Where would/do you live in Oxfordshire?

[IJumpedAboardAPirateShip]

Just mulling ideas, if these were your criteria:

Easy access to London (happy to bike or drive 15mins to a station)
Easily commutable to Oxford (30mins)
Village or town with strong community and left leaning
Not in a flood zone
5bed house for up to £650K
Good secondary schools and not too boring for teenagers

Holy grail?!

I'm in Bucks. Its not left-leaning, but loads of lovely areas, close proximity to m25 to the south M40 to the west.

HS2 will carve a path through the county, but there is lots of infrastructure development going on to improve road networks, cycle ways, Garden Town etc.

I love it here, its dead easy to get into London, good transport links, great outdoor spaces, National Trust properties and grammar schools if thats important to you.

Consider Faringdon. Depending on time of day fairly easy drive to Swindon for a mainline station. Realistically Oxford itself 45 minutes. Secondary school has a good reputation and new headteacher very promising.

Hang on a sec. this is all very upside down. You’ve chosen Oxfordshire on the basis of some vague reports of its tech economy, plus a bit of broader geographical necessity?

Start a new thread. Ask people about actual tech clusters that would be job-rich for your DH. Don’t end up in Didcot 😂 unless you absolutely have to.

I grew up in Kidlington - the commute to Oxford is horrendous. I used to have a job on the High Street and the commute was routinely an hour and a quarter or more EACH WAY because of the awful traffic and walks to and from the bus stop. My Dad worked in North Oxford and actually negotiated an early start and finish each day because he couldn't stand the traffic.

Anyway, I feel the 650k 5 bed may be your sticking point here. Maybe a fixer-upper? You might get something in Kidlington for that price but the schools aren't great. And if the schools aren't great, I'd look at East Oxford/Cowley Road for a shorter commute and generally more interesting community.

That being said, I

Leamington Spa. I know it's Warwickshire but has direct train to Oxford & London which would fit your criteria. A Remain stronghold (yippee). Labour MP. Studenty, independent, Decent schools. Take a look.

Google "Oxford tube'. An excellent service which runs between Oxford and London.
Nice villages near its route.

Eynsham for the community, schools, and public transport to Oxford

In a similar ish boat OP, so watching with interest!

A question for those in the know: what’s the traffic like driving in from Aylesbury direction (via Thame, Wheatley etc)?

Also OP it might be worth looking at Beaconsfield which does certainly not tick all your boxes but is a quick commute into London and seems to have decent train service to Oxford (takes an hour though)

We haven’t chosen anything @SuzieCarmichael and not ready to, as much first post says I’m musing and looking on Rightmove and trying to get a feel for other places as we only know the SE, we won’t be moving until summer 2021

Thanks for all ongoing suggestions, I don’t know any of them so it’s great to have lots of options for long distance internet research

@MiniMaxi

In a similar ish boat OP, so watching with interest!

A question for those in the know: what’s the traffic like driving in from Aylesbury direction (via Thame, Wheatley etc)?

Also OP it might be worth looking at Beaconsfield which does certainly not tick all your boxes but is a quick commute into London and seems to have decent train service to Oxford (takes an hour though)

Not a drive I've done regularly at rush hour but I'd expect the problem to be that you are very dependant on the A418 (I think that's the number!) if you are in a village between Oxford and Aylesbury which is mostly single carriageway, 50mph in places, quite a few roundabouts and can slow right down if a cautious driver/farm traffic. So I would guess it can get very snarled up on a bad day. From Aylesbury itself you might be able to go across to Bicester and down the M40 - faster roads but the Bicester junction can get busy. There is a bus that does Aylesbury to Oxford via Thame.

Thanks @terrywynne

Actually looking at commuting in to north Oxford from Herts - trying to figure out if it’s feasible on a (say) 3 days a week basis - so coming from east of Aylesbury. On paper it’s an hour....

@Inadays

What about Thame? I live Thame, and while there isn’t an awful lot for teenagers to do it’s a 10 min drive max to Haddenham and Thame Parkway station and approx 20 mins drive to Headington which is on the Outskirts of Oxford, and about 5/10 more minutes Into Oxford city centre. Thame has great primary and secondary schools, some nice cafes and independent shops, but has a mixed population politics-wise I would say. All in all it’s a great town for families with lots of nice countryside surrounding it. House prices should be within your reach too.

I also live in Thame and second this. However, commuting into Oxford city centre by car can be a nightmare and is set to get worse once the council introduces new traffic measures. Some folk I know drive to the nearest Park and Ride and cycle from there.

