Moving to Milton Keynes (maybe). What are the nicer areas and where should I avoid?

[TooMuchCaffeine]

I am looking to move from Northampton to Milton Keynes. We are looking for a nice house - under £250K, in an area that is owner occupied by semi/professional working families mostly. We want to be in the town, rather than the surrounding villages, needs to have access to good schools and with easy access to M1? Ideas anyone?

I live in MK and love it.

We're in Loughton which is nice and is the grid square just behind the station so walkable if you need to. We're about 5 miles (and 11 roundabouts!) from the M1, takes about 10 mins max as it is straight along a main grid route. Only downside really is that there is no local pub nearby although there are a couple on the other side of the square, one is a harvester type thing in an old pub building, other is old one that has just been taken over so haven't had a chance to go yet. but have little ones so chance of me actually getting to the pub are fairly remote regardless of whether there is one there or not.

Schools are OK; we use one in the next grid square though that is fab, called Glastonbury Thorn which is an infant school which attracts people from all over MK. It's in Shenley Church End, another nice area as are all the Shenley's I think.

Middleton, Downhead Park, Furzton, Grange Park, Oxley Park are all nice - but are all (apart from DP) on the far side of MK for the motorway. Not really sure very much of the stuff on that side of MK.

Have a look on the MKWeb.co.uk site - there used to be lots of useful info on there. and the papers used to occasionally post up lists of which were considered to be the best and worst grid squares which might be available online - MK News and MK Citizen.

I think some of the big estates around the centre and there's also one near the hospital that are best avoided if you can at all, but even in them I think there are some OK bits, there's very little that is very bad. Find an area and then google it especially through the news to find out what is happening in it.

There are lots of new developments and estates being built over towards the motorway which might be worth checking out if you need regular access more than access to the station. Think it is Boughton or Broughton Gate.

There's lots over that side - kingston has massive tesco, costco, climbing wall centre, there's willen lake with play park, adventure climbing in trees, the peace pagoda and lots more parks. In fact most places have lots of parks in MK!

give me a shout if you want more info, if you need any more specifics...

Thanks zipzap. A lot of the areas you name, we have been considering. How about Bradville - looking on Rightmove it looks like there are lots of nice 1930's semis there (we currently live in a 1930's semi now and love it). The "streetview" of bradville looked OK and the houses were very affordable. Do you know Bradville?

Yikes! Have just seen some of the "other" properties in Bradville!

We used to live in Newport Pagnell, which technically isn't in MK but frankly may as well be. It's in the NE corner. It's close to the M1 and you can drive to the centre in about 10 minutes. The schools were reputed to be great and the houses weren't enormously expensive. It's also full of people that fit your description (as is much of MK itself). I think the schools are also good around Broughton and SE MK generally.

Thanks Damsel - will rightmove those areas after school run!

OP - I read your post title and came on here to say MK is fine but do not, for the sake of your sanity, look at Northampton.

Obviously you know that already as you've seen the light!

Good luck with your move - wherever you go!

I already live in Northampton unfortunately which is why I am desperate to leave! Moved here from London 8 years ago and have now had enough.

Hi, I live in MK too. We live in Bletchley which we really like. The west side is the most popular and the most expensive, so Tattenhoe, Oxley Park, Kingsmead, are all good. Shenley's are good as is Loughton. What size house are you looking for? Estates to avoid like a barge pole are, Netherfield, Fishermead, Conniborrow, Coffee Hall, Beanhill, Lakes Estate, Stantonbury. I personally don't like Bradville or Wolverton.

We used to live in Stony Stratford which is lovely but also expensive.

Good luck, have you got an MK property press?

Thanks CharlieBoo - we have a big MK map on the all at the moment and are crossing off all the avoid places - lots of people say the same area names interestingly.

Tattenhoe is my personal fave. The house we wanted to buy sold so we decided to go ahead and do some building work and new kitchen on ours and guess what? Our dream home is up for sale again!

The Shenleys have good schools, and Oxley Park is a great school but oversubscribed so check the schools have space before you make an offer etc. Bletchley schools are not so good, but we are catholic, so my ds goes to an excellent catholic school in Bletchley.

Apart from the main shopping centre - are there any individual shops that are not chains, like funky clothes shops, etc?

Stony Stratford and Newport Pagnell have a mix of shops and eateries, as do Woburn/Woburn Sands which aren't too far from MK. Agree with comments about areas to avoid, and areas that are good. Best thing is a daytrip to MK and to go around different areas - with most of the estates there are two sides: the more affluent and the more "down to earth".

Thanks - it's just the way the roads are laid out, you can't just drive past places the way you could in other towns or cities .... so we want to make a beeline for the areas we like. I think we have decided on the west side, even though it is far from the M1, and on MOnkston, Walnut Tree and Kents Hill. Will avoid the bit where they are building new houses on the far east side because often when they can't sell them, they end up as "affordable housing".

I live in Wavendon Gate, next to Walnut Tree but a bit nicer :)

I'd live in Wavendon because of the Stables! It is on our list of possibles. DOes anyone know what Neath Hill Bolbeck Park and Downs Barn are like? Not heard much about those areas. Someone said Downhead Park was OK, but what about the others near it?

To put it into context, the west side is 10 mins or so from the M1, it's really not far at all, thanks to the road system.

If I was moving into the area and wanted newer housing I would head for the western flank; for more established estates go for other flanks. As I said before, most estates have two sides, Rightmove and Google Maps are good ways of browsing areas and the highs to lows of house prices, then you can go for a Google Map stroll...

Another vote for the small towns of Newport Pagnell and Stony Stratford, although I believe Stony is in the catchment area for Radcliff school, which has been a failing school.

Do avoid the estates around the City Centre, as mentioned previously.

Hi,

I am relocating to MK from Scotland and have had a bit of a nightmare getting a primary school place. If you have school age children then you should give MK school admissions a call as i found west MK (preference Shenley Church End)off limts as far as schools were concerned as could not get a place for the year group I needed and each school had at least 10 kids on waiting list that were within walking distance.

We have settled for Broughton, renting initially until we get a proper feel for the place. I have spent many evenings and weekends there and spoke to lots of locals and it seems to have a real community feel.

The new primary school, Brooklands Farm has not yet been ofsted graded as it only opened in Sep but all the parents I have spoke to are extremely happy with the quality of teaching. I have managed to secure a place for my daughter but believe it is only open to the catchment area for now as it is such a new school.

Hope this helps

Be wary if you have secondary age children as there are very few spaces for in-year admissions, most people end up being offered a place at the Radcliffe in Wolverton (not most people's first choice if I'm honest) even if they move into the opposite end of of MK, and then have to hope for a place to open up in their local secondary. All the good and not-so-good schools are full.

well, I've just made the move 2 weeks ago and settling in well.

have moved to the Broughton Gate development, and the kids and families are very welcoming. Brroklands Farm schoo is zoned off for the new development and only has 80 kids in it so far, DD is loving it and the school have been very helpful.

Surprisingly a nice sense of community and i give it a big thumbs up :)

On previous posters comments thought, the high school places appear a prblem for in year admissions - neighbours kids going to a school in Bedfordshire and another not been at school for 7 weeks awaiting a placement so do your research first.

There is a secondary school planned for this development for 2015 so for early primary kids you should be fine

Hi All, We like one day f the property in Neath Hill close to Constable close and about to make an offer but I have read OK and bad reviews about this area. As I am not familiar with the MK as a whole I will really appreciate if someone will let me know more about this area. I will be moving in from Hampshire and moving by with two little daughters so yes the primary school is also important specially catholic. Thanks in advance