Maidenhead... Does anyone know much about the area?

[velvetviolet]

Hey!

We are a young couple and have seen our first house we would love to purchase in Maidenhead! We aren't from the area and wondered if anyone knows much about Maidenhead itself (in particular living near the centre). Or are there nearby areas that are better (bearing in mind we don't have a huge budget!).

Most importantly - Is it a safe place to live / is there much crime? Is there a community feel? As a young couple would be great to know if it has other young couples / young families in the area so we feel like we fit in?

I also have to commute into London, is this an OK commute? Waiting on the crossrail long term which hopefully isn't too many years away now!

Would love to hear if anyone knows more about the area - thank you!

www.constructionenquirer.com/2021/03/08/500m-maidenhead-town-centre-revamp-approved/

We are moving into the area so any positive advice would be welcome 😄. We looked at marlow Bourne end etc for the 18 months with no joy... we just seemed to be out priced for house we wanted. Hoping the regeneration will be a positive thing.

Keep looking Sim7. Maidenhead is fine. Not sure about the regeneration, it just seems like lots of flats and coffee shops to me.

Maidenhead has an arts centre and a cinema.

You are looking at towns on the Thames, try looking at villages not on the river and they might be more affordable.

Although neither are fantastic Maidenhead is way better than Burnham/Taplow. Burnham is an absolute hole! Maidenhead is just a bit run down with rough areas alongside nicer areas. I don't live in either place but in a town very close to both.

@IloveShula We are in the process of buying a house around the furze platt area as the last 18 months have been tough and we needed to settle down again. We looked and looked at all sorts of areas around the vicinity but kept getting outbid. So Maidenhead is going to be home for a while.

@pabloescobarselasticband heard that a lot about Maidenhead and the road we are buying on is lovely but the roads either side are not nice.

Burnham isn't a hole.
Maidenhead isn't particularly run down, parts of it are nice.
There are nicer places than Burnham though.

A lot of that area is in the flood plain.
Twyford might be somewhere to consider, or Cookham. If you want to be nearer London, how about Iver.

We looked at those areas just didn’t have any luck.

You are looking at fairly expensive and quite desirable areas. You could try Slough or Windsor.

Farnham Royal isn't bad, Farnham Common is nicer. Windsor is ok, bits of it lovely and some not. Old Windsor is fine but not on a railway line.

Have lived in many places in the Berks & Bucks area over the past 10 years. The first place was Burnham on the High Street, was an absolute nightmare, you would regularly get groups of 20+ youths running riot every night. I remember the lovely Christmas decorations going up then being smashed up & ripped down, shop windows were also often smashed. Police chasing the youths up & down the street, they were out numbered, couldn’t keep them under control, loads of ASBOS dished out, people regularly verbally abused, a lovely looking place spoilt by anti social behaviour, maybe its changed now as this was around 10 years ago. Lived in Maidenhead for a few years, the first week there many of the neighbours had their car mirrors smashed by vandals, then there was a double shooting at a tattoo parlour at the top of the street, had to stay indoors until it was safe to come out. I was led to believe that Maidenhead was a nice place to live but I was glad to leave, never got a good vibe from it, it had a mixture of pretentious people alongside scumbags. Do lots of research about areas as many of the more expensive places like Wokingham, Windsor, Marlow etc are all very similar, I think it’s a thing with the commuter areas, they all look pretty enough but I found them to be very soulless, unfriendly places full of wannabees & plastic gangsters.

Avoid Slough.

Slough has nice parts. It also benefits from having a fast train to Paddington, the town centre is within walking distance of Windsor and Eton (about 2.5 miles). The villages around Slough are nice.

Maidenhead is ok. Like all places it's got good and bad. It's very close to a lot of lovely places, though. It might be an excellent starter home.

I'd second the suggestion of Twyford- which also isn't awesome itself, but has fabulous schools and is in lovely countryside. Nice community too. This is probably reflected in the house prices though.

