump (again IMO).

No more public weekends at Farnborough any more. Was there in 2016, I really enjoyed the exhibits put on much more than the air show (although it was nice to see the F35 in the UK for the first time).

I lived in Bracknell for a couple of years when the redevelopment was ongoing and just visited last month for the first time since it opened. Definitely a big improvement to the town center. Some of my colleagues at the time also had the view that Bracknell was a dump, but I always considered it a nice place to live and never got the impression that it was unsafe or unpleasant.