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?

That's a long walk from the main station though. It's near London Road (Guildford) but trains from LR take about an hour to Waterloo.

Agreed with that budget you don't need to suffer Basingstoke.
Come to Wokingham 😉

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123205307#/?channel=RES_BUY

This is what I would buy personally

as much as I love those huge houses in Reading listed above and the size is fantastic and the gardens lovely the area just doesn’t do it for me. Schools in particular are not very good around there. It’s convenient for reading town centre and the hospital and uni. And not too bad to get to the M4 but traffic can be a nightmare around there.

the downside to Woodley for me is the lack of older houses but the area is nice and we have great schools and good connections for rail and motorway and short drive away from beautiful locations for walks etc. we have dinton pastures right on our doorstep a collection of lakes with a water sports centre and two cafes. I walk the dog daily around the smaller lakes.

close to larger towns such as Bracknell and reading for shopping but often shoot off down the m4 to get to Westfield usually within 45/50 minutes and parked as go first thing.

dd is off to Wokingham today for bowling and lunch.

it’s safe and I often walk home alone from a night out with friends and feel safe doing so. Something I never did when we lived in reading.

Safety is so important. I need to be able to walk from the station in the evening and early mornings when it's still dark in the winter. For that reason, it sounds like Basingstoke is not really the right place to live. We've seen a number of properties come on the market in Newbury just in the past few days and have several viewings lined up for this weekend. Crossing fingers!

Basingstoke has had a bit of slander. I don't feel unsafe walking to the station in the morning or walking home in the evening. Reading has some absolutely dire areas and plenty of crime, if you walked from the station to the university in the dark there are some pretty dodgy bits.

Places like Old Basing are genuinely nice and it even has an award winning bakery if you ever did decide to visit.

Newbury is prettier, I will give it that. But Basingstoke isn't as awful as people are suggesting.

I agree with this. Only time I’ve felt unsafe in Basingstoke is walking through Buckskin late at night, this is a big ex-council estate I happened to be living in as a younger person, not somewhere you’d go near if you didn’t live there.

Old Basing is lovely, I lived in the tiny bit of Victorian town when dd was small, could walk to the station and town centre, knew my neighbours, was lovely but our flat was very small and we couldn’t afford a house there.

Reading has a population approximately 3 times larger than Basingstoke and so yes there is more crime and the area around the station used to be unpleasant but they are redeveloping it currently and it is looking much smarter. I can’t say I’ve felt unsafe in Reading particularly and there are always lots of people around especially at commuting time. But yes, Basingstoke is much more suburban and sorry but it’s much more boring, but it is about different priorities really. I wouldn’t call any areas of Reading “dire”, less desirable perhaps but it’s no Jaywick.

Well I'm in no hurry to move to Witley or Tilehurst, Oxford Road is well known for being grim. It's nice that you have a lido but I can hop on a train and visit in half an hour if I want.

Your posts suggest you have an agenda against Basingstoke, I'm not sure its all that bad.

Neither Basingstoke nor Reading is bad for crime. I’ve never felt unsafe in either and I live very near the Oxford road - it was bad about 20 years ago but it’s fine now. I walk home at night along Oxford road and it’s fine.

I have lived in Reading as a student and if the OP likes the atmosphere in Newbury then that is much more chilled than Reading. I would say Winchester but dear lord that place is expensive now. You won't get much for 800k anymore. There are 3 bed terraces going for that near the station. A nice 4 bed with a decent garden is £££

Basingstoke isn't all bad. I had a friend stsy at the weekend, so we did the sights of Basingstoke - two theatres, the Wote Street willy, Willis Museum, War Memorial Park... The Aquadrome is definitely open -I'm a frequent user. The ice rink is also open currently. The shopping centre is pretty much like any shopping mall in other towns, all chains.

I've never felt unsafe walking home alone late at night. Friend was surprised at how peaceful my garden is, given how close I am to the centre.

There is loads of nice countryside around, and rail and road connections are good.

Reading also has good road and rail connections and good and dodgy areas, shopping and do on.

Newbury is prettier. It has a lido, but it's closed this summer while they rebuild it. I'd rather be on the M3 than the A34 (but I like going home to Dorset when I can.)

