Is it worth leaving Bucks for Gloucestershire

[starpies]

We are looking to buy a bigger home. We are in currently renting in Buckinghamshire but everytime we look at what we can buy for the same money in Gloucestershire we are quite ready to pack our bags and leave!

Which parts of Gloucestershire are nice? We are looking for rural/semi rural places but preferably

Are your jobs WFH?
The forest of Dean is lovely, u can get into Cardiff/Bristol/Gloucester easily on train (commuting into Glos In a car from there will be a pita)

The Cotswolds are obvs very popular.

Around Stroud is perfect imo as it's a good size town and fab countryside. It's also got a good alternative vibe.

Cirencester is a lovely town too, if you're in a village near kemble would can be in Paddington in 1.5 hrs

What places have your previously come across?

I wfh and dh is trying to negotiate 100% wfh but max days he has to be in London would be 1 so the end goal is get a nice property and he either stays in London the one evening or we get cheap enough that we can look at purchasing something closer to London as well or even move job to a lower paid one more locally which is possible in his field.
We have only looked at Cheltenham so far because we saw there was a grammar school there. But prices seem to reflect this!

@starpies there are grammar schools in Stroud (or there was when I lived there). The High School for girls and then Marling for boys.

There are loads of small villages around Stroud which are nice, some more rural than others. Stroud has a direct train to Paddington which I think is about 1.5 hours so short enough to commute both ways in one day.

schools
Glos has a grammar school system - sort of.
In reality there are justafew grammar schools around.
For entry in 2022, the test is sept 2021, and you need to register for it in june 2021, so do bear that in mind.
Cheltenham- lovely town, Pates Grammar school is incredibly hard to get into, literally top 1% only. But comprehensives are good. House prices near comps reflect that.
Stroud, - 2 good grammars, (one girls one boys) nice town, but the comps not so good
Gloucester, more of a city, 4 grammars - 2 girls, one boys and 1 that is co-ed, but was a boys and still 70+% boys.

Apart from Pates, the rest are similar level, if you kid is in top set in class they should get in.
There is transport from all over Glos to the grammars, it is just a matter of how long you want your child to sit on a bus.
Cirencester has 2 very good comps.

train wise for London, route goes Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse, Cheltenham, Glos (or is it Glos then Chelt??)
This is then the London line from Swindon, so being within reach of any of those places would make the train accessible.
You could head over to the East side of Glos, to villages like South Cerney and Ashton Keynes (this has an excellent primary) and use Cirencester schools, and get train from Swindon.
Beware of the wtaer parks when looking at houses, they look like houses but are actually technically holiday homes and cannot be lived in all year.

Not relevant but South Cerney has the water park which is SO much fun (as a kid). Spent many a summer day there when I was younger.

sorry, I think Ashton Keynes is actually wiltshire?

If grammar schools are very important to you it might be better to stay in Bucks.

@ThanksItHasPockets

If grammar schools are very important to you it might be better to stay in Bucks.

as I understand it, top 30% go to grammar in Bucks, whereas in Glos, it is super selective, so more like top 10%? (and only top 1% to Pates)

Why not just go to somewhere like Winslow or Buckingham? Much cheaper housing and grammar a school RLS) that is not super selective. Or go a bit nearer to Aylesbury where there are 3 grammar schools. I am assuming you are further south than that? Anywhere nice in Gloucestershire is expensive. I do like Cheltenham. Definitely Cirencester or around Stroud. Lots of great towns and villages but is you will have to pay quite a lot to get near a good school.

Grammar school is fairly important but will definitely consider good comps and also considering boarding as a back up anyway so not completely restricted by schools but have a (sometimes) smart dc that is top of all classes/sporty/musical, the wunderkind that didn't take after me, she has been prepped forever for 11+ anyway so if dd fails they shouldn't be at a grammar anyway I know I have to look at particular 11+ tests sat by each school though so I'll get onto that sharpish once I know what schools we're looking at.

Im not too keen on Aylesbury tbh and surrounding villages with the nicest houses command a higher price than what we want to spend. I will look into the bucks grammars too but we're finding to move more rurally away the budget is too big to get the niace house. Would consider renovating as well

Budget is £850k which is why I think we are 'in between' a nice house in Bucks but on looking at rightmove this stretches further in Glos.

Location is everything though! Gloucestershire is cheaper in some places but not in others.

@PresentingPercy

Location is everything though! Gloucestershire is cheaper in some places but not in others.

very true. When we were looking:

Naice village = 2 bed cottage
Cirencester = 3 bed semi
Gloucester city in some areas = 4 bed detached

Gloucester is horrible. I would avoid anywhere there to be honest.

agreed kirinm, and it definitely doesn't have the rural cotswold vibe!

There are some lovely detached houses in your price bracket if you go to the villages north, east and west of Aylesbury. Don’t look at Aylesbury but there are options in the villages, eg Long Crendon, Haddenham, Whitchurch, Waddesdon, Quainton, North Marston, Ivinghoe, Wilstone, Marsworth, Great Horwood, Padbury etc. Plenty to look at. Prices are more south of Aylesbury.

It’s not true to say 30% of DC in Bucks get to the grammar schools. The Aylesbury grammars and RLS fill up with children from out of county. Aylesbury Vale has historically been 20% ish. However way easier than Gloucestershire.

Thanks. All useful information.
Dreadful area names to avoid also welcome!

well, there are some villages that are more industrial than rural. Just in their vibe.
You'd need to post the village name and ask I think.

And some rural corners are actually quite grotty.
Need to visit not only the house, but do a thorough walk round the village.

and having grown up in a glos village, there are many with no shop, no pub, no school, and no bus service (and roads too dangerous to cycle). Hell for a rural teen. Do look at what the facilities are.

If you go for Cirencester, avoid Beeches, and Watermoor

Gloucester itself is horrible. I’d look at villages around Cheltenham, if it were me.

It depends where in Gloucestershire. The cotswold villages are lovely, but very expensive so you'd not get a better house for your money. Cheltenham is also Nic e if you like a town, but again expensive.
Gloucester is cheap, but a shit hole.

Gloucester really isn't that bad! Some of it looks a bit run down, but I've found the people to be friendlier than Cheltenham.

One key thing is lots of Gloucestershire seems to be a wee bit prone to flooding, so do check the EA flood map when looking.

Some villages around Stroud that are nice: Nailsworth, Chalford, Randwick

I'd also want to check flood risks. There are some areas with fantastic houses, but have flooded (or be cut off by flooding) multiple times

Good points about the flooding. I hadn't considered that. I will check that out.

Just avoid Aylesbury. There won''t be much there in your budget anyway. Most of the villages are perfectly OK. We are south of Aylesbury in the Chilterns and that is better in my view. London is nearer! At the grammar schools, all the parents ferry DC around. Most are spread out and your DC will find a friend the furthest away they possibly can! Lots of people move from south Bucks to north Bucks for bigger houses.