Property

Yes, it seems to be one of the lower priced areas in Berkshire. We are 2 mins from the station which meets our continuing requirement for transport into London. Not sure what the rental market is like round there though.

I don't really like Reading much myself after a lot of looking round in the last 12 months, but there may be rental opportunities there for reasonable money, and the Paddington line would take you to Slough in little time. Also central Maidenhead, might be worth looking at.

Best bet, might be Burnham. 5 mins on the train to Slough (or bus down A4). There is quite a large development just round the corner from Burnham station with lots of rental opportunities. Prices are similar if not slightly les than what you are probably used to. Cippenham is cheaper but transport wise, you are tied to either bus or taxi, hence not as practical

Or you could go the other way - Uxbridge/Staines/West Drayton etc, but prices are generally higher.

You could always have my old place if/when we move out

Look at that development across the road from Langley station too. 2 min walk, excellent location. Not the cheapest though.

Or within Slough itself there are decent places scattered about. Upton Court is quite nice, but again not that cheap. Slough/Langley is probably your best bet, with lower travelling costs, so long as you find one of the better places among the waste.

Where do you work, i can't remember? If you give me more info i might be able to help more. How to you hope to commute - train/bus/car etc? There are some decent places for renting. Depends on these factors though, and calculating the differing travelling costs.

cheers

 

Thanks for the rundown Cookie. I work at O2 (HQ - the one on the Bath Road, opposite PC World). Living in Langley at the moment (development next to Royal Mail sorting office). Nice place, but not too cheap. Looking for somewhere newish with max 600pcm rent (1 bed flat it is then!) for just myself.

Have lived in Cippenham before - ok, but not my first choice.

Maidenhead always seems that bit more expensive. Not sure about Reading prices. Burnham / Taplow may be my best bet.

Travel will be by bus/train to begin with (will have to sell the car and buy one I can afford on my own)

Am open to ideas though and don't mind travelling to work (provided it is from somewhere nicer than Slough!)

 

I didn't realise by baggage you meant girlfriend!

The development i was talking about in Burnham, you would be able to get a 1 bedroom flat for between £500 and 650pcm. There is always usually a few from there on the market, as it is quite a big estate, IIRC 100% apartments, in modest szed blocks like the one i am in. Best bet is to get one of the top floor ones for better security snd free loft space. Only ever looked at one down there, but they are of a modern design, and the estate looks tidy enough as is the surrounding area. Good parking as well. If you ever neede the train it is a two minute walk round the corner, and on a sunny day you could easily walk to work from there (It is set back from the A4 main road, not far from the roundabout which joins the M4J7). Walking distance to shops and supermarket as well.

That would suit me just for ease of getting to work.

If you are not so much bothered about that, then there are lots of new style apartments scattered all over Slough, with easy enough transport links (one of the things Slough is good for!). Upton Park is very nice, but looking more like £650-£750pm so probably too much. There is quite a large plot of apartments behind the police station, set in their own grounds, but not sure on prices.

Maplin Park in Langley you will probably know. Nera the railway line, but basically in the middle of nowhere, though i think the bus wanders up there. You would probably want a car though. Prices are reasonable however and the estate is ok. Carpchasser lives there.

There is the estate on London Rd (nr the Tesco and Texaco garages) - can't remember name. V.nice but again - probably £650+. But advantage of having bus stop right outside which would drop you off outside work.

There are loads of flats all over the place in converted victorian terraces etc, which would be cheaper, but they may not be as much to your liking.

I'd say anywhere further out than say Maidenhead or West Drayton the other way would not work out so well, as the travelling costs would work out a lot more (travel from Bracknell to London for a year on the train is about £2000 :cry: ). Check out all the prices though and factor it into your budget. Slough station should carry all the timetables and prices.