Andover is also nice, but with dodgy parts. Less shopping, but all the basics. Swimming pool was okay, but haven't been for years. If you don't swim, it's irrelevant, but I do.

You could look at places in between which are on the rail line - I liked living in Whitchurch,but Bas is cheaper, and I still had to go to Andover or Basingstoke for some things.

If your requirement is the commute, I'd compare all the times of rail journeys, and frequencies. (Reading and Basingstoke have more direct trains than the others,) and also work out the potential travel at either end of the journey - living in a pretty village may be lovely, but if it adds 40 minutes to hour journey just to get to the station, not so fab. If there are other things important to you, I'd also consider that, because you can probably narrow things down quite a bit that way.

There are much nicer places in Hants than Basingstoke.

It’s not a commute I’d do to Canary Wharf though! Why not move to Kent or Essex? Some lovely places there and you’re the right side of London for CW and the City.

Not Newbury either because of bad commute.

In answer to a PP's comment ..." I would say Winchester but dear lord that place is expensive now. You won't get much for 800k anymore. There are 3 bed terraces going for that near the station. A nice 4 bed with a decent garden is £££ "

But you can get easily within OPs budget in Winchester

Like any cities there aren't detached houses with garages driveways gardens right smack in the city centre but there are in nice winchester (small) city outskirt areas 15-30 mins walk away

Ps. Winchester is lovely but not much of a raging night life other than theatres, cinema, leisure centre pubs and restaurants (but southampton is 30 min direct bus ride away for lots of clubs, more theatres - southampton is fab to go out in)

Here are 4 large houses under OP’s budget in Winchester

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124511051
£750k 4 bed detached with off road parking in St Cross - 25 min walk through city centre to train station

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124924538#/?channel=RES_BUY
£750k 4 bed large semi detached Edwardian cottage - central in westgate - with driveway parking

[[https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85415268#/?channel=RES_BUY
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85415268#/?channel=RES_BUY]]
£695k large detached 4-5 bed in Oliver’s battery with garage - near the largest park and ride - lots of buses go to train station and city centre

£550k semi detached in Kings worthy (village north of Winchester but short bus ride to train station) garage and parking - huge 4 bed with 19 foot master bedroom. [[https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122646707
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122646707]]

Sorry the 2nd one was Oliver's battery and the 3rd is westgate near the centre - I muddled your the areas. 2nd one is a large new build

Argh 3rd one is new build I meant!

Basingstoke is awful.
For a place convenient to commute into London by train have you considered Caversham in Reading?

Winchester has really good schools and an excellent 6th form college for A levels. But don't park in city centre (unless in a car park) as traffic wardens are ninjas. Use park and ride.

Have you considered a larger village? I'm in Mortimer which has bus and rail links to reading. Loads going on and great community spirit. Shinfield is nice.

Pangbourne is lovely with its river and shops and also on train line to London.

Basingstoke is a 'new town'. Lots of London overflow families settled there in the 50s. It is a series of housing areas, each with their own characteristics. Big regional hospital, modern shopping centre. There are lots of things for teens to do, lots of roundabouts and a fast line into Waterloo which makes it quite easy getting to docklands. There are some nice villages nearby.

Newbury is a historic market town, mostly Georgian with some earlier bits. It's a lot more rural, still has farmers markets, race course, Kennet & Avon canal, generally more affluent and with better food. Small local hospital, traditional high street. More independent schools if that is important to you. Fast train into Paddington which is not easy in any way for Docklands.

Both Conservative councils, but Basingstoke and Deane council tax is less.

@MintJulia Paddington to docklands is easy now - Elizabeth line direct to Canary Wharf. Just as easy as jubilee line from Basingstoke I’d say.

Good point. I haven't used it yet 😊

Blimey OP if you can get things like that in Winchester I would go for winchester every time- proper Lovely small city and holds its money. Although not that convenient for the M4 I admit if you need that 'a lot'

If safety is an issue, avoid Basingstoke centre like the plague. It's a soulless, impoverished, drug-addled area of the town. There are some very expensive properties on the outskirts, and North Hampshire area has a lovely rural community, but the main town is rough and unpleasant at best.

Christ you’d think it was Toxteth rather than one of the least deprived areas of the UK!