Guildford Where do you think the bad parts of Guildford are?

I’m thinking of renting in Guildford to move closer to work…

Are there any particular areas in Guildford that I should avoid

I probably cant afford the more expensive places in Guildford, but don’t want to move to a place where I’m likely to get burgled

The worst part would be Park Barn, but thats worst relatively. Hands down Guildford is the safest place I have ever lived, I’ve never seen more police around. I lived in Park barn for my second year of uni at Surrey and it was OK, mostly a lot of chavs and students because its the cheapest place to rent. But as long as you’re not stupid and leave windows open etc. which I’m sure you not, you’ll be fine. happy house hunting.

I agree with Travis, Park Barn is probably the worst place in Guildford, but there is so much police presence here I don’t think you have to worry about it being unsafe. I always see at least one police car everyday and that’s quite comforting!

I also Agree with Travis.

Park Barn = "Chav Center" avoid it if you can, but it is the cheaper area of Guildford, so it all depends on what you can afford.

I’m not sure if there are "nicer" parts of Park Barn?

Nice part = The edge, as close to the edge as possible

What about Beldfields? Is it a bit dodgy or is it ok?

None of Guildford is dodgy. It’s definitely less dodgy than any other place I’ve lived and is very safe. Like previous posters have said, Park Barn is quite chavvy but most of them won’t actually do anything, maybe occasionaly annoy you.

I dont think much of Belfields, but Park Barn is rougher IMO

Thanks for the tip Jamie and Elliot, I’m looking to buy a house of a flat in Guildford, and it’s obviously MUCH cheaper in those areas. Being fairly new to Guildford, it’s good to have second opinions on this!

Bad… Guildford? Isn’t that an oxymoron!

Depending on where you work, you might find Woking to be a good place – it’s a bit less of a sprawl than Guildford (you could read that as ‘more compact’ I suppose) – and also has its own Football Club (at the time of posting, Woking Football Club is 2nd in the Blue Square South League, http://www.bluesqsouth.com/tables/ )

Woking also has its own Formula 1 Racing Team (Maclaren!) – not forgetting the cinema, theatre, shopping centres, park, swimming complex, 10 pin bowling, and recently reworked leisure centre with new built facilities for youth groups.

not to mention that Woking is both closer to London and cheaper than Guildford!

Thanks guys! I work in Guildford so I prefer buying a house here (I am way too lazy to commute every day ) but Woking sounds like a good location. Thanks again for your advice!

So many people have it in for Park Barn and Belfields,
but hey, at least its cheaper !

I love Onslow village myself, this is definitely not a bad part of Guildford, but you don’t have to walk too far until it starts feeling a little rough

Really? Which part of Onslow village would you call rough?

Ps: cool avatar pic by the way!

In my opinion, Guildford is a con. Its promoted as one of the safest and most affluent parts of the UK to live. If this place is the safest, I dread to think what hell on earth is the worst.

I was born and raised in the council estates of Portsmouth, have lived in Staines and Hounslow, but this place is by far the worst I have lived in. We have been burgled, had vehicles and property vandalised, abuse and threats of violence, all in only 12 months. I have never experienced this anywhere else I have lived no matter how rough and notorious it was.

There is a hidden problem in Guildford. Some areas maybe very affluent and safe, but it masks an alter-ego. For example, was have 11 year old girls running around the streets drunk, vandalising cars and standing on street corners shouting abuse at passers by. I live on the Onslow estate, and while the chav families are a minority against the students, old folk and professionals, they must cause 99% of the problems. Every single night, someone somewhere nearby is shouting.

Police? Someone stated here that seeing ‘at least one police car a day’ made them feel safe! How is that? What good as a police car drifting by for all of 3 seconds? We need to see foot patrols!! I feel that this estate has been totally abandoned.

We pay £1100 to live with scum. We will be moving shortly, never to return to Guildford. Give me Paulsgrove anyday.

I don’t think I did, but you don’t have to walk too far from Onslow (towards the station, or towards Park Barn) and it does start to feel rough, they are only a stone’s throw away.

I’d like to see these stats that said Guildford was the "safest place", mainly because I’ve found stats/articles promoted by local councils/whoever is often statistical propaganda that I would not put an ounce of faith in

The police have an interesting website, if you compare Onslow GU2 area (and areas close by):
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Guildford, Surrey GU2, UK#crimetypes
To Said P06 area:
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Portsmouth PO6, UK#crimetypes
They’re not that far off, this one might be more accurate for Onslow village it’s self:
http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Onslow Village, Guildford, Surrey GU2, UK#crimetypes

Slightly more antisocial behaviour in PO6, but more buglary in GU2 <<= not a great comparison since you should compare like for like populations, anyone fancy working it out?

Portsmouth does look better value for a Money in your pocket:Money stolen from your pocket ratio

Truth is, these stats change from one month to the next, and as it gets colder you get less antisocial behaviour in the streets (except the High Street where all the bars are, obv). The real question is whether the situation gets globally worse in the future, but I think that with the recession and everything, the same trends will apply to many towns, not just Guildford.

You can use those links to check from month to month,
Those links point to the the stats recorded last month

Comparing month to month, Crimes published on the site

Month: GU2, PO6, GU2(Center of radius = Onslow Village)

2010 Dec: 375, 229, 353
2011 Jan 408, 227, 342
2011 Feb 439, 250, 384
2011 Mar: 527, 274, 464
2011 April: 345, 332, 318
etc ..

For the Onslow Village stats, if you zoom in, not that many are near the centre of O.V, but in or around Bridge Street

A clue to why that might be peek (and that’s not all that’s on that street that might increase the crime stats)

Getting back to the questions, according the these stats some of "the worst places in Guildford to live" are:

On or near Bridge Street (55 Crimes reported August 2011)
Other places in the GU1 area: On or near Chertsey Street (32 Crimes in August 2011)
On or near Bedford Road (27 Crimes reported August 2011)
On or near North Street (27 Crimes reported August 2011)
On or near Greville Close – Park Barn (17 Crimes reported August 2011)
Other places in the GU2 area: On or near Wordplesdon Road (12 Crimes reported August 2011)
On or near Hazel Avenue – Belfieds (10 Crimes reported August 2011)

I don’t know how much these figures actually weigh, or if they are even a good indicator at all

I’m going to put this question up for a vote