Woking

[bambam]

The retail situation is improving in Woking, as elsewhere I suppose, H&M are to take over the M&S premises at last, there's a new Cargo occupying the entrance, and the Woolworths is occupied by a moved Next store.

There's still surplus prime retail space, available for the Hospice Crisis Centre to popup for Christmas for example, but there's no sense of decline any more.

[itsnotme]

Hello - I'm looking to rent a 1 bed in the Enterprise Place building. If anyone rented there, how's the overall quality, noise insulation, etc

It's currently on for £775 - is price realistic ? There are quite a few in that building but nobody seems to be renting them out.

Have to say the walk from the station is quite dodgy. How is it in the weekends?, I assume is packed full with shoppers.

Any input greatly appreciated.

[Bear.]

Hello - I'm looking to rent a 1 bed in the Enterprise Place building. If anyone rented there, how's the overall quality, noise insulation, etc

It's currently on for £775 - is price realistic ? There are quite a few in that building but nobody seems to be renting them out.

Have to say the walk from the station is quite dodgy. How is it in the weekends?, I assume is packed full with shoppers.

Any input greatly appreciated.

I've never lived there or known anyone who lived there.

In terms of price I am renting for about £500 a month for a similar location though slightly less glamorous. My friends who have lived in the centrium building have been on noticeably lower rates than the one you've suggested (I think they were about £600/mo each for two beds including service charge, which included gym, concierge, etc).

If you walk along the northern side of the railway and follow the road when it curves northwards you can go past mainly offices, avoiding the town centre. Almost everywhere east of BHS is dead even during the weekends during the day. The shoppers are mainly near peacocks and the wolsey centre. The road I think you are referring to is mainly food, drink and clubs. On Friday and Saturday nights though the road from the station to the club with an apple logo is packed full of boisterous people. (I personally go out in London and avoid Woking.)

[bambam]

Seems some agents have decided prices are back to 2007 levels....

£635k for this??? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-15653130.html

[HPC=dream]

Seems some agents have decided prices are back to 2007 levels....

£635k for this??? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-15653130.html

I like how they have marketted it as Horsell to try and make it more appealing.

Its a long walk to Horsell high street and a stone throw from Woking town centre

[jethrotull]

Its a long walk to Horsell high street and a stone throw from Woking town centre

but they still sold it

[small_stakes]

but they still sold it

Three times by the look of it.

History

date event

Sunday, March 20, 2011 9:35:38 PM

* Status changed: Premium Listing Listing, Sold STC

Friday, March 18, 2011 5:40:59 PM

* Status changed: Premium Listing, Sold STC Listing

Friday, February 25, 2011 9:39:31 PM

* Status changed: Premium Listing Listing, Sold STC

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 3:56:48 PM

* Status changed: Premium Listing, Sold STC Listing

Sunday, January 23, 2011 10:37:03 PM

* Status changed: Premium Listing Listing, Sold STC

Friday, July 09, 2010 8:12:21 AM

* Price changed: from '£635,000' to '£599,950'

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:47:39 PM

* Status changed: from 'Available' to 'Premium Listing'

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:05:14 PM

* Initial entry found.

[bambam]

Well prices seem to be at 2007 levels in Woking, maybe slightly higher. In the £500k-£700k range at least.

Not sure about the cheaper flats and so on.

Prices fell quite a bit in 2008.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21070242.html

[bambam]

Some recent sales:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41511251.html - £2,055,000. Rather bloated in size IMO, someone specced it up because of its Hockering location.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=41228633&sale=49594097&country=england - £1m a little far from the station.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/40-white-rose-lane/woking/gu22-7lb/27478811 - only fetched £925k. A mile walk uphill to the town/station. Would be worth more a street or two over in the Hockering.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/21-waldens-park-road/horsell/woking/gu21-4rn/29053859 £890k - a little pricey IMO, convenient for pub/convenience stores in Horsell I suppose.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/briar-cottage/ivy-lane/woking/gu22-7by/29014900 £607k for that? Ugh, no thanks.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/denehurst/grange-road/horsell/woking/gu21-4da/26479142 - £590k a very sensible amount of house for the money, the catch here is simply it's a dead mile to the station and that puts people off.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/14-church-close/horsell/woking/gu21-4qz/29830088 Went for £586,500 just very poor value indeed, but central location.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/kirby-cottage/kirby-road/horsell/woking/gu21-4rj/27948035 £545k The housing stock in this area isn't outstanding, this isn't the best road to spend this sort of money.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/33-kirby-road/horsell/woking/gu21-4rj/9982648 Same road as the las one, this is a terrace @ £342k

