Commuting to Basingstoke from Reading

[Ohwhere2021]

I’m starting work in Basingstoke and considering where to buy. Currently renting in Winchester which is lovely but expensive. My husband works on the South Coast but when he does stays with parents and this works well for him. He works alternate weeks as he is also a part time phd student at Royal Holloway. We have no kids but planning them v soon as I’m 37. Budget wise we expect to spend 500-600

We are seriously considering Reading or Southampton as they are more affordable. Does anyone know about the commute to Basingstoke from either place?

Should say diversity is a key factor for us

Reading Town Centre is very diverse. Its a 20min ish train from Reading to Basingstoke, or would you be commuting by car?
Lower Earley has decent access to the a33 for driving to Basingstoke, but is probably less diverse than Central Reading.

Both Reading and Southampton have direct train lines to Basingstoke. It could be worth looking around Basingstoke there are lots of lovely villages and small towns that have good transport links for your DH and an easy commute to Basingstoke, but are significantly cheaper than Winchester,

Sorry missed that you said diversity, the villages are less diversity, but it might be worth considering Newbury/Thatcham more diverse than the average market town due to being the world wide headquarters of Vodafone.

Not sure if you mean by train or car. But I’d say Reading will be the quicker of the two. I can do edge of Southampton to Basingstoke (m3 j7 I think) in about half an hour, but depending on where you are in Southampton it could take a lot longer. I guess the same applies to Reading though, some area you’ll have to battle through traffic, but geographically it’s closer.

Easy train journey, but I think Basingstoke itself will have cheaper housing than Reading - I know someone that does the commute that way for that reason.

Reading excellent for diversity though.

@Ohhgreat

Reading Town Centre is very diverse. Its a 20min ish train from Reading to Basingstoke, or would you be commuting by car? Lower Earley has decent access to the a33 for driving to Basingstoke, but is probably less diverse than Central Reading.

This may be absolutely right, but Earley is pretty diverse too. The Uni and hospital see to that. I don't know if it is the same across all age ranges but there is certainly lots of diversity in the 'up to middle aged' bit that I see.

Thanks for the replies! Basingstoke not an option at all as quite honestly did not like the vibe. The villages definitely are not diverse either. Winchester is the best option and we are still considering a new build possibly on the Kings Barton estate, though again not so diverse. I think we may do Airbnb and try commuting from either direction.

Look at Eastleigh. You can easily get to the motorway or Southampton Airport Parkway train station and it always rates highly for quality of life.

If you are taking the train I would also consider Woking - it's about an hour by car but only 15-20 mins on the train. Diverse as well. Reading hits all your targets though.

I’m
Not keen on Eastleigh again for diversity purposes.
Woking has been considered but expect it it a bit expensive.

There's a shuttle train from Reading to Basingstoke, really easy journey. Stops at Mortimer and Bramley IIRC.

How about Fleet? Pretty friendly, surrounded by lovely countryside and good for getting to Basingstoke. Not cheap but not mega expensive either.

@Lonelycrabis fleet a small town?
Meglet yes the shuttle train sounds great

What do you mean by diversity OP? I can't work out if you want somewhere with it or without, as there's diversity in Eastleigh and Woking.

Have a look around West Reading station. For example the "Elm Lodge Estate" built in the 1880s around Elm Park Road is a grid of terrace houses that still throws up a bargain price wise and there are always houses to rent. Very diverse; oodles of grocery stores and restaurants -Polish, Portuguese, Carribean, Indian, Somali etc etc etc.

We definitely want diversity in the area! I agree about Woking, not so sure about Eastleigh but pleased to hear if there is. We are a mixed couple which is why it is important.

What’s wrong with Baso? I lived there for 8 years post-uni & it’s really not that bad. Some areas are not great like anywhere really but Beggarwood, Hatch Warren, Kempshott, Old Basing, Chineham are all good. The surrounding villages are lovely but arguably not diverse.. I lived in Bramley for a while, that’s on the train line to Reading & I often popped to Reading for shopping from there, is a very easy commute back & forth. I lived in Reading for a short while & really rated it as a large town. It’s really easy to get back & forth to Basingstoke but I guess does depend where exactly you live in Reading ..

