Hemel Hempstead

[Newmumintheblock]

Hello fellow mums!
We are considering moving to Hemel Hempstead / Berkhamsted / Apsley with a new born - we have no idea how school catchment areas work and what to expect. Any ideas of best areas to move to? Looking for good school catchment areas, greenery, community feeling and nice peaceful neighbourhood. Thanks! 😊

If you can afford Berkhamsted choose there over Hemel Hempstead! Berko is lovely and lovely schools. Hemel is a lot bigger and lots more there, but it's close enough to get to whilst living in Berko.

Another vote for Berkhamsted - it’s a wonderful place to live and bring up children. Friendly community, great schools, green spaces. But the house prices reflect that! Hemel is a lot bigger and has a lot more facilities; you would get more for your money there, just not the same market town vibe as Berko.

Hemel is ok (especially Apsley and Boxmoor) but I prefer Berkhamsted.

Locrating is a good website for understanding schools, there is a fee but not much.

Berkhamstead is nice, have you considered Tring though?

Thank you all!

Will share my thoughts having lived and/or worked in many different parts of London and Herts over the years (SE Lon, SW Lon, NE Lon, Hitchin, Harpenden, St Albans, Hemel). I'm a Dad by the way (if that's ok), married, with a 4 nearly 5 year old boy

Recently moved from St Albans (small 3 bed terraced, tiny garden, but not far from St Albans town) to Leverstock Green area of Hemel (4-5 bed detached, nice house with big garden

Pros: Son loves having more space both in the house and in the garden. Great to have friends round (from Herts or N.London mainly) and actually have space to entertain properly. Generally happy with the decision. Nice area, easy drives to St Albans, Watford, Berkhamstead, and various other bits of Herts/Beds/Bucks. Good train service (either from Apsley station or from St Albans) to London. Many weekends we'll go to London, eg Bloomsbury, South Bank, Soho. Taxi to Luton airport in 15 minutes when it's quiet. Short walk to village shops.

Cons: Hemel town centre itself is not great, sadly, so much potential but not sure why it's not achieving it. Leverstock Green very quiet if you're used to London life on your doorstep. Have to drive to anything more than village shops. Also not sure about state schools , our son is in private education.

Also:
Berkhamsted or St Albans are probably the best places to live in the sort of area
you seem to be considering, but also the most expensive.

Have you thought out of interest of areas like Bushey, Watford, Radlett, or are you needing to be more towards the West?

Boxmoor has a lovely feel, I prefer it to Berko but it’s expensive. As others have said I would also consider Tring and parts of Watford. There’s a bit of Watford near cassiobury park which is really nice. Tring and Berko feel much more rural but it depends on what vibe you’re after.

In terms of schools I would look on the location map for which school is closest and then work out whether it takes pupils solely on distance or whether there are additional requirements. There are good schools in all those areas but you do need to be careful whether you’re in the right area. Beware of estate agents who just make general comments! There’s also a website called locrating which shows good schools nearby.

Thank you, such helpful comments!