Moving to Wiltshire/Hampshire area..help please?

[icutpaper]

Hi all

I currently live in Berkshire and am looking into moving over to Wiltshire/Hampshire in the coming months - well, in time for the start of the new school year. I've been looking around on the rental websites and checking out schools near to some of the properties but I get very anxious over the thought of picking a bad area, in a place I'm not at all familiar with.

I had thought about Salisbury and have read both good and bad things but the school situation there puts me off quite a bit. I have DD who is 10 so will be starting Y6 in Sept, and DS is 2 so will only be starting nursery soon, but thinking long term it's off putting that there aren't as many options for boys at secondary level (I know, it's a while off yet!)

I've also heard New Forest is nice but again, wouldn't know where to start in terms of which areas to pick.

Could anyone suggest any lovely places, not too fussed about being in a city or anything, would love a village-y feel but currently don't have a car for myself so wouldn't like to be too secluded. I'm Self Employed so don't need to be tied to any specific area for work, but my OH works in Cosham so would need to be a reasonable driving distance to there (which is the whole reason for the move, his commute is ridiculous at the moment!)

I hope it's okay to post this here - have been reading lots of older threads with suggestions but these seem to focus more around the North of Wiltshire whereas I'd be looking more at the South, same with Hampshire. I'd appreciate any input and advice from anyone local to these areas, or those in the know.

TIA Xx

Shirley, not Shirkey (blames fat fingers)

Right, v. naice areas in north Southampton:

Within Shirley: Shirley Ave and the roads to the east towards the Common are the best. Roads can get congested and do vary in their 'greeness'

Portswood/Highfield: Abbotts Way is the top dog road and v. expensive. All the roads between Highfield Lane and the Avenue are generally good. The bit around Orchard Way is listed - they are all Collins houses (see below) and v. desirable, set in landscapes grounds.

Bassett (east of Bassett Avenue): Basically anything between Burgess Road and Bassett Green Road is good as long as it isn't named after a flower. Glenwood ave, Spindlewood Close, Woodview Close were all developed in the 1960s/1970s with large detached around the £400K mark, Bassett Cres. , Glenwood Ave etc are more often 1930s large deatched arounf the £450-600K region. There are a few Collins developments off Bassett Ave around Leaside Way and Ethelbert Ave which are £350-£450k, all set around large green with big gardens. The Collins houses have their own Residents Association and tennis courts.

Bassett (west of Bassett Ave): any road which comes off the Ave is good. mix of 1930s, 1950s and 1960s housing.

Collins houses: Herbert Collins was a local architect in the 1920/1930s who built lovely estates, beuild around communal greens. He used the profits to set up a housing associate which built similar houses (with lower ceilings and rougher finishes) for rent to the working man at the time. His houses were very well thought out and are in high demand.

Shirley - used to be grim, not sure if it's much better now. Shirley to Cosham would be a horrendous commute.

Havant - bits are OK (the outlying areas not Havant central).

Fleet - don't know Fleet but it's a long way from Cosham.

Whitchurch - don't know

Portchester - I like Portchester, it's not especially pretty but has some foreshore, the Castle, parks etc. Schools are decent. Portsmouth has lots going on and there's Gunwharf Quays, Southsea, the dockyard, festivals, events. Commute to Cosham would be a piece of cake. Rents are reasonable.

West Totton - don't know

Waterlooville - nice in places, decent schools, not 'pretty' but handy for getting to other places.

And of course there's the Island!

Plenty of people commute from the Isle of Wight to Southampton and Portsmouth. It's certainly different

Thought you meant Hayling Island then, Issy . Schools are rubbish on Hayling.
Anyway - Fleet is too far. Whitchurch much too far. If you're going into Cosham every day, you could consider Southampton. Waterlooville is near Cosham but it's not very nice.

I wouldn't consider Salisbury if you have to commute to Cosham. The A36 is awful - single carriageway most of the way and nowhere to overtake. The M27 also gets snarled up.

How about somewhere like Alverstoke, Lee-on-Solent or Fareham?

tbh i dont think you'll get much choice for 900 pm

soton to cosham commute wd be an hour each way - horrendous

secondary schools in soton are not great

if yr dh wants a half an hour ish commute you need to look much closer to cosham - but not in cosham

traffic is bloody awful in whole of hampshire

sorry for being negative :)

Here's a couple of options for Fareham/Gosport:House 1 - it is in catchment for outstanding secondary

House 2 - is in catchment for Bay House, very good school

House 3 - this one is in Havant which I don't know as much about as Fareham/Gosport, but I think is nice enough. Also in catchment for outstanding secondary.

stare Secondary schools in soton are okay overall, besides the OP has girls and St Anne's is very good.

hope as far as those of us around the Solent are concerned, the only island is the Isle of Wight (and it's been like this for a while - Jane Austen pokes fun at the presumption in Mansfield Park).

Being local (my DM works in Cosham, DH in central Portsmouth) I wouldn't even dream of being as far out as Winchester/Salisbury. The commute would be hell, especially with extensive roadworks around the M3 currently.

We are in East Hants, it's wonderful. I'd be inclined to stick to Petersfield, Waterlooville, perhaps Fareham, Havant and all the surrounding villages. Rowlands Castle, Emsworth and Chichester have excellent rail links to Cosham. Waterlooville, Purbrook, Cowplain, Horndean good road and bus links.

Avoid Gosport at all costs, also avoid Leigh Park, Somerstown and Wecock Farm.

For £900 you'll struggle to have a nice area to be honest. Not sure why Waterlooville has been labelled "not nice," there are dodgy parts but overall it's not bad. The outlying villages are lovely.

We live in maybush which is outside of Shirley, you will just about be ok on the rent, we have a mortgage but our neighbours pay around £850 a month rent on a 3 bed semi. As people have said you may struggle to get in a completely nice area for that amount, but we find Shirley and surround area ok, west totton is ok aswell, has everything you need on your door step, and new forest a short car trip. As said before if your partner leaves earlish for work (just after 7.00) motorway won't be a problem in the morning going towards Portsmouth, the issue is coming from the other direction with London traffic.

There are some areas of Fareham that are close to the motorway so an easier commute. Think about Whiteley or Park Gate/Sarisbury maybe? Might be a bit more expensive but you'll save on commuting costs. Look at SO31 or PO15.

Some parts of Gosport are fine. Alverstoke is lovely and Bay House is a good school. There's also a Waitrose

Havant feels pretty soulless to me, I'd go slightly further to Emsworth, it's still on a direct train line to Cosham (and Chichester, Portsmouth, Southampton).

We lived in Southsea (Portsmouth) and I loved it, but you need to be close to the sea to enjoy it I think and schools may not be so great.

Absolutely Freckled - not all of Gosport is grim. Alverstoke is lovely (but I admit I'm biased) and it would be easy to cycle to the ferry, then across and cycle up to Cosham. Far nicer than driving but I admit not so much fun when the weather is foul.

Otherwise I think Portchester is definitely worth looking at - 3 bed houses to rent well within budget, catchment for Cams Hill as well as good primaries, close to Cosham for work, with Portsmouth within easy distance and Fareham up the road for day to day stuff. Ok it's not an idyllic village like those surrounding Petersfield but you'd have to pay a lot more rent to live there and drive up and down the A3 every day.

I grew up in Wickham at the bottom of the Meon Valley, nice village with a good range of shops, largest square in the country (I think). There is a good route to Cosham over Portsdown Hill so avoiding the M27.