Hitchin or Bishop's Stortford?

[ACatCalledFang]

Just as the title says, really - would really welcome any thoughts on benefits/downsides of both. We're preparing to put our London flat on the market and plan to buy a house in one of these, mainly because they're the only towns we've visited that both DP and I agree on .

We're looking for 3/4 bed semi or detached houses within walking distance (20 mins/1 mile) of the station and town centre. If a three bed, it needs to have three doubles, or two doubles and a very decent sized single. Garden is important but doesn't need to be big. Not looking for a project house; modern or period would be fine - location and room size are the main issues. Budget is up to £500k, could potentially push this a little higher.

From what I have seen of both towns, I get the impression Hitchin might suit us better in terms of having more going on (?) and the rail links between Stevenage and the north are a big attraction here for visiting family. But it seems our money would go further in Bishops Stortford and I've seen more houses I like there.

How do the schools in both compare? (We're a few years off needing to worry about this.)

How about the commute?

Most importantly: the prices.... I get the impression that houses which are priced right are selling. But I've been watching Rightmove for over a year and there are a lot of properties which have been on for months, many of which are not reducing in price. Yet the consensus seems to be that prices in Hitchin have rocketed in recent years - but a lot of the houses don't seem to be shifting. Any idea on how close to asking price things are currently going for?

Would appreciate any thoughts from anyone who knows both!

This is the house I was thinking of...

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63253343.html

Thank you again to everyone who has posted, especially Ilikedogs, DozyDorissimo and StealingYourWiFi. This is all incredibly helpful, especially as some of the properties we've seen online are in parts of both towns we didn't manage to cover on foot during our visits.

For those of you who know about Hitchin, what is the Purwell Lane area like? I thought it looked quite nice and have seen a couple of houses online within our budget which have sold.

As to budget, there's no way we can manage £600k so that house is out of the question, unfortunately. We might be able to stretch to £550k for the right house, with the right mortgage, but it would mean mortgaging ourselves to the hilt and I'm not convinced going much past £500k is realistic -we have an appointment with a mortgage broker next week and will take it from there.

This one in Hitchin has been on for a while - any thoughts?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62107085.html

Oh, and as an aside, what are both towns like for parks and/or green spaces?

Bishops Stortford has a good park with play areas and an outdoor paddling pool.
And it is very close to Hatfield Forest for walks too.

That house has been on for ages so if you liked it I imagine you could get a fair bit off. However, it is almost right on the train line. I would imagine you would be able to get Mary Exton or possibly William Ransom schools from there.

The market is very slow at the moment and has been since before brexit. So if you can maybe rent for a while and then you are chain free ready for spring?

Hitchin is good for green spaces and parks (the area around Purwell Lane has a good playground and leads onto the Letchworth Greenway and Wymondley Woods).

The house in Talisman St has been around for a while and I don't know why it's not sold. It could be overpriced. Worth comparing with this one just round the corner sold October.

IMO the one you are looking at should be around £495 or even less. The house is very close to the railway line. Those houses are quite new and were built to the east of St Michaels rd. The house to the west of St Michaels rd (Poets estate) are older but nicer imo, and you'd be looking at Coleridge Close, Tennyson Ave. Alternatively, look at roads off Whitehill Road where there is a school.

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=39876360&sale=88010817&country=england

Purwell area is okay but there are a lot of council and former council houses there and Purwell School never had a good reputation. Need to check out ofsted for it now though.

Agree with PP that there is not a lot around at the moment in Hitchin in your price range. If you want to move here and could rent that would be best as anything nice will be snapped up. In a couple of months people should start selling again- too soon after Xmas at the moment.

Thanks again - I've been taking the view that anything hanging around on the market in our price bracket in Hitchin is either overpriced or has something wrong with it/there is something which would put people off at the viewing stage. I couldn't see what would make the Talisman Close house worth so much more than others in that area, even bearing in mind it's a detached 4 bed, so I'm glad it isn't just me!

Our plan is to put our place on the market later this month/early Feb, once we have a mortgage offer in principle and are in a position to proceed, as I understand nobody will take us seriously unless we're under offer. The type and location of flat we're selling means that getting an offer ought to be pretty straightforward if we time it right. So we should be in a position to move quickly if we see something we like. We're very keen to avoid having to rent in between as, with a small child and a pet, that would be stress we could live without.

Thanks again - this has been incredibly helpful and I'd welcome anyone else's thoughts on the two towns.

It depends on what's important to you and how long you plan to stay. Hitchin has 2 excellent single sex schools and catchment area is key for the Girls' school. Some people prefer the co-ed Priory though.
Hitchin is 20 mins from Luton airport but BS is nr Stansted.
Hitchin to Kx is 30 mins fast train. Busy station.
A1 is near enough for trips north, M1 not too far away.
Downside is it's become very pricey but if you are willing to drive to station (and pay over £1K a year to park) you can find houses slightly cheaper in nearby villages or on the edge of the town.

I live in Bishop's Stortford. I love it here, it has LOT going on when you have children. It's really brilliant with young children.

We live in the North West of the town. Close to Bishop's Stortford College. We moved here specifically because the schools are amazing.

The town centre is small, but improving. And the fact that it is close to Cambridge and London means it doesn't really matter too much. (And Harlow which has surprisingly good shops despite being a shit hole!)

I don't know anything about Hitchin, but I can recommend BS!

Lots to think about here! In response to the question above, ideally, we would like this to be a long term move and for the house to work for us for as long as we want to stay. I think that, unless we hated it, we'd give it five years and reassess. I'd want any further move (if outside area) to happen well before secondary school.

