Reading or Slough?

[Sweett00th]

Hi, currently living in Croydon and looking to sell. We are in two minds staying here and thinking of going further out to get more for our money. So I’m near family in West Country but still working in London I’m considering reading though a family mentioned slough being better. Just wondering peoples thoughts from those areas and which parts to avoid. Moving from Croydon which is mostly gloom I can’t imagine it being worse? 😀 Our budget is £430k for 3 bed

maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/geodemographics/imde2019/default/BTTTFFT/10.59750102258416/-0.9900/51.3998/

I find that website useful. You can also compare the places to your part of Croydon.

Do you need to factor in schools?

Reading is a lot nicer especially north of the river (but more expensive).

Does it have to be one of those? We live in Bracknell Which is midway between those and would say it’s a lot more family friendly than either.

And we are selling our 3 bed for 370 which is higher end for a 3 bed

I'm from Reading and I've lived here all my life.
The good bits are; close to London and other nice places like Windsor, Oxford etc. Well connected by rail. Lovely rivers. Thriving craft beer scene. Job market is good, especially for tech jobs. We have some decent schools, especially the grammar schools. The arts scene (comedy, theatre, general stuff going on) has improved lots in recent years.

Bad bits - town centre is fairly shit. The Oracle is fine for shopping if you like your chain stores but we have very few independent shops, no nice little boutiques etc. No independent cinema. We get overrun once a year by people going to the Festival which is a bit shit, but the Festival itself is fun

If I was a newbie moving to Reading, I'd probably recommend Caversham. It has a reputation as the posh bit and parts of it are, so house prices are higher than other areas of Reading but it's got it's own little high street as well as being walking distance to the train station and town centre. There are some great pubs in Caversham too. You could definitely get a three bed house for your budget in Caversham, possibly somewhere bigger elsewhere.

I have looked at caversham and university area on Rightmove in past few weeks. Looks ok but hard to gage. May try go there soon

Btw Croydon town centre is fairly run down, was hoping Westfield would be here already but no news on that! I did also think maybe purley as not much in my budget do south Croydon.

Look at Woodley and Wokingham as well. They are in the reading area and Wokingham has always had good schools. You will definitely get a house for your budget in Woodley.
In Woodley you want to be on the north side for easy access to the m4. You can also easily get to two Train stations both a less than five minute journey into reading or an hour slow train to Waterloo.

Lots of children and toddler groups in Woodley as well.

Hi, we don’t drive so ideally head to be walking distance into reading station, ideally no more that 1.5miles, 30mins walk. Caversham is quite good for that but with Woodley is there another station close y to connect to reading? We don’t have any kids at moment so schools aren’t really an issue, I’m more keen on a mix rather than just full family areas

Depends on what you want, Slough is great for commuters into london, there is the trading estate and there is meant to be the crossrail starting there, however house prices are very expensive for what they are, esp if you want close to town centre/ train station. When we were buying, with our budget we could buy a 1/2 bedroom very small apartment depending in location, however we moved to bracknell/wokingham and got a nice 3 bedroom house for that price

The town centre is an absolute dump, everything closing down and cheap shops popping up every 5 mins. You have windsor in your doorstep which is nice but thats about it. There has been a lot of talk of big changes for slough (new town centre etc) but it has been 5 years and nothing has been confirmed yet.

As a young couple I would recommend Reading or bracknell, a lot more recorational Options.

I live a couple of miles away from Slough, it's a complete and utter dump!!! There are NO nice areas of Slough, it's like a dumping ground for every degenerate in the uk! The town centre is rubbish, lots of empty shops, drug addicts and homeless people!

Thanks everyone, will cross off slough, May look into Bracknell too

Slough is very run down!
Bracknell train to Waterloo is a stopping train and takes 1hr 10 mins (on the same line as Wokingham / Sunningdale) so that might be a factor if you need to regularly travel into London. But there are some nice areas around Bracknell (try Warfield / Martins Heron) and the town centre was basically rebuilt About 3 years ago!

I've lived in both and would definitely choose Reading!

However, if you need to be able to walk to a train station think carefully about which one. Reading West is not in a great area.

Wokingham and Crowthorne are both nice and family friendly.

Have you considered Maidenhead?

I used to live in Windsor and am temporarily living here before moving further afield, I’m pleasantly surprised with this town though. I must admit shopping isn’t great (still there are good supermarkets around) but you have Marlow on your doorstep.

