Moving to Aylesbury

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Discussion

Turn7

23,504 posts

220 months

Wednesday 27th January 2021
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motco said:
Chesham is cheaper than Amersham.
But theres only really one estate worth buying on in Chesham....

Pinkie15

1,248 posts

79 months

Wednesday 27th January 2021
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Don't know what's like to live there, but few times I've been into it the traffic was a mare once off the DC A41, and roundabouts !!!!!! Jesus how many fecking roundabouts does one town need.

Yes the A41 is fast, but watch out at the junctions, those slip roads are comically short, I worked in Tring for about a year (commuting round from WGC area) and there was a near miss at at least one of them on every journey and an actual collision prob every 6-8 wks, properly stuffing up the road, and didn't seem to be (m)any bail out alternatives.

Plus A41 goes down to SC quite soon after M25 jnc, traffic looked heavy going into (am) / out of (pm) Watford.

smn159

12,448 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th January 2021
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It really comes down to budget. For sthole money you'll end up in a sthole area, regardless of which town it's in

CoupeKid

747 posts

64 months

Wednesday 27th January 2021
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I used to drive through Aylesbury on my way between Watford and Bicester and I've been back a few times recently as a mate runs a mobile phone repair shop there.

It was obviously nice once, probably the 19th century, but now the population seems utterly chavtastic, and I write that as someone who has lived in Watford for over 10 years.

As people have said, a lot of estates seem to be being built there so you should have choice if you want to buy but it does seem to have lost its way as a town.

If I wanted to live on the A41 to Watford I'd be looking at Tring but obviously it's going to depend on your budget. Tring is hardly exciting but there seem to be fewer reprobates hanging around when I go through it.



RichFN2

3,312 posts

178 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2021
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OP not sure if your still considering Aylesbury but I have lived in the area all my life and the actual town for the past 7 years, I would say do your homework before you move here and to be honest the place has gone downhill with regards to crime and drink/drug use (county lines drug dealing is now a massive issue)

I knew the town well anyway but during lockdown have covered most of it on foot so should be able to give you a good idea where to consider.

Aylesbury old town is probably the most desirable part but places rarely come on the market and you do have the issue of the drink/drug users hanging around the church and park. Next would be King Edward Avenue in Bedgrove and the surrounding area, although I do think most of Bedgrove is overpriced. Watermead and Fairford Leys are also desirable 'new' estates due to being built before the social housing rule and having their own amenities. The Coppice, Bierton Road and Broughton are all nice decent areas I would happily live in except the odd bad road (you will know them when you visit). There is also some decent areas around the hospital and Rivets club which should be considered.

In general avoid the large council estates, Southcourt, Quarrendon, Meadowcroft, Walton Court, Elmhurst and Prebendal Farm. There are pockets of nice areas within them but there are also some really rundown/rough areas. Buckingham Park did have a bad reputation at one point but that may have improved, unfortunately that is about half the town that is listed above...

Traffic is also a massive issue, pre covid it could take an hour to go from one end to the other. Throw in an accident and it could be 2 or 3...


The Don of Croy

5,976 posts

158 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2021
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I think if it’s good enough for the Rothschild family, it’ll be good enough for most folk...

Used to work in Leighton Buzzard and my colleagues back then regarded AB as some swish town full of Yuppies. And it had a McD. Drive through no less.

I went back to AB last year to train some lads on site building a primary school on the north east fringe. What a change...looks like a new town there. Huge. And a nice new Waitrose near the town centre.

Probably a nice change after Greenford. But what used to amaze me was how many openly wanted to move to Milton bluddy Keynes. Shrangli La apparently.

When it came to us moving up there we chose Winslow. Made an offer. Lost my job. No move. But did like the villages and countryside out that way.

Good luck with your plans.


The Dictator

1,365 posts

139 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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I have been both a police officer and an estate agent in Aylesbury, although in fairness not in the last 15 years.

Those two experiences were enough to convince me never to live in Aylesbury.

There are nicer bits of course and it's not all bad, I also accept that 15 years is a long time, that said I wouldn't choose to move there if it could be avoided.

motco

15,919 posts

245 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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The Dictator said:
I have been both a police officer and an estate agent in Aylesbury, although in fairness not in the last 15 years.

Those two experiences were enough to convince me never to live in Aylesbury.

There are nicer bits of course and it's not all bad, I also accept that 15 years is a long time, that said I wouldn't choose to move there if it could be avoided.
I suspect that if you found a town to which your experiences with Aylesbury do not agree, it would be too expensive to live there. I lived in Beaconsfield for thirty five years and that is one the most expensive places to live outside of parts of London such as Kensington. However a policeman and/or estate agent would probably see the worst side of it. It's like going to a car forum dedicated to your particular model; you see all the problems that can happen. Try Slough or High Wycombe as comparisons. Not to mention Uxbridge, Croydon, Crawley... Any town where people live en masse will have bad parts. The trick is to avoid the bad parts! Live in an outlying village.

RichFN2

3,312 posts

178 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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The problem with Aylesbury is it has had huge housing projects over the past 15 years with more still planned but without the large scale town centre redevelopments that the other large towns in the area have already had. We have had a new theatre (which is great) a Waitrose, Travelodge and a few restaurants underneath some flats but that's it. Go to High Wycombe, Slough, Oxford or MK and they have far better newer shopping centres and town centre redevelopment.

Granted every town has good and bad areas and there are nice parts to Aylesbury but I have witnessed it go downhill the past 10 years and would personally choose any of the above towns over Aylesbury.

eps

6,272 posts

268 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Aylesbury just announced a redevelopment of the centre

https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/business/first-look-...

