Moving to Abingdon from outside the UK, Advice please.
Discussion
Hi all,
As above, I was just offered a job in Abingdon starting in September. From a basic search of available places to rent the average price seems high for what is on offer. It might be down to where I am looking? So I was wondering if looking on the likes of primelocation.com and rightmove.co.uk is the right place to start? Also if possible if anybody local could give me advice in relation to any area's to look into and where to avoid as I have read about issues in relation to flooding in certain area's and area's where the concentration of tracksuit wearing "athletes" might be high..
And of course any other advice about the area is most welcome.
Many Thanks, Europe.
As above, I was just offered a job in Abingdon starting in September. From a basic search of available places to rent the average price seems high for what is on offer. It might be down to where I am looking? So I was wondering if looking on the likes of primelocation.com and rightmove.co.uk is the right place to start? Also if possible if anybody local could give me advice in relation to any area's to look into and where to avoid as I have read about issues in relation to flooding in certain area's and area's where the concentration of tracksuit wearing "athletes" might be high..
And of course any other advice about the area is most welcome.
Many Thanks, Europe.
As promised, a little more information about Abingdon. To answer your initial queries:
Rightmove is a good place to start but this website sometimes has the tendancy to advertise the properties that don't sell or let from local agents stock, therfore it is also a good idea to check their websites too. The most active agents around abingdon at the moment appear to be Andrews Online and Chancellors but if you google estate agents in Abingdon there will be plenty more.
This brings me onto my next question - are you intending to rent or buy - presumably rent seeing as it is a new job? In which case 2 beds start at around £800 pcm at the ropey end of the scale but a decent 2 bed would be around the £950-£995 pcm mark. Equally if you are buying a good 2-3 bed can be had for under £250,000. Oxfordshire will alsways attract a preimium because of the very good schools in the area - not sure if you need to consider this too.
Oxfordshire also has the greatest in-balance of salary to house price scale beating even London.
Abingdon has a pretty river which runs through it, which sometimes floods on the lower lying ground, e.g Radley. There are however lots of floodplains which have been designed to reduce flooding and these generally work well. Just be cautious of buying or renting too close to the river. As someone has said, the environment webiste is a goood source of info.
Tracksuits - you want to avoid areas north of Abingdon in between Oxford and Abingdon. It is renown that the Blackbird Leighs estate is one of the roughest in the country!!
There are lots of quaint picturesque smaller villages around Abingdon - such as Sutton Courtenay, Long Whittenham, Hagbourne, Cholsey,Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Wantage that are all within 10-15 mins drive that are also very pretty. There is also Didcot which is famous for the power station, but its not too bad and has reasonable shops and good fast train links into London and Oxford.
Abingdon has recently undergone a facelift refurbishment of the high street which is great but most of the shops are still empty! There are plenty of odd shops but no big high street brands to speak of. For that you would need to go to Newbury - 35 min drive, Reading - 45 min drive, or Oxford 20 min drive. Abiingdon is also a pig to get in and out of during rush hour due to the annoying one way system, but where isn't. Oxford hates the car in general, so you are stuck with public transport or park and ride bus system or pay ridiculous money to par in the centre.
Hope this helps - good luck with the move if it goes ahead. If there are any more specific questions let me know.
Si
Rightmove is a good place to start but this website sometimes has the tendancy to advertise the properties that don't sell or let from local agents stock, therfore it is also a good idea to check their websites too. The most active agents around abingdon at the moment appear to be Andrews Online and Chancellors but if you google estate agents in Abingdon there will be plenty more.
This brings me onto my next question - are you intending to rent or buy - presumably rent seeing as it is a new job? In which case 2 beds start at around £800 pcm at the ropey end of the scale but a decent 2 bed would be around the £950-£995 pcm mark. Equally if you are buying a good 2-3 bed can be had for under £250,000. Oxfordshire will alsways attract a preimium because of the very good schools in the area - not sure if you need to consider this too.
Oxfordshire also has the greatest in-balance of salary to house price scale beating even London.
Abingdon has a pretty river which runs through it, which sometimes floods on the lower lying ground, e.g Radley. There are however lots of floodplains which have been designed to reduce flooding and these generally work well. Just be cautious of buying or renting too close to the river. As someone has said, the environment webiste is a goood source of info.
Tracksuits - you want to avoid areas north of Abingdon in between Oxford and Abingdon. It is renown that the Blackbird Leighs estate is one of the roughest in the country!!
There are lots of quaint picturesque smaller villages around Abingdon - such as Sutton Courtenay, Long Whittenham, Hagbourne, Cholsey,Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Wantage that are all within 10-15 mins drive that are also very pretty. There is also Didcot which is famous for the power station, but its not too bad and has reasonable shops and good fast train links into London and Oxford.
Abingdon has recently undergone a facelift refurbishment of the high street which is great but most of the shops are still empty! There are plenty of odd shops but no big high street brands to speak of. For that you would need to go to Newbury - 35 min drive, Reading - 45 min drive, or Oxford 20 min drive. Abiingdon is also a pig to get in and out of during rush hour due to the annoying one way system, but where isn't. Oxford hates the car in general, so you are stuck with public transport or park and ride bus system or pay ridiculous money to par in the centre.
Hope this helps - good luck with the move if it goes ahead. If there are any more specific questions let me know.