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=38413765&sale=50072117&country=england Woking's answer to Hyde Park One, this is a 844 sq ft flat with balcony from which to admire the passing traffic. A snip at £360k.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=41378135&sale=451579&country=england - Welcome to the ghetto, in prime 'Little Pakistan' £225k buys you a 650sq ft terrace.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=28421579&sale=50071994&country=england Another ghetto terrace, this is 887 sqft for £220k

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/flat-5/kingsoak-house/north-road/woking/gu21-5db/17802739 ~ 500 sqft this fetched only £117k for reasons that aren't clear to me.

[longgone]

Some recent sales:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41511251.html - £2,055,000. Rather bloated in size IMO, someone specced it up because of its Hockering location.

2m to live in woking

may as well buy in esher cobham or weybridge if you are spending that , that house looks like 850k

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30821836?search_identifier=354717912dd97638d350a7abdb55c445

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30821876?search_identifier=354717912dd97638d350a7abdb55c445

[bambam]

The thing with that place is it's in Woking's mini-Wentworth, a gated estate, and it sustains higher prices for that reason.

It's clearly over £1m just from the square footage, and also the location is very convenient and premium for the area.

It isn't my idea of value, but there you go.

£2m doesn't buy you a country manor house in this area anyway, maybe some acres, but not landscaped, and fields aren't worth much at all.

Actually there are more houses in this price band in West Byfleet, a stop closer to London, though a slightly slower and less frequency service. (West Byfleet is a fairly bland little town not noticeably upmarket, though not down-at-heel either, with a busy road (Woking - Weybridge) running through it.)

Personally some of these wealthy but far-out places like Cobham don't impress me that much, slower trains and ok all the neighbours are rich, and hence burglary rates are low, but burglary tends to be very localised and if you ensure that your house is 3/4 of a mile from the nearest social housing in somewhere like Woking, then it's no different to being in Cobham or Esher. More shops too, though more practical and less exclusive (overpriced)

Edited January 21, 2014 by bambam

[worried1]

Personally some of these wealthy but far-out places like Cobham don't impress me that much, slower trains and ok all the neighbours are rich, and hence burglary rates are low, but burglary tends to be very localised and if you ensure that your house is 3/4 of a mile from the nearest social housing in somewhere like Woking, then it's no different to being in Cobham or Esher. More shops too, though more practical and less exclusive (overpriced)

True, but don't underestimate the power of snobbishness, especially in Surrey. People will pay a lot more to live in an area with cachet, even if the part they live in doesn't live up to the reputation.

As an extreme example, I know someone who moved to Farm Road in Esher. He loved the fact it was 'Esher' for a while, but moved out pretty quick when his car kept getting vandalised and he had a lot of other problems with the neighbours. The place was a zoo, but happened to be part of one of the poshest towns in the area.

At the other end of the scale, the nice roads between Surbiton and Long Ditton have some fantastic houses in the £1.5-£2.5m price range, but will never cost as much as the equivalent house would be worth in Esher or Cobham because people don't associate the overall area with homes of that type. Rich people like to stick together.

Not sure I agree about burglary, though. I have heard of incidences of a lot of the very high value areas being specifically targeted by gangs from London and beyond. They'd probably not bother with the very select pockets of Woking that they had not heard of.

[bambam]

True, but don't underestimate the power of snobbishness, especially in Surrey. People will pay a lot more to live in an area with cachet, even if the part they live in doesn't live up to the reputation.

As an extreme example, I know someone who moved to Farm Road in Esher. He loved the fact it was 'Esher' for a while, but moved out pretty quick when his car kept getting vandalised and he had a lot of other problems with the neighbours. The place was a zoo, but happened to be part of one of the poshest towns in the area.