We currently live just south of Abingdon and are moving towards Wantage. I work in Tech and used to commute to Reading twice a week and Bath once a week, London 2-3 times a month. I used to work in Oxford city centre. DP also works just off the ring road. Living within 20 minutes of Didcot is useful for trains, to avoid traffic I'm an early bird, after 7.30 everywhere gets slow until about 10. Unless you're set on city centre living, I wouldn't buy in Oxford itself. The M4 is SO useful for access to the south for work. A34 can be a nightmare, regular crashes.

I would keep your search open for 4 beds as lots have 4 bed + study around here. For your budget you'll get a lot of house for your money South of Abingdon and towards wantage. Fyi, new build gardens are small around here if you're considering those. I say that as someone who is buying one! But we are 4 bed detached with study (and garage) for under 500k which isn't extortionate for the area. So we'll take a smaller garden.

As a left of centre/remain/lib dem myself: I haven't found the politics too right field in-your-face. It's not the forefront of conversation but unless there's vote reform, you can feel a bit powerless with your vote. If politics is really an issue, look at Layla Moran's constituency.

I used to work on the business park near the mini plant and lived in Summertown, and my commute home at 5pm would take half an hour, to do a journey that would take ten minutes when it wasn’t rush hour. Then I moved to a village to the west of Oxford and used get there for 7.15am and leave at 3.30pm - it would take me 35-40 minutes at that time but double that if I left an hour later. If your DH wants a commute of less that 30 minutes in rush hour, you’ll really need to be very close to Oxford, perhaps even within the ring road, and then getting a five bed house for £650k will be hard!

In saying that, that was pre Covid. There will be less traffic on the roads now! I wouldn’t bet on that lasting forever though.

Frankly most people in my small village don’t tend to interrogate one another about brexit or go on about it unless they know they are with like minds.

@Dogsaresomucheasier

Consider Faringdon. Depending on time of day fairly easy drive to Swindon for a mainline station. Realistically Oxford itself 45 minutes. Secondary school has a good reputation and new headteacher very promising.

I think we must live quite near each other! The head of the infants is very good too. :)

Oddly, Swindon is twice as expensive as Oxford to get to Paddington, worth bearing in mind! I usually got to Marylebone from Oxford Parkway, doesn’t take much longer and costs miles less.

@MyDucksArentInARow all that detail is really helpful, thankyou!

@NaughtipussMaximus the price difference Swindon v Oxford is really useful to know! Thankyou

When I saw twice as much, I really do mean it - £120+ peak day return from Swindon to Paddington compared with £60ish from Oxford to Paddington compared with £30ish from Oxford Parkway to Marylebone - that’s off peak but there isn’t a peak time in the evening from Marylebone so as long as you’re leaving after 9am, you can come back at any time. On the other hand, £650k gets you a lot more the closer you get to Swindon!

In saying that, that was pre Covid. There will be less traffic on the roads now! I wouldn’t bet on that lasting forever though.

It's already well on its way to ramping back up to normal! Especially between Woodstock and Banbury roads and from the Cowley/mini plant roundabout round towards the Iffley roundabout. Now the schools are back I'm expecting the usual levels.

One thing to add is there are multiple major development areas in South Oxfordshire. Didcot with GWP(3500 out of 15000) Wantage has a fair few being build too (up to 3500), and Charlgrove/Stadhampton -where they're basically building a whole new town (3000 homes at the moment on the old airfield). Oxfordshire was set a requirement to build 100,000 by 2031. So be very careful about where you buy and don't pay a premium for field views on the edge of a town! Check the neighbourhood plans to ensure you are aware of development over this period. Even if you are looking at new builds, it's worth being aware of potential developments and how long your development will go on for if split into sites/phases.

More than 3500 in wantage— more like 7000.
Faringdon has had quite a few and shrivenham will also. Plus the new Swindon East township.

Not Oxfordshire, but you might find Leamington Spa /Warwickshire area fits your criteria AND nicely leftie/green too. Just over an hour to London + trains to Oxford too (or 45 mins down M40).

Thame and Wallingford are nice, Didcot and surrounding villages like Harwell and Hagbourne are good. Housing in Didcot is cheaper and I don’t understand the snobbery on here about it. It’s developed and improved a lot in recent years.

Don’t even think of commuting into Oxford by car, it’s the worst traffic nightmare I’ve ever known and I’ve lived in other large towns. Parking is crammed and expensive too. Commuting by rail is the way to go.