11 Plus Exams Forum

Dear all,
First of all many thanks for all the help offered on this forum. It was very useful and helped us take some good decisions.

DS got an offer from Habs boys, Hampton boys and other indies although his/our preference is HABS

This means relocation for us as we live in Northampton and commute is not possible for DS from there.

We have a decent budget for 4/5 bed properities and looking for areas which are 15-20 mins away from Habs.

Was advised to look in Watford, Edgware, Mill Hill, Bushey, St. Albans etc.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated please ?

That's a wide range without knowing if you need to commute back to Northampton or into London for your own jobs, but add Radlett to the list if you can afford it.

Hatfield would be a good place.

The Habs coach goes from Hatfield train station which has fast trains to Kings Cross and Finsbury park where you can pick up Victoria and Piccadillly tube and slow trains to Moorgate.

There are also good state primaries in Hatfield if there are any younger siblings involved.

Should you wish to consider QE or DAO for any younger siblings you would be in DAO catchment and good transport links to all three schools.

Hatfield is very up and coming and you would get more for your money than in the areas you have already mentioned. DG

Rhinoo wrote:That's a wide range without knowing if you need to commute back to Northampton or into London for your own jobs, but add Radlett to the list if you can afford it.

Thanks. I work in London so anywhere in that zone is fine

Daogroupie wrote:Hatfield would be a good place.

The Habs coach goes from Hatfield train station which has fast trains to Kings Cross and Finsbury park where you can pick up Victoria and Piccadillly tube and slow trains to Moorgate.

There are also good state primaries in Hatfield if there are any younger siblings involved.

Should you wish to consider QE or DAO for any younger siblings you would be in DAO catchment and good transport links to all three schools.

Hatfield is very up and coming and you would get more for your money than in the areas you have already mentioned. DG

Many thanks. Any specific post code around hatfield I can look for please or just search in Hatfield ?

Old Hatfield which is right opposite the station is lovely and is a real community and you get free access to Hatfield Park which surrounds Hatfield House. This is the AL9 postcode.

There is also an area called the Ryde just around the Ryde primary school which is just a few minutes walk from the railway station. This is in the AL10 postcode



DG

One thing to bear in mind when choosing where to live is the Habs coach schedule. They do not have late coaches on every route which can impact whether he can participate in after school activities (or you would need to collect).

As a Habs parent, from a social perspective, I would recommend looking at areas where there are quite a lot of Habs families, or that are easy for your DS to get to by public transport. I would say the areas that are the most popular are: Hampstead Garden Suburb, Finchley, Hendon, Mill Hill, Totteridge, Elstree, Borehamwood, Radlett, Edgware, Stanmore, Bushey, Hatch End & Pinner. All of these areas have quite concentrated Habs kids and good transport links and good coach services to the school. If you venture too far out from these areas, you may find that your son has only 1 or 2 in the year close by, which can make it difficult for get togethers in half terms and holidays. However the price difference in these areas is huge so I would suggest looking at RightMove and working out which area is realistic for you.

Many thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. As suggested, I'm looking around the areas indicated but finding props are very expensive. Will continue checking. Out of interest, how much time do coaches normally take on average from the areas mentioned please ?

thanks

I thought you were looking at Bucks GS; have your plans changed?