cheap places to live

[Branleuse]

i live in the south east/north essex, and my rent is already extortionate. I keep worrying that if my landlord decides to increase my rent (he hasnt for years) then im going to be screwed. What I thought was expensive for a 4 bed place 4 years ago, is now what they charge for a 2 bed place, and its probably an extra 500 easy on top if i moved.

I keep looking at different parts of the UK and some are really cheap.
I keep looking in the north, and there ar some super cheap houses in parts of yorkshire and cumbria etc and also some places in scotland that ive been to on holiday and liked such as Ayrshire. Ive always loved mountainous areas

I was wondering if you live in a cheap or reasonably priced part of the UK and are tey cheap because theyre awful, or are they cheap because theres no work, or is it nothing of the sort, and there are also vibrant and nice communities out there that are affordable?

Well obviously cheap housing exists in places where there isn't a demand for housing for all the reasons you listed.

For what it's worth though I think the West Coast of Cumbria is an area that's going to be on the up over the next decade, I think is massively underrated because it's a bit 'rough' in comparison to the chocolate box villages in the lakes, but better transport links and increasing industry investment in the area because it's cheap means that it's somewhere to watch.

We live in rural Northumberland. It is very cheap but it has limited job options so I commute quite far and also no gas to the property to we use stoves for heating. Living in a small community can be challenging at first.

I actually love it but it isn't for everyone.

There are bits of Manchester and Leeds that are still fairly cheap but often very rough

Liverpool is fairly affordable

I live in a small north west town.

Housing is very cheap - 3 bed terrace for around £70k in some areas - but they’re not necessarily areas you’d want to live in!

But you can still get a small house/flat in a nice area for less than £150k.

Where I am, there aren’t loads of job opportunities, however I’m within an hours’ commute of three major cities.

TheCumbrian I completely agree, I am from West Cumbria and the value for money on property around here is amazing. My friend recently bought a newly renovated 6 bed detached house in 2.5 acres of land for around £500k.

We're in South Wales. Recently moved from a 2 bed at £450 a month to a 3 bed at £575 but it's much nicer, well done up, and actually has heating (our first house was a bit of a rush and we were skint so price was most important). There are a fair amount of jobs around, the commute to Cardiff is manageable by train and not massively expensive, not as much going on as London for example but plenty around and lots of nicer areas, plus our town centre has recently been redone so getting lots of big shops back.

i love the look of the north of england. Im a sucker for mountains, but i think if youre gonna go north, might as well go scotland in case the children wanted to do further education later.
It looks like a lot of the places ive been looking at have become pretty deprived since the last time i was there anyway. Not that i couldnt cope with an area that was a bit deprived, as long as the local culture wasnt awful. Id hate to end up in a racism hotspot or a red light district. I like a bit of diversity of social classes and of cultures

How about Wales? We have mountains! I made the move from Essex a couple of years ago. Housing is pretty cheap here and if you are on the Marches there are plenty of towns and cities within fairly easy reach.

Do you not need to speak welsh to fit in to a lot of parts of wales?
I cant imagine it being a language I could easily pick up

I live in a very reasonably priced small town in central Scotland. It's just about commutable to Glasgow and Edinburgh but is reasonably priced because areas that are an easier commute are still affordable on normal salaries - though as Edinburgh goes up in price then I think my area will continue to follow as people move further out to get more space for their money. We don't have any particular problems with crime and there's no red light district that I've noticed (too bloody cold to hang around on a street corner in a mini skirt this time of year anyway!). It is, like most of Scotland compared to the SE, very white, but I don't think we are a racism hot spot!

If you're serious about Scotland then as an ex Londoner I recommend looking at Glasgow and its outskirts. It's got a lot of things London has (cultural stuff, parks, diversity, hipsters, and a teeny tiny underground system) but is significantly cheaper and friendlier. And less than half an hour to proper mountains.

There are more Welsh speakers in Gwynedd than elsewhere and it only really matters if you want to work for councils, schools etc. Powys is less fussy as is Denbighshire. It's useful to know how to pronounce place names but that's about it. My DH is Scottish and his pronunciation is dreadful but we have been very much accepted.

The south west of Wales around Pembrokeshire too is far less fussy. And it's bloody beautiful.

In general most of the UK has reasonably priced property because the supply and demand is well balanced, compared to the south east. There’s plenty of work, multiple cities to commute to, choice of reasonably performing schools etc where I live (west mids/staffs), and a 4 bed detached house is around £250k in most areas. Our mortgage on ours is around £700 per month. Probably not much of a rental market on that size of home, renters tend to have small houses and families buy.

i'd live in Glasgow in a heartbeat @sossages , I spent a lot of time there as a child but the parts that I love, are not going to be saving me much money, and some of the cheaper areas I wonder if they have still got their reputation?

As an aside Branleuse, if you wanted to stay in Essex then the Dengie is a cheaper option. Lovely area if you don't mind a bit of a commute to civilisation ( no hills though, never mind mountains).

Which parts of Glasgow would you be worried about their reputation? Some areas have improved over the years.

Having never lived in Glasgow I don't know, sorry! If it helps at all I do spend a fair bit of time there for work and have never felt unsafe or that I'd strayed into somewhere dodgy. Perhaps some proper Weegies can advise.

I live 25-30 min train journey from cardiff, decent 4 bed house is around 700 pcm.. 40 min to the beach or Brecon beacons and good job options in cardiff and newport...

i mean places like the gorbals etc. I dont know what theyre like these days. I imagine theyve had money poured into them, but i guess i mean areas where they still have sectarianism or high ned count.

Midlands
Northants, Warwickshire, Coventry etc

Cheaper than the South East, but still only an hour or so from London, hour from Birmingham etc.

What are you looking for OP - how many beds? What is your budget?

Well im kind of theoretically looking for places that I might actually like living in that are cheaper than the south east, so no point looking for individual properties just yet.
Im thinking of areas that have maybe music and arts scenes locally, or that arent too far from places that do, and id need 4 beds, which always puts the price up. Ive seen places up north that would be about £600 for a 4 bed, compared to down here where its creeping closer to 1.3k+ for a 4 bed, but I dont want to waste my time thinking it could be the answer if all these areas are desolate pits of deprivation either. When ive looked at sites that give reviews of towns, theyre often full of negative points, but then again ive read a lot of crap about my town too that I think is overly negative and not my experience at all.

Ive heard places like Hebden bridge are lovely, and theyre still cheaper than the south east, but i dont know if theyre cheaper enough to be bothered to make a massive move