Moving to Bucks or Bedfordshire

[Kyara]

Hi All

We're 1st time buyers looking to move from south London. We have been looking at houses on Aylesbury, Haddenham, Leighton Buzzard, Cheddington and Chesham.

We would like to be close to a station with good commute links to London and would love to have nice places nearby to walk our dog.

We liked a property in Aylesbury Lavender Grange, near Elm Farm and also saw a property online on Haydon Hill that seems nice.

We're going to visit Leighton Buzzard this weekend for the 1st time.

Any information or advice about good/bad areas or anything you could share would be much appreciated.

I saw some houses in Bierton and took a look at Homes Barratt - Kingsbrook website before, but was unsure about the area. Good to know Bierton is a nice area as well.

We visited Taylor Wimpey in new berry vale and crest nicholson at Stoke Mandeville and absolutely hated it, so now we're dreading to visit other developments, but would be great for us to take advantage of the help to buy scheme and get a better mortgage deal.

I think Leighton Buzzard would be the best commute option for me, 30min to Euston and then 15/20min walk to the office.

There's a huge development in Clipstone park. I saw a house from David Wilson that I liked, but it's quite far from the station and not sure if we want to live in a big development.

Other option would be Mulberry at Manor Heath, which would be much closer to the station and town and a smaller development, thinking of giving them a call this week to know more information.

The Stoke Mandeville development is very near the hospital and most would consider that Aylesbury. SM village it’s not. Leighton Buzzard is growing. Do you only want new houses? They are mostly on the outskirts of towns. So like Kingsbrook, they are remote from the towns. Like communities in their own right. Kingsbrook has the canal handy for walks. It’s also not far to Tring station for London trains. Is there nothing in Tring?

No, we aren't looking for new houses only, quite the opposite. I'm very apprehensive about new builds after all the bad reviews I have read online.

I think we would prefer an older property that needs some work, but with potential to extend, but haven't excluded the option of buying a new build because we could get a much better mortgage deal with the help to buy scheme. Also, for example Leighton Buzzard has more new builds properties for our budget and criteria than older properties, but we would have to sacrifice on location, I guess

I think Tring has 1 development, but it's 500k for a small 3 bed terraced house.

We spend a lot of time at home and even after lockdown we're going to keep working from home, so having enough space and some privacy is important for us. We currently live in a semi detached and you can hear absolutely everything and that's why we would prefer a detached house.

Cheddington is cheaper. There is a 3 bed detached on the market there. It’s obviously a village though but has a station.

I think older properties cost more to buy because they are more spacious and often on better roads. Detached is limiting where you can go but older properties are better built. We gave plenty of friends in semis and the older ones are fine. No obvious neighbour noise. Fences are available for privacy!

Its further out but have you considered Bicester. The train commute time to London is similar to Aylesbury's and house prices are within your budget. Lots of nice surrounding countryside.

I thin

@CheeseCakeSunflowers Yes I did, I have family there, but the problem is that even though the train time is similar with Aylesbury's the ticket price is almost the double

Biggleswade is much cheaper than Hitchin further down the train line, it's had and is getting more investment which is making it an attractive place to live especially for younger couples etc . Avoid Arlesey and Potton. Most other villages around there are really nice but it might be a bit boring for you if you fancy places to go out too of an evening when we get to do that again!

@User97531 I heard very good things about Hitchin, but unfortunately is out of our budget.

Having places to go out would be nice, but not essential, we would like to have at least some take away options though. We're looking to move to a quieter and greener place, but we don't want to be in the middle of nowhere either, so a place with some shops, cafes, supermarkets would be ideal.

We're planning on visiting Biggleswade, Sandy and Flitwick this weekend, but some people told us that Biggleswade is the nicest from those 3, maybe even nicer than Leighton Buzzard.

Maybe look into Mk more. Fast and frequent trains, great for dogs. Loads of parks, and easy access to countryside also.
As you're looking at so many new builds, there are obviously new builds a plenty, but there are also old pockets, eg Loughton (really near the station) and some of the Shenleys.

In my experience, it's the time to and from the station that really adds up, so try to minimise that if you can.

I think LB would be a great option for you. It is very ordinary compared to some of the posher towns and villages in the area but as a result of which has a great cross section of people and I have found it to be a very friendly place. It has a really good high street with lots of independent shops, cafes and restaurants and has a very good range of property and is not too expensive considering its location.
There are some nice established areas near open walks/countryside with properties in your price range. I'm not sure if these are ones you have already viewed but this one is in your price range, on a very nice road in a good area. it is close to the station but also a big park and the canal, which you can go on long walks along in either direction. There is also a nature reserve less than a 10 minute walk away (Tiddenfoot water park)
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77372391#/

This house is close to town but would only be a short walk to the station as well and it connects in to the riverside Ousel walks which also link in to the canal.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88169872#/
Good luck op, it's a big decision to make but you sounds very flexible so am sure you'll find somewhere soon.

