House prices pecularities in Harpenden

[geeman]

Hi all
Does anyone know why the houses prices in certain areas of harpenden (ie hyde view road, ashwell park, westfield road, willow way etc) are as cheap as they are...

Difference in price is staggering considering harpenden isn't that much big a place.

Don't live in Harpenden, but is it because they are ex-council, or even if they are privately-owned, are they in an area of council houses? We bought our first house in St Albans, which was ex-council and it was loads cheaper than other similarly-sized houses there.

these houses are only a couple of streets away from the much more pricy houses.... they may be ex council houses, i dont know if there is a way to find that out??.... I am hoping someone from harpenden may be able to give some inside info....

School catchment area? I know that Harpenden schools tend to be very over-subscribed. Or proximity to the railway line?

yea.. didnt think abt the proximity to railway line reason....

I think there is a fear if you live on one of these streets that your closest school is The Lea and your chances of getting into a school you want is greatly reduced as you slip down a rank on the admissions criteria.
I know we were warned off this area for that very reason.

Ex council I would say - plus you're likely to fall just outside the catchments for Roundwood and St Georges (secondary) - relevant to many people despite the fact that Sir John Laws is a very fine school.

thanks for the replies guys..

Disparity: It appears the lea school and ex council, as pointed by pawsnclaws and wigeon, is a big reason in keeping the house prices down.. the lea's ranking is average to below average on the league table compared to what else is available in harpenden/st. albans.... the other somewhat startling discovery i've made is that house prices in these areas didnt really boom during the boom years, as opposed to rest of harpenden.. properties that were selling for 200-225k in 2001-2004 are only fetching 235-275k now..... whereas for houses towards the st george's school area seem to have increased more ie roughly from 275-300k back then to 375-400k now

pawsnclaws: thanks for confirming that its ex council housing... and u r right, sir john laws is one of the top 15 schools in hertfordshire... not quite the top10 as roundwood and st georges but i would think that top 10% of the secondary schools probably differ more on the paper than in the classroom....

dont think i can afford anything else in harpenden except the lea area... should i buy a house in the least valued area of harpenden or should i look towards sandringham in st. albans and such.... heart says harpenden, brain says look elsewhere..... decisions decisions..... i am feeling very confused.com

Afraid that St Albans house prices round Sandringham / Beaumont / Verulam schools are likely to be at least as pricey as Harpenden...if you can't afford in Harpenden then you can't afford in St Albans.

We bought an ex-council house in St Albans because it was nice being in a nice city and we could put up with the grotty street for 5 years pre-children.

But now we have a DD plus a bump, we moved to Watford last year from St Albans simply because of the property prices. The size of the house we could afford became more important than living in a cute town. And we are now in a nice street in Watford, in a bigger house, rather than a small house in a grotty street in St Albans.

There are two very good 100% selective grammar schools (Watford Girls and Watford Boys) and some excellent semi-selective secondaries too (eg Parmiters). But Watford is much much less nice than St Albans or Harpenden as a town (hence the property prices). Although it's only 15 mins drive away from St Albans! And to be honest we don't hang out in Watford town centre much! Watford also a very fast commute into London (20 mins, like St Albans).

I guess I was thinking that cheap areas of harpenden are probably like average areas of St. Albans - certainly better than cheapest areas of St. Albans.. but i see your point and it makes sense...
Hopefully gonna be living in harpenden/st. albans area for a few weeks and that will help in deciding how much i wanna stretch finances and how bad i wanna live in harpenden..

but i've gotta say i do like the idea of grammar schools more than catchment area schools where admission is based on how close you live to the school which basically means how rich you are (as rich be able to afford the expensive houses next to nice schools) whereas it really should be on merit.... children should get the schools they deserve on the basis of their hardwork and intellect... not on the basis of how much the parents earn......(rant over - apologies if i stepped on some toes there)

Geeman - all the secondarys in Harpenden are excellent and well regarded.

Sir John Lawes did better in A level results in 2009 than St George's. It wouldn't be my personal choice for a school - too much religion for my liking. .

Maybe we should argue than belonging to a certain religion to gain entrance to a good school is morally wrong too.

If you move to Harpenden and wish to gain entrance to St Georges then familiarise yourself with some of their entrance requirements well ahead of time - ensure your child,your OH and you all practice a different branch of Christianity and you will gain extra points. Start going to church at least 3 years before you apply - get very involved - they like that...because that is how you gain entrance...not just through wealth.

