NotTooShabby

Thanks for the info Folks. Will defiantly be researching Reading. In the meantime still plenty to do getting things sorted at this end. Be glad when it's all over. I hate moving.

Jules Europe

I`d be wary of following peoples advice on Reading as looking at upmystreet.com, it has burglary and car theft as being very high there and well above the national average in the UK. For example the highest burglary in the UK is in Nottingham 15.1, Reading is 12.3 and the national average is only 4.3!!! So I think this says it all.

I think to get value for yourn budget you are going to have to look further out, or if you want Reading type distance try looking at Kent, its no so expensive and has far lower crime rates. Also try Bedford and area if you want to be north of London, again not so expensive and low crime levels.

Londonuck

Wow... just looked up SE16. Blimey 32.0 violent crime!

ozhappy981

Erm, no, it just shows that statistics never tell the full story.

Reading is a large town and has some suburbs that are high crime areas. Whitley Wood is the worst. There are some other areas that are pretty bad as well.

We lived in Caversham Park Village and this was a zero crime area (except the occasional graffiti at the shops). In 13 years we had not a single burglary, no car stolen, no mugging. One murder (but this was done by a "friend of the victim"). The local bobby used to pubish the crime statistics for the area (covering four suburbs); that's how I know that we had no crime.

Reading is a lovely town. And the surrounding country side and villages are lovely too.

Jules Europe

I put those stats in and the comment, knowing that somebody would defend Reading`s position as I was surprised to see it so high in crime. The problem therefore lies in statistical knowledge versus personal, I don`t doubt that somebody that lives or knows the area well, would be wrong on their conclusions and also Reading is not based in a depressed part of the UK either, but the crime stats have to come from somewhere and it may well be certain high crime areas bringing down the rest of the city! Burglary is also very high in both Oxford and Cambridge again places that I wouldn`t expect to see this type of statistic.

spain

know it well !

Jules Europe

SE16 this is a really bad postcode.

spain

its not a surprise...I said I know it well

Jo1973

I must also defend Reading too, having lived there (Tilehurst then Mortimer) for roughly 30 years. (But then glad to move away lol)

Every town has it's "no go" areas. The only way you can tell is by actually driving around the area. You get to know the not so nice places and learn to avoid them. (Don't ever live in the centre of Reading, too noisy lol)

Reading is also big business for IT Companies like Oracle, Microsoft etc plus it's right on the M4 corridor.

One place I wouldn't want to live though would be Lower Early, too many houses in a tight spot and expensive (heard it was the biggest development with the least amount of land or something to that tune lol).

You could also try Guildford and Walton-on-Thames, the commute to London maybe a bit longer though.

Oh, and to add, Reading does have a great nightlife, plenty of pubs, clubs and restaurants lol.

Jules Europe

There is not too much point in recommending these places to the OP as both Guilford and Walton-on-Thames are in one of the most expensive areas of the UK, why don`t you also recommend places like Richmond or Kingston-on-Thames to really depress the OP even more.

Lothianlad

Reading: I agree that the town does indeed have its less salubrious areas, and I think it's fair to say that the town also has a sizeable ethnic population, plus quite an influx of immigrants, not only from so called third world countries, but also from Eastern Europe. It seemed to me that most waiters/waitresses in Reading are Eastern Europeans!

It's open to speculation whether or not the crime statistics in Reading are linked to immigrants and members of the ethnic community.....many live in large groups together and concentrated in certain areas of the town, and I don't think it's altogether co-incidence that much of the town's police activity takes place in those areas, often connected with the drugs business.

It's not to say that members of the indigenous population are not involved in all this kind of stuff either, I hasten to add. Undoubtedly they are.

NotTooShabby

Kent is definitely on our list and we quite like the look of Faversham (not just 'cause it's the home of one of my favorite breweries), which has the added bonus of being the home of one of my favorite breweries. Also handy for trips to France (as the old joke goes: Dover for the continent, Ramsgate for the incontinent)

Any opinions on Faversham or other towns in Kent would be gratefully received.

Eastend Girl

I just put E2 on UpMyStreet - above average crime in EVERYTHING - I lived there for over 40 years and live to tell the tale!

NotTooShabby

So what is your tale? I'm guessing in all that time you never encountered any crime. I think wherever you live the chances of being a victim of crime are pretty slim.

stm1971

Faversham is a lovely town, very picturesque with great little country pubs. We are also looking at Kent but more in the Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells area as they both have great transport links, market town feel, good facilities and is not too far from our family in Essex.