Woking (house hunting) - what is it like?

[jasminetea123]

Hi all,

My partner and I both have jobs in Central London (Bank & Farringdon) and are looking to buy a house that fits within our budget of £350k- we're thinking of Woking. I have family in Guildford so we'd rather not be too far away.

The only concern we have is the cost of travel. What do you make of Woking, would you recommend it? It has changed quite a bit in the last 5 years it seems.

Thanks!

There has been loads of investment in Woking town centre in recent years. The council are really pushing regenerating. New restaurants and shops etc. The frequent train service is such a bonus. There are some good schools and nice suburbs around. Horsell is a lovely area.

Dull and gridlocked.

Have you looked at the places on Crossrail stations? Taplow maybe?

We had relatives who lived in Knaphill/Goldsworth Park borders, it was absolutely fine (and where a lot of people lived who couldn't stretch to Horsell which is the naice end). Just do a good drive-around, you can tell the slightly more ropy areas pretty easily from the state of front gardens etc. if schools are important check out the ofsteds and state/indy options that work for you. The area near to the station (mayfield I think
It is?) used to be more run down but that was 4 years ago so may have upgraded since. And Goldsworth Park has a lovely lake area and Knaphill used to have a mini railway!

I'm from Woking and enjoyed growing up there. It has changed a lot recently, but lots of the changes have been good, eg the town centre. I'm not a big fan of all the blocks of flats that are going up around the centre, but there are lots of nice areas. It's cheaper than Guildford. If I could afford to move back to Woking I would, but having lived in the Midlands, where housing is so affordable, I can't bring myself to pay SE prices! At a glance, there are several houses in Knaphill within your budget, which is a nice little village, decent schools round there too I think.

Some lovely areas to live etc. but it's not a town you can find much to do in the evenings IYSWIM.

thanks for all the replies so far! @Becky, yes the frequent train service is definitely the biggest bonus. I've heard a bit about Horsell, I will look into it.

@Charles, I don't know anything about Taplow, what is it like?

@Aethel, I've heard good things about Knaphill and less positive things about Maybury (the area near the station). At the moment we want to be walking distance to the station, so will have a look at Horsell first, but it's good to know about Knaphill too.

@sugarmice thanks for the tips! It seems as though the area is in the middle of a big transformation and yes, plenty of blocks of flats. Affordable housing... those two words side by side sound strange to me ;p

We're not too fussed actually about things to do in the evening as a few nice restaurants would be enough. I suppose the easy access to London can make up for that.

The theatre is very good, and gets great shows straight from West End runs, there's also the cinema, plenty of restaurants, pubs, a couple of clubs... Not sure what else people would want to do in the evening... Think the town centre end of Maybury is ok, the Sheerwater end less so. You have to pick carefully if you go for Maybury. The other side of the station - Goldsworth Road to Goldsworth Park is walkable to the station and nicer than Maybury. HTH

I lived in Woking for a number of years and even though I don't think it's the greatest town in the world, if your main priorities are getting out of London but still having a reasonable commute it fits the bill very well. I didn't commute very day but when I went into London I used to stroll into the station and know that there would always be a train coming soon, same on the way back from Waterloo. No checking of timetables or bolting out of meetings!

I also disagree with there being nothing to do and, as another poster said, if you are working fulltime and commuting, how much realistically do you want to do in the evenings anyway? The theatre is very good, also the Rhoda McGaw theatre in the same complex, there is a 6-screen cinema, lots of am dram, choirs, several gyms, and branches of Bills, Cafe Rouge, Carluccios etc etc

It is quite pricy for a season ticket, but at least its a protected route so the annual increases aren't as high as on other routes

Horsell has loads of families, many who have moved out of London and commute in for work. Fabulous community feel, nice little high steet and some excellent pubs. It has a good range of housing styles and although fairly expensive the variety of stock means things crop up at different price points. If not horsell i would say the goldsworth road side of town is nice (and near goldsworth primary) eg royal oak road, kingsway etc. Woking is well located generally, surrounded by nice countryside areas and good access to London and the south coast. We are pleased we chose to move here 5 years ago (and the town centre wasn't as nice then!)

Have been in Woking 25 years and very fond of it. Agree that Horsell high street has great shops for local food type shopping, town centre has all the basic stuff plus plenty to do in the evenings; if you want more upmarket shops then Guildford is 20 minutes by car or London is 25 minutes by train. Commuter rush hour trains grim but not worse than other routes I don't suppose. Big plus for me is green belt and Horsell Common - I love being so near good communications and yet can walk to the common and stand in heathland or woodland and not see a single building or person. Used to live in Maybury and it was fine, but Woking does vary quite a lot from one area to another. There are always Woking bashers on these threads, but I think it's practical, has more community than you'd expect, and for me has been a pretty good place to live.

Sorry guys I meant the actual town centre itself - there are not pubs and clubs I would want to go to in the evenings, have tried several times and erm just no.

I didn't mean there is nothing to do in the evenings in the Woking area - the cinema, the theatre, a few nice restaurants but not much else. Certainly nothing for teens in the town centre in the evenings. Not a problem if you work in London.

Yes, my teens have grown up in Woking. They go clubbing in Guildford. To be honest I never saw this as a problem - means they have to plan a bit more to get there, which is no bad thing, and it's a bit less rough. As you say, Woking town centre is a bit grim in the evenings, at least some bits.

Yes Alice that's what I meant, it is really just grim in the evenings. Yes there are things to do but you'd never go for a stroll around and pop in a pub!! Lots of positive things about it in all other aspects though.

No, you'd go to one of the excellent pubs in Horsell instead - as everyone does! :)

Absolutely!