Suggest a place to move/raiseFamily
Discussion
Hi All,
I and my partner have been trying to find a location where we can raise our family.
I am an IT-consultant and my partner is an IT-contractor. We are planning to have children in very near future. We are currently renting in Bristol and want to move closer to London for our occupational needs. Since my partner is an IT-contractor, he needs to travel around and more often he gets contracts in London, sometimes around Reading, Swindon etc. I am currently working permanent in a company in Bristol and when we move closer to London, I can find a permanent job near our house. And we are not people who would buy and sell their house and move around more often. So we need to find a place where we can live for a longer period (at least 5 + years)
Some of our criteria are:
• We don’t want to get into London, anywhere around London should be ideal.
• Good location to travel to London by train and other parts by road like Slough, Maidenhead, Reading etc. These places have good public transport links to London and road links. We don’t want to live in a place like Slough. Sorry if I offend someone.
• We need a location/area where options for schools are really good. Both public and private schools.
• Obviously a safe place where we can feel confident to raise our family.
• Our budget is between 275,000 and 350,000.
As you can see our main criteria are transport link and very good schools.
We have initially identified following locations and then moved our search to other locations for various reasons like:
Reading :
Transportation links are good, but the cost of the travel to cross reading is very high. You can’t find a decent area near maniline train station. Better nearer place to train station are in Caversham, but door to door to train station from Caversham itself would take 30 mins (both ways) + train travel to London/other parts.
Windsor:
Location is good but no so good for transportation to London.
Datchet:
Location is good, school options are good. You can travel to Slough for faster train access to London or 45 mins from Datchet itself. But very less properties are there in market.
Maidenhead:
Not sure much about this location. Need to explore. Transportation links are good and part of the place is good.
Can anyone guide us in our search please? Do you have any suggestion to the above place or suggestion a new place for us? Any help would be really appreciated.
Thank you.
I and my partner have been trying to find a location where we can raise our family.
I am an IT-consultant and my partner is an IT-contractor. We are planning to have children in very near future. We are currently renting in Bristol and want to move closer to London for our occupational needs. Since my partner is an IT-contractor, he needs to travel around and more often he gets contracts in London, sometimes around Reading, Swindon etc. I am currently working permanent in a company in Bristol and when we move closer to London, I can find a permanent job near our house. And we are not people who would buy and sell their house and move around more often. So we need to find a place where we can live for a longer period (at least 5 + years)
Some of our criteria are:
• We don’t want to get into London, anywhere around London should be ideal.
• Good location to travel to London by train and other parts by road like Slough, Maidenhead, Reading etc. These places have good public transport links to London and road links. We don’t want to live in a place like Slough. Sorry if I offend someone.
• We need a location/area where options for schools are really good. Both public and private schools.
• Obviously a safe place where we can feel confident to raise our family.
• Our budget is between 275,000 and 350,000.
As you can see our main criteria are transport link and very good schools.
We have initially identified following locations and then moved our search to other locations for various reasons like:
Reading :
Transportation links are good, but the cost of the travel to cross reading is very high. You can’t find a decent area near maniline train station. Better nearer place to train station are in Caversham, but door to door to train station from Caversham itself would take 30 mins (both ways) + train travel to London/other parts.
Windsor:
Location is good but no so good for transportation to London.
Datchet:
Location is good, school options are good. You can travel to Slough for faster train access to London or 45 mins from Datchet itself. But very less properties are there in market.
Maidenhead:
Not sure much about this location. Need to explore. Transportation links are good and part of the place is good.
Can anyone guide us in our search please? Do you have any suggestion to the above place or suggestion a new place for us? Any help would be really appreciated.
Thank you.
I lived in reading for a few years and its not an area I would choose to raise a family. Windsor is nice, but as you say it's not that good for your needs. I don't really know much about Maidenhead, as I've only been through it a few times. Datchet? Again not an area I would consider, I work just over the border from there and don't really like it.
Does it have to be Berkshire?
Does it have to be Berkshire?
Maidenhead is a real mixed bag, River and College areas nice but some other bits decidedly iffy. Town centre a bit drab, it's really a utility town and being taken over by pound shops - still functional enough, we use it for what it is but would hit Marlow/Windsor for nicer shopping. We used to live in the College area which was great for getting to the station for Mrs Cloth, walkable, some very fast trains into Paddington. Now moved about 4 miles south just below Holyport, great if you fancy a bit more green than town living - equal distance for Windsor and Maidenhead but it does mean a drive in and parking for either.
I really overwhelmed by the number of responses. Thanks very much for your responses.
@Furry Exocet: As we started to look for places which are good in transport links to London and other parts like Reading/Swindon, we ended up in places which are in Berkshire. If you have other places than Berkshire which suits us, please suggest us.
@ph1l5: Stoke Poges/Farnham common/Gerrards cross way - Will certainly explore these areas. But as you mentioned, since they are far from the main train station, commute to the train station might take most portion of the travel time.
@edc: When I mean reading as expensive. It’s not the house prices but on the train tickets. I believe Reading is considered as main zone to London. So anywhere through Reading is costly. For example monthly season from Reading to London cost £364.80 which in understandable. But when you travel from Reading to Swindon is costing: £454.70.
@PatrickOUFC: we really like Oxford. But I am not sure about the everyday travel time from Oxford to London and other parts.
