Hertfordshire vs Buckinghamshire!?!

strawberries1

I need your help please. We've been house hunting for two years. With inflation and house prices going through the roof we perhaps need to narrow down and just go for it. It's been so difficult to find anything we like. We found a lovely house in (the wrong place) Aylesbury -traffic was horrid. Haddenham is nicer but further out from London and not at all diverse but Aylesbury nearby is ok for a bit of diversity. I saw a shop that had plantains at 3 for £1.50 at the time (2020)  pricey yet but there's hope! Lol!

We saw another lovely on in Maidenhead but we just happened to go to view it we hadn't been looking there. It's the best yet but that's Berkshire.

We like Buckinghamshire for the Grammar schools but get more value in Hertfordshire.

Requirements: 4 bed + 3 bathrooms, happy to do some work even an extension if pushed, outstanding schools, walking distance ie not more than 1mile to the station. Nice to have: Christian leaning school and village location.

Where do you suggest we look and why?

Bray is a lovely village in Maidenhead with fair prices but I'm not sure about Berkshire. I've lived on the edge of Hertfordshire so I'm familiar with it. Are grammars that important? If everyone I know who values education seeks out grammars why did the govt ban creation of any more? Perhaps for a separate post. Education is most important to us. I come from a culture where it's not uncommon to spend all we have on a child's education and skimp everywhere else. No Grammars in Berkshire but the house prices give the most value for everywhere we've seen. With Crossrail we should get a bit of an uplift in appreciation of our ppty value.

Haddenham is also a lovely village but feel it's too far out from London and too much traffic getting to schools in Aylesbury.

Thank you.

Owleyes00

Cannot see any need to base your housing decision on whether or not there is a grammar school.

Have you got kids yet? How old are they? No guarantee that they would even get in.

Seems like you have no idea where you want to live as you are looking all over the place. What other ties do you have?

Andthen07

strawberries1 said:

I need your help please. We've been house hunting for two years. With inflation and house prices going through the roof we perhaps need to narrow down and just go for it. It's been so difficult to find anything we like. We found a lovely house in (the wrong place) Aylesbury -traffic was horrid. Haddenham is nicer but further out from London and not at all diverse but Aylesbury nearby is ok for a bit of diversity. I saw a shop that had plantains at 3 for £1.50 at the time (2020)  pricey yet but there's hope! Lol!

We saw another lovely on in Maidenhead but we just happened to go to view it we hadn't been looking there. It's the best yet but that's Berkshire.

We like Buckinghamshire for the Grammar schools but get more value in Hertfordshire.

Requirements: 4 bed + 3 bathrooms, happy to do some work even an extension if pushed, outstanding schools, walking distance ie not more than 1mile to the station. Nice to have: Christian leaning school and village location.

Where do you suggest we look and why?

Bray is a lovely village in Maidenhead with fair prices but I'm not sure about Berkshire. I've lived on the edge of Hertfordshire so I'm familiar with it. Are grammars that important? If everyone I know who values education seeks out grammars why did the govt ban creation of any more? Perhaps for a separate post. Education is most important to us. I come from a culture where it's not uncommon to spend all we have on a child's education and skimp everywhere else. No Grammars in Berkshire but the house prices give the most value for everywhere we've seen. With Crossrail we should get a bit of an uplift in appreciation of our ppty value.

Haddenham is also a lovely village but feel it's too far out from London and too much traffic getting to schools in Aylesbury.

Thank you.

Second thread mentioning grammar schools.

Anyway I live in Holyport which is a 2 minute drive to Bray so what grammar schools or any schools for that matter are you talking about as nearest one's are in other towns?

No grammars in Berkshire also you say, I could name about 10 off the top of my head from Reading to Langley.

getmore4less

Both bucks and Herts go from stupid expensive to reasonable, Bucks to  cheap as it goes a long way north

You can add Beds and Ox as they both border your current search area

There are  a lot of options north of the Chilterns from the M40 round to the M1.

Aylesbury Vale is a major house building area and infrastructure lags behind.

HS2 is causing issues  but once the southern ring road goes in that will help.



Traffic is not a problem for schools if you buy in the right part of the town.
Bedgrove and use Tring (car) or StokeM(30 min walk) stations for London

Tring also known for good schools but a lot more expensive and station not in Tring.

Fast trains to London need to avoid Chiltern line options

Leighton buzzard is ok not sure about schools.

What's the budget. 

Murphybear

When my husband I got together we moved from London to Milton Keynes.  It had very reasonably priced housing.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea though.    My husband hated it so we moved to a bungalow in a very quiet Northants village.  

My brother and his family lived in Letchworth in Herts.  He loved it there.  Not as expensive as some places in Herts.  

