Oxfordshire and surroundings

neilp

I currently live (rent) and work in Oxford. When the time is right (ie once prices fall and/or the state of the housing market is clearer), I would like to buy a house within commuting distance of central Oxford (by public transport), but somewhere that would also be a straightforward commute to central London, so that I don't have to move if/when I change jobs.

Oxford is too expensive, and after several years living here I am fed up with it, so my shortlist is Bicester, Aylesbury and Banbury. I would very much appreciate anybody's thoughts on any of these towns, and any other places worth looking at.

My budget is likely to be up to £160,000, and I am looking for a 2 bedroom house (though I would consider 1 bedroom places and flats).

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

pinkshoes

I live in Oxford too, but love it here! You're right though, it IS very expensive, and within the ringroad prices are showing no signs of dropping.

For £160k, Bicester is ok, and you might be able to get a 3 bed terrace for that price, although I'm not so sure which are the "nice" areas to live in!! I have quite a few collegues that live in Swindon and really like it, as well as Witney, Wantage and Reading. Didcot isn't SO bad either now they've got a new shopping centre.

Codswallop

Why exactly are you fed up with it? Any particular reason or just bored with the area?

I'm interested in moving out of London to the Oxfordshire area but deciphering which areas are good at a distance is very difficult. I'll shortly take a break and try to do some more research. Very interested to know your opinions on the area you're living in.

Nikki

I also live in Oxford and we are selling up as we've had enough. It's way to expensive and for us it's a rubbish place to live. I agree with pinkshoes on some of her suggestions, we were originally looking at Didcot as you can get more for your money there and it's had bit of a facelift. Don't know much about Bicester or Banbury as we were only looking south of Oxford.

Nikki

Codswallop wrote: »

Why exactly are you fed up with it? Any particular reason or just bored with the area?

I'm interested in moving out of London to the Oxfordshire area but deciphering which areas are good at a distance is very difficult. I'll shortly take a break and try to do some more research. Very interested to know your opinions on the area you're living in.

It depends on what you want out of the place you live. Oxford is very student and tourist focused. If you are single or don't have kids, it's probably a good place to live as there are plenty of pubs, clubs, coffee shops and places to eat. The shopping is rubbish though. If you have kids most of the state schools are bad and things are even worse when you have a child with a disability. There are no decent play parks and nothing to do unless you have money and can drive. For Oxford itself the places that are good to live are expensive and the places that are cheaper are the places to avoid. I live in a village just outside Oxford which is considered 'desirable' and it is a lovely place to live and good if you want to be close to the city centre, but like a bit of peace and quiet.

msmicawber

Didcot and its surrounds would probably be a good bet for the OP as it's only a few minutes by train from Oxford and there are fast trains to London. It's expanding very fast and there's a lot of building going on so lots of houses and flats for sale and rent. As another poster said, they've revamped the town centre recently so the shopping's better as well.

pinkshoes

Nikki wrote: »

It depends on what you want out of the place you live. Oxford is very student and tourist focused. If you are single or don't have kids, it's probably a good place to live as there are plenty of pubs, clubs, coffee shops and places to eat. The shopping is rubbish though. If you have kids most of the state schools are bad and things are even worse when you have a child with a disability. There are no decent play parks and nothing to do unless you have money and can drive. For Oxford itself the places that are good to live are expensive and the places that are cheaper are the places to avoid. I live in a village just outside Oxford which is considered 'desirable' and it is a lovely place to live and good if you want to be close to the city centre, but like a bit of peace and quiet.

Shopping is currently rubbish, but I have high hopes for this new shopping centre they're going to build, which should bring the shopping standards right up!! There's always Reading for now...

The parks are a bit rubbish, although there's lots of lovely green areas for chilling out in summer, sports facilities are pretty good (locals can use both university sports centres), and it's like living in a city but being a few minutes drive to green areas!

But then again, I only live in oxford because it's half way between where me and my OH work!!

Oxford tourists are dreadful thought, although they only seem to appear after 10.30am, so if you're willing to go into town early, it's not so bad.

Didcot may also be known as Deadcat and Didgrot, but it's really not so bad any more, providing you haven't got a view of the powerstation!!

Ishtar

Didcot isn't so bad - there are plenty of places where you don't have to look at the power station from your bedroom window. When we moved there we did so with some trepidation, but have to say that it wasn't so bad after all - this was pre-the Orchard centre. The best part (IMO) is the Ladygrove area, but prices are rising sharply. We lived there for 6 years before relocating for OHs job

(I always said that that best thing about Didcot was the ease with which you could get out of it! It has great transport links)

We've been out of Oxfordshire for 4 years and currently looking to move back to Abingdon - can't afford Oxford....well, we could but would end up outside the ring road on one of the more dodgy estates. Good bus links between Abingdon/Oxford and Abingdon/Didcot, and of course, a couple of miles out of town is Radley - the station is on the main Paddington line.

Hope this helps
D.

neilp

I would second all the above comments about Oxford. I enjoyed living here for a couple of years, but after nearly five it is time to move on. Fundamentally, I just don't think Oxford offers value for money. It has positive features, but in many ways is quite overrated.

Thanks for the incredibly useful suggestions. I will certainly check out Didcot.

newbie71_2

ohhh hello all you Oxford MSErs! We lived in Oxford for 10 years (renting) and then we moved to Abingdon to buy (and then were flooded but that's another story....)

Would have loved to have stayed in Oxford but same as most of you on here simply could not afford to buy a decent house in a decent area. So we moved to Abingdon - personally I don't rate the town that much - the town centre makes the Cowley Centre in Oxford look like Meadowhall for choice and variety! :rotfl:And there's not the mix of people that you get in Oxford, and it was a shock at first to move from multicultural East Oxford to a more sedate market town, but we live in a decent neighbourhood, have a 3 bedroomed house and have easy access to to a good regular bus service and the schools seem to be better here.

Like other posters have mentioned Abingdon does have a very good bus service and there are regular buses direct to Oxford railway station and to Oxford if you've still got your friends there and want to be able to get up there at weekends without taking the car.

There was also an item on the local news last night about the cheapest place to live in Oxfordshire being Carterton apparently but I've no idea about links to London from there.

I work in Banbury and it has a good range of shops and again good rail links. Good luck with your househunting!

neilp

Thanks for that. I live in East Oxford at the moment - definitely my favourite part of town! I had thought about Abingdon, but access to London pretty much rules it out. A lot of my colleagues live in Carterton - I get the impression it is "up and coming", though transport links don't seem great, and I don't drive (nor would I wish to on a daily basis).