Yes I'd probably chose to live in Biggleswade over Flitwick, Sandy and LB though I know that each has areas you'd want to live in and areas you would not as is the case with towns. Ampthill is right next to Flitwick and nicer but not on the train line. Also could look at Maulden and Clophill but they are villages so less facilities. Near Biggleswade I would look at Langford (no station) and Henlow (walkable to Arlesey station) and Clifton (no station) again all villages so less in the way of shops and cafes etc and Shefford (Town so has supermarkets, shops, pubs etc but no station). Depends how important the train is to you!

Thank you for all your suggestions! It has been really useful

We saw a house that we really liked in the Watermead area. We fell in love with the lakes and it seems a lovely place to walk our dog.

Does anyone know the area? Anything we should about it good and bad?

I’m assuming you mean Watermead in Aylesbury?

The estate is quite mature now. If you have children, be careful. There is a new school on the new estate on the Buckingham Road (I forget the name) but if you are Elmhurst catchment - be careful.

I would rather have something smaller on the south side. It’s a fairly well designed estate though but just a bit isolated from the centre. In its own world. The northern side of Aylesbury is cheaper than the south side but Watermead is perfectly ok. I think there are more houses planned to the north of Watermead. The big mound was supposed to be a dry ski slope!

I grew up in Aylesbury and went to school there - first house was on watermead. It was a bit remote from the town, and a lot of the paths flood in heavy rain. When I lived there the ski slope was fully operational, with a bar and everything!

Personally, I think Aylesbury has gone a bit downhill and is a bit soulless now (parents still live there). Villages like Weston turville are lovely, but expensive.

Milton Keynes is a really good option - as previous people have said, there’s lots of old villages there still, plus if you like walking there’s literally thousands of options! All via ‘redways’ which means you can completely avoid roads and traffic, and loads of green space, plus the canal. I (used to) commute from there, fast trains are only 30 mins for Euston.

If you don’t mind a 20 mins drive to MK station, Buckingham is really lovely, small town with lots of walking, Stowe gardens (NT) on your doorstep, and some lovely old buildings if you like that type of thing.

Is the Watermead house the lakeside terrace one at £350,000 for 2 bedrooms and 700 sq ft? That’s a ludicrous price for north Aylesbury.

@PresentingPercy Sorry, yes Watermead in Aylesbury.

So what are you saying is that Watermead is fine, but Elmhurst is really bad? We don't have children, so schools aren't a problem, but I would like to know if walking through Elmhurst to go to the centre/station would be ok? Is it a really rough area or just not that nice?

We don't mind that it's a bit isolated from the centre as long as it's quiet and safe. Shops, station and amenities are still close.

@PicpoulDeMeNay We drove through MK once and my partner hated all the roundabouts so much, I can't convince him to even consider MK So, driving to the station there would be a big no for him, thank you for your suggestion though

We took a look at the flood risk on the land registry website and the house and surrounding areas are all very low risk.

We don't mind it's a bit remote from the town, as long as its safe and quiet

@PresentingPercy

Is the Watermead house the lakeside terrace one at £350,000 for 2 bedrooms and 700 sq ft? That’s a ludicrous price for north Aylesbury.

No, but In that case I think you're paying for the views and private lake patio.

Watermead is quite nice. Some of the houses make me laugh that the windows are too low so you see the back of the kitchen worktop units. There’s an eclectic mix of houses depending on which part of Watermead you pick. There’s only one road in/out which can be difficult in the morning.

I grew up in Leighton buzzard. My Mum still lives there. Good links to London on the trains and lovely dog walks etc.

I live in Flitwick. Same as above. Just smaller and not a proper high street as such. One Tesco and that's about it.

I'd happily live in Leighton again. I'd probably prefer it but I need to be on the Bedford train line for work.

Recommend Leighton Buzzard, it’s 30/35 mins commute to London Euston. Good size town with plenty of greenery. Good rated schools. Close to Rushmere country park which is lovely for walks.
House prices aren’t too bad either.

There are some lovely villages in Bedfordshire, Woburn, Ampthill, Maulden, Silsoe, Toddington. I'm obsessed with rightmove and love this house www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78841716#/

I live in Linslade and sorry, but your budget would get you very little.

PS you couldn't have driven through LB town centre, it's pedestrianised.