Reading is also on the direct line, a short train ride away. Frequent train service to Paddington if you travel to London often and this town is being rapidly modernised.

I live in Woodley and the precinct is lovely for a couple of little cafes and restaurants (Bosco Lounge and Cozze). The train station from me is a 30 minute walk or 10 minute cycle, but I live right next to the precinct so I'm further away. You could live closer to South Lake (near a fab pub called the Waterside) and a house around there will be in budget and probably about 10ish mins walk to the station.

From Earley Station it is 5 minutes to Reading, and then 30 minutes fast train to Paddington. Alternatively, 1hrish to Waterloo direct from Earley, but they are every 30 minutes and are a stopping service.

Woodley I would say is more of a family/retiree community though, for a 'nightlife' scene you will be looking at Reading. Buses get to the station in 20 minutes and run until 2am.

Personally I wouldn't live in the university area due to students (you will know its a Wednesday if union is open) so I would head north to Caversham if you want near Reading Station. Its more expensive though so your money might not go as far. Caversham has a lovely high street of independent shops though if that's your vibe.

I very much doubt that the Westfield will ever materialise. In case you’re interested in staying in London, your budget for a 3-bed would be just about doable in Coulsdon or Wallington (both have small town centres).
Worcester Park could suit you well - it’s zone 4 with a small town centre + only two stops on the X26 into Kingston and quite close to Wimbledon too for more shopping.

I would avoid Slough.

Bracknell I would argue is a good option. Brand new town centre, about an hour to Waterloo or 15 mins to Reading to get a fast train to Paddington. You’ll easily get a good 3 bed for your budget.

Echo what everyone else says. Caversham is best bit of town for the station. I know you need to be walking distance to a station but Twyford, Woodley and Wokingham also good options. Twyford is getting Crossrail. However Twyford and Wokingham a bit more expensive.

Thanks jojo-is wallington ok or similar to central Croydon? Furthest we ventured out outer Croydon was purley which is ok but shame about large Tesco dominating area.

Caversham is great 👍🏽 I love living here

Wallington town centre is probably similar size to Purley less the zillion lanes of traffic (I think it’s only one lane each way on all roads). There’s a large Sainsbury’s, a Lidl and some smaller shops and eateries. Beddington Park is large and gorgeous.

Coulsdon isn’t traffic-y either. There’s a Waitrose, an Aldi(?) and some smaller shops and eateries. It’s very green but zone 6(?).

Worcester Park has a Waitrose, pretty sure there’s a more budget supermarket too + smaller shops, restaurants and cafes but again, the town centre is similar size to Purley less the traffic. Don’t know if you’re familiar woth Kingston but it’s huge and buzzy with lots of fab shops and restaurants, the riverside etc. Wimbledon town has stuff going on, Wimbledon Village is v naice so IMO Worcester Park would be a great spot to get a budget house in an area that’s ‘nice’ in itself but also close to places you actually want to hang out but can’t afford.

That sounds good Jojo, I do love Waitrose! Have t been Kingston. Will look online at property I WP as well as caversham

Another vote for Woodley. Good bus service and easy off-road cycle into Reading for station or Earley if you are on that side of town. Big Waitrose too

If you follow Edible Reading on Twitter you will see loads of stuff about going out in town - there's a huge food scene. There was a lot of indy arts/theatre too but who knows what will happen with that.

Haha wondering if I know these other woodley residents?

I lived in caversham for a short while and it’s quite a big area so not all easily walkable to Reading or the train station and the nicer areas are expensive.

I’m not on the airfield in woodley but not far and I can walk to Winnersh triangle station in 20 minutes and ealry station in about 25-30 minutes. You need to get to know all the short cuts. If you live near south lake in woodley there’s a bridge over the A329 that you can walk to and lots of people drive and park there and cross the bridge to the train station.

You get more for your money living in south lake (which is close to a brand new leisure centre with gym and pool) or in the roads near Vauxhall drive. The airfield tends to be more expensive and the the new developments a bit more expensive plus a bit further walk for everything.

Not sure your budget would get a nice area in Wokingham to be honest. Sorry.

Bracknell wouldn’t be my first choice if I was young and chilD free and wanting night life. Yes has a lovely new town centre but you’d need to go into reading for proper pubs and nightlife.

Reading is probably the best out of your choices, I haven't been to Bracknell for a long time - but there was nothing of interest there when I used to pass through there.