Turn7

23,504 posts

220 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Also, big new aldi/lidl going opposite the Applegreen petrol station on the Bicester road....

smn159

12,448 posts

216 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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RichFN2 said:
The problem with Aylesbury is it has had huge housing projects over the past 15 years with more still planned but without the large scale town centre redevelopments that the other large towns in the area have already had. We have had a new theatre (which is great) a Waitrose, Travelodge and a few restaurants underneath some flats but that's it. Go to High Wycombe, Slough, Oxford or MK and they have far better newer shopping centres and town centre redevelopment.

Granted every town has good and bad areas and there are nice parts to Aylesbury but I have witnessed it go downhill the past 10 years and would personally choose any of the above towns over Aylesbury.
High Wycombe and Slough? The st hole quotient of both of these would seem to me to be higher than Aylesbury's (which is significant)

I also think / hope that the days of ranking a town by its huge shopping centre might be numbered and that maybe a different means of defining what a good public space looks like will emerge.

XJSJohn

15,959 posts

218 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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CeramicMX5ND2 said:
I was born in Aylesbury many years ago and spent my first 38 years living in Great Horwood near Winslow. Winslow is a nice little market town which is 6 miles from Buckingham - Both towns have their plusses and minus's, but overall are OK and surrounded by many lovely villages (Depending on what you are looking for) Villages like Mursley, Stewkley, Nash, The Horwoods, Thornborough, Thornton, Padbury.. Not sure if this helps the OP, but is just my 2 penneth worth... smile
Winslow here! (and Born in Aylesbury, although brought up further down the A41 in Berkhamsted)

We moved back to the UK 2 years ago and by a process of requirements (budget, house size, distance to facilities, distance to london etc) fell on MK as our most likely base. The first "walk down memory lane" after 20 years away as an eye opener for me, and not in a positive light, (Both MK and Aylesbury) although the shopping and facilities of each town are great. Hence we are in Winslow ...

TBH we generally go to Buckingham / MK rather than Aylesbury for shopping, but from what i have seen, the new build estates to the north and west of town look to be quite nice.

75Black

Original Poster:

735 posts

81 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Apologies all, and thanks for the recent posts, I haven't kept an eye on the thread, but I had taken everything into consideration! In the end, my dad and I found a 2 bed end of terrace with attached garage and big garden right on the North Eastern edge of Aylesbury looking directly at Bierton village, the road itself is a cul de sac no less in an area called Cleveland Park, looks like a somewhat recent new build type estate and relatively quiet area. The house we viewed and got accepted on had a lot of attention on the day, mainly from what looked like young couples buying their first house on mortgages. We did have a drive through the town and compared to Greenford it honestly didn't look as bad as some people are describing. If I have made a mistake, I'll let you all know in a year! laugh

For the time being I'm now almost a first time homeowner at 28!

Edit: The budget was between 200-270k if you were wondering, as it was splitting the proceeds of our current house roughly in half, so wasn't expecting to get a mansion. Got what we wanted and I'm pleased.

Edited by 75Black on Wednesday 24th February 16:42

RichFN2

3,312 posts

178 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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75Black said:
Apologies all, and thanks for the recent posts, I haven't kept an eye on the thread, but I had taken everything into consideration! In the end, my dad and I found a 2 bed end of terrace with attached garage and big garden right on the North Eastern edge of Aylesbury looking directly at Bierton village, the road itself is a cul de sac no less in an area called Cleveland Park, looks like a somewhat recent new build type estate and relatively quiet area. The house we viewed and got accepted on had a lot of attention on the day, mainly from what looked like young couples buying their first house on mortgages. We did have a drive through the town and compared to Greenford it honestly didn't look as bad as some people are describing. If I have made a mistake, I'll let you all know in a year! laugh

For the time being I'm now almost a first time homeowner at 28!
Well done on the purchase and the good news is I know exactly where you mean and that's a nice quiet area smile A mate of mine lived on The Coppice for years and he had no problems at all which is across the Bierton Road from you.

I would make The Watermead Inn your local and not The Dairy Maid, and Double Eight is a great Chinese takeaway not far from you

75Black

Original Poster:

735 posts

81 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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RichFN2 said:
Well done on the purchase and the good news is I know exactly where you mean and that's a nice quiet area smile A mate of mine lived on The Coppice for years and he had no problems at all which is across the Bierton Road from you.

I would make The Watermead Inn your local and not The Dairy Maid, and Double Eight is a great Chinese takeaway not far from you
Thank you! I was getting second thoughts when I was reading the posts, but when we went and viewed the area we were made up instantly. Definitely seems like one of those commuter/young professional type estates, newer houses and a lot of new cars, not scruffy at all. Also good shout on the pub and takeaway, I hadn't even begun to think of that yet! eek

xyz123

987 posts

128 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Turn7 said:
But theres only really one estate worth buying on in Chesham....
Sorry for thread hijack but can you please share any more details? Thanks.

Sixpackpert

4,538 posts

213 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Aaaah, my hometown, born in the Royal Bucks, grew up in North Marston. Lived in Weedon (the one just outside Aylesbury) for 10 years. Living in Aylesbury would not be my choice but depending on budget etc. I would recommend Haddenham, North Marston, Granborough, Oving, Whitchurch. Plenty of lovely places around Aylesbury. Cublington and Aston Abbott’s are also nice, budget dependent of course.

Turn7

23,504 posts

220 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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xyz123 said:
Turn7 said:
But theres only really one estate worth buying on in Chesham....
Sorry for thread hijack but can you please share any more details? Thanks.
Hilltop area, at the top of Cameron Road...

Altho Ive not been up that way for many years so could have gone down hill.

Boney2728

85 posts

177 months

Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Turn7 said:
Hilltop area, at the top of Cameron Road...

Altho Ive not been up that way for many years so could have gone down hill.
Hilltop was never anything special either. Only half decent part I can remember was the old town near Pednor.