We're keen to avoid the driving-to-the-station scenario because of the cost and hassle of parking. We also think a village might be too much of a leap from London zone 3! Although I understand St Ippolyts, etc, are very nice. So a market town seems like a good option for the next step.

DS may well remain an only child, and I'd prefer coed to single schools but we may feel differently nearer the time.

We're not too fussed about airport access, to be honest. The rail link to Kings Cross is more of an attraction. We can reach my family pretty easily via A1, M1 or M11/A1 so Hitchin is easier for heading north but not essential from a road point of view. Bishops Stortford would be easier for visiting friends in our part of London.

What are the odds of getting a seat from either station in the morning rush hour/either side of it? Slim? Non-existent?

Isn't the noise a total PITA??

I think there are seats on trains from Hitchin but you need to ask others.
Villages like St Ippolyts are not really villages- they are a suburb of Hitchin and don't have a real community feel. If you want village life look at Gt Offley, Pirton, Ickleford. But then you'd have to drive to station as you would with St Ipps.

I'd not over think the only child / co-ed school. I have 2 DCs- one of each sex- who went to single sex schools and they met the other sex very easily as in walking home from school, parties, friends etc. The 6th forms are run as a consortium.

One bit of advice- there is a new Premier Inn in Hitchin. Might be worth booking in for 2 day s hols if you can and having another look and trying the commute if possible and you can get baby/ pet sitters lined up.

We're on St Michaels Mead in Bishops Stortford and we love it. I would avoid house 4 on your list.

We had the same dilemma and chose Hitchin. Well, we actually opted for one of the villages just outside in the end as all the houses in Hitchin had tiny gardens. Still just a 10-15 min cycle/ 5 min drive to twon though and we love it. We just preferred the town centre slightly to Bishop's Stortford and the commute and other links were better for us.

Looking at the houses you linked, I forgot how godawful all the estate agents in Hitchin are - none of them even bother taking decent photos!

We looked at a house on Talisman Street (not that one incidentally). It is very close to the trainline and you can hear trains inside the house where we were anyway. It's not exactly a quiet line either. Peppercorn Walk one the same, also that house has been on and off for about a year and a half now, at various ridiculous prices. Imagine the seller has very unrealistic expectations and is not that motivated to sell.

Nightingale Road is a busy road where all the takeaways and a few bars are. I imagine parking will be awful and lots of drunk people traipsing past at kicking out time.

Bell Close is a nice little location - sort of a 70s housing estate, but quite nice houses and they actually have some space between them. There's a few little shops on Nightingale Road if you don't want to schlep into town. Check catchments areas for primaries very carefully around there. I can give more advice, but you are prioritised for your nearest school - if that is William Ransom, it is very oversubscribed and catchment area is down to a few hundred metres in some years, although I think they did add another form entry last year. I would say that the 3rd bedroom there will be a box room only having looked round a few on that estate.

Agree with a previous poster who said look around the edges of the Poets estate (Masefield, Tennyson etc) to get more house for your money and still a nice location, or alternatively look at the villages or area just south of Stevenage Road (Grange Close, The Paddocks, Blackhorse Road etc).

You could get this in Little Wymondley (alright, there's nothing to do in LW... is nice though)
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59779265.html

I lived in Great Dunmow ( down the road from Bishops Stortford) it seems quite nice and the M11/M25 and airport nearby made it handy for travelling. Fairly affordable area with some nice period homes.

My partner travels from BS to Tottenham Hale (next stop is Liverpool Street) during rush hour and always gets a seat going out.

Also with regards to green spaces there's many! Big parks near Thorley with play areas and playing fields, St Michaels mead has a lake, park, dog agility course, fields. More fields around Havers area. Big town park. Locally is the flitch trail, Birchanger woods, Hatfield forest, Pishobury park.

We were priced out of hitchin so came up to baldock instead. Everywhere is within walking distance of the station (same line as Hitchin) and you get so much more house for your money! We've found ourselves a house here that we won't need to move out of for Soave or schooling.

And whoever said St Ippolyts was a Suburb of hitchin clearly hadn't lived there

Soave? Space, obv.

I think if you do choose Hitchin you will have to think about what you're willing to sacrifice. Whether that's size, location, garden, or buying a doer upper etc. It is quite a difficult market to buy in.

It can be quite competitive in that price range, coupled with the fact that if you don't 'win' that house another one may not come on for a little while.

It admittedly very (very) hard to find a rental with a pet but it is possible... unfortunately also quite hard if you are in London as rentals (at least when we were looking) get snapped up quickly .

St Ippolyts and Little Wymondley are definitely villages at night (quite and peaceful) and suburbs of Hitchin in day time (very easy to reach station. Countryside is breathtakingly pretty specially as you go towards Letchworth and Baldock. Your Zone 3 lungs will breathe actual oxygen there ) You literally enter Hitchin within a couple minute drive or bus so it's great. The stevenage station (via bus) is not far either. I don't think that any commuters would likely commute from these stations outside morning rush hour anyway.
I live very near Hitchin but not in the town itself as i wanted some quite years. Each to their own.

Any = many

V true Valentine 2. I moved here from zone 3 London and love it. I can actually see stars at night and don't sleep with earplugs and an eyemask any more. St Ippolyts has its own playgroup so there are plenty of other mums with babies around. Quick troll into town if you want the library, coffee shops etc. Takes me less 15 minutes on my bike to Hitchin station (and I'm terribly unfit).