Relocating to Aylesbury area

[Sonic]

So, it looks like i'll be taking a role in Aylesbury, which will mean myself and partner relocating from the lake district. Quite a big decision!

The job is good, but i'm not so convinced about the town.

I think i'm going to be looking to live in one of the nice rural villages on the out-skirts of Aylesbury, perhaps into Oxfordshire.

Rental prices are a fair bit steeper down in this neck of the woods, £1k/month certainly doesn't get you half of what it does up north!

As there will only be the 2 of us, I think a nice 2/3 bedroom detached cottage or barn conversion (ideally with garage) would be perfect. Is <£1200/month realistic for this?

Cheers for any advice!

[pmanson]

Hi,

I grew up in Wendover which is about 6 miles from Aylesbury.

Personally i'd avoid living in Aylesbury itself as the new build houses are very cramped and the estates are built like all new builds to over look one another.

I'm not sure on rental prices but I would be looking at villages like Wendover, Weston Turville, Aston Clinton and Stoke Mandeville. All are within a 6 mile radius of Aylesbury.

Or you could go to the other side - Long Crendon, Waddesdon, Whitchurch

Do you know roughly whereabouts in Aylesbury you'll be working?

Cheers,
Phill

Edited by pmanson on Tuesday 22 March 08:44

[SBDJ]

I'd agree with the above; there are some lovely places just outside of Aylesbury.

The town itself isn't the greatest unfortunately.

[Sonic]

Cheers for the replies gents, that is pretty much what i had thought.

I'll be working just east of the train station where the canals ends, a place called The Kingfisher Exchange, on Walton Street.

I don't mind a bit of a drive in if necessary, so the area i'll be looking will be quite large. Anywhere around Buckingham or Thame for example would be great, should be a 30-40 minute commute.

Obviously places to the south and south west of Aylesbury will be easier to commute to.

[Quinten]

I've been living for the past 11 years in Fairford Leys and I agree on the 'new build - small houses' bit, although my house is maybe an exception. I also agree on the sentiment that Aylesbury is a bit of a dump, and although a lot of regeneration is going on, it aint't pretty.

I'd look at Aston Clinton, Weston Turnville, Wendover, Great Missenden, etc...

[pmanson]

Sonic said:

Cheers for the replies gents, that is pretty much what i had thought.

I'll be working just east of the train station where the canals ends, a place called The Kingfisher Exchange, on Walton Street.

I don't mind a bit of a drive in if necessary, so the area i'll be looking will be quite large. Anywhere around Buckingham or Thame for example would be great, should be a 30-40 minute commute.

Obviously places to the south and south west of Aylesbury will be easier to commute to.

Blimey I thought once the tax people had vacated that building it was for the chop!

If I was going to get a place in Aylesbury i'd be looking at Watermead which is located on the way out of Aylesbury towards Hardwick/Whitchurch.

Most (if not all) the surrounding villages are lovely if you want a county pub and not a lot else!

The Long Marston area is nice as well - Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Mentmore, Tring

[pmanson]

Quinten said:

I've been living for the past 11 years in Fairford Leys and I agree on the 'new build - small houses' bit, although my house is maybe an exception. I also agree on the sentiment that Aylesbury is a bit of a dump, and although a lot of regeneration is going on, it aint't pretty.

I'd look at Aston Clinton, Weston Turnville, Wendover, Great Missenden, etc...

Also WTF is going on with parking in the centre? £1.20 an hour for parking in Friar's Square car park. Daylight robbery considering they knocked down a perfectly decent multistory!

[Wizardskills]

Sonic said:

Cheers for the replies gents, that is pretty much what i had thought.

I'll be working just east of the train station where the canals ends, a place called The Kingfisher Exchange, on Walton Street.

I don't mind a bit of a drive in if necessary, so the area i'll be looking will be quite large. Anywhere around Buckingham or Thame for example would be great, should be a 30-40 minute commute.

