[Closed] Where should we buy a house?

Cumbernauld.

Mrs Chaz & I have agreed the sale of our house on the South Coast and are now engaged in a fruitless search for a new home. There’s nowhere in our price bracket (230k) near us that will improve our situation.

Why did you sell?

Baildon might tick your boxes. BD17. 5 miles north of Bradford, 12 miles northwest of Leeds. Ten minutes drive from Leeds-Bradford airport if that makes any difference. A little over £230k will get you a smallish 3 bed semi with off street parking for one, maybe 2 cars, a good area and some cracking trails from your doorstep

For example, https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/59266693/

Calder valley not far away if it’s a must. But it floods. A lot.

Do you have any constraints, at all? I mean that's nice for you, but also makes knowing where to start almost impossible

Jersey?

Recommend where you live - north Sheffield. £240k got us a 4 bed semi, large dirve / garage, large garden. 5 minutes up the road to Greno Woods and beyond, 30 mins out toward the Peaks the other way.

House needed (needs) work but it is perfectoly habitable and we've been here 4 years so far and have been slowly getting bits done but there is nothing so pressing that we can't just take our time.

Easy access to town, Meadowhall and the motorways as well. Want more could you want?!

Up North is calling with the Calder Valley on the list, also across to Lancaster is interesting.

Yep.

Some very broad initial thoughs;

Bury - anywhere North of Heaton Park. Lots of nice bits.
Bolton - Horwich and further out, plenty of other pleasant suburbs on the outskirts.
Ramsbottom.
Rawtenstall.
Burnley suburbs - Cliviger and Worsthorne, further out Barley, Roughlee, Whalley, Clitheroe.

Much of the Calder Valley can be cold and dank, if you're not very careful.
Mytholmroyd is nice, but, like much of the lower bits of the valley, flooding is a major concern.
Can be very, very 'local'.

Preston is rapidly heading the way of Rochdale - avoid.

Lancaster is mostly very pleasant, but horrendous traffic in the centre. Some lovely places on the coast and up toward Cumbria.

Yorkshire Dales, you'll have to compromise somewhat, but a lovely place to live.

As above, Sheffield is a fantastic city.
For the Midlands. 🙂

If we didn't have the grandkids and access to a brilliant climbing hut in North Wales, we'd be off to Scotland or Northumberland like a shot.

Avoid:
Stockport.
Rochdale.
Bacup.
Blackburn.
Accrington.
Haslingden.
And most of all, Blackpool.

Reading - London prices without any of the glamour.

As above, Sheffield is a fantastic city.
For the Midlands. 🙂

Fighting talk that... 😀

Cumbernauld.

I have no idea if you were serious (because I have never previously heard anyone recommend Cumbernauld as a place to live!) but central belt Scotland certainly could provide you with everything you listed (the most expensive parts will not tick your budget, but your shouldn't have to go to the worst parts either).

Why did you sell?

'cos we can,t stand the area - we bought where we are because it was the only place on the South Coast we could afford! I'll have to find a nw job in due course so that's another consideration.

Also Jersey - ahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahha

Not sure that even Kirsty and Phil would know where to start with such a vague brief! 🙂

Lincolnshire is great value though...
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110481824#/?channel=RES_BUY

As above, Sheffield is a fantastic city.
For the Midlands The South. 🙂

Almost anywhere in Scotland that's not in a city would get you what you want.

My pal just bought a 3 bedroom place in Linlithgow that has a built in garage and a back garden for £230k.
Linlithgow is quite a nice town and is on the train line into Edinburgh (15 mins) and Glasgow (25 mins).

You could look at the Borders for similar but >cycling & <transport links
Stirling or Perth would work for good transport links and access to the outdoors.

or Fife; Scotland's Norfolk.

We live in Skipton, North Yorks and can recommend it highly. Think our house is probably worth around your budget, so you could get a 1970's detached 3 bed, garden front and rear + garage. Just the job I reckon!

Up North is calling with the Calder Valley on the list, also across to Lancaster is interesting.

Lancaster is great - right on the West Coast Main Line, onto the M6 at J33 or 34, easy access to the Lakes and across to Yorkshire. I lived there for 5 years, was a nice little town although the high street now is in a fairly poor state, a lot of empty retail units. And as mentioned, traffic can be horrendous at times.

Kendal is nice too - the fact that it has a bypass means most of the Lake District tourist traffic just goes right by it and it doesn't have the same massive tourist influx (with the related twee cafes and inflated prices) that Ambleside and Windermere have.

Lincolnshire is great value though…

Lincs is lovely and definitely cheap. Stay away from the south of the county though (either awful or expensive). Not sure the riding would excite you however - the Wolds aren't exactly flat, but they also ain't the peaks!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112646903#/?channel=RES_BUY looks nice, and Louth is a lovely little town

House first or new job first?

cos we can,t stand the area

Why?

I've still no idea what you are trying to achieve.

What are your requirements for the new area?

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Nobeerinthefridge
Free Member

Cumbernauld

Nobody comes from Cumbernauld, they all come from Balloch, Dullatur, The Village, Broadwood, etc - very strange

Given the economy I would get new job first. What do you do? Do you need to be in/near a city? Or do you work remotely?

