Looking for advice on Maidenhead area etc.

Greetings!

I'm moving to the UK next month , and my company's office is located in the town of Maidenhead, just west of London. I'll have some temporary accommodation thanks to my company upon arrival, but will need to find a place quite rapidly, and was wondering if someone could give me guidance in terms of where I should focus my search. Here are some specifics in terms of what I want, to help give this inquiry more focus:

1. I'm looking for a one or two bedroom apartment, and I've heard Maidenhead's almost as costly as London itself , which is frightening...I don't want to waste a lot of money on rent. I just want something clean and comfortable (but not large).

2. A safe area where I can park a nice car and not worry about it.

3. I want to keep my commute down to 25-30 minutes.

4. I'm 32 and single, so some nightlife would be nice. Most crucially, the town must have fast and efficient public transport to London like Maidenhead does...I don't want to move too far out.

Should I consider Reading? Or Maidenhead itself? Any advice would be most appreciated!

Best Regards,

Hello SunKing and welcome to the site.  Unfortunately I'm the first one to answer your post.  It's unfortunate because I don't know the first thing about Maidenhead.  Sorry.  But I don't think you'll have trouble getting a small flat.  But I do want to welcome you here.  Check back though as more and more people with real knowledge of what you are seeking will respond.  Good luck too!

Thanks Kizmet for the warm welcome! Hopefully there'll be some people who live in the western suburbs and can offer specific advice.

Cheers,

Hi Sunking

Maidenhead is my home town and I'm sorry to say if it's an exciting nightlife you want you may be in a for a disappointment there! There is a lot more there now than when I grew up there (there is even a cinema now and a Burger King!) but for entertainment there seem to be a lot of tacky looking bars and not much else. It used to be a pretty little town but now just looks like any other outer suburb of London.

You will find most of Berkshire pretty expensive as it is a pretty affluent area so while Reading may offer better nightlife I don't think it will be any cheaper for you. It is only 10 minutes on the train to Maidenhead though so easily commutable. If you have a car you might also consider Windsor which is a nice town if a bit touristy but there is always plenty going on there. If I was going to live in the area again I would go for Marlow myself which is an old fashioned country market town just north of Maidenhead. But again not much nightlife there!

If you want to get an idea of the area, the local paper is the Maidenhead Advertiser, they have a website but I forget what it is, but a Google search should throw it up. The local paper for Reading is the Reading Chronicle, they probably have a website too.

Hope this helps and good luck! Feel free to ask if you want more specific info on the area.

Liz

Hi Sunking

I agree with Britwife. I would check out Windsor. It's a really cool place (although not too sure about the nightlife). It is a beautiful place with loads of shops and a huge park around it called Great Windsor Park. Hubby and I used to go there, park the car and watch all the airplanes fly in to LHR.

I really don't know much about Maidenhead. I lived in Wokingham, near Reading when I lived in Berkshire. Again Reading would provide the nightlife you are looking for, but personally it wasn't for me (It always looked dark and dreary to me).

Good luck to you!

Oh, almost forgot. Here's a couple of links to look around for a flat and prices:

www.rightmove.co.uk or www.fish4homes.co.uk

They can give you an idea of how much it is and rightmove is good about having extra pictures of places.

Again, good luck Sunking.

Thanks very much to everyone who's provided feedback so far. I chatted with an HR rep. who lives in Maidenhead. Looks like I'm going to have to find a place very shortly after arriving (so I'll need to do as much research as possible in advance)
Anyway, her feedback was:
1. Don't go to Windsor due to pervasive airplane noise. Is she exaggerating?
2. Marlow's nice but a bit more expensive than Maidenhead. Is that so?

Also, any nightlife in Marlow? And how about Cookham? Finally, are both as close/fast to London as Maidenhead?

Many thanks,

The Sun King

Hi SunKing!

I am moving to the London area in the summer and am just curious what kind of company you work for? My company has offices in Maidenhead and Taplow so will be in the same boat. Although, dh and I are staying with a friend initially.  I've looked at www.findaproperty.com and they usually have a price guide along the left hand side once you pick an area to look at to give you an idea of what the average rent is depending on size. Hope that helps!

Hi Sunking

Both Maidenhead and Windsor are in the direct flight path to Heathrow, the walls used to shake in my school when Concorde flew over!! I don't think Windsor can be much worse than M'head for that although they fly a little lower there. There are no night flights anyway so it is only day noise.

