Is Slough a good place to buy right now ?

RHemmings

Albermarle said:

My previous impression of Reading from what I have heard made me think it was a fancier and more expensive place than it appears to be.

Reading to some extent has the feel of being more like a small Northern city, despite its location.
It also had a reputation for being a bit dull and down at heel, and was sometimes jokingly referred to as ' The Leicester of the South' as Leicester was famously the butt of Terry Wogan jokes about it being boring. 

Although with the posh shopping centre and new office blocks, it now looks more prosperous, which more befits its location in the Thames Valley corridor. However certainly not 'fancy' .

I live in the real Leicester of the Midlands. There are quite a lot of very fancy looking houses if I search in Reading from most expensive down. E.g. 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150448580#/?channel=RES_BUY



While I haven't collected proper statistics, I think there are probably more houses of that type (expensive, to me) than Leicester, and I presume that there are more 'expensive' areas in Reading than Leicester.

Downmarket the houses look more similar to those in Leicester. But, that applies to most cities of wildly approximately that size. I'm going to look at some YouTube videos on Reading. Currently I'm still working through some Slough ones in breaks for work. While I hesitate to say this and don't want to appear 'holier than thou', what I see makes me happier with my decisions to not drink, take drugs, nor gamble. 

Of course, if I lived in Slough (or anywhere, including where I am), that doesn't insulate me from the problems of antisocial public intoxication. 

EDIT: The maps on Plumplot are useful. This map shows how crime in Reading is quite focussed on some small areas. 



Here is the plot for Slough, but for general crime. Not violent crime. 



While it's not a like for like comparison, it does seem harder to pick a low-crime area in Slough than Reading. 

woohooteehee

martindow said:

Where the OP needs to go to work is pertinent here.  If commuting to London, some of the alternatives such as Wokingham and Bracknell have much longer journey times and trains that stop lots of times on the way.  Slough has Crossrail, but also faster trains to Paddington.  Reading has lots of fast trains (25 minutes to Paddington) but it is much further out so fares will be around double travelling from Slough.

True, I work in London so would prefer a station near the Elizabeth line tbh. Reading to London fares are very expensive unnecessarily 

woohooteehee

Elliott.T123 said:

woohooteehee said:

Thank you for your replies everyone! 

I actually live in slough with my parents and I struggle to defend it against those who don't, so i get the slough hate lol. I have a love hate relationship with it

I am able to buy a house in slough (doesn't have to be central) and thought it would be a good idea to live in it for a bit and then when i'm ready to move out of slough, i can rent it out and then finally sell when the area has developed. I have heard that Slough has a good rental market and that there are development plans so i was thinking it might be worth having a property here if it's going to develop + its close to london, heathrow etc - i just don't know if its smart or dumb haha. 

Im sorry to hear.

Only joking, but in all seriousness I would say if you already live in Slough you are probably better placed than anyone else here to answer your own questions.

No one can predict where is going to increase in price the most (unless they have access to sensitive information such as government projects or new infrastructure). But realistically Slough doesn't appear to be undergoing any major transformation anytime soon.

Thank you for your sympathies haha. 

my analysis is: 

Pros: 

- I do know that there is a great rental market - due to the increase in the immigrant population
- Close to London/Heathrow/motorways
- Many grammar schools and primary schools. 

Cons: 

- Slough Highstreet is not doing well and we don't know when it will develop. If i buy near here, will the value increase or decrease because its gets even worse ? no idea. 

- Crime near slough high-street is high. 

- Its slough

My predicament is: 
If i buy, should i buy close to the highstreet (central) in case development takes place and the prices go up (heard rumours of a new mall), or buy further away near farnham road, burnham or else where the Elizabeth line runs etc. because the highstreet will get worse and i should be far away from it when that happens. 

Guess we can't predict lol - maybe i'm overthinking. 

Elliott.T123

woohooteehee said:

my analysis is: 

Pros: 

- I do know that there is a great rental market - due to the increase in the immigrant population
- Close to London/Heathrow/motorways
- Many grammar schools and primary schools. 

Cons: 

- Slough Highstreet is not doing well and we don't know when it will develop. If i buy near here, will the value increase or decrease because its gets even worse ? no idea. 

