Kings Langley / Abbots Langley - advice?

[Xera651]

Hi,

DH and I looking to move bit further out of London.

Saw some nice houses in Kings Langley and Abbotts Langley but don't know much about area.

Any MN users living there that can give real life advice?

No kids at moment but will have some in near future so schools important too - prefer state if possible.

Any advice or ramblings welcome. Thank you.

thinking ahead but parmiters is an excellent school! not sure on catchment area. kings Langley is nice ( near the canal if you like canals!) bit posher than abbots, but abbots had a nice centre. good transport links train and motor ways. nice shopping centre in Watford.

I live in Watford. Thoughts: you’ve posted this in “rural living” but I really wouldn’t say either of them are “rural” - they are moments away from the M25, close to the M1, and very close to Watford! Abbots in particular basically feels like a suburb of Watford. Lots of modern houses. A bit characterless.

KL has a nice high street with some nice independent shops, cafes, restaurants etc, and generally feels like it has more character. But not as much as somewhere like Hitchin, Berkhamsted, Harpenden, St Albans.

Why are you thinking of those two places in particular? What attracted you to them? You might also like Rickmansworth - bigger than AL or KL but a villagey feel.
State schools: I don’t know about primaries round there, but there are lots of secondary schools, and in particular the excellent state schools in the South West Herts Consortium, which is a semi-grammar system - partially academically selective, and some of those schools have a music and/or sports test too.

You might also get more replies posting this in the Hertfordshire “local” section?

@toomanyspiderplants

thinking ahead but parmiters is an excellent school! not sure on catchment area. kings Langley is nice ( near the canal if you like canals!) bit posher than abbots, but abbots had a nice centre. good transport links train and motor ways. nice shopping centre in Watford.

Almost all the state schools in/around Watford don’t have a set catchment. It varies each year depending on numbers applying. Those in the Consortium use the academic/music/sports test to determine entrance to some of the places, within a number of set postcodes. Parmiters is close to AL and KL but if you don’t even have children yet, it’s quite a way off! But there are also a number of other good or excellent state schools (Watford Boys Grammar, Watford Girls Grammar - neither of which are actually full grammars - Queen’s, Clement Danes, Rickmansworth...)

What are you looking for in particular?

Thanks for the quick replies

Haprenden, Berks, St Alban's and Rickmansworth are all out either because too expensive or no houses coming up (esp Harpenden which is our first choice).

KL and AL seem to offer the middle ground of nice properties in budget (£1m), semi rural location and quieter than Bushey etc.

We just want to know whether it's a good place to live for the next 10-15 years or if there are better options.

We have a dog, would like to have some nearby options for walks and parks given more time spent at home, and, once things get back to norm, overseas travel a few times a year so having Luton and LHR not too far away is good.

DH works Liverpool Street and I'm in Holborn so don't mind a bit of a train ride but don't want to spend over 1.5 hours or multiple changes all the time.

I'll post in the Herts section and add a link here so it can move the discussion there. Thanks for pointing out - new user here.

Have opened a post here - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local/4029167-Advice-on-Kings-Langley-and-Abbots-Langley?watched=1

What’s your budget?
Have you looked at Wheathampstead?

I’d definitely consider Bushey then - have you seen quite how close AL and KL are to the M25?! Honestly Bushey isn’t any noisier/quieter - and in all three places there are quieter and noisier roads.

How about Croxley Green? Easy access to lots of dog walking opportunities, cheaper than Rickmansworth.

Thanks. Bushey is defo on our list. My in laws live there and I went to school there.

Again just waiting for the right house - so may be the long game as we sit tight.

Are there good private schools in the vicinity of KL? The cost saving on house (£150k) may go towards school fees in the long term to be fair.

Lots of private schools, but they are pricey by the time you reach secondary.

Abbots Langley is a nice area, but agree that it might be worth looking at Croxley Green too. On the Met Line, good schools, countryside on your doorstep, it cheaper than Ricky.

I'd call both a town rather than village.

But both have a centre/high street that have a definite village vibe.

Loads of green space.

Great transport links.

Both have a very active community for summer fairs, fireworks displays, markets etc.

Great primary schools.

Secondary can be a bit trickier as Wigeon has said, there's the SW Herts Consortium for academic/music/sports test entry. But if you don't get in via that route, it can be a bit of a 'mare. Kings Langley Secondary is good, and The Future Academy (previously known As Francis Combe) has had lots of money thrown at it so hopefully results and outcomes will benefit from that. But if there's a scrum to get into those two, you could end up with a terrible commute to secondary school.
Houses vary in style, character and price. I disagree that AL doesn't have nice, characterful houses. The village centre is full of Victorian houses and there are some very desirable homes for a £1m budget.
Croxley Green is on the Met Line which would be ideal for Liverpool Street. Has good schools, transport links etc.
All are within easy reach of Watford if you need a shopping centre.

All are as diverse in culture as each other.

Thanks. What are the main private schools and are they any good?

We've roughly estimated private school to cost £250k per child in today's money.

KL house already gets us £150-175k cheaper for a bigger house.

I guess I'm just trying to figure out whether we should try KL and if state schools don't work, know we have enough for private schools (if good ones exist around it) or if we play the long game and wait for the right house eg in Bushey or Croxley Green or Harpenden?

No rush to get a house now (haven't had an offer on ours) and no kid yet but we do need the space soon once restrictions ease as my DH family etc visit often and sty with us and currently we have a 2 bed house so it's a bit cramped.

Bushey and Croxley Green in different league to Harpenden and St Albans, price wise - the latter two being more expensive. Presume you’ve driven round the top contenders? Classic trade off between area/size of house, depends which matters more to you. Or you can get an even bigger house if you slum it in Watford itself - short drive to loads of dog walks, if you live near Cassiobury Park (which is actually a really nice area, not slummy at all), then loads of dog walking round the Park /into Whippendell Woods.

Re private schools - not an expert on the full range, but there are definitely some ones which are excellent, eg St Albans Boys, Haberdashers Askes (separate boys/girls), St Albans High School for girls. And several others which are less academic but could be options, eg Aldenham, St Margaret’s Bushey. Basically: densely populated affluent area, close to London, equals loads of private schools to suit all tastes.