To ask you re St Albans?

[Bananasinpjs7]

In particular which areas are sought after in St Albans? Even street names please. We have been living here a year ish in renting but ready to buy now and would rather get something smaller in a nice area that would be easier to sell when it comes to that.
So any areas in St Albans you would/wouldn't recommend please, thanks for the help!

Anyone?

I grew up there in the early 80s, so have seen it change markedly.
The area around Clarence Park is v much sought after for family homes. Fleetville has become much more gentrified these days.

In terms of state school catchment areas, these would be Verulam and Beaumont.
Not sure about Loreto and STaggs catchment areas.

York Road and Avenue Road are the places to be on.

I lived in Fleetville and Smallford
I would say not Fleetville as London Road is really noisy at all times
It's a very very expensive city
Worth it in a quieter area though
The sought after areas are near the park but expensive for a reason

I live in the conservation area near the park. Houses are expensive here and we have on road permit parking which costs around £40 per car per year.
It s a nice area and I work in a local secondary school around 2 miles from town which is oversubscribed every year but very good.
Shops are a bit rubbish. We tend to go to Watford or Hemel for a lot or just shop online.
There are 2 million coffee shops in the town centre

Actually the Clarence Park area isn't that great if you have boys and can't afford to go private. Verulam Boys isn't very highly ranked, I'm not sure why because it's in a really good area.

Reckless, it used to be amazing shop wise in the 90s, with Snoopers Paradise, Forsyths, Isis, Kishimo Jin, etc! I worked on the high street twice in retail (Boots and Photo Lab)

Marshals Drive, The Park and Faircross Way are nice roads.

Fleetville is nice for smaller houses - Woodstock Rd or many of the roads that run between Hatfield Road and Brampton Road all have families with young children.

I'd avoid Cottonmill, New Greens, Batchwood and The Camp areas.

Marshalswick for big family homes. Bernard street, Dalton Street, Grange Street in the garden conservation area if you don't mind small terraces and crowded on street parking. Bernard's Heath similar.

I was about to say that, Bob! (re the Camp)

@alltoomuchrightnow I know. It really was great back in the 80s/90s. I had a few shop jobs and me and my friends were in our teens and could spend a whole Saturday afternoon going round the shops.
Good times.

Yes reckless it had so much character and individual shops...it's a mess now and lost its charm...I don't shop there anymore.

I worked on Chequer Street which was by the Abbey and would wander around the Abbey on my lunch break...

Verulam Boys isn't very highly ranked, I'm not sure why because it's in a really good area.

Definitely wouldn’t send my dc there. Beaumont top, then Sandringham, possibly.

All the streets around there are nice, but Brampton Road and nearby streets are hugely expensive compared to the equivalent in surrounding towns.

Do you have DC? STAGS is excellent, but you’ll pay more for Marshalswick due to Sandringham.

What’s your budget? We sold our (extended) 3 bed in Bernards Heath for >900k

@Shizzlestix we live near the park, so we're out of range of both Beaumont and Sandringham, so feeling a bit stuck at the moment. You have any opinions? We've got two boys.

Is Marlborough your nearest? I don’t think I’d send my dc there either. Is Samuel Ryder within reach? I would apply there rather than Verulam, it’s very up and coming, better facilities and a friend who works there says behaviour is very good. 2 friends, actually, thinking about it.

I suppose Nicholas Brakespear is too far? I think they take out of area and are also oversubscribed and gaining a really good reputation, obviously Catholic.

@Shizzlestix, sorry I meant Clarence Park. Our nearest by far is Verulam. Yes I've been thinking of Samuel Ryder, they really are making an effort, although it's further away than Beaumont it's less over subscribed.

I guess that we are out of range of Nicholas Breakspear as well if its popular, oh well.

We live in Marshalswick which I'd highly recommend. It's got a 'village' feel and local shops / library. The Nash built houses are a decent size and easy to extend - most with a decent size garden. I highly rate Sandringham school. They coped well with the recent lockdown (better than Beaumont by all accounts).

Marshals Drive, The Park and Faircross Way are nice roads.

I came on here to say this, lovely massive houses!

Nicholas Brakespear bus kids in from all over. Sam Ryder 1000 times, not the other!

I used to live in Chiswell Green, I loved it,

So many great parts of St Albans but I would really decide what school you want and then go from there, as that’s so key to advising

@Shizzlestix is Verulam really that bad? How do you know? Does someone you know go there? I've been thinking of starting a thread on it.

Verulam would be considered excellent anywhere else. I have friends with DC there and they really love it. Read the ofsted and visit.

Nicholas Breakspear - over my dead body.