Living in Reading

Reading is a historic town in Berkshire, just over 40 miles from London. The town offers exceptional transport links and is popular with all demographics, due to the excellent business opportunities, plethora of educational facilities and an exciting night life.

Sonning is a picturesque village with plenty on offer including, The Mill, a dinner theatre with a beautiful atmosphere as well evening entertainment. Furthermore, Sonning has idyllic riverside walks with a stop at the Coppa Club for a refreshment and some lunch. Home to George Clooney, Sonning offers the chance to live beside fame and fortune.

Tilehurst is a small suburb of Reading and is hugely popular with families, due to it being home to Birch Copse, an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ school.

Caversham is a suburb located just a 10 minute walk from Reading train station and is also home to the greatest rock festival of all time, Reading Festival. Caversham has a large park which the River Thames flows through creating great walks with the family, why not take some bread and feed the ducks? Caversham is the ideal place for a family as it has a range of shops from supermarkets to fashion boutiques and hair salons.

Schools

Reading offers a plethora of state schools, many of which hold Ofsted’s ‘Outstanding’ status.

The renowned Kendrick Grammar School is located just shy of the town centre where it has been educating girls to the highest standard since 1877.

Reading’s Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ Schools (data correct as of July 2019)

School	Status	Inspection date
Reading School	Outstanding	20/05/2010
Caversham Primary School	Outstanding	26/02/2009
Emmer Green Primary School	Outstanding	23/11/2012
The Heights Primary School	Outstanding	24/05/2017
Kendrick School	Outstanding	09/10/2008
The Avenue Special School	Outstanding	23/02/2016

Also within Reading, you’ll find Reading’s University and College which offers the chance to learn many new skills such as engineering, accountancy, cookery and fine art. The university and college are popular amongst local, national and international students.

Local amenities

Living in Reading, there’s something for everyone…

Shopping

If you’re a bit of a shopaholic, Reading is fit with 71,800m2 of shopping glory – The Oracle is one of Reading’s main attractions. The Oracle ranges with high end department stores and high street favourites. The Oracle is set besides a river, so you can have a tasty meal overlooking the river. An array of food is offer from Lebanese to Japanese and Italian… you’ll never want to leave!

Things to do

If you’re looking for something to do with the kids, Reading has Vue Cinema which offers tickets for just £2.49 every Saturday morning, making spending time with the kids more affordable than ever. However, if you fancy getting active Reading is home to Red Kangaroo Trampoline park where the kids can show of their gymnastic skills.

Reading is widely renowned for its night life with things for all generations from civilised bars to crazy nights out. Bars like Caffeine & Cocktails and Be At One are well known in Reading as the best place to grab a cocktail and have a catch-up with friends. However, if you are looking for a big night out The Purple Turtle, Lola Lo and Revolution will give you a night you won’t forget.

Pitch up and get your wellies out… it’s Reading Festival, the second largest festival in the UK which Reading has proudly hosted since 1991. The festival is held in Richfield Avenue, come rain or shine and is live broadcasted on the BBC each year.

Head out of town

If you want to venture further afield, why not head into Oxford, home of the notorious Oxford University? Historic buildings and a brilliant newly built shopping centre, Oxford is perfect for a day of shopping or being a tourist. Just a 35 minute train journey from Reading, Westgate Shopping Centre has rooftop bars and enough shopping to keep you busy for hours

Transport links

Reading is a hot spot for commuters due to the selection of business parks locally and excellent road and rail links into Central London, Oxford, Wokingham and Maidenhead. Reading train station offers a direct and frequent link to London Paddington. nd Maidenhead. Reading train station offers a direct and frequent link to London Paddington.

Train timings from Reading train station (correct as of July 2019)

Route	Time
London Paddington	35 minutes
Oxford	23 minutes
Wokingham	13 minutes
Maidenhead	14 minutes

Crossrail is coming to Reading

When the Crossrail work is complete, four Elizabeth line trains an hour (six an hour at peak times) will allow passengers to travel all the way into Central London without having to change trains.

House prices in Reading

Living in Reading, you’ll want to know what’s happening in the local property market. When you’ve got any property questions, our door is always open but at the very least, we think you should know the average house prices across the area.

(Data correct as of July 2019)

Property type	Average price	Average price per sq.ft	Average number of bedrooms
Detached	£689,724	£405	4
Semi-detached	£409,911	£385	3.2
Terraced	£323,580	£380	2.8
Apartments	£255,420	£392	392

Other information

Local MP

Reading’s Conservative Party has been represented by Alok Sharma since 2010. In June 2017 he was appointed as Minster of State Department for Communities and local government with responsibility for housing.

Prospect fact

Prospect of Reading is the largest Prospect and flag ship store and has been exceeding customers’ expectations since 1990.

Fun facts about Reading

Reading is the largest town in the UK yet has not been deemed city status.

Legendary Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna lived in Tilehurst during the early part of his career in the 1980s.

On the side of London Street Building there is a colourful artwork by Alan Howard, he created the mural as counterparty piece of art expressing the struggle against oppression and exploitation.

Let Prospect help you

Prospect has been helping people buy, sell, rent and let property across Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey since 1990 and would love to help you make your next move.

Whether you’re looking to rent your next home or buy one, we’d love to help you. Simply register online today.

If you’re already a resident and are looking to sell or rent your home out, our property experts will make the process as easy as possible. Arrange your free property valuation today.

Reading Office:

24 King Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2HE
t: 0118 997 6008
e: [email protected]

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