Where to move too? Hemel Hempstead

[fizz876]

Right am on the move again and and moving to our office in Hemel Hempstead. Need to find a place where I can rent a place.

It doesnt have to be in hemel hemstead as lots of little towns around but looking for something reasonably priced but would like it in an outgoing vibrant area.

Any reccomendations on whihc areas I should be looking at?

[robemcdonald]

What do you consider to reasonable?
I used to live in St Albans (about 15 mins from Hemel) but had to move away as we couldn't afford the sort of house we wanted. There are some OK parts to Hemel as well or Aylesbury is nearby and reasonably priced.

[Mrs Trackside]

I used to live in Hemel. I wouldn't describe anywhere in the area as "vibrant". St Albans is a busy town, but it is expensive.

What exactly are you looking for? cheap, lively, fashionable??

[Furyous]

I'm up the road in tring. Still has a village feel and is very popular.

[MiniMan64]

Hemel is a bit of a hole.

In that area you've got the Bermuda Triangle of Hertfordshire made up of Luton to the north (gansta!), Hatfield to the east (students!) and Hemel to the west (inbred!) all the surrounding the only decent real estate, St Albans, which is massively overpriced.

If you can afford somewhere there, it's not bad, pretty good nightlife for a small town. If you're seriously looking at Hemel, try more torwards the south and west of the town (Kings Langley, Apsley) or the town to the west. Avoid anything to the north (near the M1 and industrial estates) like the plague.

Rough guide, a furnished 1/2 bed flat will cost you £600-800 a month rent.

[wiffmaster]

Furyous said:

I'm up the road in tring. Still has a village feel and is very popular.

Snap - I'm just down the road in Wigginton.

Hemel is not the nicest place by any stretch of the imagination. If you want somewhere relatively vibrant, then Berkhamsted is nice but pricey (£700 a month will get you a decent two bed flat unfurnished). Bovingdon is a bit further out - nice village and cheaper than Berkhamsted, but it's not particularly vibrant. Failing that, then Tring/Aylesbury might also be worth considering. The smaller towns by their nature won't be particularly bustling - they all have nice village pubs but not a huge amount else. Berkhamsted will be your best bet if you can find something in your budget...

Edited by wiffmaster on Saturday 17th January 13:25

[king arthur]

St Albans has tons of pubs, which the newer parts of Hemel are bereft of. Apsley gets gridlocked and isn't what I'd call vibrant. You could try finding somewhere nearer to Watford (Leavesden, Abbotts Langley) which is probably livelier than Hemel depending on what exactly you're looking for.

[Big Rod]

How about Berkhamsted/Northchurch/Cow Roast. Nice little town/villages but maybe a little pricey. Tring's lovely as has been said.

ETA. Ooops, hadn't read Wiffmaster's post.

Edited by Big Rod on Saturday 17th January 13:42

[fizz876]

Well initially (6 months) I think Ill move into a house share though it seems a nice double room will cost around £500 pcm in St Albans where I was thinking initially about initially.

Edited by fizz876 on Sunday 18th January 11:14

[alfaman]

I'd recommend Berkamstead, Bovingdon , possibly Tring ( though you woudn't get much nightlife ) , Wendover ( nice scenic village / town ) , St Albans ( pricy ) , Harpenden ,

or if you want to be close to St Albans nightlife but avoid the steep rents driven by train commuters - you could try somewhere like London Colney just to the South ( near M25) - rents will be a lot lower as you cant walk to the St Albans rail station.

Hemel itself isnt very nice at all - I once house hunted there and then decided it wasnt somewhere I wanted to live.

Edited by alfaman on Sunday 18th January 11:33

[Gun]

Well I'm renting in St Albans at the moment, it is quite pricey but then it's a good area and only 20 minutes into London. I really like it, quiet with more pubs than clubs.

[fizz876]

Gun said:

Well I'm renting in St Albans at the moment, it is quite pricey but then it's a good area and only 20 minutes into London. I really like it, quiet with more pubs than clubs.

How much do you think I should be paying for in a professional house share in either a) double furnsihed room with all bills included or b) single furnished room with all bills included?

Is there a lot of demand in St Albans or is there room to negotiate on advertised room rates?

[crossle]

Look, I don't want to put anyone off, but Hemel is a really dangerous place...

Just check out some of these horror stories in the local news:

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Dog-bin-on-fire-i...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Trio-arrested-for...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Charity-break-in....

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/House-fire-victim...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Collision-with-de...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Lorry-light-spark...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Fire-scare-at-fla...

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/Road-accident-in-...

You have been warned!

[Alfa_75_Steve]

Used to live in Markyate, a few miles away.

Fairly quiet village, but has 3 decent pubs, an exceptionally good Indian restaurant, chip-shop / pizza takeaway and Chinese takeaway.

Also has a very good and very cheap 'back-street' mechanic for all your spannering needs.

Conveniently placed for St. Albans, Hemel, Dunstable, Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard, Luton etc., and only a few minutes away from the M1.

Really nice place, IMHO, if I had to move back to that area, that's where I'd move to again.

[Gun_840]

fizz876 said:

Gun said:

Well I'm renting in St Albans at the moment, it is quite pricey but then it's a good area and only 20 minutes into London. I really like it, quiet with more pubs than clubs.

How much do you think I should be paying for in a professional house share in either a) double furnsihed room with all bills included or b) single furnished room with all bills included?

Is there a lot of demand in St Albans or is there room to negotiate on advertised room rates?

I'm not sure on the house share front TBH, but places do seem to get snapped up quickly, the flats I looked at while I was searching were all occupied a few weeks later. As said Hemel is a bit of a dump as is London Colney but the other good areas already mentioned are quite nice.

One thing I would say about St Albans is the road network and parking are awful, it's all zoned parking on the streets and it gets very busy sometimes, you can be driving round for 20 minutes looking for a parking space and, at the weekend, you don't go anywhere near the town centre in a car because it's so busy. It's taken me 30 minutes to drive down the high street before now.

[trooperiziz]

People live in Hemel? I assumed it was just all office blocks and shops

St Albans or Berkhamstead (pronounced "Berko" in a posh accent ) get my vote.

[phil1979]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I grew up there - nice town. Currently in Aston Clinton, also nice, a few miles down the road. A41 bypass goes straight in to Hemel - about 15 mins.

[Pork]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm looking at St Albans at the moment and that has to be the biggest drawback!

[gbbird]

All depends on how far/how long you want to commute. Hemel and the surrounding area is not bad at all - lots of nice little villages and what not.

I live near Leighton Buzzard, which is only a 20 mins drive to Hemel. Like all places, Leighton B (and Hemel too) has its good and bad elements, but then name me a place that hasn't?

g

[phil1979]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

But hemel is particularly grim. Had to go in to town on Saturday, and it's like night of the living dead combined with fat fighters. Horrible, horrible chav infested fat town.

Bedders - Chesham is pretty ropey now. Recently renamed BanglaChesh.