There is an estate in Slough called the Millenium or something. Coming out of Slough, past Kwik Fit ( :JOEL: ) on the left, at the big crossroads turn right, then couple hundred yards, over bridge, and on your left. Nearly bought one there a couple of years ago, but chickened out. Probably worth double now . I know that a 2 bed is usually £750-£900. so for a single you are probably looking £600-£700 if you are lucky. Excellent location though, and newly built. Good parking etc. (I mean TBH, most of these new apartment blocks are all the same). £600 is tight for a new 1 bed pad, but very do-able, so need to barter. For some of the older ones i'm pretty sure you could get something reasonable for £550 ish (e.g. Burnham). Its even possible to get a one bedroom house for £600 in places, if you fancied a garden.

If you were prepared to get a bedsit/v.small older 1 bed flat, it is possible to get as low as £450. Depends what you want. Windsor might be ok. Its not all expensive, though most is. There are lots of flats scattered on the edges of Windsor, for reasonable money - transport is a bit trickier though, getting to Bath Rd.

Oh, depends if you want furnished or not as well.

Just done a search on Rightmove for example and there are over 100 properties listed, sub £600 in Slough (pefect market for bargaining that £50pm off)

This is the type of property you get on the Burnham Gate development:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/rm/s/rm/...ils.vm/svr/1035?p_id=2562357&pa_n=1&tr_t=rent

But use Rightmove to get a feel for prices etc. It is remarkably well updated with nely listed properties, and is a good general guide:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/rm/s/rm/action/publicsite.PropertySearch/svr/1035

They tend not to provide much ionfo on rented property though, so need to seek out the agents.

If its any help, i don't mind driving about if you want help with looking or something, if you are without transport. Just give us a shout.

cheers

 

In fact, i've just been looking at all that is available - i have a property paper with me too, and checking prices again. I think the biggest difficulty you will have, is trying to narrow it down! You should have no problems for £600, even less, just work out where you fancy being based.

 

Have a look at this:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/rm/s/rm/...ls.vm/svr/1035?p_id=2529633&pa_n=20&tr_t=rent

Its only a studio, but in Upton Park, secure parking, plus 2 mins to town centre and excellent transport links. AND only £495 .Nice little bachelor pad! And you can have quality hifi tunes both on the settee and in bed with a studio

 

You might want to try here too:

http://www.assertahome.com

 

In my case I didn't stop when I got to the sea

 

Same here, only the other way...

 

That would be my preferred solution - France though, not Norway. Still working on ideas of how to get a job over there (the company I worked for when I was studying there went bust )

Lived in one of those when I was on a work placement here in '99 (must be something about the place - can't keep away!). Cost £425 then and was no bigger than a cupboard with the landlady from hell (think Kitchen, Living Room and Bedroom all in one room - a space about half that of your old hi-fi room )

That's given me lots to think about Dino, I get the property paper every week, but nothing really jumps out a me. I've never seen that many properties up for rent in Burnham Gate. The last one I looked at was a compete sh*thole. Will keep my eyes open though because as you say, the estate doesn't seem too bad (and only a 10 min walk to work!)

Would prefer to move away from Slough, but don't think that will be very feasible at the moment. Am hoping to move by the end of Feb, so that gives me a couple weeks more searching yet

 

Something will turn up. Unfortunately, it usually involves looking at a lot of naff ones first. Have a wander round Maidenhead one Saturday afternoon. You should still get something there for that money, and its a safe distance from Slough, but easy for work. There is plenty available, admittedly not all great. Just make a list of priorities. Personally i'd save the cash and go with a studio But plenty of nice one bedroom digs for that sort of cash.

Let us know what you find.

If you need a lift transporting the hifi to a new abode, just hollar.

cheers

 

I used to live in Maidenhead and I was happy there.

 

Cookie,

Good luck with the house move. I hoe everything goes well. if you get any hifi withdrawal symptoms, you can always pop over for a quick fix.

 

Cheers Robbo,

Hopefully there will be no hicupps.

And its good to know that the moon always shines over Bracknell.

 

Yes, it's surprising how many people moon out of their car windows as they pass Bracknell

Very strange!

 

Oops! Sorry, that was the whiskey talking. Bracknell is not so bad really