Obviously places to the south and south west of Aylesbury will be easier to commute to.

Ha well this is strange as i actually work in that building. I have a 45 minute commute into work on a good day (Aylesbury isn't the best place to get into at 8:40 in the morning) and that is traveling from Toddington. I do agree with the others though, there are some quite nice villages around Aylesbury. Aston Abbots is very nice but it is very small so im not sure what the chances of getting a house for rent there would be like. Wingrave seems quite nice as well but i have only ever driven through there.

Parking is a pain in Aylesbury but hopefully you will be able to get a parking space at the office (I missed out on one). If you don't the cheapest place to park is the long stay carpark by the railway line but that still costs me £600 a year . That is unless you want to risk parking in a side road somewhere.

[Sonic]

pmanson said:

Most (if not all) the surrounding villages are lovely if you want a county pub and not a lot else!

The Long Marston area is nice as well - Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Mentmore, Tring

Cheers

Wizardskills said:

Ha well this is strange as i actually work in that building. I have a 45 minute commute into work on a good day (Aylesbury isn't the best place to get into at 8:40 in the morning) and that is traveling from Toddington. I do agree with the others though, there are some quite nice villages around Aylesbury. Aston Abbots is very nice but it is very small so im not sure what the chances of getting a house for rent there would be like. Wingrave seems quite nice as well but i have only ever driven through there.

Parking is a pain in Aylesbury but hopefully you will be able to get a parking space at the office (I missed out on one). If you don't the cheapest place to park is the long stay carpark by the railway line but that still costs me £600 a year . That is unless you want to risk parking in a side road somewhere.

Brilliant! That information is like gold dust, thank you

I'll certainly be asking about a parking space then

[Wizardskills]

Sonic said:

Brilliant! That information is like gold dust, thank you

I'll certainly be asking about a parking space then

Yeah i would try and get one of you can. Apparently there are only a certain number of places per office but half the building is empty. As such half the spaces are empty but i still can't park my car in there .

On the whole i wouldn't go as far as describing aylesbury as "a dump", but then again i dont live here. IF you want to see a dump, go to Luton

[SBDJ]

pmanson said:

Also WTF is going on with parking in the centre? £1.20 an hour for parking in Friar's Square car park. Daylight robbery considering they knocked down a perfectly decent multistory!

Depending on what I'm doing I usually park in Upper Hundreds these days, 90p for an hour and a lot of the spaces are angled giving decent room. Sainsburys is £1.50 for 2 hours if memory serves.

pmanson said:

The Long Marston area is nice as well - Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Mentmore, Tring

I'd agree with that, but I'm biased. Certainly not the place to be if you're looking to live somewhere lively though.

As has been said Aylesbury can be a bit slow to get into in the mornings - the A41 coming in from the Tring direction can be an absolute nightmare some days. I try and make sure anything that requires me going in is after 10am!

[Sonic]

SBDJ said:

As has been said Aylesbury can be a bit slow to get into in the mornings - the A41 coming in from the Tring direction can be an absolute nightmare some days. I try and make sure anything that requires me going in is after 10am!

Any idea about the A418 if i was to live more towards Thame? I guess i'd still need to get around part of Aylesbury past the station.

[Wizardskills]

Sonic said:

Any idea about the A418 if i was to live more towards Thame? I guess i'd still need to get around part of Aylesbury past the station.

Most roads are bad. Take today for example. Roadwaorks on the A418 (Comming in from the north) which i knew about so i decided to come in down the A413. Due to blockages else where this road was a nightmare as well. As such i was 20 mins late . At the end of the day if you leave enough time on average you will get in on time. If there are any roads closed/roadworks/broken down car etc anywhere going into Aylesbury or on any of the ring roads there will be massive jams. Aylesbury really needs a bypass tbh.

[Sonic]

Wizardskills said:

Sonic said:

Any idea about the A418 if i was to live more towards Thame? I guess i'd still need to get around part of Aylesbury past the station.

Most roads are bad. Take today for example. Roadwaorks on the A418 (Comming in from the north) which i knew about so i decided to come in down the A413. Due to blockages else where this road was a nightmare as well. As such i was 20 mins late . At the end of the day if you leave enough time on average you will get in on time. If there are any roads closed/roadworks/broken down car etc anywhere going into Aylesbury or on any of the ring roads there will be massive jams. Aylesbury really needs a bypass tbh.

Bugger, looks like i'm going to be leaving early in the mornings then

[Quinten]

Also be aware that the new HS2 (high speed rail 2) is going past the south/west of Aylesbury, which will mess traffic even further about for the years to come.

[Sonic]

Quinten said:

Also be aware that the new HS2 (high speed rail 2) is going past the south/west of Aylesbury, which will mess traffic even further about for the years to come.

That's a damn good point. I've just had a look at the planned-route past Aylesbury and it will certainly cause problems coming in from the south west where i've been looking at property.

The good thing about renting is i can just up and move i guess.

[theboss]

Can anyone comment on the state of local rail services if the OP will be working near the station? Looking at a map there appear to be local stations in the villages out towards either Princes Risborough or Amersham

[Wycombe83]

Would recommend Thame as we've lived there for nearly a year now, only thing is compared with Aylesbury house prices are slightly more, the rail station is a couple of miles away from the town, but it's a nice little market town in the country.

[bucksmanuk]

I have lived in Aylesbury for 12 years. It’s not great, but it’s not THAT bad.
The bad stuff
The town is a bit chavvy, but then again so are loads of other places
Nightlife is minimal; the town centre is dead on anything other than Friday and Saturday night. Lots of surrounding villages are the same though. If you have a soup-ed up Saxo, there’s always the local Tesco’s car park.
Poor selection of shops, the usual suspects are here, but MK and High Wycombe are not that far away.
Local rail services are quite good, getting INTO town in the morning is a breeze. Getting out is OK as you are the first one on the train and you get a seat, a bit further down the line at Rickmansworth is another matter. The service to High Wycombe needs a shake up, as the service doesn’t appear to make that much sense to me. You are well catered for if you just use the Risborough to Wycombe line, but the track needs relaying!
Local roads are bad – but that’s not unusual anywhere nowadays.
The roads are statistically dangerous, per head of population; they have the highest death rate in the UK by some margin, according to my Plod friend. Some right wkers driving around I am afraid.
Traffic is bad from 7:15 to 9:15 in the morning and from 16:40 to 18:30 in the evening. I live on one of the main roads, and I have to be out early doors to get to work (uxbridge) Crossing town at 17:30 is a no-no.
I don’t really notice it any more but any mates who come to visit always comment on the quality of the women in the town.
The good stuff
It’s cheaper than anywhere else in Buckinghamshire.
Jump on the train - 45 minutes later you are at Marylebone. Although if you want the last train back, its 23:57 from Marylebone, so an early night (for London) and if you fall asleep after many beers, there is no chance of the train carrying on for miles as Aylesbury is the last stop.
HS2 is a topic of some discussion in the town, ESPECIALLY Wendover, but nothing has been announced yet. This isn’t the topic to discuss it, but it means loads of upheaval next to the A413 for years.
The local villages are rather nice – as others have alluded to, the house prices reflect that though.
A selection of the best local state schools in the country. Bucks still run the 11-plus and grammar school system. 11-year-old kids commute from Wycombe to go there. Might not be appropriate for you though.
If you choose your area wisely, there are some rather nice little enclaves here and there, Bedgrove mainly. I can’t afford that bit though....
If you choose the right house, you can get one with a massive garden – unheard of today. Mine was built in ’55 and has 149 feet of garden.

[SBDJ]

bucksmanuk said:

Crossing town at 17:30 is a no-no.

...and yet somehow my missus always seems to plan to need to do exactly that no matter how many times I explain it to her!