Cookham is a teeny weeny village, very pretty but not much going on at all and I think there are only 2 pubs so nightlife pretty much non existent. Marlow has more going on, there are some beautiful historic pubs there but it is not the sort of place that is going to have any gigs or clubnights or anything like that - in fact you will find that is the same within about a 30 mile radius of London in any direction as everyone goes to London for that stuff. Maidenhead only has one nightclub and I don't think it has changed much since it opened in the 1980s when it was full of underage teens like myself!   Both Cookham and Marlow are on a branch line from Maidenhead, there are direct trains to London during peak rush hours but at other times you have to change at Maidenhead which is OK except the Marlow (and Cookham) train isn't very frequent outside peak times, not sure about weekdays but weekends it runs only once an hour.

Maidenhead, and Reading are very good for direct trains to London and the trains run all night (although again only once an hour after midnight I think).

Oh and Windsor is on its own little branch line, you have to change at Slough. There is a second railway station in Windsor (Windsor and Eton Riverside) from which you can get a train direct to Waterloo but it goes very slowly all through Surrey and takes over an hour whereas a direct train from Maidenhead to Paddington takes 20-40 mins depending how many stops it makes.

I don't know if anyone has suggested Slough as a place to live, if so forget it. It's a dump!

Begbielass mentions Taplow, that is just east of M'head, in fact is practically considered part of M'head, is near the river but the trains don't stop there all the time. Same goes for Burnham which is the next little place before you get the Slough.

I hope all this info is of some help to you in making your decision. Going by the things you are looking for, I would say M'head or Reading would be your best bets, although I am with Jenn on Reading, it is pretty dreary, I worked there a few years ago and found it a bit depressing.

Have you considered somewhere closer to London? ... Ealing springs to mind, it is on the end of the tube line, is on the direct train line to M'head but only a few mins to central London. I don't know the area that well, but looking at some of the sites others have suggested should help you.

Goooooooooood luck!

Liz

 All of you have been absolutely fantastic with your advice...Through your comments, an image of the western suburbs is beginning to come together in my mind, like pieces of a puzzle slowly aggregating together.

A few additional questions:

1. Sounds like Burnham may have to be ruled out due to the inferior train access- i.e., it would hinder a social life based in the city. Is that correct?

2. Reading seems to involve: "Less charm, equal costs, more distance to London" compared to Maidenhead, eh?

3. Is Marlow even more expensive than Maidenhead? Frightening!

4. How safe is Ealing compared to Maidenhead, and is it an easy drive from there to Maidenhead? Is Ealing more costly (rent, insurance rates, etc.)?

Again, many thanks for your help!  

Best Regards,

In answer to youur questions:

1. Probably;
2. In my opinion, yes;
3. Not sure but quite possible as it is gorgeous and most of the houses are either old and historical or huge mansions;
4. Difficult to comment as have not lived in Ealing .. is not a noted troublespot though; prices prob similar to M'head but prob more flatshares available if you want to share to cut down costs; car parking may be more of a problem, many areas of London are parking permit only.

If you're thinking about transport links have a look at Thames Trains website for trains from paddington out to ealing, slough, m'head, reading and beyond. First Great Western trains also runs trainbs to slough and reading.

hope that helps!

hi there  ---------  if you go to ---

http://www.upmystreet.com  & then type in the name of the town you want to check on,  i.e.
Maidenhead  ---   Reading  ---   Windsor,   you'll get some useful imformation about the towns & what they have.

I lived in Windsor some years back & it is a pretty nice town. Touristy during the day but quieter in the evening.  Has good pubs & restaurants.
Avoid Slough tho, it's an armpit.

If you want a map to look at,  go to  ------------

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

then select place name gazetter and you type in the town & voila,  you get an interactive map.

hope this helps

Thanks very much to all of you! One other thing: Are there any caveats/horror stories I should be aware of when dealing with "estate agents" etc. in terms of how much they cost etc.?

Thanks,

If you are buying the estate agent wont charge you.  He gets his fee from the vendor.
You will need a good conveyancing lawyer (solicitor).
The estate agent will help you with that or you can check the local ads.  Costs are not that high, just a few hundred quid I think.  You will need a surveyor as well.  If you are getting a mortgage the lender will insist on it. Again the cost is not great.  You will have to pay "stamp duty" to register the property in your name. The whole thing is a very formulaic path that millions have trod over the years.
Beware of the people selling the property. Why do they want to move ? Have a look at the area during the day and evening and be sure it doesn't have any problems.
Take any advice you can from people you work with who might live in the area you choose.  One of the best places to get advice is the local pub. A few quiet questions with the locals can be helpfull

Sorry, I must have accidentally misled you by using erroneous nomenclature...I'm not looking to buy a property, I'm just looking to rent a small flat (with a garage for my car). I guess the correct term would be "letting agents"?

Thanks,

Nicolas