GDB2222

Bear in mind that WFH is winding down now, so houses with a long commute may not be so popular soon. 

lookstraightahead

GDB2222 said:

Bear in mind that WFH is winding down now, so houses with a long commute may not be so popular soon. 

This. 

Op, I lived in Bucks for years (20). I don't like any of it. Sorry 😬

Indigo_and_Violet

I've worked in education for a number of years.

Assuming you want classic academic success (i.e. a string of 7s,8s and 9s at GCSE) if you are in a grammar school county it's more important to get into a grammar as the secondary moderns can struggle. If you are outside of a grammar school county then typically, if you can get a good state comp with a nice catchment area and your kids are in the upper sets/streams they'll be fine. They might get a couple of 8s at GCSE that might have been 9s at the grammar but when progressing to uni their school background will be taken into account. Being pushed at home will make the biggest difference.

Inferring from the plantain comment that you are Black, there is some evidence of racism in setting/streaming decisions in UK schools (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/black-students-ability-set-streaming-maths-ucl-institute-education-research-a8526301.html). Don't be afraid to have polite but robust conversations with the school if you're not happy with the allocations. 

If faith and education are both important to you, and if your kids are any good at singing, it might be worth looking at a choir school: https://www.choirschools.org.uk/help-with-fees/

An indication of budget and roughly where you want to land in London would be helpful for the rest. Realistically the home counties are much of a muchness - they all have nice bits and rough bits.

strawberries1

getmore4less said:

There are  a lot of options north of the Chilterns from the M40 round to the M1.
What's the budget. Yes, we're looking btw the M40 and M1 but tempted to consider SW Hertfordshire where there are (p) selective schools. Our budget is £1.2, we could push to £1,300,000 but we'll prefer to hold some cash back to update it to our taste. 

GDB2222 said:
Bear in mind that WFH is winding down now, so houses with a long commute may not be so popular soon. Yes, I hope that will help us!

lookstraightahead said:

GDB2222 said:

Bear in mind that WFH is winding down now, so houses with a long commute may not be so popular soon. 

This. 

Op, I lived in Bucks for years (20). I don't like any of it. Sorry 😬 Please share. Where did you live? It's such a long county. When was this? Did you like any bit? Where? The only place I've liked so far is Beaconsfield but can't find what we want for our budget there so looking elsewhere.

Murphybear said:

My brother and his family lived in Letchworth in Herts.  He loved it there.  Not as expensive as some places in Herts.  Yes Letchworth is nice but we were hoping to not go that far and we prefer selective schools.

Indigo_and_Violet said:

I've worked in education for a number of years. Excellent! Welcome!

..... as the secondary moderns can struggle. I'll prefer a non stream situation as I've not heard anything positive about it amongst people I know.

....there is some evidence of racism in setting/streaming decisions in UK schools (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/black-students-ability-set-streaming-maths-ucl-institute-education-research-a8526301.html). I am aware that we have to work harder and prove to be worth the opportunity much more than other races. 

If faith and education are both important to you, and if your kids are any good at singing, it might be worth looking at a choir school: https://www.choirschools.org.uk/help-with-fees/ Excellent. Thanks for this.

An indication of budget and roughly where you want to land in London would be helpful for the rest.  We don't have a specific area in London but we've always lived in the W and NW of London so we're looking just outside of the M25 from these directions. Our budget is about £1.2m. Your help is very much appreciated.

Thanks for your reply everyone. I've now learnt that outside people I know personally I shouldn't speak positively about or show a desire for Grammar schools.  I made a post asking about it in considering areas to narrow my search to and it was actually reported and pull down from MSE. I didn't realise it was taboo. I read a preview of one of the replies to this thread stating that it is well known that Grammar schools are a big consideration for many parents. I clicked on the link but the post has been deleted or removed. Everyday it becomes clearer that the discus in the public domain isn't a true reflection of the spectrum of opinions of the populace just those not censored. If my post annoys you it's not my intention. Please ignore and move on. Thanks.

getmore4less

Most of bucks is actually quite nice and rural with access to major centres for things like shopping without having to live in the town's.

We like bucks it as good access to all the major airports for travel and <40mins to major shopping when needed, 1hr central London.

With £1m you missed this, walking(<10min) to the  grammar&high schools and station.
(We looked at this 25y ago when considering mid bucks, project was too much for us then)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117443009#/?channel=RES_BUY

Massive space, a bit remote, HS2 might be too close.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108604673#/?channel=RES_BUY

Chumy

1. I love plantains
2. We decided to add good private schools instead of just grammar schools as we can afford it to the mix 
3. Like you, we didn't really have ties to anywhere, just looking for a good location with easy access to London incase we ever needed to switch jobs
4. Most will jump on you wanting what you think is best for your kids
5. All the very best with your search!