Hampshire - Basingstoke/Aldershot

[BlueWhale47]

Hi,

Brief background is that I am a single parent on mid-range salary (38k). Have 45-50k saved for deposit & have a 3 year old. Currently based in London (family) but can't afford to stay here & need to be somewhere settled for when DD starts school.

Have friends living in Hampshire - Basingstoke & Aldershot in addition to Chertsey (Surrey?) and Slough. Also work over that way.

It seems as if moving over that way seems to be making the most sense affordability wise & also that I know at least a few people who don't live too far. Also decent transport links to get back to London to visit & commute to work isn't too bad.

I have kept an eye on these locations over the past couple of months but am waiting for a shift to finances (minuscule pay increase & drop in nursery fees) to improve affordability before making any applications/looking with intention to make an offer.

Just wondering whether anyone has any experience over this way and could offer some advice on where to look/avoid.

Looking for a 2 bed property - flat/maisonette. bedrooms are a non-negotiable. An area with a lot of green spaces/things for children would be ideal. Close to shops/main train-line & good primary schools.

have been considering perhaps a ground floor flat with access to a garden - still very much pondering!

thanks :)

Winchester is much nicer. Used to work in Basingstoke and it's really boring.

I wouldn’t move to aldershot. Is Farnham out of budget?

What's your budget?

What's the budget?
Do not move to Aldershot!

Basingstoke is better than Aldershot. (I don't usually get the chance to big our town up 😁).

Whoops - most important question. 230k max

@Costacoffeeplease I think Farnham would be out of budget unless I do shared ownership? Which I have considered but if I was going to do S/O would want to be closer to london as the S/O would be a compromise in itself.

Fleet?

I went to college in Aldershot, fondly known as Aldershit. It's still shit.

What about Alton? It's got a mainline station to London Waterloo and lots of amenities including fairly new leisure centre, good selection of schools etc. You'd get a 2 bed flat or maisonette for your budget.

Aldershot is shit (I live here but Farnham born and bred!). BUT if irs just a step on to the housing ladder then it’s perfect! It’s one of the cheaper areas for housing (although still not cheap!), easy train into Waterloo, easy access to motorways, hour from beaches, 40 mins from Heathrow, has some fantastic schools (and some not so good!). Has a big town regeneration project ongoing (although there’s some debate about how successful the finished product will be!). 3 big supermarkets in the town, amazing areas for walks (Caesar’s camp) and has everything you need tbh.

if you want to go out in the evenings you can take the train into Farnham (much nicer for an eve out!) which is only a 5 mins train journey.

im very comfortable here. I have a big 4 bedroom house which I defo couldn’t afford if I was in Farnham, Guildford etc.

£230k will still be a bit tight but a Quick Look on right move and there are a few flats at around that price (although they are not luxury!)

There are nicer & less nice areas with each of those.

id day, in general Basingstoke is less 'run down' than Aldershot. It also has a better range of shops. Aldershot is better if you value diversity of people & takeaways/varied (small) food shops. The things like cinemas etc are better in Basingstoke.

Farnham is nicer, but ££££.

with apologies to a Pp. I find Alton is too far out & doesn't have much to it.

I'd pick Alton over Basingstoke or Aldershot but each to their own.

Have you looked at Farnborough? Main line to Waterloo, motorway access and nice open spaces close by

I would look at Fleet. Your budget should get a 2 bed flat.

Chineham?

Fleet and Yateley are good options on a limited budget. Also agree that some parts of Farnborough are worth looking at. Definitely not Aldershot!

I’ve lived in Basingstoke and worked in Aldershot. I didn’t like Aldershot but I saw the worst of it due to the job, whereas Basingstoke has a few areas I would be happy to bring a child up in (more that I wouldn’t - take someone who knows Basingstoke when you view properties).

Aldershot is much more diverse and accepting though - Basingstoke can be quite narrow minded. Lots of people who have never left it. I don’t go out in to the town centre because it’s just like one big school reunion (and the nightlife is pretty dire anyway).

Basingstoke has more to do for families and it’s easy to get to lots of places.

Farnborough is nicer than Aldershot. Alton too.

Have you considered Bracknell? The centre has been regenned and is lovely now. Not sure about the train line though, so if someone needs to correct me do so, its been 20 years since family lived there.

@Rebootnecessary

fair enough, we're all entitled to our own
opinions. What do you prefer about Alton?

Yateley is nice, but there's not much there and it's ££ compared to Basingstoke/Aldershot & it's more expensive than Farnborough, aldershot etc

Alton, petersfield.. market towns, good school London links. Even liss, liphook areas have places in range and much greener than Basingstoke and aldershot is Farnham in range? It's lovely and again great schools and on the same Alton line.

Borden also has huge developments and lots of green space in the Whitehill and Blackmoor aide.

Fast trains from Bas to Waterloo are about 50 mins, but it's often the last or penultimate stop, so commuting time trains might mean you don't get a seat - though I've only done it about once since covid, so things might have changed. It got good rail and road connections to a lot if other places, too. (Train 25 mins Reading, 1h Oxford, 15 mins Winchester, 30 mins Southampton. Plus right by the M3 and A303.) I've lived there about 17 years, with longer connections, so it can't all be bad.

I don't know Aldershot, but I've not heard good things. Winchester is nice, but may be out of budget. Not so many trains to London as Basingstoke. Alton is quite nice, but definitely smaller. Farnborough is closer to London, but I don't think I'd be keen on living there (based mainly on driving through it on the A325. And also a terrible date. This probably isn't a fair judgement of Farnborough.) Fleet is nice - colleague lived there.

Bracknell- isn't that on the Reading-Waterloo line, which is interminably slow?

So the general consensus is that Aldershot is a no then - I have heard similar from others too so doesn't really come as much of a surprise.

To answer a PP from ages ago - I'm by no means looking for a forever home or anything like that. I'm still in my 20s so literally would be getting my foot on the ladder and just having somewhere to live with more space for me and DD. The intention wouldn't be to stay in the property forever more of an interim thing.

I'm not too bothered about things being "boring" I guess that's subjective but I'm not one who goes out on an evening or at the weekend to bars/clubs/restaurants. I'd more be interested in what kid friendly activities there are to do on a weekend - library, leisure centre etc.

My biggest thing is that the area is not too much of a dump, isn't run down & actually unsafe rather than just a bit bland.

I think for me as I am alone & the budget is a big thing I know I will have to compromise somewhere sadly! So am under no illusions that it may not be exactly what I want but I guess where I currently am any 2 bed is an upgrade!

@BlueWhale47 don’t let the snobs put you off Aldershot! Absolutely nothing wrong with the place! Christ, there are far far far worse places than Aldershot! And like anywhere, there are nice and not so nice parts of the town to live. There are plenty of well to do families living in Aldershot; they just realise that they can have a more decent house living here than trying to live out of their means to keep up with the Jones’ in Farnham. All of my friends who live in Aldershot are respectable, professionals, all their kids went to school locally and did well. None of them have been burgled, mugged, or murdered 🙄

people keep mentioning Farnham; Farnham also has plenty of shit housing areas, so does Guildford, Basingstoke etc.

anyway, your budget will ultimately determine where you can buy.

@Jennyjojo5 yep, I will have a look around anyway and get a feel for myself. I am conscious of the fact that it's all about perspective too so if you have grown up in a "nice" area then somewhere not so nice may seem like shit. Will keep looking either way!