- Crime near slough high-street is high. 

- Its slough

My predicament is: 
If i buy, should i buy close to the highstreet (central) in case development takes place and the prices go up (heard rumours of a new mall), or buy further away near farnham road, burnham or else where the Elizabeth line runs etc. because the highstreet will get worse and i should be far away from it when that happens. 

Guess we can't predict lol - maybe i'm overthinking. 

This, buy somewhere you want to live and makes sense for your work / family / friends / life.

Unless you are bordering on full time property developer / landlord I would say dont bother trying to buy with future gains in mind, its a guessing game.

Also I am sure you mentioned somewhere about a plan to rent out at a later date. Keep in mind if you want to do that there are going to be a lot of hoops to jump through these days such as the EPC rating, change in evection rules etc. Being a landlord is not as profitable or easy as people think.

Albermarle

woohooteehee said:

Elliott.T123 said:

woohooteehee said:

Thank you for your replies everyone! 

I actually live in slough with my parents and I struggle to defend it against those who don't, so i get the slough hate lol. I have a love hate relationship with it

I am able to buy a house in slough (doesn't have to be central) and thought it would be a good idea to live in it for a bit and then when i'm ready to move out of slough, i can rent it out and then finally sell when the area has developed. I have heard that Slough has a good rental market and that there are development plans so i was thinking it might be worth having a property here if it's going to develop + its close to london, heathrow etc - i just don't know if its smart or dumb haha. 

Im sorry to hear.

Only joking, but in all seriousness I would say if you already live in Slough you are probably better placed than anyone else here to answer your own questions.

No one can predict where is going to increase in price the most (unless they have access to sensitive information such as government projects or new infrastructure). But realistically Slough doesn't appear to be undergoing any major transformation anytime soon.

Thank you for your sympathies haha. 

my analysis is: 

Pros: 

- I do know that there is a great rental market - due to the increase in the immigrant population
- Close to London/Heathrow/motorways
- Many grammar schools and primary schools. 

Cons: 

- Slough Highstreet is not doing well and we don't know when it will develop. If i buy near here, will the value increase or decrease because its gets even worse ? no idea. 

- Crime near slough high-street is high. 

- Its slough

My predicament is: 
If i buy, should i buy close to the highstreet (central) in case development takes place and the prices go up (heard rumours of a new mall), or buy further away near farnham road, burnham or else where the Elizabeth line runs etc. because the highstreet will get worse and i should be far away from it when that happens. 

Guess we can't predict lol - maybe i'm overthinking. 

I would also put as a big 'con' ending up as a landlord, which can be a major hassle, especially if you get dodgy tenants.
Many small landlords are selling up, as changes in tax and housing legislation have made it less attractive.

Albermarle

I live in the real Leicester of the Midlands. There are quite a lot of very fancy looking houses if I search in Reading from most expensive down. E.g. 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150448580#/?channel=RES_BUY

That property is in Sonning, a posh village on the Thames. It is not in Reading.

newsgroupmonkey_

I particularly enjoyed all the commentary from those who have never lived there.
I used to live behind the Industrial estate, on the road into Burnham. We were officially Slough, but frankly, a 5 minute walk to Burnham station.

It was great and loved living there. My house went from £59,950 (3 bed semi) to over £240k in the 7 years we lived there. It's currently worth over £450k apparently. Say what you like about Slough, but the house prices have far exceeded most places in the UK outside London.

Still have friends over that way. The only downside is that getting into the Burnham Primary schools is difficult. If you live inside the Berkshire border (Burnham is Bucks), you run the risk of your children not making it and they end up in the Britwell schools or Priory.

Definitely pick your areas carefully.

I'd agree, stay away from the centre, but then again, I think you probably would.

RHemmings

Albermarle said:

That property is in Sonning, a posh village on the Thames. It is not in Reading.

Oh sorry. I was confused by it saying 'Reading' in the Rightmove listing. I should have checked the location on the map. 

Martico

Not a single mention of either The Office or the sewage treatment plant, arguably the only two claims to fame for the town post-Betjeman. I despair

theartfullodger

A good idea?  Depends what happens to property prices in Slough.  We can tell in say 5 or 10 years time if it WAS a good idea, but telling you now it will just be a guess