Any excuse for this

Hu-ders-field here. HD9 and HD8 are nice places to live and loads of riding from the door.

Traffic in Lancaster has improved a lot with the bay gateway road, however the new build estates down by the lune have just 1 road for access and they keep building more houses there. When it's bad it's quicker to just dump the car and go back later.

The high st is looking a bit tired.

I like heysham village but it sits in a bowl surrounded by trees, so loses the sun early. Lovely little village if you don't mind being 5 degrees cooler than the neighbouring town's.

Avoid:
Stockport.

What's wrong with Stockport?

Whats your interests hobbies etc do you need good schools etc?

I lived in horwich until recently and then emigrated to Scotland

Youd get something nice round there even adlington way. Dont go central chorley though.

Happy to look at any right move links n advise

Maryport.

What’s wrong with Stockport?

Everything.
Even the roads out of it are shit.

Nobody comes from Cumbernauld, they all come from Balloch, Dullatur, The Village, Broadwood, etc – very strange

Anyone who originally comes from Cumbernauld talking to someone from Cumbernauld will always say where they grew up eg Carbrain (or more specifically the street Millcroft, Greenrigg, Stonielee etc), Seafar, Kildrum, Villager etc. The people that didn't grow up in Cumbernauld only identify with the new estates they moved in to. Easy way to tell if someone is originally from Cumbernauld.

Rawtenstall

Awful, town centre is fighting pub central the odd nice bar isn't worth running the gauntlet. Nice areas are out of the centre such as Crawshawbooth

Avoid Heywood, makes Rochdale look attractive

As always a few streets make a difference

You don't have the budget for Ramsbottom for what you want

Maryport

Known as scareyport for a reason

Cockermouth is nice

cos we can,t stand the area – we bought where we are because it was the only place on the South Coast we could afford!

I'm intrigued as to which particular shithole you currently reside in.

How about the glitz and glamor of the Northern Riviera?

I’ve been to Blackpool twice. First time I didn’t stop. Second time I did a gig & came home with COVID-19.

I won’t be going back in a hurry

I grew up in Eden Valley, just outside Penrith.

Lovely part of the world. You can spend summer in Eden valley, far north of the lakes. Then spend winter exploring rest of the lakes as the visitors have left....

Where we currently live - around Stirling - meets all your criteria and is just brilliant access to hills, rivers, rides, walks, and all the amenities you need. Houses are rocketing, but you could be in Stirling city or out in Callander for that money easy.

Depending on your employment needs, I also suggest go big. Inverness.

Awful, town centre is fighting pub central the odd nice bar isn’t worth running the gauntlet. Nice areas are out of the centre such as Crawshawbooth

Nah, it's gone a bit upmarket, all BBC people who can't afford Chorlton/Didsbury and families now. The town centre is actually quite nice.

Agreed, Crawshawbooth is lovely if you can find somewhere to park.

If you want to get your head kicked in you have to get the bus to Bacup or Hassie these days. 🙂

johndrummer
Full Member
I’ve been to Blackpool twice. First time I didn’t stop. Second time I did a gig & came home with COVID-19.

I won’t be going back in a hurry

I come from Moston, which in the 80's was part of one of the most deprived areas in Northern Europe.
I have never, ever seen anything to compare to Blackpool.
It's the most broken, violent, messed up place I've ever been.

What’s wrong with Stockport?

Stockport has some nice bits and quite a few hipster foody/coffee places if that's your bag.

I’ve been to Blackpool twice. First time I didn’t stop. Second time I did a gig & came home with COVID-19.

I've lived in Blackpool for 42 years and never caught COVID, so I'm not sure what that proves!

Darlington....

Darlington

Move quick half the civil service is going there

If you want to get your head kicked in you have to get the bus to Bacup or Hassie these days

You mustn't be a regular in Bees Knees then

Is it just anywhere? like 8 beers and fk it let's just randomly move to somewhere and see what happens? no wait...let's let a load of random people on the internet choose then blow a couple of hundred grand finding out if they are close, what could go wrong?

Stockport has some nice bits and quite a few hipster foody/coffee places

ANy Recommendations?

big_n_daft

You mustn’t be a regular in Bees Knees then

No. 🙂

More of a Buffer Stops geezer, tbh. 🙃

Half way up a hill.
The top's blowy and the bottom is wet.

More of a Buffer Stops geezer, tbh

Pipe and slippers then, with beer froth in your beard. 😉

There's a fair bit of rust in Rawtenstall 👋

Maryport

😂

My postal town, but I'm 6 miles into the country so not an issue.

As said Cockermouth is nice but a bit expensive, as are the surrounding villages. That said £240k would get a nice semi-detached.

Stoke-on-Trent!
More rural roads and tracks with plenty of elevation than you can shake a stick at. Literally cycle in any direction out of the city and you're in countryside within 15 minutes.
Cheap housing.
Perfectly placed to get to loads of decent cycling locations within an hours drive incl the Peak District, north Wales and Cannock.
A thriving cycling community for both road and mtb.
A plethora of excellent cycle shops.

