AIBU to wonder why property in Thetford is so cheap?

[firsttimedaddy11]

Exactly as the title suggests, currently living in London but hoping to escape the big smoke in the near future. Have noticed that property seems to be so reasonable in Thetford, Norfolk. Can anyone give some feedback about the area? What is it like to live there? What are the schools like?

[GaryBarlowsTaxReturn]

It's pretty grim. London overspill town so lots of ugly developments.

[FuckKnuckle]

I can't speak for Thetford itself, but there are some lovely villages just outside with some nice properties still at reasonable prices.

[BubblesBuddy]

Quite simply - it’s demand isn’t it. If loads of people wanted to live there it would be desirable and have a price tag to match. It might float your boat though. The holiday home market pushes prices up in some areas of Norfolk. If there’s no demand from second home owners, prices are lower. Commuting distance and attractiveness of town affects prices too.

[Gilead]

Go between Thetford and Bury St Edmunds. Lots of lovely properties at good prices. It's cheap because there is no motorway, getting out of Norfolk/Suffolk is actually quite difficult. However, it's a lovely area with some good schools and plenty to do.

[lljkk]

lotta deprivation

[Oopsmeagain]

Thetford is quite far from anywhere and the roads aren’t great. Add to that the fact that nearly all traffic to the coast n the area goes through Thetford plus Center Parcs is there, means that traffic is awful and long queues are often there at each end of the weekend.

[catcatcatcat]

Schools also. Really not too great to be honest.

[CircleSquareCircleSquare]

The traffic. I trained there for a short time and the traffic made my life a misery.

[Rachie1973]

firsttimedaddy
Exactly as the title suggests, currently living in London but hoping to escape the big smoke in the near future. Have noticed that property seems to be so reasonable in Thetford, Norfolk. Can anyone give some feedback about the area? What is it like to live there? What are the schools like?

The whole of Norfolk is cheap compared to London.

We have a house in Freethorpe, midway between Norwich & Great Yarmouth to retire to. Couldn't afford to buy in our home of South Essex! Truthfully though, if you have to find work be careful, one of the reasons the prices are low is because of the high unemployment rates.

I would avoid the towns, go for the villages, around the Broads areas. Some beautiful & postcard perfect places.

As for schools, check out the villages and their local schools, then read the Ofsted reports :) Some good, some bad, same as everywhere.

[LivingOnAPear]

I’m from thetford originally and wouldn’t recommend it. It was not a nice atmosphere to grow up in and the secondary school is awful. There isn’t much to do there or much in terms of eating out but it also doesn’t have a friendly small town feel. However I have school friends that have stayed in the area and think it’s great. Think it would be a shock coming from London though. You might be better off looking at villages in the area or bury st Edmunds or Norwich.

[Lovingtheisland]

Norfolk is amazing, beautiful, safe and cheap to live. And actually there are a lot of employment opportunity- especially in Norwich (which has been rated the second biggest business city outside of London for years running)

HOWEVER, Thetford (as in the actual town and areas v close by) is a shit hole, do not move to Thetford specially. Look at villages surrounding within a 10-15 mile radius, you’ll find some lovely properties.

The whole of Norfolk is cheap though in comparison to London, not just Thetford.

[Sciurus83]

Poor transport links means poor localised economy/jobs/schools. Not in the Norfolk tourist areas, nor near Norwich or the coast. The forest is nice but other than that not much around

[Lovingtheisland]

Gah, sorry for all the typos above!

[lardymclardy]

I had a friend who moved close to Yarmouth in the hope of an idyllic seaside lifestyle. There is just nothing there, no prospects for children no jobs - you'd have to be prepared to commute to Norwich. There are huge drug problems in coastal towns. I appreciate that Thetford is a lot further out, but one of my Uni friends grew up in Wymondham and there was so little in the way of opportunity.

I'd happily retire to a little village in Norfolk but I wouldn't bring children up there.

[HeddaGarbled]

Norfolk is really interesting. There’s the expensive areas up on the North coast around Blakeney and Wells and then there’s really cheap inland, particularly west of Norwich. We’ve been looking too and the prices are a good reflection of the niceness of the different places. I didn’t think Thetford was as bad as some of the places we looked at (Dereham and Wroxham stand out) but I didn’t see anything to attract me other than the house prices.

[cadburyegg]

location wise, it is between Norfolk and Cambridge but 30 miles from both cities which rules it out for many commuters. That being said the A11 has improved in recent years.

[cadburyegg]

I mean Norwich not Norfolk

[SoapOnARoap]

Supply & demand

[MissMiserable]

Because it's rough