What is it like to live in Farnborough Park?

[CDM008]

My husband and I are planning to buy a house and we have found our ideal dream home in Farnborough Park in terms of size, layout, good size garden and most importantly quick commute to London. I have read mixed reviews about Farnborough in general and wanted to ask what is it like living there and is there anything specific we should consider? We are in our mid-thirties with no children yet.

@CDM008 Where abouts are you now?

Farnborough town center is very run down + Farnborough Park is very close.

I recently ruled Farnborough out when house searching recently.

Have you visited before?

Will you be commuting via car?

I would take a closer look at :

Frimley, Frimley Green, Mytchett, Yately, Blackwater, Bracknell, Farnham, Guildford + Seale.

Much better locations although more expensive of course.
Will depend on your budget.

Farnborough Park is nice but not much going on there. There are a few shops in Farnborough Village, a large Sainsbury. There is PRUH hospital and a couple of good restaurants Chapter One is Michelin starred. It's a bit of a trek to stations to commute, especially by bus. What's the budget. You might be better off in Bickley, Beckenham or Sundridge Park for commuting and social life.

Hi @bellyislikejelly - We are currently in North London but looking to buy our first home. We visited Farnborough a few times and liked the greenery around and will have a car to go around so we felt that we can drive down to nearby towns for shopping.
We have looked at some of the other areas you mentioned but are getting more house for the money in Farnborough. Are there any safety and security concerns?

Do you mean Farnborough Park in Kent.

@HappyHammy I meant Farnborough Park in Hampshire

There are some lovely houses in Farnborough Park. I wish I was brave enough to buy there as it does offer excellent value for money, compared to Farnham/Guildford/Godalming that are nearby. There are some beautiful properties. Particularly when you look at it alongside the commercial area around the airport, it looks great, with a lot of potential. But in the end I ruled it out as other parts are very, very run down. It strikes me as one of those places that tries quite hard to get some kind of regeneration going, but doesn’t quite manage to get there. I grew up in a town like that and in the end I decided to buy more rurally.

Like @Beetle76 says there are some beautiful houses in Farnborough Park and you can get alot of house for your money.

Safety for me i would not walk thru the center on my own even more so of an evening.

Its not the worst ive seen but its not the best.

Maybe worth having a drive out one evening?

Also the commute is a pain in the bum @ times alot of people see how close it is to London on a map but in reality has taken me over 3 hours before.

I’m not sure exactly where you mean by Farnborough park but I will agree that the centre is pretty dull and not particularly pleasant, but it does have quite a few useful shops. I live in Fleet but do my larger shopping trips in Farnborough, it’s about 5 minutes drive. I think Fleet is a lot more pleasant and has a calmer feel and it’s only another few minutes onto the commute into London. More expensive but not by too much. The countryside here is beautiful too and most of the MOD land can be used freely unless they’re doing large exercises.

Thanks everyone for the responses. A lot of things to consider but definitely helpful.

I think that HappyHammy is referring to a different Farnborough Park, which is a private gated estate in Orpington (LB Bromley). That one is pretty fancy, with homes like this £4.5 million beauty: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90133673.html . Just as a fun fact, Rio Ferdinand (the footballer) lives locally and I have a suspicion it's on this estate as it's manned by security around the clock so seems like the logical location for a celeb! DH has spotted him at the train station twice!

There are lots of lovely places around (I live reasonably close) but it's cheaper than the surrounding areas because it's not really as nice!

Farnborough town centre has had some work done but is still not somewhere I'd go out of my way to visit.

It's hardly a gang-filled danger zone but depending on your budget and what you are looking for, it wouldn't be my top choice .