Looking for modern conveniences in Reading area..

Any ideas, people who live/have lived around here? I want a dishwasher, exterior doors that fit against the floor (minimal drafts), room for a separate washer and dryer. We'll be renting, not buying, and since we smoke but not in the house we want our own access directly to the outdoors, like a balcony or patio if the unit itself doesn't open onto the street. I'm still scared of driving so access to buses or trains would be great. My partner is meeting with HR today to discuss a relocation agent who can help us find a place, but if anyone has an idea of where we might start looking I'd appreciate any input! Thanks!

The title of this thread made me giggle! 

Two of the three houses that we've rented have had a diswasher and washing machine. I honestly wouldn't hold my breath for space for a dryer if I were you (just being honest!) as it would take a big kitchen or a utility room to fit all of that in, and unless you're renting something out of the ordinary big I think you'd be lucky.... Likewise all of the houses we've rented have had at least a small patio area outside - balconies are more unusual in my experience, so if I were you I'd focus on finding a house or a garden flat. Reading has lots of surrounding villages which might afford you more space both inside and out.

I personall think relocation agents are a bit of a waste of money. Rightmove.com has been the source of all of our rentals! 

Thanks for the input - we had a combo washer/dryer in Sydney and I was less than impressed with it. Going through a whole wash and dry cycle took about six hours, and the clothes always came out all wrinkled. I've used the combo unit in the temporary place we're in now and it seems to be faster and better, so perhaps we can handle having one of those here, but I just think line drying in British weather seems like a bad idea and I really hate the idea of laundry hanging all over the house. The dishwasher is a total necessity since I have eczema on my hands and even with gloves on the heat and moisture of doing dishes by hand aggravates them.

The relocation agent is part of the relocation package that came with the job transfer, so we're not paying for it ourselves. And we're certainly not in a position to turn down any help navigating the ins and outs of getting things done in this country!

if you want room for a dryer, look for properties with bigger than average kitchens (probably houses with dining kitchens as opposed to galley style and a separate dining room).  We live in a small 2 bedroom terrace, but our kitchen is absolutely huge relative to the rest of the house so if we wanted to we could easily fit a dryer in (although we would have to vent the hose out of the cat flap or use a condenser dryer.)

This may be a needle in a haystack kind of thing but we lived in a two bed terraced house and had an "enclosed lean-to" off of the dining room which lead to the back garden. That is where I put the dryer, I can't tell you how happy I was to have a space for it! 

PS - We lived in Reading for 4+ years. I would advise living on the outskirts of the town center at the very least. The University area is ok but not every street. The west side (Bath Rd) area is decent but don't go near the Oxford Rd area nor the east side of town. Caversham is also an area to consider. It also may be a good idea to look at areas a bit outside of Reading. 

I use my combo to dry towels and socks in winter but that's about it. In summer I find that I can pretty much always find a couple of sunny hours to line dry clothes and sheets - so far this summer I've only dried sheets inside once. I'm not wild about clothes hanging everywhere either but our boiler is in an airing cupboard in our spare room and the room is always really, really warm - so hanging clothes up in there usually finds them dry in a day. And if I wasn't such a packhorse and using the airing cupboard itself for storage I reckon stuff would dry super fast in there!!

The other option is one of these sorts of thingies: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/heated-tower-airer/F/C/washing-laundry/C/washing-laundry-clothes-horses-airers/product/21736

The title of this thread made me giggle! 

Me too!  Do y'all have indoor plumbing down there?  Window screens?  Mixer taps?  Pinto beans? 

This is just a drive-by-being-silly thing, don't mind me! 

Me too!  Do y'all have indoor plumbing down there?  Window screens?  Mixer taps?  Pinto beans? 

This is just a drive-by-being-silly thing, don't mind me! 

You're so bad!

We actually put a dryer in our spare bedroom at one point. We've also put them in garages and sunrooms. It's amazing how a nice tablecloth can hide the evidence!

The other option is one of these sorts of thingies: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/heated-tower-airer/F/C/washing-laundry/C/washing-laundry-clothes-horses-airers/product/21736

Does that thing work?  Differing reviews on the Lakeland website! 
I had a condensor dryer in my previous house, but it took 3-4 hours to dry one load so I never used it.  I never mind hanging my clothes up though to dry. 

Does that thing work?  Differing reviews on the Lakeland website! 
I had a condensor dryer in my previous house, but it took 3-4 hours to dry one load so I never used it.  I never mind hanging my clothes up though to dry. 

I don't have one but I guess I just sort of assumed that they would because heated towel rails work really well and isn't it sort of the same thing? Hmmm. Not sure....

I think the trick with condensers is not to use them for a whole load - I do all of my hand towels in one load and then one big sheet towel at a time - it sounds silly but I think it's cheaper to do 2 towels for a short time on their own than try to do a whole load which could run for hours!

We have a condenser dryer, too - we had a combo machine in our first flat and it was absolutely rubbish, so we bought the condenser dryer as soon as we moved from that place.  In our old house we stuck it in a corner of the dining room; here, since we only have a tiny galley kitchen and a lounge on the ground floor, we have it in the lounge!   

I don't use it to dry all our clothes, though - everything but underwear goes out on the line (I refuse to hang my knickers for the entire neighbourhood to see!), then I usually throw jeans, towels, and anything with an abundance of cat hair in for a quick fluff and tumble once they're dry. 

If it's rained for day on end and I absolutely have no other choice, I'll use the dryer for everything - but I definitely split the loads up like Anne does, otherwise one load will take hours! 

Me too!  Do y'all have indoor plumbing down there?  Window screens?  Mixer taps?  Pinto beans? 

This is just a drive-by-being-silly thing, don't mind me! 

Well, the temporary unit we're in doesn't have window screens... there's one faucet in the kitchen and I just went and turned it on hot and stuck my finger in - the water all feels the same temperature to me, so does that mean it's a mixer or not? Haven't looked for pinto beans but found Mexican refried beans at Sainsbury's - although in a smaller can than I was expecting....

Good one, Six - lol! 

Well, the temporary unit we're in doesn't have window screens...

I got the most awesome look the first time I asked an estate agent about window screens.  I may as well have been speaking in gibberish.   

We didn't have window screens in Sydney either, but were able to pick up removable ones at the hardware store.. is that possible here?