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Old 25 May 20, 03:14 PM  
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smithlane
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After putting off moving at the beginning of the year due to expense of the area we were looking at, we are now rethinking the idea. My OH who is originally from Hertfordshire (Hitchen & Stevenage) has been desperate to move back for a while now.
We are in Greater London right by Heathrow and I’ve been here for 16 years, before that I lived in a town 10-15 mins away where I grew up.
We would like a bigger house in a nicer area and to get that round here you’re looking at around £750K+ which is quite frankly insane.
So as I know next to nothing about Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire I was hoping some of you can point me in the right direction of some good areas to look. We can’t do anything until next year as my children will be taking their A-Levels and GCSE’s next summer, because of this my DS would need a sixth form college within an easy commute.
It needs to be accessible to a main train station for my OH to travel into London for work as well as being within 45 minutes to Welwyn Garden City for the golf club! We would have approx £600K for a 4-5 bed detached house. I would love a town/village with independent shops as well as a few main ones, a nice pub and some green areas for dog walks nearby.
Does such a place exist?
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Old 25 May 20, 03:45 PM  
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yogadeb
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Hey I live in Stevenage have done for 45 years .
I also Know Hitchin and Letchworth pretty well too .

Areas in Stevenage imo which are nicer With the things you asked for are , bragbury end , poplars and some parts of the old town and fishers green .
I think great Ashby has some
Lovely walks nearby too but personally i don’t like the area as it’s too built up and The road through it is like a rat run.

Aston and Datchworth are lovely villages just on outside of Stevenage But pricey but very very nice .
Knebworth is another village near Stevenage but imo ,not all that .

Also look at Oakland’s in Welwyn which is very sought after and nice with fantastic links for a1 and minutes to wgc.

Hitchin is nice too a lovely market town and very cool with trendy cafes and eateries but roads get busy and awkward at rush hour in and out of Hitchin.
letchworth was the U.Ks first garden city which is also quieter and Norton common there is nice - both Hitchin and letchworth have good and bad parts to live in and are not as busy as Stevenage . (letchworth the quietest)

Stevenage is a very large town but loads to do .

Good luck let me know
If I can help you any more - with your huge budget you will easily find something .

If it was me I’d choose either bragbury end , Oakland’s , Datchworth or Aston as more quiet. ( we live bragbury end)

Edited at 03:52 PM.
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Old 25 May 20, 03:59 PM  
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Originally Posted by yogadeb View Post
Hey I live in Stevenage have done for 45 years .
I also Know Hitchin and Letchworth pretty well too .

Areas in Stevenage imo which are nicer With the things you asked for are , bragbury end , poplars and some parts of the old town and fishers green .
I think great Ashby has some
Lovely walks nearby too but personally i don’t like the area as it’s too built up and The road through it is like a rat run.

Aston and Datchworth are lovely villages just on outside of Stevenage But pricey but very very nice .
Knebworth is another village near Stevenage but imo ,not all that .

Also look at Oakland’s in Welwyn which is very sought after and nice with fantastic links for a1 and minutes to wgc.

Hitchin is nice too a lovely market town and very cool and letchworth was the U.K. first garden city Which also is quieter and Norton common is nice - both Hitchin and letchworth gave good and bad parts and are not as busy as Stevenage .

Stevenage is a very large town .

Good luck let me know
If I can help you any more - with your huge budget you will easily find something .

If it was me I’d choose either bragbury end , Oakland’s , Datchworth or Aston as more quiet. ( we live bragbury end)
Thank you for your reply Deb. I kind of know Stevenage as my in laws are now in the Old Town which is far nicer than where they were before, I think near Fairlands? I don't mind being close to Stevenage as there are some handy shops there but I really wouldn't want to live in the centre, it's very similar to where I live now.
OH has a friend in Great Ashby and you're right it's very built up. He would absolutely love to be in Welwyn (no surprise there as it's right by the golf club ) but we would have to compromise on a smaller house. Letchworth sounds great as does Hitchen which I'm sure I've driven through before. I've not heard of Bragbury End either but will check all of those places out. Do you know what sixth forms are like around there?
We have seen a new development online in Walkern, just outside of Stevenage. Do you know anything about that area?
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Old 25 May 20, 04:14 PM  
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I grew up in Stevenage and still work there but moved quite a while ago.