I drive from Bas to Reading for work (though haven'tdone it so much since we were slowed back in the office,) and I've lived in Reading. I live in Basingstoke now because it's cheaper.

My commute is 25 minutes unless I have to be in before 9am, when it can take up to an hour. I work on the edge of Reading,; if I had to go in to the centre, it would probably be another half hour, and I suspect Basingstoke could be similar if you have to cross the town centre (not actually sure, as the only time I tend to drive that way at that time is to take my car for its MOT, and that’s dropped off at 8am.) The traffic going the other way down the A33 usually looks worse. I think some of Basingstoke is quite diverse, so it depends which areas you were looking at.

I’ve done Southampton (well Chandlers Ford) to Basingstoke and used to take me 30mins on M3- traffic was generally ok but obviously unpredictable.
I’ve also done Basingstoke to Reading which was more of a PITA because traffic was much heavier on the A33 as it’s single carriageway. Appreciate you’d be doing the reverse journey which is probably a bit easier, but the getting through Reading bit is a total nightmare so you’d need to be Basingstoke side really.

Also Amazingstokes not so bad…..

I lived in Reading for 10 years and now live in Basingstoke - both of the places have good / bad vibes, but I certainly feel safer in Basingstoke than I did / do in Reading. However - appreciate people are different and won't go on a massive tangent about why Basingstoke is OK

Reading is more diverse than Basingstoke in my opinion - I'd actually put it on a par with Southampton. There's a lot of Polish shops in all 3 places, but Reading has an amazing oriental supermarket and Reading West has a lot of really interesting shops from other cultures. It's also where I go to get my hair done as despite having 2 white parents, I have afro-Caribbean hair so I go to a salon in Reading to get it conditioned and relaxed every 3months.

In terms of commuting - it's mostly platform 5 and the train takes 25 minutes and is twice an hour... if it's running, it's fine, if it's not running, it's a problem. I used to live in Reading and commute to Basingstoke and it depends where in Basingstoke you're working.... I used to drive down the A33 - absolutely fine in the mornings so long as the road isn't blocked or there's an issue. I could do Lower Earley to very close to Basingstoke station in 30 minutes easily..

Reading housing seems more expensive than Basingstoke - however Basingstoke prices have also risen crazily over the last few years... We bought our 5 bed for £465K in 2015 and it's not valued at £596K (average price on Zoopla so take it with a pinch of salt but things seem to be sold within days round here)

If you're looking at living in Southampton and commuting to Basingstoke you'll have the M3 to deal with which can be painful in the mornings as so much traffic is commuting towards London - same on the trains, but if you get on at Southampton or Southampton Airport and get off at Basingstoke you should always get a seat, depending on what time you travel.

I get on the trains at Basingstoke to go to Waterloo and the ones coming up from the South are typically 50-60% full at the moment at about 6.30am-7.00am

If you're looking at living in Southampton and commuting to Basingstoke you'll have the M3 to deal with which can be painful in the mornings as so much traffic is commuting towards London

Yes, I briefly commuted Basingstoke to Bournemouth, which was an hour and not too much traffic until Bournemouth, but going the other way, it was always chokka.

@PaddingtonsHat

I’ve done Southampton (well Chandlers Ford) to Basingstoke and used to take me 30mins on M3- traffic was generally ok but obviously unpredictable. I’ve also done Basingstoke to Reading which was more of a PITA because traffic was much heavier on the A33 as it’s single carriageway. Appreciate you’d be doing the reverse journey which is probably a bit easier, but the getting through Reading bit is a total nightmare so you’d need to be Basingstoke side really.

I've done that journey too and it was fine. Being able to join the M3 at Eastleigh meant avoiding the M27/M3 traffic. I worked with a girl who commuted from Thatcham and her journey was ok too.

Don't discount Chandlers Ford on diversity grounds. I know many non-White British families and several mixed race couples and I'm sure there are more than the ones I know personally. Your budget will get a nice house there.

Shameless resurrecting this thread!
I’ve since started working at B/S and impressed with diversity at work!
Considering living now in outskirts village like Old Basing, Sherborne or Dummer. What do people do about secondary schools in B/S which don’t appear as good? I realise that’s way in the future for me so don’t want to really base next house purchase on that but wondering what the options are.