Tell me about Fareham and/or Waterlooville.

DaChivs

DaChivs

DaChivs

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My partner and I have recent started looking at houses in the Waterlooville area, just north of Portsmouth. Unfortunately we're finding it's slim-pickings right now. The market is a bit hot, of course, but we're hoping to find something by the end of summer.

We're only first-time-buyers, so our budget isn't sky high (we're looking at 3-bed terraced, end of terraced, and the occasional semi-detached). We're aware of some particularly nice places, but the houses are mostly 350k+ (firmly out of our reach).

A friend recently suggested Fareham as an alternative to Waterlooville. We're not super familiar with either location, but we at least have friends in Waterlooville who have pointed out a couple of areas to avoid.

Does anyone know much about the general area, who could tell us the hot/not spots?
We're not looking to go further west of Fareham (perhaps Whiteley...) or east of Waterlooville/A3.
 
Depends where in Waterlooville you look. The newer estates of Old Park Farm and Berewood are, obviously modern and rather nice. The high street is absolute trash, but Portsmouth (Gunwharf Quays) and Southampton are both in easy reach if you like mall shopping.
The beach is a short drive away - Southsea in Portsmouth or Hayling Island are both nice - and north of the area you have some very nice country areas for walking/hiking, etc.

At the moment, one of our neighbours is looking to move out towards Chichester and he had to sell his own house before he could even do any viewings of other properties - houses are selling within a week of being put on the market and you have to be quick.

We moved here from Reading a few years ago, got a LOT more house for our money, the neighbours are nice, the schools are good and we are happy. Not sure I can say much more. :)
 
Avoid Wecock Farm in Waterlooville, Leigh Park in Havant and Paulsgrove.
 
We moved to Fareham about 6 years ago and I find it quite nice in the southern part of town. You should be able to find something in your budget here.
The town centre seems nice enough but my experience is limited. I can't comment on the schools if you have plans there.
Lots of 3 bed terraced houses in my part of town with good sized gardens (its why we bought one) for around the £220-£250k mark although they do get snapped up quickly.
We have friends in Chichester and thats only 30 mins away on a good day.

I wouldn't go further South (Bridgemary and Gosport) as traffic is a pain and I've not heard great things about Bridgemary in particular.
Whiteley being mostly newbuilds and a bunch of offices has major traffic issues getting in and out.

The only thing I know about the Waterlooville area is to avoid Leigh Park.
 
nst68 said:
Avoid Wecock Farm in Waterlooville, Leigh Park in Havant and Paulsgrove.
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tomparker95 said:
Stay well clear of Leigh Park :D
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Bickaxe said:
The only thing I know about the Waterlooville area is to avoid Leigh Park.
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Thanks all! I think this mostly reflects my own research regarding Leigh Park, Wecock Farm, and (at least parts of) Paulsgrove.

Is there a similar area in Fareham? I've seen someone mention "Highlands" before, which I presume means Highlands Road. But even that doesn't look too bad to the untrained eye (based on google maps / streetview).

We're actually moving from the Bognor Regis (North Bersted) area, purely so we can commute to work easier, and not have to live with relatives. I see the crime statistics in all these places we're considering and they mostly seem higher than where I am now (some by quite a bit) except for the nicer parts of Waterlooville (where we definitely can't afford). So I don't know how to even start comparing! :cry:
 
Waterlooville is nice in parts, along the London road is nice into Cowplain. The areas towards Denmead are also good, as is Horndean and Clanfield, all surrounding.
Like other said above the high street is pretty much dead, I'm honestly surprised it still exists, but that's what deliveries are for.

Everyone has mentioned avoiding the above place as they're all council estates but even they aren't the scummiest of places. Lots of council estate got bought up with right to buy, and sold of and beggars can't be choosers.

Portsmouth, Southsea and Hayling are only 20min drives away for summer fun and Gunwharf is nice for shops and clubs (if that's your thing)
Right next to lots of fields and forests to go walking in to. Queen Elizabeth Country Park etc.

Avoid Southampton though. Lol ;)
I've always considered Fareham to be a bit more lower class, but I don't live there.

Trust me if you want as I am a local. (Edit: Blimey I've just noticed your from Bognor, why don't you drive down and take a look, its only 30mins down the road) You can tell a lot about the place by just looking) :D
 
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Whiteley = Traffic but the area is OK. They are also be building a new town called Welborne at Junction 10 of the M27 east of Whiteley, generally this whole area has been built on but the infrastructure hasn't had much investment so pre covid the traffic was awful.

I live in Gosport, not Bridgemary but that used to have a bad rep but it is nothing like it used to be since they redeveloped the 'concrete jungle'. Traffic is not as bad as pre Covid, trying to get into/out of Whiteley at rush hour was just as bad as Gosport. Can only hope covid keeps more cars off the road permanently. Oh and that is before we even mention the m27 smart motorway project.
 
ChroniC said:
Edit: Blimey I've just noticed your from Bognor, why don't you drive down and take a look, its only 30mins down the road) You can tell a lot about the place by just looking :D
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Haha, you're not wrong! Part of our worry is that we've visited one or two places thinking they looked quite pleasant, and then told by friends that we'd be foolish because of how awful the area is. Perhaps the friends are being slightly snobby? But this experience of "that looks nice" (actually it's awful) has led me to asking these sorts of questions...

I have a family member(in-law) who grew up in Leigh Park, who has family that still live there. They have told us how awful it is and to never even consider buying near it. Despite this, there are some alright-looking roads within it, and there are new-build estates popping up in the near-by surroundings that look very pleasant indeed! "Just, don't you dare buy any of them because of proximity..."

rodders said:
Couple of houses in Swanwick for sale where I live. I'm a terrible neighbour, scaring them all off, lol.
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Swanwick does look rather nice, but I think they may be listed for above our budget, as I've not found them on a quick sweep of rightmove/onthemarket (I know these websites are not the only places to look, but I guess they're fairly well populated).
 
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I'm in the north area of Fareham and it's quite nice here really, motorway isn't far off but you get used to it, and it's not realllllly close, so it's fine.

Not far from being able to drive off into a bit of countryside, or towards Portsmouth/Southampton as both have motorway links from here.

I like the area, but I wouldn't want to live too close to the Highlands area, or on the opposite end of the town centre really.

Houses here aren't cheap though!
 
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