Baldock is very popular which meets most of your criteria, I’m not sure what the house prices are like though. Lots of people in work live in Hitchin, or further north in Biggleswade, I know they have built a lot of new houses there recently And both have good train services but depending on where you work traffic can be bad from Biggleswade to Stevenage in rush hour so I’d take that into account.
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Old 25 May 20, 04:32 PM  
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Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
Thank you for your reply Deb. I kind of know Stevenage as my in laws are now in the Old Town which is far nicer than where they were before, I think near Fairlands? I don't mind being close to Stevenage as there are some handy shops there but I really wouldn't want to live in the centre, it's very similar to where I live now.
OH has a friend in Great Ashby and you're right it's very built up. He would absolutely love to be in Welwyn (no surprise there as it's right by the golf club ) but we would have to compromise on a smaller house. Letchworth sounds great as does Hitchen which I'm sure I've driven through before. I've not heard of Bragbury End either but will check all of those places out. Do you know what sixth forms are like around there?
We have seen a new development online in Walkern, just outside of Stevenage. Do you know anything about that area?
I don’t know about the 6th form schooling but Stevenage and Hitchin colleges are very good i hear.
Walkern as far as I know is ok - but tbh i haven’t been there years.
Defiantly check out villages of Aston , Oakland’s and Datchworth as you will get a sizeable House for 600k i think - bragbury end is much cheaper as not a village but walking distance to Datchworth, Aston and knebworth as it’s on southern edge of Stevenage and very good links to main roads .
I love bragbury end as it’s still in Stevenage ( and we couldn’t afford the villages) but much quieter and easy to get to countryside .

Edited at 04:36 PM.
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Old 25 May 20, 05:59 PM  
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Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
After putting off moving at the beginning of the year due to expense of the area we were looking at, we are now rethinking the idea. My OH who is originally from Hertfordshire (Hitchen & Stevenage) has been desperate to move back for a while now.
We are in Greater London right by Heathrow and I’ve been here for 16 years, before that I lived in a town 10-15 mins away where I grew up.
We would like a bigger house in a nicer area and to get that round here you’re looking at around £750K+ which is quite frankly insane.
So as I know next to nothing about Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire I was hoping some of you can point me in the right direction of some good areas to look. We can’t do anything until next year as my children will be taking their A-Levels and GCSE’s next summer, because of this my DS would need a sixth form college within an easy commute.
It needs to be accessible to a main train station for my OH to travel into London for work as well as being within 45 minutes to Welwyn Garden City for the golf club! We would have approx £600K for a 4-5 bed detached house. I would love a town/village with independent shops as well as a few main ones, a nice pub and some green areas for dog walks nearby.
Does such a place exist?
I live in Bushey/Watford area. 3 bed houses go for around £500,000 so to get a 4 bed house might be pushing it on that budget, however it’s becoming very built up here and very congested so personally I wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Maybe try Tring, Berkhamstead, Hertford, however I don’t know these areas well but might be worth researching.

Edited at 10:44 PM.
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Old 25 May 20, 08:15 PM  
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OP meant to add also about Oakland’s in Welwyn lies” The northern star” pub and it is incredible...food wise it’s a very good pub and very popular with many locals and it’s walking distance from Oakland’s. Also you have Mardley heath which is a lovely woodland for walks and the links to A1m are awesome ( can actually hear the A1 through from a lot of the gardens as you are that close )
College wise in wgc which is up the road , there’s a good college .

I’d definatly look at Oakland’s it’s very sought after .
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Old 25 May 20, 08:32 PM  
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Originally Posted by emmabanana View Post
I grew up in Stevenage and still work there but moved quite a while ago.

Baldock is very popular which meets most of your criteria, I’m not sure what the house prices are like though. Lots of people in work live in Hitchin, or further north in Biggleswade, I know they have built a lot of new houses there recently And both have good train services but depending on where you work traffic can be bad from Biggleswade to Stevenage in rush hour so I’d take that into account.
Thank you for your reply. I have seen a few houses in Biggleswade, is it a nice town?
What are the transport links like in Hertfordshire in general like bus services? Living in a London borough it’s something we take for granted. OH hates the traffic around here, he’s always moaning saying “if you want to drive 10 miles it takes 10 minutes in Hertfordshire but over 40 minutes to drive 5 miles round here!” He’s not wrong though 😂
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Old 25 May 20, 08:33 PM  
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Originally Posted by yogadeb View Post
I don’t know about the 6th form schooling but Stevenage and Hitchin colleges are very good i hear.
Walkern as far as I know is ok - but tbh i haven’t been there years.
Defiantly check out villages of Aston , Oakland’s and Datchworth as you will get a sizeable House for 600k i think - bragbury end is much cheaper as not a village but walking distance to Datchworth, Aston and knebworth as it’s on southern edge of Stevenage and very good links to main roads .
I love bragbury end as it’s still in Stevenage ( and we couldn’t afford the villages) but much quieter and easy to get to countryside .
Ok great thank you. That must be near the A1 then, I’m sure I drive in from the South side of Stevenage to the in-laws
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Old 25 May 20, 08:35 PM  
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Originally Posted by Clairelovestate View Post
I love in Bushey/Watford area. 3 bed houses go for around £500,000 so to get a 4 bed house might be pushing it on that budget, however it’s becoming very built up here and very congested so personally I wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Maybe try Tring, Berkhamstead, Hertford, however I don’t know these areas well but might be worth researching.
Funny enough my mum grew up very close to Bushey in a place called Commonwood I think it was called. Might be pushing it budget wise but if we see something we like we have a little wiggle room. My DIY allergic OH wants a new build so he doesn’t have to lift a finger once moved in 😂
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