St George's carrys a certain snob value but that has little to do with the quality of education, more to do with history and is certainly not an argument for a change to Grammar Schools

Geeman, are you looking at primary schools or secondary? All three Harpenden secondaries are v. good - Sir John Lawes just suffers the left over reputation from having been a secondary modern but that was 40 years ago, and it's just as good as Roundwood or St Georges now. (Personally I'd avoid St Georges as the headmaster seems to be a bit of an, um, character... and you have to have a note from your vicar saying you've been to three out of four services every month for years.)

Re. primaries - the Lea's reputation is, I'm told, really not deserved. It suffers because it has less snob value than other Harpenden schools. But I know a few families who have children there and they are very happy. It has v. small class sizes, which might be a factor for you?

And I know families in St Georges are put under huge pressure to "voluntarily donate" to school funds and unless they have signed up for the monthly direct debit they get frequent, not very subtle reminders. The Head is pretty old - he must be retiring soon but it is a very old fashioned school, is it true that girls are still not allowed to wear trousers - better to wear a skirt that is so short is skims your arse.

Many of us are very glad that it is not the only choice for good secondary schooling in Harpenden.

All - thanks for the replies. Trust everyone had a good xmas and got pretty much what they wanted for xmas.....

Disparity- Thats certainly a big part of the attraction that all the secondarys in Harpenden are great. Did you mean 'too much religion for my liking' in St George's?

Religion, morality and schools - sounds like topic for a thesis . My rant was exactly that - a rant, certainly not something thought through. I would agree that there is an argument for the point you mentioned although I m in no state to argue for/against anything after working for 12 long hours today.

And don't think I am gonna worry abt St George's as I am a Sikh and not planning to change religion to get kiddies in a specific school. Although a bit scary to know what one has to do to get into St Georges. I wonder this mandatory sounding requirement of following such and such branch of Christianity; to go to church for atleast 3 yrs and the 'voluntary donations' does any good to Christianity at all. I think if there's one way to make someone hate religion it is by forcing the religion on them.

Edam - Have seen your posts in other threads regarding Harpenden and was hoping that you'd reply so thanks for that.

I am looking long term - Ideally my partner would like to stay in the next house for the rest of the life. Dont know how practical that's going to be but it's a given that we'll be spending a long time in the next property so need to look at both primary and secondary.

geeman, ds goes to music lessons next door to St George's. In the four years I've been taking him up there every week, I've not seen a single person wearing a turban. Nor a Jewish skullcap, nor a veil, nor any other kind of head covering associated with a religion. Would be unfair to accuse St George's of a lack of diversity without looking into it more carefully, but my guess is if you went to look round, you might not meet any other Sikh families...

Yes I meant St George's was too religious for my liking, sorry. Children have to make a commitment to attend church once a month - doesn't seem fair on a child to impose that on them - fine if they want it but many won't.

I have heard the Head at The Lea is fantastic and very committed - but maybe not a slave to SATs or Ofsted - which in my opinion may be no bad thing.

And given that St George's runs Cats tests for academic setting on the first day of Year 7 means that you need not worry too much. I'm sure the others set by Cats rather than SATs too.

I would not worry about the combination of The Lea & Roundwood/Sir John Lawes, you'll be in good hands. But go have a look around - you may be plesantly surprised.

Thanks guys.....

Edam - You are probably right, I'll struggle to find any other Sikh families in Harpenden. I know there's a Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) in Luton that should only be a 10 minutes drive offpeak hours.

Disparity - Yea, combination of The Lea & Roundwood/Sir John Lawes sounds good especially when I am getting to know things like a comitted head and small class sizefrom the people in the know (you and edam ).

Am planning a stay in harpenden from 3-8th Jan.. Harpenden house seems to be getting pretty negative reviews on tripadvisor lately so might go with Glean Eagle Manor or the silver cup. Any suggesstions......? Our 5 month DD's gonna be with us so would like somewhere quiet.

I'd still be working, commuting to victoria, but should give me some idea of a commuting times first hand and of the feel of the lea area. Let's c how that goes

Sorry can't help with hotel recommendations but good luck, it's a nice town to bring up kids - lots going on, lots of newcomers moving from London - so you won't feel like the new kid in town for long and people are very friendly - and it feels safe.

Thank you for all the help Disparity

Hi Geeman, sorry to revive an old thread. Did you eventually move to Harpenden? We are Sikh also and looking at houses in West Common, I am guessing the community has changed a little? We'd ideally like the kids to get in to Roundwood.

@SunnyS123 - do you realise this thread is 14 years old? Also, the OP is very unlikely to pick up your message unless you either PM them or tag them in your post (by putting the @ sign then their name).