Moving to Basingstoke vs Newbury

[lunepremiere79]

Not a AIBU, posting here for traffic.. I've seen a number of now older threads but wondering if anyone can give an honest opinion on moving to/living in Basingstoke. We are looking to move out from a London suburb and looking for a nice area with things to do (pubs, shops, some buzzy atmosphere) and also for our dd3 to grow up in a family friendly place with good schools and plenty of activities. We have visited and loved Newbury - it's going to be a bit of a trek to commute to London though (we both currently have to do it about 1-2 times a week), so Basingstoke came up as an option, as commuting to Canary Wharf would be the same as our current commute from North London. I keep reading that it's a mixed bag of areas and it seems to be a bit of a marmite place but that things are changing for the better and it's a much nicer place to live now? Is this true?

If you find a place that you love, and can afford to live in, then move there I would say. The commute is only a couple of times a week, not every day, and who knows what happens with jobs in the future. Things might change. Seems a no brainer to me!

Newbury is so much nicer, and Crossrail from Reading/Elizabeth Line from Paddington is making commute to Canary Wharf so much easier.

The Elizabeth line now is live from Paddington to Canary Wharf since about 2 weeks ago and reduces travel time from 30 to 17 minutes. Newbury to Canary is now about 1 hour 15 min. Do you have dc? St Barts and Parkhouse in the south are the preferred state secondaries (with St Barts having its own Polo team thanks to local Andrew Lloyd Webber), while experiences of Trinity in the north are mixed. The new housing estates in the north feeds into Trinity. The villages surrounding Newbury are all very nice.

I'm from Andover but definitely Newbury! Used to go to Basingstoke for a shopping but so many have closed down now. Newbury has much nicer atmosphere, scenery, shops etc.

I grew up in Winchester and df still lives there. I would choose it above Basingstoke and Newbury (worked in Newbury 20 years ago and didn’t like it but could have improved). Winchester is fab - that said everyone I was at school with went to Uni in London or another big city.

I think that budget should get you what you are looking for. The market is definitely less hot here than last year. I bought last year so am still on mailing lists. Had one last night for a 4 bed detached with annex on for £795K in Wash Common prime location still says £800, but agents email was £795.

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/61457498/

We wanted to see that one but the agent won't let us even view the place until we have an offer on our own house(!) which is bonkers as they keep reducing the price as clearly there isn't enough interest??

We wanted to see that one but the agent won't let us even view the place until we have an offer on our own house(!) which is bonkers as they keep reducing the price as clearly there isn't enough interest

I'd go and knock on the door and ask the owners if they'll let you see it. Quite often agents do their own thing and don't even discuss it with the owners. Same goes for lawyers.

It's a stupid policy anyway, some people will only want to sell their house if they see something they want to buy! Not the point of the thread I know!

As for Woking being soulless it actually has some really nice areas and lovely housing. You can't judge it by the tower blocks next to the station. I was quite surprised when I cycled through it and saw a completely different side to it.

Reading would be a much better bet than Basingstoke, especially Caversham as pp suggested (although more expensive). Better connected, more going on.

Hungerford would be my recommendation for character.

We considered Hungerford at one point but decided against it both because this increases the commute time and also because there doesn't seem to be much to do there, including nothing to do for families with young kids?

The only good thing about Basingstoke imho is Milestones Museum just outside the town. www.milestonesmuseum.org.uk/

@lunepremiere79 I suspect you are speaking to the monkey Lewis he refused to accommodate us viewing a property when we were true cash buyers, but due to our work schedules we had very narrow times we could view. Go straight to Lorraine Wilson one of the owners she is much more sensible.

Agree that Basingstoke is basically one massive housing estate, or rather a collection of housing estates… and not much else apart from a whopping great shopping centre. It looks like a very bad place for getting around in any way other than car- horrible on foot as it’s all dual carriageway, roundabouts and underpasses. I’d hate to try and cycle there.

Fleet isn’t that bad value wise, I live there, sure it’s more expensive than BS but cheaper than Farnham, Winch, Guildford etc. It’s about the same as Alton price wise. I’m sure the op would get something pretty decent there for that budget.

Yes! that's who we spoke to.. I suppose the upside is that it might eventually play in our favour if they keen reducing the price

We'll look at Fleet, thanks for the tip!

OP the uni area of Reading is really lovely.

Hamilton Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-124845254.html

Alexandra Road, Reading, RG1 5PG
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-123929543.html

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123657932

One in Fleet, more modern, shame about the plastic lawn but you have mile upon mile of gorgeous countryside almost straight out the door…

I’ve lived in Basingstoke most my life, connections are good and it’s a good place to raise children imo, the 6th form offer is fantastic. However it is a bit ‘any town’ most restaurants are chains based on the edge of the shopping centre, the ring road means that lots of traffic noise in lots of residential areas, the architecture is fairly dull. It was a London overspill town in the 60s/70s and they built some big council estates which have become quite deprived and surprisingly high crime.

i now live in Overton, which is still on the London main line, although with hourly trains rather than every 10 minutes from Basingstoke. Whitchurch is similar. We have cafes and pubs and more community feel than Basingstoke. Decent sized houses don’t come up that often, although a new development is coming soon.

Id also look at Fleet or Hook, but less house for your money east of Hampshire and both quite quite commuter towns.

Reading has much more buzz, but not sure what schools are like.

If John Betjeman were alive today he would not write his poem 'Slough' it would be 'Basingstoke' or maybe 'Swindon'.

This is pretty nice in Guildford and in budget by some way

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122786405#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks! We looked at those 2 properties yesterday - the first one is lovely! Just not sure about living by Reading, DH is not convinced for some reason..

Wrong one- although that's nice too

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121823369#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thank you - that's really helpful! We are definitely interested in Hook and Fleet so will keep a look out for houses there. We are quite picky though, as unlikely to move again and this move will cost us quite a bit, so need to get this right

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/96599110#/?channel=RES_BUY

This one is in Chieveley, which is a popular village just outside Newbury with easy access to M4. You could even easily drive to a crossrail station. Easy walk to Chieveley Primary School and there is so much for young kids in Newbury area. Bucklebury farm Park is great, run by Pippa Middleton. Best bit about Newbury is that you can get to so many places within a good 30min: Oxford, Winchester, Reading, Cotswolds.