Moving to Cheltenham...

Moving to Cheltenham...

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Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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I start work in Cheltenham in June (not with a certain Government agency before you all avoid me) - need to find somewhere to live.

Any suggestions? I don't mind commuting by car if it means staying somewhere nicer.

Six Fiend

6,067 posts

221 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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Lots of lovely places in and around Cheltenham. Outskirts of Gloucester very close and some reasonable prices there.

There are far worse places to live wink

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
quotequote all
Any areas in particular that are noteworthy? smile

I'd be renting to start with, looking for a 1 or 2 bed house (not a flat).

EX51GE R

1,476 posts

216 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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pittville, bishops cleeve. Steer clear of princess elizabeth way wink

blueg33

38,001 posts

230 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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It depends how far out you are prepared to go and what sort of property you like. For period stuff you need Cheltenham Town or Villages mainly to the north, east and south, for modern estate stuff Bishops Cleeve, Brockworth, Longlevens. (Actually, come to think of it, I know someone who may have a 2 bed house for rent in Longlevens. Their tenant of 3 years has just moved out).

Gloucester side like Longlevens and Brockworth is slightly cheaper than Cheltenham Town centre.

As already advised avoid Hesters Way, Princess Elizabeth Way and most of the Council estates.

Nothing wrong with working for the Foreign Office, some of my best friends work in the "donut"

Some great bars and restaurants in Cheltenham and the South West Breakfast club meets once a month at AV8 Kemble.

Prescott Hillclimb is closeby too

Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 16th February 08:44

Tiger Tim

1,811 posts

228 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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I'll add Whaddon and surrounding areas to the list of places not to live.

Charlton Kings is nice, as is Prestbury village and if you want the country life then Winchcombe is nice.

B4rker

201 posts

157 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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Bit of a left field option but from Staunton/Corse/Hartpury/Tirley/Maisemore/Ashleworth (all villages, most with their own pubs and post offices) you are only looking at about a 30 minute commmute due to back roads.

Bit expensive if you need a taxi home at night but a nice part of the world to live.

If you need any advise just pm me.

Smitters

4,083 posts

163 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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Where in Cheltenham you have to get to for work will have a bearing on which side you want to live if you were after a countryside house. I wouldn't want to have to cross the town in rush hour if I didn't have to.

A40 and A417 plus the M5 all provide swift ways in so you could conceivably be a way out of town to the east, north or south if you wanted. It'll also depend on your social situation of course. If you're single/young couple and looking to go out/make friends etc then it would be easier to be close to town for post work drinkies and socialising. Otherwise, country pubs, small villages and log fires abound!

Welcome to the Cotswolds.

Wacky Racer

38,806 posts

253 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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If you can afford it Winchcombe is lovely and not too far away.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
quotequote all
Yeah it'd have helped if I'd said where - Bishops Cleeve is where I'll be working.

Budget isn't massive, £600 absolute maximum per month renting, the closer to £0 the better of course wink

blueg33

38,001 posts

230 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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Zurich per chance?

Alex Clarke is a good letting agent.

s2sol

1,243 posts

177 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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I live in Bishops Cleeve, but I'd struggle to recommend it. I lived in Winchcombe for a while, and that's much nicer. Bugger for parking, though.

If you can, have a look around Pitville. Easy commute to Cleeve, and into Cheltenham. Lovely properties, with a lot available to rent. If you want a house with a drive and garage, you might have to stick with Cleeve. If you don't mind a flat with street parking, Pittville would be great.

As mentioned above, there are lots of villages around if that's what you'd prefer. Gotherington, Dumbleton, Prescott, are all the right side of town for you.

If you want a proper shire town with cheap rents, you could do a lot worse than Tewkesbury. About 15-20 minutes to Cleeve, and everything you need within walking distance.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
Zurich per chance?
Nope.

s2sol said:
I live in Bishops Cleeve, but I'd struggle to recommend it.
Any particular reason? Being within walking distance of work has it's appeal (yes I know this is PistonHeads, but the less time one spends in a Kia Picanto the better, right?)

Not adverse to commuting either though.

Trying to do as much research as I can now because I'm going to have very little time between finishing Uni and starting work, and I'm currently living in Rutherglen just outside Glasgow! laugh

s2sol

1,243 posts

177 months

Friday 17th February 2012
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It's a bit boring! As somebody said earlier, there's a huge number of modern estates. When I was a boy, it was quite a pretty little village, with a nice high street. Now, it's a vast sprawl of estates, with a big Tesco and a Lidl, alongside a few restaurants and estate agents. There are a couple of pubs, one of which is decent.

There's a bus every 10 minutes into Cheltenham, which is handy if you like a drink.

I think Zurich is now almost entirely Capita. If you're working there, you'll need to be able to walk to work. If it's GE (known locally as Smith's) , there's plenty of parking.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Friday 17th February 2012
quotequote all
Yeah I'll be fine for parking yes

Based there for my first six months at least.

maser_spyder

6,356 posts

188 months

Friday 17th February 2012
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Another recommendation for Pitville, nice part of the world.

Do you want to live in town? Or village life? I'm sure the suggestions will be much better if we know what you're looking for!

agent006

12,058 posts

270 months

Friday 17th February 2012
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Commuting to Cleeve makes things like Tewkesbury, Apperly, Deerhurst a good option. Also consider Swindon Village, lots of bungalows but it's a decent enough area. Although it rapidly becomes River Leys which is best avoided.

Whaddon is on the list of places best avoided, but there are some nice roads around it which benefit from lower prices (Cleeve View Road for instance). THe cluster around Severn Road, and Clyde Crescent are the ones to avoid, but it rapidly gets nice once you're south of Whaddon road. Likewise Lynworth to the north is perfectly acceptable.

Pittville will be out of your budget if you don't want a flat. Wymans Brook (Roman Hackle Avenue etc) is nearby and perfectly fine, as is the area around Bolton Road depsite it's proximity to St Pauls.

If you just want A House in A Road and don't mind if it's a faceless estate with nothing to do, then Bishops Cleeve itself is the place to be.

Leckhampton and Charlton Kings are nice but expensive and it'd be a nightmare commute.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Saturday 18th February 2012
quotequote all
Hmmm, I'm happy to consider both places that are a bit more central as well as smaller villages providing there's some half decent local pubs/shops nearby.

Parking and how bad the commute is are big concerns - I won't tolerate street parking because it's always been a pain for me and I'd rather not sit in massive traffic jams every morning either!

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,649 posts

164 months

Sunday 8th April 2012
quotequote all
I've looked into it a bit more and reckon I can stretch my budget to £700 per month and I'm looking for a 2 bedroom house.

Considering Bishops Cleeve itself because I'd have no commute to really speak of but also looking at Tewkesbury and surrounding areas since the rentals are a bit cheaper.

Didn't realise unfurnished can mean without things like a fridge or a washing machine so I'm going to have a bit more to fork out for the first month without getting paid than I thought frown

Gaffer

7,156 posts

283 months

Sunday 8th April 2012
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Roop and myself lived in both BC and Tewkesbury for a few years. He commuted to Stroud and I was working at Zurich/Eagle Star.

I preferred Tewkesbury - great hoon down the back road into BC, village itself was lovely - great curry place and there is a Burger Star yum

Tewkesbury was close to the m-way as well so Roop could blast down the M5 and be at work in 40 mins or so.

Lovely area, good pubs and close to everywhere, Brizzle aint that far is you want a bigger city at times.

Great times, great memories smile

Claire