At the other end of the scale, the nice roads between Surbiton and Long Ditton have some fantastic houses in the £1.5-£2.5m price range, but will never cost as much as the equivalent house would be worth in Esher or Cobham because people don't associate the overall area with homes of that type. Rich people like to stick together.

Not sure I agree about burglary, though. I have heard of incidences of a lot of the very high value areas being specifically targeted by gangs from London and beyond. They'd probably not bother with the very select pockets of Woking that they had not heard of.

Well TBH I have no idea about burglary rates in Esher/Cobham. But I leave lots of stuff unsecured/unlocked where I am in Woking, I assume it's much the same around there.

I guess the £15m megamansions around Cobham are a different kettle of fish, they are so conspicuous and ostentatious.

No shortage of them around either, though they tend to be concentrated in specific areas, e.g., Virginia Water, Windlesham, etc.

Here's one refurbed, I suspect not to British tastes:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23174928.html

[longgone]

The thing with that place is it's in Woking's mini-Wentworth, a gated estate, and it sustains higher prices for that reason.

It's clearly over £1m just from the square footage, and also the location is very convenient and premium for the area.

It isn't my idea of value, but there you go.

£2m doesn't buy you a country manor house in this area anyway, maybe some acres, but not landscaped, and fields aren't worth much at all.

Actually there are more houses in this price band in West Byfleet, a stop closer to London, though a slightly slower and less frequency service. (West Byfleet is a fairly bland little town not noticeably upmarket, though not down-at-heel either, with a busy road (Woking - Weybridge) running through it.)

Personally some of these wealthy but far-out places like Cobham don't impress me that much, slower trains and ok all the neighbours are rich, and hence burglary rates are low, but burglary tends to be very localised and if you ensure that your house is 3/4 of a mile from the nearest social housing in somewhere like Woking, then it's no different to being in Cobham or Esher. More shops too, though more practical and less exclusive (overpriced)

i agree about cobham not my kind of thing, go to oxshott and it is even worse nice big houses and lots of land but no town .

esher and claygate have a london bus service which makes a hell of a difference which regards to pricing.

if i spent 2m on a house i would like to think it will increase in value eventually or at least i would get my money back , and i certainly would not sink that much money into a house that looks like a extended semi from the 30`s on any london street.

funny how all the price rises are all things the average person lives in and any thing around the 1m to 2m has not really changed much.

middle england getting squeezed again why because of cheap credit , and more people can afford 500k for a home after 1 or 2 moves .

[longgone]

Well TBH I have no idea about burglary rates in Esher/Cobham. But I leave lots of stuff unsecured/unlocked where I am in Woking, I assume it's much the same around there.

I guess the £15m megamansions around Cobham are a different kettle of fish, they are so conspicuous and ostentatious.

No shortage of them around either, though they tend to be concentrated in specific areas, e.g., Virginia Water, Windlesham, etc.

Here's one refurbed, I suspect not to British tastes:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23174928.html

7000ft house for nearly the same money in a prime road brand new

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30821833?search_identifier=e8790901ee5aa001901c810d9acbcbb7

i know where my money would go no mosque either

[longgone]

As an extreme example, I know someone who moved to Farm Road in Esher. He loved the fact it was 'Esher' for a while, but moved out pretty quick when his car kept getting vandalised and he had a lot of other problems with the neighbours. The place was a zoo

worst place he could of bought in esher

[bambam]

7000ft house for nearly the same money in a prime road brand new

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30821833?search_identifier=e8790901ee5aa001901c810d9acbcbb7

i know where my money would go no mosque either

Well with that kind of cash I'd look to surrey proper

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39428674.html?premiumA=true

Train takes 51 minutes, but then that's quicker than some of the zone 6 ripoffs.

Price has been trimmed rather nicely http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/chisbury/petworth-road/witley/godalming/gu8-5lz/20111930

Edited January 21, 2014 by bambam

[longgone]

Well with that kind of cash I'd look to surrey proper

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39428674.html?premiumA=true

Train takes 51 minutes, but then that's quicker than some of the zone 6 ripoffs.

