Hertfordshire Vs Buckinghamshire!?!

[Delectable]

Ladies, I need your help please. We've been house hunting for two years. With inflation and house prices going through the roof we perhaps need to narrow down and just go for it. It's been so difficult to find anything we like. We found a lovely house in (the wrong place) Aylesbury -traffic was horrid. Haddenham is nicer but further out from London and not at all diverse but Aylesbury nearby is ok for a bit of diversity. I saw a shop that had plantains at 3 for £1.50 at the time (2020) :) pricey yet but there's hope! Lol!

We saw another lovely on in Maidenhead but we just happened to go to view it we hadn't been looking there. It's the best yet but that's Berkshire.

We like Buckinghamshire for the Grammar schools but get more value in Hertfordshire.

Requirements: 4 bed + 3 bathrooms, happy to do some work even an extension if pushed, outstanding schools, walking distance ie not more than 1mile to the station. Nice to have: village location.

Where do you suggest we look and why?

Bray is a lovely village in Maidenhead with fair prices but I'm not sure about Berkshire. I've lived on the edge of Hertfordshire so I'm familiar with it. Are grammars that important? Education is most important to us. I come from a culture where it's not uncommon to spend all we have on a child's education and skimp everywhere else. No Grammars in Berkshire but the house prices give the most value for everywhere we've seen. With Crossrail we should get a bit of an uplift in appreciation of our ppty value.

Haddenham is also a lovely village but feel it's too far out from London and too much traffic getting to schools in Aylesbury.

Thank you.

Harpenden is 25 mins train ride to Kings Cross. It has 3 secondaries, one that has been open for a couple of years with state of the art facilities, one that is ofsted excellent and has extremely high academic standards, and a third that was The Times State School of the Year in 2019, entry to which is dependent on church attendance. There's also a girls only state secondary a couple of miles away on the way to St Albans. Several of the primaries score highly in the achievement timetables. It's 5 miles from Luton by car /10 mins to central Luton on the train, where there are plenty of ethnic food places. It's recently had a new leisure centre and theatre development. Lots of restaurants. Very good for kids, lots to do, loads of clubs/sport/music/drama/dance/scouts/guides. I find it a bit hard going, if I'm honest, I don't enjoy the goldfish bowl that is small-town living, and long to be back in London, but it has been very good for my children to grow up here. The ethnic diversity is quite reasonable for a small place (to be honest again, I feel like I stick out as a non white person, but I have particular non NT issues, and other ethnic minority friends have no such hang ups). Houses are some of the most expensive in the country, but very much depends on area. Houses in the catchment for the shiny new secondary remain pretty reasonable.

Thanks @petrichorinthesummer. What do you mean by "non NT"?
Yes Harpenden is lovely. However, it takes a little longer to get into London, less house for the money compared to Potters bar, Welwyn, Amersham, Bushey, Watford and environs no and although St Georges
etc are well regarded there're no selective schools. I could be wrong as I'm still trying to understand the education system in England but we'll like some element of academic selection.

Delectable it tends to be selective if it’s a grammar school area, which Bucks is but Herts isn’t. So if you’re in Bucks and your child passes their 11+ you may well be very pro selective schooling. Options if you don’t pass may be less favourable which is when you may choose to pay. People tend to have very firm views on the 11+

@AvonCallingBarksdale noted, thank you.

Hi ladies, I’m relatively new to Mumsnet, but have been a diligent follower of many threads here, and have used the site as a point of reference in our relocation and schools decision-making.
@Delectable DH and I are in a slightly similar position to you, and wondered whether you have made any progress in your search?
I am especially interested in Amersham; specifically:

• is there a generally inclusive feeling (I am black with a mixed race DD) about the town and a healthy community spirit?
• are there toddler and mummy groups that one could join to meet other mums?
• what is traffic like in the mornings and afternoons between Amersham and Chesham? We would possibly have to go through Chesham for the school run.
• what are the deadlines for registering DD for local nursery/primary schools (we don’t have an address yet although we are in the process of purchasing a property in the area)? DD is 34months old.

I would appreciate any insight from mums in the area…FYI I am also new to the UK, so still trying to orientate myself - please forgive any “idiosyncrasies” …

@Lolli85 welcome. We're still looking including in Amersham. It's twongrammar schools are in the top 5 in the country. Good connection into London too. Chesham's traffic is worse than Amersham but I don't think Amersham is known for traffic really. It's pretty close to London but not as diverse as similar zoned suburbs will be in the East or SE I think but it's nice still even for mixed race families.

What about the eastern side of Hertfordshire/Essex borders? 20 mins by train into Liverpool Street

High Wycombe is fairly diverse and good grammar schools, Wycombe High for girls, John Hampden for boys.

High Wycombe is good for schools but feel it's a bit far out @Cuphalffullor thanks.
We prefer to keep more westward @Chikasan thanks.

I'm wondering about Hemel. One of our must haves is selective state schools. I wonder if Chesham, Watford and Parmiters admit students from Hemel. Which parts of Hemel? Transport/proximity to London, large garden, spacious house with lots of facilities for families in reasonable distance is part of the attraction so Felden and Boxmoor are the areas I understand are good to look out for but I worry about admissibility to the partially selectives.

@Delectable Thanks for your reassurances re Amersham.
I don’t have too much first hand knowledge of Hemel, but I’ve recently met several parents who live there. They’ve all shared very positive views, especially highlighting that’s it’s a great area for families.
Have you considered areas like Croxley Green, Rickmansworth? Croxley is quite sub-urban vibes in my opinion, but is very well located, has a lovely village green and close to countryside walks, lots of amenities for families, and the Aquadrome in Rickmansworth. It’s also proximate to Watford Boys/Girls Grammar schools, as well as Croxley Danes (which is a non-selective (I think)).
You can get more affordable properties (relatively), detached with reasonably sized gardens, although it seems they, like in most areas, are in short supply at the moment.
The London commute is also fairly easy.

@Delectable Hemel doesn’t have any state selective schools. You won’t get into the Bucks ones from there, nor the Watford ones.
If you want Parmiters or DAO, you will need to live very close to these schools.
If you are set on state selective, then you will have to accept higher house prices to get into them. There’s nowhere I can think of that with “reasonable” house prices that’s in a catchment of a state selective. The only exceptions are those state selectives that don’t have catchment areas eg Henrietta Barnet, QE, Tiffin etc. Consequently, the competition is v v fierce to get a place

@Delectable - did you find somewhere? Interested to know where you decided on. We’re in a similar boat and trying to decide between Bucks, Herts and Essex. I’m always interested to know where other black families are moving to allay my concerns about moving out of London

Haddenham to Aylesbury grammar schools is supper easy . The Floyd which is the mixed grammar is on the same side of aylesbury. There is a direct bus which only takes 10 mins.

I’m a Londoner but moved to St Albans several years ago. It’s expensive but for a very good reason - very easy and fast commute to London, diverse (more diverse than Harpenden), absolute ton to do for young families, safe and picturesque as a Cathedral town. A significant proportion of residents are ex- Londoners which adds to the diversity. Schools are good but we are private for various reasons. If you are happy to go private you can get a lot more house for your money if you move to somewhere outside of the main school catchment areas. Luton and Hatfield are also nearby for Afro Caribbean hair and food shops, although there is a very expensive Afro salon in St Albans.