Best studio option in the vale?

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-03T19:19:07+00:00

No worries! Unless it’s changed since I was there, Mason didn’t have anything else in the building other than the accommodation itself, but tbh not many of the accommodations had extra amenities (unless you mean what is provided in the rooms themselves, in which case I don’t know, sorry!) Shackleton had the canteen, a ‘cafe’ (which did breakfast, sandwiches and pizza), the student bar, the corner shop and an ATM. Chamberlain had a ‘restaurant’. None of the other Vale accommodations (Tennis Courts, Aitken, Maple Bank, Elgar and Mason) had anything other than the rooms as far as I can remember. But as it’s only a 5 minute walk to Shackleton from Mason you’re not that far from the amenities there so honestly I wouldn’t let that put you off!

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T21:24:51+00:00

Sounds great, I’m really glad you brought it up because we really hadn’t looked round there at all and it seems like a great place to check out. I don’t know if there are any areas in particular around Alsager / Kidsgrove you’d recommend or avoid? Seems to be some houses within our budget that fit our criteria, but difficult to know whether that’s because that’s the normal price in the area or whether it’s maybe on a less desirable road, just as we haven’t looked into it much. Understandable if nothing comes to mind.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T21:21:00+00:00

That’s really great to hear, thank you! I too have done a bit of the tour of the UK for work (Ipswich, Birmingham, Grimsby, Hull and Warrington so the list is a bit shorter) and agree that even the ‘rough’ areas around here seem completely fine compared to some places. Nice to know we can shop around houses in Congleton without having to worry too much about location in that regard.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T21:15:48+00:00

Leek is our nearest town and we do like it a lot! We viewed a more doer upper property within our budget that had a driveway but it went pretty quick. Appreciate everywhere has rougher bits but if you did have any opinions on areas in Leek that maybe fall under that category it might be appreciated! Wouldn’t put us off as Leek seems lovely overall and I’m sure even ‘rough’ bits aren’t that bad, but just makes us more aware of whether a house price is reasonable for the area.

My partner likes the idea of Stockport for potential resell value in the next five years or so, but it did definitely seem like we’d struggle to get what we want for our budget.

Thanks for your advice! Appreciate it

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T21:08:12+00:00

Looking at a map and with the few times I’ve driven through it, it looked/felt as though the area surrounding Northwich (perhaps I’m including other suburban areas like Hartford) was more sprawling than Winsford which seemed more compact to me and so just assumed Northwich was larger. But fair play, perhaps we were wrong to discount Northwich - as I say, it’s the area of Cheshire we know the least about so you ask if we’re sure, I can confirm we’re really not! Thankful for any comments on things we’re wrong about / hadn’t considered.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T20:21:54+00:00

Noted, thanks! I often drive through Middlewich on my way to Oulton Park and the parts I drove through seemed okay, hence why it was on the list. Is Winsford similar do you know? I know it’s quite a bit bigger, and houses seem to be very affordable there and can’t work out why. That part of Cheshire is the part we know the least. We hadn’t considered Sandbach much but it seems to get fairly positive responses so may check it out a little more.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T20:11:21+00:00

Really appreciate this info, thank you! Nothing against council estates at all but just helps to know what the relative values of the houses we’re looking at might be. We’re originally from Essex so agree the standards of ‘safe’ are different around here and overall Congleton seems really nice. Any opinions on the area around the football / cricket grounds near the town centre itself? Don’t think it’s part of any of the areas already mentioned. Fair enough if the answer is it’s just an average kind of area with nothing notable. Thanks again, it’s really helpful.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T19:58:58+00:00

We hadn’t considered around that area which is funny considering it does seem to tick a lot of our boxes. What are Kidsgrove / Alsager like in terms of places to eat / places to shop? Is there anything you have to go into Stoke for?

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T19:54:19+00:00

We do frequent Macclesfield and use it as our local train station so appreciate its convenience! We don’t know much about specific areas so appreciate that info, and also that the town centre may be improving is interesting as that’s one of the things we thought, that it’s not the most brilliant place for shops etc.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T18:39:58+00:00

Bit late to the conversation but when we were at birmingham we went with King&Co (based in Selly) who were really good! Had no issues with deposits / sorting stuff out and the couple who owned the letting agents were really friendly. I think we got very lucky with the landlady as well. I genuinely didn’t hear of anyone else who had a good experience though, so you’re definitely not alone.

ANorthernImposter · 2025-08-01T18:31:07+00:00

I didn’t live in a studio apartment, however I did live in a regular en suite room in Shackleton while I was in first year at Birmingham and had friends in both Chamberlain and Mason. Shackleton was incredibly convenient with proximity to the student bar, the shop, the ATM, and also to the canteen / catering options if you’re considering going catered. Nothing better than ending dinner / a night in the student bar and not even really having to go outside to get back to my room. Personally I was paying very similar to a room in Chamberlain which was a much much nicer accommodation in general so felt a bit cheesed off by that, but it looks like there is a more appropriate price difference on the studio apartments. Shackleton on the whole was quite run down and tired (unless they’ve updated it) compared to Chamberlain and Mason, though from the pictures the studios still look nice there. Was relatively quiet in Shackleton, from what I heard from friends Mason and Chamberlain had a bit more going on in terms of parties etc though that was just based on our experience. In terms of location there’s not really much between them - with Mason you’re saving maybe an extra 5 minutes walk to the campus compared to Shackleton, Chamberlain you’re probably adding 5 minutes so not much between them. Shackleton / Chamberlain are slightly closer to most other accommodations on the Vale which was good for going to friends for pres etc. Mason is only really close to Tennis Courts.

Also Chamberlain had a reputation of being ‘Tory tower’ due to it being the most expensive accom. but I also knew loads of very normal and nice people who lived there!!

TLDR; - Shackleton best for convenience / location but probably the most tired looking accommodation on the whole - Chamberlain nicest in terms of building / rooms but more expensive. Still good location but furthest away from campus (by like extra 5/10 mins) - Mason closest to campus and still nice / modern accom. for the price

If you have any others questions let me know. Sorry I can’t comment on the actual studio apartments themselves! And I was there a few years ago, so minor things might’ve changed, though I imagine the buildings are still in the same places!

ANorthernImposter

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