House-hunting in Welwyn and nearby areas - advice needed!

[takifugu]

Hi, we only just moved to herts last year because of DH's work and are not very familiar with the area. Now we start looking for houses to buy this really gives me a headache.

We need to stay within short driving distance from Hatfield where DH works and DD currently goes to nursery, and also with easy access to a station on the London-Cambridge line (Hatfield, WGC, or Welwyn north) for me to commute to work, ideally with public transport as we don't want another car yet. As DD is approaching school age (2 now) good primary schools will be no. 1 on our priority list.

We quite like Welwyn Garden City but I don't see too many good (and affordable) houses on the market at the moment so would like to broaden our search, but we know nothing about the nearby villages! Would greatly appreciate any information from people who live / have house-hunted in this area. Also from trawling through old MN posts it seems most WGC schools are fairly decent, so are there any to avoid at all?

Cheers!!!

[HeartyHerts]

Wheathampstead is lovely and has great primary schools. But you would probably need a car to get to the station. It takes me 10 minutes but I only go once a week. There are buses to Hatfield so maybe your husband could do that.

[IHeartHerts]

Old welwyn is lovely, great for families & excellent primary school, digswell, the area nearest welwyn north station is very expensive! Knebworth similar vibe with direct train into Ldn. Codicote & Kimpton feel a bit more isolated IMO but are pretty & seem to have a strong sense of community. Wheathampstead is great, but pricey- more expensive than Wgc I imagine? I would say the west side of Wgc is more des res with gd schools.
Good luck with your move.

[takifugu]

Thanks!

Saw a lovely house on west side but a tad on the smaller side... but then it's within walking distance to Templeswood! DH is in a very indecisive state now.

Seems location and house size/quality just don't converge on our budget. What is it like to live on the east side of wgc? Any schools/areas to avoid?

[IHeartHerts]

I've had friends living in the Howlands area round the QE2 in WGC and I think it's ok, but not lovely TBH. I'm afraid I don't know about the schools. Have you considered Panshanger? Seems popular with families.
I personally would look at the villages rather than East WGC.
Another suggestion would be Hitchin, as it?s great and more affordable than the other popular towns in Herts (good links to Ldn, don?t know about Cambs). Depends on the kind of place you are looking to live tbh, other than the things you?ve already mentioned, what are your priorities?

[Dragontrainer2]

Just a small word of caution about Wheathampstead if schools are your priority. It is very lovely, with a fantastic community feel, but there is a real problem with secondary school places for village children, and I seem to recall that not all village children even got a place in the two village primary schools last year!

[HeartyHerts]

There is a plan to build a new secondary school in Harpenden by 2017 to ease the problems. Fingers crossed it happens.

[proudmumof5]

hi..i live in wgc and i tell you avoid broadwater/peartre area..and peartree school is the worst primary in the area...I've lived there so I know..this is where the cheapest housing will be...I was lucky and have now moved to the west side near stanborough..much nicer and in the catchment area for 2 very good school..applecroft being one of the very best primary's in wgc,unfortunately because of the postcode the houses are more expensive,but the area is much nicer,postcodes al8 are the best bet,avoid any that are al7..hope this helps..

[ZahraKhan]

Hi I don't know if you still keep up with these threads but I'm considering moving to Digswell water, AL7 postcode but very near west side. Is this a bad area?