@Dizee: Good suggestion. We will explore Surrey.
@Furry Exocet: As we started to look for places which are good in transport links to London and other parts like Reading/Swindon, we ended up in places which are in Berkshire. If you have other places than Berkshire which suits us, please suggest us.
@ph1l5: Stoke Poges/Farnham common/Gerrards cross way - Will certainly explore these areas. But as you mentioned, since they are far from the main train station, commute to the train station might take most portion of the travel time.
@edc: When I mean reading as expensive. It’s not the house prices but on the train tickets. I believe Reading is considered as main zone to London. So anywhere through Reading is costly. For example monthly season from Reading to London cost £364.80 which in understandable. But when you travel from Reading to Swindon is costing: £454.70.
@PatrickOUFC: we really like Oxford. But I am not sure about the everyday travel time from Oxford to London and other parts.
@Dizee: Good suggestion. We will explore Surrey.
I can't comment on the train price but have always lived along the mainline from Waterloo to the South Coast via Woking. Like Reading this is a main train hub and commuter belt. If you look at the train lines out there are a lot of options for towns to live in. Fleet, Farnborough, Basingstoke, Guildford, Weybridge etc. These are all on the mainline in to Waterloo and do-able in under 45 mins or so. The villages surrounding these towns are also in the main decent.
Best place is probably Henley, but you'll need 450-500k for a 3 bed Victorian Terrace with on-road parking in the town centre, or 600k for a 3/4 bed house outside of the town centre or 700k in the town centre
As someone else said, Twyford. Good rail links and close to Reading/Wycombe and Henley for shopping. I would again say that your budget will not work for you though
In fact the budget you suggest wont get you much anywhere half nice in the areas you suggest ..
As you are both IT contractors then aim for some LDN rates 700+/day and get a bigger mortgage
As someone else said, Twyford. Good rail links and close to Reading/Wycombe and Henley for shopping. I would again say that your budget will not work for you though
In fact the budget you suggest wont get you much anywhere half nice in the areas you suggest ..
As you are both IT contractors then aim for some LDN rates 700+/day and get a bigger mortgage
PatrickOUFC said:
I work in Haddenham, and you can get from Haddenham to London Marylebone in around 45 minutes.
Yes, thats correct....and housing price in Haddenham are very reasonable, good access to M40/M25, near Thame, good shops or High Wycombe.I live in Haddenham....in a new housing development site. Apparently Permission Homes will build 70 houses near the train station soon :-)
baron bashoneov said:
Crowthorne is very nice and a few phers live local. Village atmosphere. Good schools and good links from Crowthorne and Wokingham station.
I would second Crowthorne. Im originally from there with many friends who moved out, only to get married have kids and decide to move back. 10mins from M3 and M4, and easy drive from Windsor, Reading, Slough. Has really good schools, with a busy high street and good atmosphere.
I think it's well publicised that Wokingham is the most affluent area of the country but a recent report also said its the best place in the country to raise a family followed by Woodley (a suburb of Reading to the East) taking into account house prices, schools, et al. Your budget for a house would get you a decent 3 or 4 bed with garage & off-road parking in Woodley with easy/quick access to Earley train station & the Waterloo line into London.
Funnily enough I’ve just taken on a member of staff that’s relocated from Bristol herself & shes currently in rented accommodation with her fiancé in Emmbrook just outside Wokingham.
Funnily enough I’ve just taken on a member of staff that’s relocated from Bristol herself & shes currently in rented accommodation with her fiancé in Emmbrook just outside Wokingham.
Crowthorne is a nice village, I went to school there (leaving in 1993)
Farnborough is where I am now, again a very nice area (Southwood near to the airport)
Fleet is where we are looking to move prior to our children reaching secondary school age.
All have fairly decent links to London. My father in law travels Fleet to Waterloo everyday and had done for the last 20+ years
Surrey is nice, but you pay a premium for the nice areas
Farnborough is where I am now, again a very nice area (Southwood near to the airport)
Fleet is where we are looking to move prior to our children reaching secondary school age.
All have fairly decent links to London. My father in law travels Fleet to Waterloo everyday and had done for the last 20+ years
Surrey is nice, but you pay a premium for the nice areas
Weve lived in Reading for 9 years now and TBH if you pick the right part its a great place to live with all the facilities you would want for a family.
There are also some very good schools.
We moved from Bicester which is also a good place to live with some new developments going up (with Brand new schools etc). It also has good transport links to London via train and the M40. We only left because I was traveling 100 miles a day to work and back.
I was brought up in Aylesbury and go back there to see parent etc. Its a s
t hole which badly needs bringing up to date. I know there are plans to modernise parts of the town but they always seem behind everyone else. The plus sides are a good train line to London and you are near the M40 and M25 etc. There are also some good school in the estates that are on the edge of the town.
There are also some very good schools.
We moved from Bicester which is also a good place to live with some new developments going up (with Brand new schools etc). It also has good transport links to London via train and the M40. We only left because I was traveling 100 miles a day to work and back.
I was brought up in Aylesbury and go back there to see parent etc. Its a s
t hole which badly needs bringing up to date. I know there are plans to modernise parts of the town but they always seem behind everyone else. The plus sides are a good train line to London and you are near the M40 and M25 etc. There are also some good school in the estates that are on the edge of the town. Gassing Station | Thames Valley & Surrey | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff