West Londoners often look along the M4 for inspiration when considering leaving London.
Their first stop is Berkshire, possibly their most diverse home county, with its mix of new towns and old settlements, Crossrail hotspots and backwaters, cute country villages and of course Britain’s most regal city.
House price growth in Berkshire has been equally mixed over the past decade.
The best performers are affordable sectors such as Reading and Bracknell, which are gaining traction among buyers from both London and more affluent areas.
If you’re considering moving to the Royal County of Berkshire, the sheer variety can seem overwhelming.
To help you choose the perfect spot, Homes & Property has put together a guide to the county’s highlights, with up-to-date pricing data from broker Hamptons:
Value for money: Bracknell
In 1949, this sleepy market town was declared a new town and expanded to provide much-needed homes for displaced post-war Londoners.
The legacy of this decision consists of far too many roundabouts and underpasses, and sections of somewhat dreary-looking, angular estate homes (and many of the current crop of new houses are equally uninspiring).
But Bracknell is also a bona fide regeneration zone, with a brand new town centre, a growing cluster of tech companies and plenty of practical assets.
Affordability is an obvious reason to consider Bracknell. The average price is £410,000, and you can buy a flat for an average of £232,000. Prices have fallen slightly this year, but are still almost 12 percent higher than at the start of the pandemic, and 63 percent higher over the past decade, the best performance among today’s cities.
The train journey to Paddington takes just over 50 minutes, and there are also direct services to Waterloo, taking just over an hour.
All schools in the city have an Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
Green space is also a plus. There are parks in the city center of course, but also Swinley Forest, which just south of the city offers 2,600 hectares of Crown Estate open land, perfect for walking and mountain biking.
It most resembles London: Windsor
Located on the River Thames, steeped in history and absolutely packed with tourists, Londoners will feel perfectly at home in this ancient market town.
Windsor, which has been home to royalty since the time of William the Conqueror, also has excellent public transport links, schools, the Great Park, cute shops and a vibrant restaurant and cafe scene.
Average prices in the city are among the most expensive in the county at £605,000. The cost of living crisis and rising interest rates have taken their toll. Prices have fallen by four percent in the past year, but are still 13 percent above pre-pandemic levels. Over the past decade, they’ve grown at a solid, not stellar, 42 percent.
Reasons to live in Windsor include the schools which, like Bracknell, are all rated as good or excellent by Ofsted. trains to Waterloo take a fraction less than an hour.
Apart from the castles, properties in central Windsor range from Victorian terraces to riverside mansions and Georgian villas. The fanciest spot is the golden triangle, bounded by Osbourne Road, Frances Road and Kings Road. A house here will make you popular if there is a royal event on the horizon, as the houses face or overlook the Long Walk leading to the castle. But west of the city center you will find better value.
Windsor has its own theatre, a contemporary arts venue, The Firestation, with a program covering everything from film to comedy, and an annual music and literary festival. For younger readers, Legoland will be a big draw, while the Royal Windsor Horse Show was one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite outings.
For a bite to eat, head to Patch on the Plaza, an open-air restaurant that serves an inventive seasonal menu – try pink hummus, Bagshot Park lamb or beer-battered zucchini flowers.
Or take a two-mile trip to Oakley Green to try out The Greene Oak, a gastropub run by two chefs formerly of The Ivy.
For cocktails there is The Eton Mess, just on the other side of the river. And Bray, a village five miles from Windsor, is home to probably the richest concentration of Michelin-starred dining rooms in Britain.
Least like London: Kintbury
Located in the North Wessex Downs, Kintbury is a quiet and beautiful village next to the Kennet & Avon Canal. Being on the canal means long walks or cycle rides along the towpath, interrupted by one of the area’s waterside pubs.
Its small size may come as a shock to Londoners, but Kintbury is large enough to have a village pub, The Blue Ball, a shop and a primary school rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. Older pupils will have to travel to Hungerford (three miles) or Newbury (five miles) where school standards are also high.
One reason why Kintbury is particularly popular with those who have to travel to London regularly is that it has its own train station, with connections to Paddington in just over an hour.
Average prices in the RG17 postcode, which includes Hungerford, are £474,000. For this kind of budget, you can buy a historic two or three bedroom cottage in the center of the village in Kintbury. Lower budget? You can buy a slightly dated three-bedroom estate for under £350,000.
Average prices today are 13 percent higher than in 2019 and have increased by 41 percent over the past decade.
Best connected: Maidenhead
Crossrail services to London began a year ago, heralding a new era of rail transport for the Domesday Book town of Maidenhead.
The city already had commuter trains to Liverpool Street (just over 50 minutes) and fast services to Paddington (20 minutes). What Crossrail brought to the party was a seamless transition to the tube. Journeys to West End take approximately 50 minutes.
For motorists, the city is just north of the M4, and Heathrow Airport is 13 miles away. There are also bus services to Windsor, Bray, Reading and Henley.
Despite its Thameside location and long history, Maidenhead was until recently a bit of a bleak place, dismissed by the New Economics Foundation as a ‘clone town’ full of chain stores. But things are looking up.
There’s a new leisure centre, work is underway on The Landing – a rental housing and retail development in the city center – and the 1960s Nicholsons shopping center is earmarked for redevelopment (although traders are fighting hard to stop the plans).
Maidenhead is also blessed with an abundance of open space, including Braywick Nature Park, with its outdoor gym and sports fields, and Kidwells Park, which has a skate park and is home to the annual Maidenhead Festival.
The average property price in the city is £605,000, with apartments costing just over £300,000. Values have fallen five percent in the past year, but are nine percent higher than pre-pandemic prices and have risen 56 percent since 2013.
Neighborhoods to know include Pinkneys Green, a village outpost two miles from the city centre, home to some of the area’s prettiest houses, and Furze Platt, hugely popular with parents thanks to its excellent primary school.
Family Friendly: Reading
If Maidenhead is still a bit of a work in progress, then Reading is the finished article – a once bleak commuter town that has suffered earthquakes in recent years.
Although technically a city Reading has a city feel – and with over 300,000 residents it is larger than Newcastle or Nottingham. It is also quite cosmopolitan, with 150 languages spoken.
The most obvious reason why Reading appeals to families is the incredible quality of its schools: ten mainstream state primaries rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, plus top-rated grammar and non-selective secondary schools for older pupils.
Transport links are good, with Crossrail services and main lines to Paddington (from 25 minutes).
There’s plenty to do for kids of all ages: walk the Thames Path, see the Bayeux Tapestry at Reading Museum, scale new heights at Parthian Climbing, visit Beale Wildlife Park or catch a match at Madejski Stadium.
Outdoor swimmers can do it in style at the immaculately restored Thames Lido, and Reading Festival is the highlight of the city’s year, with Billie Eilish, The Killers and Sam Fender on the bill last summer.
Meanwhile, Reading’s restaurant scene is booming with options like The Reading Room, in boutique hotel The Roseate, and The Corn Stores, a steak restaurant/members club near the station.
Houses in Reading cost an average of £463,000 and have managed to rise during the difficult past year – albeit only by 0.9 per cent. Values have increased by 19 percent since 2019, and by a whopping 60 percent since 2013.