Si
si_xsi said:
As promised, a little more information about Abingdon. To answer your initial queries:
Rightmove is a good place to start but this website sometimes has the tendancy to advertise the properties that don't sell or let from local agents stock, therfore it is also a good idea to check their websites too. The most active agents around abingdon at the moment appear to be Andrews Online and Chancellors but if you google estate agents in Abingdon there will be plenty more.
This brings me onto my next question - are you intending to rent or buy - presumably rent seeing as it is a new job? In which case 2 beds start at around £800 pcm at the ropey end of the scale but a decent 2 bed would be around the £950-£995 pcm mark. Equally if you are buying a good 2-3 bed can be had for under £250,000. Oxfordshire will alsways attract a preimium because of the very good schools in the area - not sure if you need to consider this too.
Oxfordshire also has the greatest in-balance of salary to house price scale beating even London.
Abingdon has a pretty river which runs through it, which sometimes floods on the lower lying ground, e.g Radley. There are however lots of floodplains which have been designed to reduce flooding and these generally work well. Just be cautious of buying or renting too close to the river. As someone has said, the environment webiste is a goood source of info.
Tracksuits - you want to avoid areas north of Abingdon in between Oxford and Abingdon. It is renown that the Blackbird Leighs estate is one of the roughest in the country!!
There are lots of quaint picturesque smaller villages around Abingdon - such as Sutton Courtenay, Long Whittenham, Hagbourne, Cholsey,Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Wantage that are all within 10-15 mins drive that are also very pretty. There is also Didcot which is famous for the power station, but its not too bad and has reasonable shops and good fast train links into London and Oxford.
Abingdon has recently undergone a facelift refurbishment of the high street which is great but most of the shops are still empty! There are plenty of odd shops but no big high street brands to speak of. For that you would need to go to Newbury - 35 min drive, Reading - 45 min drive, or Oxford 20 min drive. Abiingdon is also a pig to get in and out of during rush hour due to the annoying one way system, but where isn't. Oxford hates the car in general, so you are stuck with public transport or park and ride bus system or pay ridiculous money to par in the centre.
Hope this helps - good luck with the move if it goes ahead. If there are any more specific questions let me know.
Si
Simon this is exactly what I needed to know, Thanks a million! Rightmove is a good place to start but this website sometimes has the tendancy to advertise the properties that don't sell or let from local agents stock, therfore it is also a good idea to check their websites too. The most active agents around abingdon at the moment appear to be Andrews Online and Chancellors but if you google estate agents in Abingdon there will be plenty more.
This brings me onto my next question - are you intending to rent or buy - presumably rent seeing as it is a new job? In which case 2 beds start at around £800 pcm at the ropey end of the scale but a decent 2 bed would be around the £950-£995 pcm mark. Equally if you are buying a good 2-3 bed can be had for under £250,000. Oxfordshire will alsways attract a preimium because of the very good schools in the area - not sure if you need to consider this too.
Oxfordshire also has the greatest in-balance of salary to house price scale beating even London.
Abingdon has a pretty river which runs through it, which sometimes floods on the lower lying ground, e.g Radley. There are however lots of floodplains which have been designed to reduce flooding and these generally work well. Just be cautious of buying or renting too close to the river. As someone has said, the environment webiste is a goood source of info.
Tracksuits - you want to avoid areas north of Abingdon in between Oxford and Abingdon. It is renown that the Blackbird Leighs estate is one of the roughest in the country!!
There are lots of quaint picturesque smaller villages around Abingdon - such as Sutton Courtenay, Long Whittenham, Hagbourne, Cholsey,Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Wantage that are all within 10-15 mins drive that are also very pretty. There is also Didcot which is famous for the power station, but its not too bad and has reasonable shops and good fast train links into London and Oxford.
Abingdon has recently undergone a facelift refurbishment of the high street which is great but most of the shops are still empty! There are plenty of odd shops but no big high street brands to speak of. For that you would need to go to Newbury - 35 min drive, Reading - 45 min drive, or Oxford 20 min drive. Abiingdon is also a pig to get in and out of during rush hour due to the annoying one way system, but where isn't. Oxford hates the car in general, so you are stuck with public transport or park and ride bus system or pay ridiculous money to par in the centre.
Hope this helps - good luck with the move if it goes ahead. If there are any more specific questions let me know.
Si
New development available at Cholsey Meadows, near the river thames.
http://www.lindenhomes.co.uk/developments/oxfordsh...
http://www.thomashomes.co.uk/current-sites/fair-mi...
You can get a sizeable discount on these properties, only downside is lack of garages for most.
Rental around here is quite pricey as there is always a shortage, 2 bed furnished flat starting from around £1000-1100 a month + bills to give you an idea.
Wallingford is quite a good town, large Waitrose supermarket, 20 mins from M4, 20-25 mins from Oxford, Abingdon in about 15 minutes.
Didcot station is convenient for London (55 mins) but its a pricey trip ( £65 a day ).
http://www.lindenhomes.co.uk/developments/oxfordsh...
http://www.thomashomes.co.uk/current-sites/fair-mi...
You can get a sizeable discount on these properties, only downside is lack of garages for most.
Rental around here is quite pricey as there is always a shortage, 2 bed furnished flat starting from around £1000-1100 a month + bills to give you an idea.
Wallingford is quite a good town, large Waitrose supermarket, 20 mins from M4, 20-25 mins from Oxford, Abingdon in about 15 minutes.
Didcot station is convenient for London (55 mins) but its a pricey trip ( £65 a day ).
Gassing Station | Thames Valley & Surrey | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff