HOUSE TO RENT IN WINCHESTER??

[guineapiglet]

Dear All, after nearly a year, we are moving finally to Winchester and are in urgent need of a 3/4 bed house fairly central for schools etc. We live about 250 miles north, so getting down to view is quite a problem at the minute, but husband is now based there so that will make things easier, if anyone has, knows of, or has any information about rentals would love to hear from you. Need to be in situ by end of June/July - we are a very nice family - honest!
Many thanks for your help.

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

Have you tried contacting any of the local agents? Belgarum, Charters, Winkworth and Goadsby spring to mind. Are you looking for information about which areas within Winchester/schools etc. or more about actual properties?

[guineapiglet]

Hi - we are actually looking for specific houses to rent now. Have places for the children at schools, so need to be as central as possible- have registered with all the rental agencies, but you never know, some kind soul reading this might have just the thing! There are four of us altogether and three fish!!! - It is a big family move, we have been to the area, looked round, and it is looking like we will have to rent initially, so any suggestions are more than welcome. Ta !

[TalkinPeace2]

search in Bereweke or Badger Farm
somebody else was talking about relocating - Rightmove had quite a lot in and around Winchester

[TalkinPeace2]

26 to choose from here
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1460&maxPrice=1500&minBedrooms=3&maxBedrooms=4&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses
and that is with a VERY tight upper rental limit

[guineapiglet]

THank you for this and your advice- will have another look at rightmove - there seem to be a lot of student places offered so at least it means the area is bouyant and moving, not like here!! Are there any places you would recommend or be more wary of moving to? Have had a good look round thearea and it all seems to be pleasant, not particularly affordable in all areas, but thinking about amenities etc for the teenagers?
Thank you for your help!

[TalkinPeace2]

quite a few Winchester residents posted on this thread ....
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1426469-Winchester-vs-Horsham-vs-Maidenhead-vs-Henley-on-Thames-vs-Newbury
TBH so long as they can walk or cycle into town to hang out at the Buttercross, teenagers are fine in Winchester. I'd love to be able to afford to live there!
If you have the money, St Cross
Real world - Badger Farm
possibly avoid - Winnall

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

May I ask which school your children are going to be at? Primary or secondary? As it may be worth looking to rent nearer to the school so that they find it that bit easier to mix with classmates outside of school. Just a thought.

[TalkinPeace2]

SoFar
King and Westgate are both HUGE and have mahoosive catchments - the lines of buses leaving every afternoon are impressive!
Primaries are pretty much catchmented around Winchester so where they rent will affect the school
unless they are fee paying at which point there is no such thing as "local"

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

TalkinPeace2 - actually I was thinking the same as you; it doesn't matter so much with secondary, and not at all with fee paying, but with primary, the catchment is essential surely.

[guineapiglet]

Dear All thanks for posts and advice. TBH having spend half term there, I can say that compared to where we live nr Manchester, house prices in W'cr are eye wateringly expensive, which is why we will probably rent centrally and then look around to see what the villages are like etc - children will be at 6th form college and central state school so can see that they will need to be in walking distance. Am not saying which school as it is yet tbc and all fingers are crossed!!! I just want them to be able to walk to school or any activities they may want to do, and have access to the things they need - so dont need to have a car. It is a very beautiful area and people seemed lovely, may be bringing a huge tanker full of water with us tho', the idea of not having our gorgeous drinking water fills me with sadness! Thanks for your help, any other ideas and suggestions welcome. PS what is the story with 'student' houses - are they to be avoided?????xx

[GerardWay]

I think it depends on the students tbh. I'm in Bournemouth and student houses have a bad press here. Loud parties, lots of noise as they come and go in the early hours.

[TalkinPeace2]

Come to Southampton and look at the Polygon, Inner avenue or the "jungle"
Student Ghetto!

[guineapiglet]

I guess I just noticed that many of the houses listed on 'rightmove' state the words student house before the general description of the house. I get the message - avoid!!! The property market seems very uneven and I can only see the north and south divide becoming more evident over the next year or so - houses are not moving fast here and seem to be going up by the week there. Would be interested on your views of areas to rent in - clearly to avoid student areas, but where else? ta very much.

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

I would recommend Fulflood if one DC is at Peter Symonds and the other at either Westgate or Kings. Also very handy for the city centre and the train station. It is probably one of the more expensive areas though, for all of those reasons.

If the secondary is Henry Beaufort, then you may want to look around Teg Down/Weeke. Peter Symonds is close, bus links are good to the city centre/train station and it is still easily walkable - 20 - 30 mins. These areas are cheaper too.

St. Cross is really lovely but not so convenient.

Hyde is also handy for the city centre/train station, Peter Symonds, Westgate but to a lesser extent Kings and Henry Beaufort (but still doable). But it is the most expensive area I would say.

The student areas tend to be Stanmore and Winnall as these are close to the university/art college.

Hope this helps!

[guineapiglet]

You are a star, thank you for this - exactly what we needed, just a rough guide to the area - we are looking for ourselves and also parents who are moving with us - we may have to resort to a house for us all to share initially so we can have a good look round and get familiar with areas and the walks to school. Are there areas with their 'own' shops and community identity? I guess I mean local areas within the city where you can walk to amenities and not have to go into the city centre. Sorry to keep asking, hope you dont mind! Thanks for all your help.

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

You're welcome!

Weeke has a row of shops, including a Co-op with a Post Office, a fish and chip shop and a gorgeous Indian restaurant/take away - Balaka - I can highly recommend it! Waitrose is also there.

Fulflood has a small row of shops - one is a sort of Spar/Mace, and there is a lovely cafe there.

Hyde has a small shop and a couple of pubs.

St. Cross has a few little shops too.

Each area has a real sense of its own identity/community in my opinion but I would say Weeke is the one that is most self sufficient in terms of amenities, if you know what I mean.

However Winchester is small enough that nowhere is that far from the centre!

Hope that helps.

[SoFarWeAreEqual]

Oh I forgot to mention Highcliffe which is an area to the east of the city. I don't know it well but it is a mixture of social and privately owned housing, with a primary school. It is quite far from the station and the college/secondary schools, and houses are quite a bit cheaper than Fulflood/Hyde/St. Cross. Not really studenty though as it is also quite a way from the University.

[Lemonsole]

We live in Highcliffe - and would recommend it highly. In fact, we struggle to comprehend why anyone not needing to be on top of the station would want to pay the rents/ house prices of Hyde, St Cross and Fulflood. We do have neighbours and friends who commute to the station, either daily or occasionally, and it's about 20 mins by bike.

There is a bus each morning to Westgate, which is our catchment secondary, and which is also handy for Symonds. 20 minutes walk from the town centre (along the river), a vibrant community, and hardly any students. There are rental properties both in the older Victorian part as well as former Council houses. Rents here tend to be several hundred per month lower than elsewhere. The area had a bit of a dodgy name in the 70s but is a lovely place to live now. PM me if you'd like more info!

[Lemonsole]

Also, lots of students walk to Westgate and Kings from here. Beaufort is a bit further, but a few still go there from here, I think. The city is so small that people do simply walk from one side to the other: it's not too traumatic, and for most routes there is a lovely "along the river/ towpath" option for at least part of it. Lots of hilly bits, though! I cycle to Fulflood each day - and it's uphill both ways. Hey ho: good for the old legs, though...

[guineapiglet]

Thank you both for your kind comments - they are really helpful and give me some sense of moving into, what is for us, a very anonymous area, it would be nice to have a corner shop etc - we are leaving behind an area which has a very close knit community, almost too close knit at times, it is extremely friendly and everyone looks out for each other, so it would be great to move somewhere which has some identity and closeness. We are about to start looking for suitable rentals now, so will take this into account. Is the bus you mention a school bus? Or a public bus service, as the children will need access to this - they are more than used to walking up hills, it sounds really lovely and we will investigate further when we come down again. Thanks !!!

[MyLittleMiracle]

You could also try putting an ad on gumtree someone told me to do that on here and the result was i found somewhere perfect, against all the odds!

[guineapiglet]

Good idea, thanks and have just done so, - hopefully may get some interest on there. Maybe Mumsnet could move into the Estate Agency area, or at least have a topic thread for house moves? We could save thousands! Anyone fancy a house move to the pennines?? Lots of rain.......

[sarahnurse]

There is nothing wrong with Winnall. I moved here from London 8 years ago. It's true it isn't Postcode glamorous but it's full of good honest people and houses can be made lovely. Beware of snobbery.