Living in Bletchley

Zward2391

Hello,
We are looking at moving to Milton Keynes and have seen a lot of properties for sale in the Bletchley area. Having spoken to some estate agents etc I have heard that some roads are ok and others not so much...so trying to find out hwich areas to look at and which to stay away from! Any local knowledge gratefully appreciated!
Thanks.

newsgroupmonkey_

Zward2391 said:

Hello,
We are looking at moving to Milton Keynes and have seen a lot of properties for sale in the Bletchley area. Having spoken to some estate agents etc I have heard that some roads are ok and others not so much...so trying to find out hwich areas to look at and which to stay away from! Any local knowledge gratefully appreciated!
Thanks.

Blimey, where to start! It's quite a large area. Think of a decent sized town, and that's Bletchley.
I live about a mile up the road, but have only lived here since February (having lived about 8 miles down the road)

I guess it's what you look for. Generally, Lakes Estate and Blue Lagoon aside, most of it will be very similar. It's a multi-cultural area. There are some tidy new estates. The new estate either side of Bletchley Park, for instance, is nice. That particular part of Bletchley has some nice estates and areas - typical semi-detached houses you'd find in most pleasant towns. The town centre, I'm afraid, is rather grim, despite having a Sainsbury's.

I have friends who live on the Racehorse Estate (look for Chepstow drive). Be aware there's a lot of work around there at the moment as they're building the new E/W railway. It's always seemed OK to me.

Windmill Hill Drive area is nice too. Easy to get in and out on the A421.

Basically, I'd say spend a few days looking around - might be worth coming down for the weekend and spending a couple of nights in a Hotel getting a feel of the place. I'm pretty sure if you were to take a walk around some of the areas, you'd get the vibes.

The problem with MK is that it's all compartmentalised. Everyone thinks it's some grim place where there are loads of roundabouts (which tbf IS true). There are some great areas and not so great, but some of them are mixed together too. What you will realise is that most of it is hidden. You can drive around wondering where all the hundreds of thousands of people live when you only see the odd house here and there on the main roads (which IMHO is a great thing).

Also, don't write off Leighton Buzzard. It's growing hugely, but on the other hand, that means there is quite a lot of housing stock about (both new and old). It's similar in price and the bypass makes it very easy to get into MK, but still with a Market Town feel about it. Olney is lovely (we considered it, just a little too far for work) too, if you fancy something a little bit more quaint. Again, Woburn Sands might be worth considering.

getmore4less

Some of the older part of the wider MK areas are seriously bad, 
Get off the main routes and drive through the actual estates,  do some street view walk through you will get the idea.
Some of the older parts pre MK that have been built around are still nice but can be pricey when stuff comes up.

Loads of new builds going on, the east side along the A421  where the distribution centres are  masses of new housing.
As said some the villages and towns just outside are still very nice but some are also expanding beyond infrastructure capacity.

jimbog

I lived in Simpson for a number of years. Parts of Fenny Stratford are nice - most of Bletchley is pretty grim. Avoid some of the nearby MK estates e.g. Tinkers Bridge, Netherfield.
MK is soulless - designed for cars. Lots of homeless now and the centre is in decline.
If you can stretch to it Woburn Sands is nice

bucksbloke

So some parts of Bletchley are going to be redeveloped and it is going to have considerable investment. A new rail line which will run between Oxford and Cambridge called EastWest Rail  and Bletchley will be a key junction allowing people to switch to the West Coast mainline (trains running between London Euston and Scotland via Milton Keynes Central and Birmingham).

It is expected that this will bring a lot more people to Bletchley and the surrounding areas and is likely to push up house prices. Some of West Bletchley is really nice. Windmill Hill area, anything around St Mary's Church, Buckingham Road, Far Bletchley, Old Bletchley. 

Newton Leys is new estate and is very nice, its on the other side of the West Coast Mainline from Central Bletchley and is right on the border of MK and the villages between Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury, lots of countryside walks on your doorstep. There is easy access to the A5. Eaton Leys is also a new development right on the edge - close to the A5, they are being marketed by Barratt as Woburn Downs despite being miles from Woburn (but you can see Woburn Forest on the hill).