Price has been trimmed rather nicely http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/chisbury/petworth-road/witley/godalming/gu8-5lz/20111930

nice house , far better bet than the woking one, prefer the modern one though.

[worried1]

Here's one refurbed, I suspect not to British tastes:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23174928.html

Surely these areas are going to get less and less British as the prices go up? There are only a limited number of bankers that van buy in, inherited money won't cut it soon as it often has to be divided several ways.

I used to use the driving range at Sandown a few years ago and I was one of only a few Brits even then. Not a problem for me, but might be for some.

[worried1]

i agree about cobham not my kind of thing, go to oxshott and it is even worse nice big houses and lots of land but no town .

esher and claygate have a london bus service which makes a hell of a difference which regards to pricing.

Really? People who can afford to drop £2m on a house are then happily getting on board the K3 bus? I don't get on that unless I really can't avoid it, and I am several leagues below that!

I just can't see how a bus service to Kingston would increase values in an area like that. I would have thought having buses running through would actually be seen as a bit of a downside in more snobbish areas.

I don't think people buy in Esher or Claygate for the transport, more the housing stock, environment and neighbours. Esher's train is very fast, but the station is a long walk from the town and Claygate's is very slow and infrequent.

[worried1]

worst place he could of bought in esher

Fortunately he was only renting. He ended up bailing out early and paying out his notice. Just shows it is the individual location that is important rather than the town/postcode.

[worried1]

Well with that kind of cash I'd look to surrey proper

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39428674.html?premiumA=true

Train takes 51 minutes, but then that's quicker than some of the zone 6 ripoffs.

Price has been trimmed rather nicely http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/chisbury/petworth-road/witley/godalming/gu8-5lz/20111930

Amazing what you can get for the moony a bit further out. Train journey would be far to long for me, but I am impressed that the station is within easy walking distance. A lot of the time, you see these places with similar commutes, but you have to drive 3 miles to the station, park etc and it ends up taking 30 mins before you even get on the train.

Lovely house.

[longgone]

Really? People who can afford to drop £2m on a house are then happily getting on board the K3 bus? I don't get on that unless I really can't avoid it, and I am several leagues below that!

I just can't see how a bus service to Kingston would increase values in an area like that. I would have thought having buses running through would actually be seen as a bit of a downside in more snobbish areas.

I don't think people buy in Esher or Claygate for the transport, more the housing stock, environment and neighbours. Esher's train is very fast, but the station is a long walk from the town and Claygate's is very slow and infrequent.

plenty city boys on the k3 at 6 or 7am going to surbiton. , yeah the esher one is faster but like you say middle of nowhere. easier to get off at surbiton and get the bus for me anyway

15mins from surbiton

[bambam]

Amazing what you can get for the moony a bit further out. Train journey would be far to long for me, but I am impressed that the station is within easy walking distance. A lot of the time, you see these places with similar commutes, but you have to drive 3 miles to the station, park etc and it ends up taking 30 mins before you even get on the train.

Lovely house.

It's a good deal quicker than Brighton, and certainly cheaper (both in terms of train, and more importantly, housing). (And there's a footpath leading to the station, so you don't have to go round on the road.)

The other thing is when you get down there, it does feel like the old English countryside, whereas the commuter towns just beyond the M25 don't have that at all - you either get rich vulgarity in places like the Chalfonts, Virginia Water et al, and jaded workstation slaves in some of the cheaper places.

And you are 15 minutes from the M25 here, which is better than could be said for many London suburbs.

[bambam]

Surely these areas are going to get less and less British as the prices go up? There are only a limited number of bankers that van buy in, inherited money won't cut it soon as it often has to be divided several ways.

I used to use the driving range at Sandown a few years ago and I was one of only a few Brits even then. Not a problem for me, but might be for some.

The problem is that you need to find that buyer. That one has been on for a year and a half, and has had £1.75m lopped off the price.

http://propertyporner.co.uk/quick-pic-park-place-windlesham-surrey/

Looks like it's owned by a Baldev Johal Singh. He and his brother (?), both of boomer age, seem to own a couple of property companies. THey would appear to live in a more modest place near Bedford.