Branksome in Poole

[BovineJuice]

Anyone know why houses in this area are strangely cheap? Some nice cul de sacs and quiet roads just north of the railway station. Is it the lack of schools or something else?

Just a less desirable area I think. Some rough spots (Ashley road) and quite a bit of industrial areas, car garages etc. But I bought there as a FTB and was happy there in a nice cul de sac.

Yeah there are a few cul de sacs. And the Branksome part is quite a way from Ashley Road though it does have the commercial area on the old Redlands site.

A lot of anti social behaviour. Stones chucked at buses and cars, drugs etc

@1vandal2 - Stones being thrown at buses and cars in BRANKSOME? Seems unlikely. I'm not talking about Ashley Road or Upper Parkstone, I'm talking about the quiet area behind the old Redlands. Basically on the Bournemouth side of Alder Road but way short of Wallisdown and before Coy Pond and Westbourne. THaT area.

strangely cheap relative to where though? Where in Bournemouth/ Poole do you think Branksome is disproportionately cheap compared to, as that might help focus our thinking a bit? Tbh the entire Bouremouth/ Poole property market is a bit of a mystery to me - like why is Sandbanks/ CC more expensive than places like Gerard's Cross which are 20 mins to central London?

Sandbanks is all about the sea and views and proximity to mooring boats, etc.

Branksome just seems cheap for decent sized houses, proximity to a railway station and shops and none of the social issues that afflict Upper Parkstone. I just feel there must be a catch but beyond lack of schools I can't work out what.

I don’t think it’s much cheaper than anywhere else in that area. There are some perfectly decent roads around Branksome. That area around Redlands (Girleston, Horning, Yarmouth Rd etc) has some quite nice houses. Nicer than the parts closer to Alder Road / Branksome Rec and going up towards Rossmore anyway. I know the area quite well. I wanted to view some houses there but the secondary school catchment puts me off massively.

When I say not much cheaper than areas around it, i mean Rossmore and Upper Parkstone (Ashley Road and upwards).

Branksome Park is £££ and obviously a completely different kettle of fish to Branksome.

I agree that you get a lot of house for your money in Upper Parkstone but as has been mentioned there are issues there. I've always been told the Rossmore / Herbert Avenue area has social problems too but I don't know it well.

Yes there has been a rise in low level crime and anti social behaviour across the whole Upper Parkstone area over the last couple of years, not just Ashley Road. . House prices have increased a lot up there anyway though. I’ve been following it carefully as we’ve been house hunting for the last year. Historically the area from Herbert Ave that runs over to Wallisdown (think it’s called Bourne estate and towards Alderney) has been best avoided. It’s definitely cheaper there than the roads behind Ashley Road in Upper Parkstone but Ashley Road has a lot of issues that spill into all those interweaving roads behind it. I know as a friend bought a house in one of them and has said there is a lot of anti social behaviour and petty theft.

Branksome used to have a different option for secondary school catchment but it’s changed now and mainly falls under the school on Herbert Ave that also covers most of upper Parkstone now. Unfortunately that school has never had a good rep

There’s been a number of houses for sale in roads we would have considered behind Branksome / Redlands - Sheringham Rd, Alby Rd, Bourne Valley Rd, Horning Rd, Gordon Road South and those roads along the back towards Westbourne. Is that where you mean? We ruled them out due to the secondary school catchment which changed last year. The junior school for that area is good though.

We live in Upper Parkstone and have no issues at all where we live. We moved here a year ago from Bournemouth. We are on the other side of Herbert Avenue though so the Branksome, Parkstone side.

Prices all round here have gone crazy and if we hadn't bought a year ago we would have been priced out completely of Bournemouth and Poole for a 3 bed. We paid 250k for ours and it's now worth 330k! That's from September 2020 to now. That's a crazy rise.

Yes house prices have really shot up and are still rising. Yours is probably worth more than £330k now!

It's not a great area tbh. I grew up there. Definitely got rougher in recent years.

@Paddingtonthebear - yes, that's the area. Like I said it seems really nice round there and I suspected it was just the school catchment issue that was leading to lower prices than some other areas.

Not to say I wouldn't buy a place there. No more unsafe than a lot of areas.

I lived in Cromer Road years ago, early 2000’s. It was fine, just an ordinary area. Not sure what it’s like now.

as someone mentioned above. School catchment not desirable