Seeking 'middle class' communities/market towns in Midlands/north

[Silversky70]

Hi. We are desperate to move to a nice community in the north or north Midlands. Probably a market town as we're sick of the city and probably not ready for a village. We want somewhere that feels safe and friendly which is the opposite of what we have now. We'd need good schools. Can anyone suggest anywhere so that I can start my research. We really want to get out of where we are. Thank you.

Budget for a detached property of £250k max which is the problem!

Keele in Staffordshire.

You won't be purchasing a detached house in Bakewell for £250,000, I can assure you.

OP seems to have run, screaming, from the building.

Or has gone to bed.

@whiteroseredrose - Knowle in Solihull is lovely but you'd never ever get a detached house there for £250k.....you might get a 2 bed terraced cottage if you were lucky....

Uttoxeter,lovely market town.

Lichfield? Probably not a detached for that price though.

Yarm or Stokesley
Richmond, Northallerton
There won't be loads of houses in that bracket but there will be some
Darlington will fail your criteria (not mc enough and not great for schools) but some of the larger villages around it would fit and are almost just an extension of the town.

Ashbourne was my first thought...

Uttoxeter is lovely but last I saw, the school situation there was in turmoil, with some controversy over the middle school system, there.

In a similar vein, there are sub 250K detached houses in Northallerton, which is a lovely market town, but the secondary school there was also in special measures, last I saw.

Having checked though, I think both schools have pulled themselves out of the mire.

Where Darlington falls down, it's so big, and congested, that it might as well be a city! Durham has more in common with a small market town than Darlo does (but no, you definitely won't get a detached house in Durham Johnston catchment, but you'd do much better if you were RC.)

Kingswinford?

Durham, easingwold, Harrogate, ripon, thirsk

Fuck me the Midlands appears to span half the country. When was Harrogage in the Midlands? Northumberland used to be in the North East last I looked.

Harrogate and Northumberland are in the North. OP asked for north or north midlands - covers just about everywhere north of the Wash but finding a detached property in that price bracket in a naice market town not easy.

East Leake, Loughborough, Ashby de la Zouch?

Detached house in Horsforth or Harrogate for £250k? Are you mad? Have you ever been to Horsforth or Harrogate? Not. A. Chance.

Middlewich, sandbach, parts of northwich

The East Midlands is my part of the world. You may want to consider these market towns:

Buxton
Bakewell (nice, but v. touristy)
Ashbourne
Belper
Newark
Oakham
Stamford
Uppingham
Ashby de la Zouch
Loughborough (particularly the areas to the south & west of town)
Lutterworth
Market Harborough

The following areas are middle-class suburbs of the 3 cities:
Allestree (Derby)
West Bridgford (Nottingham)
Oadby (Leicester)

Contd...

Market Harborough might be outside your budget as it has a mainline station and is just an hour from St Pancras, making it a London commuter town.

This is a village about 10 minutes drive from Ashbourne, with a shop, garage, school, church and a couple of pubs. Very close to Carsington Reservoir and on a bus route between Ashbourne and Derby.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70774906.html

i think 'some people' still think you can buy a 5 bed rambling country pile in the north for 50k, Harrogate? Really

Alcester - it even has a grammar school

Half of that kitchen is the hob, jen!

Ah yes, 250K in Harrogate. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62091282.html Needs gutting and the house next door demolishing, of course.

Depends how north your idea of north is OP
Sedgefield
Darlington
Northallerton
Ripon
Richmond