Yeah I thought Upton Park was nice, I lived in one of the lovely old Windsor castle grace & favour apartments, then moved again within Upton Park to quickly get away from the nightmare neighbours only to end up underneath further nightmare neighbours, who were eventually evicted. While at Upton Park we had our car stolen from outside our home, neighbours had break ins which the police station across the road wasn’t interested in, unscrupulous landlords packing in newly arrived immigrants, lots arriving daily from Heathrow with no where to go, shitting & pissing in the bushes near the town, I was regularly followed by dodgy men, different cultures crammed in like sardines with absolutely no integration what so ever. The town centre regeneration regularly smashed up & vandalised, rapes, multiple stabbings, people shot, yeah Sloughs such a lovely place to live.

Curioushorse is right though all places have good & bad, I privately rented for years, moved many times due to bad properties/landlords/neighbours/area, I’ve lived in many highly recommended areas, renting although not ideal short term it is good to give you an idea as to what an area is like.

Maidenhead town centre is not very attractive, and I find a bit of a pain to get into, but it is slowly improving.
The areas to the west of the town centre (St Marks, Highway) are generally pretty nice, although I do accept what a previous poster said about the Bomber estate.
We can walk to the station / town centre in 20 mins, but can walk 10 mins in the opposite direction and be out in the Thicket / Pinkneys Green. We've discovered loads of lovely open spaces around Maidenhead in the past year.
I think in general it is a great place for a young couple / young family.

St Marks was where I lived, there were shootings, regular car vandalism & problems with the youths. Some of these more ‘upmarket’ areas & pretty little villages of Bucks & Berks aren’t all they are cracked up to be, people would have you thinking it’s the ‘council’ estates that have the problems, not always the case, as already mentioned theres good & bad everywhere.

We live in one of the villages mentioned right by the Thames.

I love it here. Covid has pushed the prices up, but I think they're calming down again.

I often commute into London and I either park at Beaconsfield and overland in (expensive) or drive to South Ruislip park and get the central line (costs about £300 a month going in each day to zone 1)

We did consider a move to Burnham or taplow but I didn't personally like the feel of the villages.

Wooburn green has some lovely houses and might be worth a look?

@ILoveShula

Slough has nice parts. It also benefits from having a fast train to Paddington, the town centre is within walking distance of Windsor and Eton (about 2.5 miles). The villages around Slough are nice.

Seriously? The vast majority of slough is a complete dump.

As I said, it has nice parts. You'd be surprised.

It's made up of different villages, and there are some old houses hidden away.

I know people who live there and it isn't that bad.

Many of the villages around Slough are wonderful - if you can afford them. Stoke Poges is hardly shabby! Gerrards Cross is not far away. Fulmer is great too. There are also nice areas in the Farnhams. I think Marlow is a very good place to live too and also has lovely areas surrounding it. Where you live really depends on what you can afford. Some of these villages are mega expensive. The further you go away from quick rail services, you can get more for your money. And away from the Thames!

I don't know Maidenhead too well but live in one of the afore mentioned Thames villages nearby. Wooburn Green might be worth considering, or Loudwater? Could use Beaconsfield or High Wycombe railway stations.

Hi. I know its an old post but wanted to ask...

We are putting our house on the market in London after Christmas and am starting search around relocating to Maidenhead.
DS is in specialist secondary near railway station, need to find mainstream secondary for DD with good pastoral care. Viewed Altwood and seems a caring and nurturing school. Also DH and myself need to commute into London so max 30 min walk to station. Also, budget is £650-700k for 3 bedroom. Altwood area has houses in that region. Would people prefer Furze Platt area? Would be good to find semi at least as DS is autistic and can be loud in the garden so will need understanding neighbours, but suppose this will come down to luck!
Thanks so much!

Hi @Looking2Move We moved to Maidenhead in 2021, like any place it has good and bad things. The commute is very good into London but a bit pricey and I would say a 15-20 min walk to station would be good. There is lovely national trust and it is near lots of places on the river. If you are outdoorsy you could enjoy this with your family for walks and bike rides. The city centre/high street however is much less desirable, eventhough there is a regeneration going on it will be a while until we see this. My DD was at Borlase in Marlow, so I am not best positioned to comment on schools but am sure there will be others here that will be able to help with that. Good luck with the search!