If not stoke then Sheffield but the accents worse in Sheffield but it's a nice green city.

Guisley which is the other side of the moor to Baildon suggested earlier. Easy access to both Leeds and Bradford for work opportunities. Can get a 2 bed end terrace for £230kish - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112917938#/?channel=RES_BUY

I think you’ll struggle to find what you’re looking for anywhere in the Calder Valley other than Todmorden. Your garden/shed/not mid terrace combo eliminates almost every house in the area, there are an awful lot of terraces and an awful lot of no gardens! Then price eliminates the others.

You might find something in Halifax but maybe that’s not quite the idyl you have pictured. Good luck!

I'm all for picking somewhere new to live with a blank sheet of paper approach, but do you really have to buy a house? Surely renting in your new location is the best option?

Move quick half the civil service is going there

Darlo? Poor bastids!

Newcastle, County Down, think outside the box and move overseas 😉

Like all places you need to look at the area, Bacup has been flagged off above and I certainly wouldn't want to live in the centre or the Pennine estate but there's loads of new housing that's classed as Bacup that's not Brassic territory and is pretty reasonably priced. Burnley, Rochdale etc. are the same, avoid the centres and the wrong suburbs and there are some quite nice bits on the outskirts. Much of Bury isn't great and you pay the Manchester tax.

Hannah's right about Calderdale, it's all steep sided valleys.

Mid Portugal. surf, mountains, nice weather and food.

Hawick

come to Sweden!

Expressoal has it about spot on ... and be in no doubt there are bigger shitholes that the SE England. Middlesboro is cheap - and so is Grimsby ...
South Coast shit holes - must be Dover / Folkestone / Hastings - or Bognor ...

Cockermouth nice - since when ? Has there been a load of investment there in the last 20 years?
I lived in Stoke on Trent ( as well as many other places) - hated every minute of it. It may be cheap to live there - and very good reasons too.

All of this surely revolves around what job you can do - and whether you can get one in the chosen location. i.e if you are fisherman / work on the docks then SoT is definitely a non-no.

Cockermouth nice – since when ? Has there been a load of investment there in the last 20 years?

My last three years part time living there were fine, plenty of pubs, bars restaurants, nice vibe most of the time. Never any trouble except when the contractors got excited.

Cockermouth is pretty nice I'd say - flood-prone and a bit hard to get to/out of but otherwise decent. Near to some of the best bits of the LD I would say.

Cockermouth is lovely in my opinion, my sister-in-law lives there and we visit loads. Just don't buy a house at the bottom.

Sheffield has jumped the shark - 10 years of promotion as the "outdoor city" has, unfortunately, resulted in most of the outdoor bits being completely overrun 365 days a year. You can read in various places that the Peak District is the busiest or second busiest national park in the world (though the PDNP themselves dispute it, but not with much compelling evidence to the contrary).

Thanks all. The Calder Valley was really a bit of a stalking horse! Job wise I'm pretty flexible and I'll have to keep the existing one on for at least three months. Currently we are on the Western edge of Southampton - we really aren't town folk nd the New Forest doesn't cut it for the bike or much else, it's too flat! No kids to worry about just the dog. Cockermouth and environs pops up repeatedly as do some of the outskirts of the Leeds/Bradford/Huddersfield connurbations. Next step is a roadtrip....

Then I’d drive straight to Cockermouth and ignore the other bits.

rawtenstall & rossendale.... yeah. it's terrible here... you dont wanna move here!

I mean Big n Daft is right, there is the Bees Knees (i thought it was still "The Pub") which looks a bit rough... and there is the Tiger Lounge full of women of a certain age getting pissed on the all you can drink prosecco lunch on a saturday. And Boho likes to make up business adverts about it's rival bars are selling up. They totally overshadow the likes of Buffer Stops, Casked, Hop, Nothern Whisper, Jackson's...

and remember - Rossendale was considered as a location to film The League of Gentlemen but decided it was too desolate.
Brassic was filmed in Bacup tho

😉

Shropshire is epic. Lots of amazing countryside, lovely towns and villages and surprisingly good weather. If you pop just over the border, property in Wales is even cheaper… lots of possible places depending on how remote you want to be 🙂 the mountain biking is obviously pretty awesome.

The Midlands has not been mentioned much and I think you’re missing out if you ignore it.
As above, Shropshire is bloody lovely, and with care you’d find what you’re looking for at the right price bracket.
Worcestershire is also well worth looking at.

You can live in Calderdale without being in the Calder Valley. Look at places around Sowerby Bridge, Greetland etc.

Lots of nice villages on the edges of Halifax and Huddersfield but the house selection is odd at times. In the village centre the houses are tiny with no parking and small/no gardens. You'll need to be on the edge of the village of you want a garden, garage, parking etc.

You could buy a parking space in Central London and a very nice camper van to park in it?

South Wales! Great technical riding here. Or if you want a cheap house in the countryside try Mid Wales, with loads of epic trad mtbing.

Brassic was filmed in Bacup tho

Is filmed, they were there the other week