Wakefield Yorkshire and Surrounding Areas

[SFCA]

Hi All,
We are thinking of relocating from the south to give us more space.

I have been offered a job in Leeds and was looking at Wakefield and surrounding areas to be no more than 40 minutes away from work.

What are the pros and cons of this part of the country please and would you recommend relocating there?

Thank you

I commuted to Leeds from Wakefield (Horbury side) for 5 year via a localish train station with amlpe free parking around it. At the time althought trains were VERY crowded, the 20 mins was manageable. I would not recommend trying to drive into or near to Leeds from anywhere within a 20/30 mile radius at rush hour!

Pontefract or Castleford are close to the m62 and only about 30 mins drive away from Leeds. Obviously more in rush hour.
I think it's about 20 mins on the train.
Pontefract Monkhill, Glasshouton and Castleford train stations have several trains an hour.

Go north of Leeds. I’ve lived & worked in Doncaster, Sheffield, Leeds central and Harrogate. Originally from down south.
350k? - go north, off M1, Wetherby, Harrogate, Otley.

Try looking at uleskelf or church fenton in North Yorkshire, both are about a 30-40 min drive and both have train stations, semi rural, fantastic community feel and you will be able to get the house you want within your budget.

I grew up in North Leeds and know the area well, my family still live there.

If you head out a little from there the areas around Otley and Ilkley are beautiful and the countryside is right on your doorstep.

Don't underestimate how congested the roads are at rush hour in West Yorkshire, where I am is 7 miles to the M62 and it's a good hours travel at peak times. 15 miles from Leeds City centre, I'd leave by 7.30 to get there for 9am.
Get the train!
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88296638.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70235347.html

I love Otley, but it isn't on a railway line. I think 40 minutes is a tad optimistic for a commute by car. If there is enough parking in Menston or Burley in Wharfedale I would drive there and get the train.

I don't know Leeds so I can't help you with areas but I would say It is never too early to think about schools. I would start my search there.

Beware of flood zones if you look around Church Fenton way.

There's a lovely village in Huddersfield called Slaithwaite - great house prices, cute pubs, cafes and restaurants. It's less than 30 mins on the train to Leeds from the train station there!

And it's in beautiful countryside!

@NotMaryP0ppins and @adviceneededon I'm sure I may have lived where or very near to where you live. I'm in Leeds now but my parents still live in a small village on the Wakefield/Barnsley border - Wakefield postcode but Barnsley phone number!

I love Leeds and as my kids get older, it's great for them to get out and about. However I'd move back to Wakefield if needed, some of the areas are lovely and with your budget OP, you'd get a nice house in a good area.

@ThatLibraryMiss St John's is not representative of Wakefield. Kirkgate, sadly, is.

Where do you live Morganrot?

There's also Marsden, one stop further out on the train from Slaithwaite, again countryside, nice village bars and restaurants, and it has a large free car park if you need to park and ride.

But again, possible flood risk near the river and likely to get cut off if it snows.

Area around Pudsey, Tong and Calverley and Rodley also good shout and well placed for park and ride or big car park at New Pudsey train station although I do wonder if the latter gets full as I've often seen cars parked on the road and grass verges.

Methley is lovely, quite rural great village community. Doenst gave a train station but castleford does which is about 10 mins on a bus.

Travelling to leeds really depends on what time you will need to do the travelling. I worked in leeds for years and it was fine because I could go in at 7am or 10am and avoid traffic.

Every area, St johns, included has its less miserable areas. I have lived all over leeds and wakefield. They are great places. But you do have to pick carefully.

Eaat bardsley is another great village. However the transport is a bit poor. It would be a taxi to and from outwood station. Theres a few lovely walking trails tucked away

Outwood is good, not brutally. But has lovely parts. The 110 bys goes through every 10 mins, so getting into leeds or wakefield is very easy.

I drive a lot through Gomersal, Birstall and Heckmondwike, and some of those areas look lovely. They are a lot less expensive than Leeds.

Some areas of Batley look good as well. I had a quick look on rightmove and this looks good and, on a good day, at the right time with traffic, is around 30 minutes from Leeds and while not near a station, there are quite a few buses in the area

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59617374.html

WF17 and WF16 are where I would start looking

You could look at the villages close to Harrogate and Wetherby (those areas are lovely but quite pricey), both are easily commutable for Leeds

Mars den is lovely.

As is Slaithwaite but you’d have to say it right.

@morgenrot I'm also in Wakefield and although my constituency voted leave/Tory I actually don't know a single person who did! There's no need for the rude comments and nothing to do with the OPs question.

Agree with others that looking out Ilkley (v nice!), Saltaire way would be good, you could easily be under your budget (we looked at a few houses over there). Can also confirm Rothwell, Oulton, Wetherby are good but not sure on prices.

@Bikerunski fair point, but I haven't drowned yet 😉 seriously though, they have sorted a lot of the ditches in the last year so it's been no problem this year raw lane hasn't even had to close.. Which is a new one.

OP, take a look at Mirfield. It's south of Leeds, so cheaper than the north. DH commutes in by car, which takes about 45 minutes. There's also a train line that goes direct to Leeds, Manchester, Huddersfield and London believe it or not. Schools are good, if that's a factor. Town centre is ok, with some nice new additions (and more with every year!) It's not perfect, but it's certainly a good compromise!

@MrsJBaptiste Wakefield
@MummytoCSJH sorry. I just hate it here and I feel trapped and I don't want that to happen to anyone else

@duvetstealer, I’ve worked for the last 15 years for the EA in various flood risk management roles and I know that flood asset maintenance has improved hugely, but it’s worth pointing out that the flatter landscape east of Leeds does have large areas at risk. Not that the hiller upstream areas are not at risk, but these zones are much narrower.

Might surprise to find lots of us live here and are very happy. I lived in leeds, live abroad for a bit and am happy back in wakefield/ leeds boarder. Lovely home, lovely neighbours, great community how help eachother out, job opportunity (but you need to travel).

I work in an office near Xscape. Less than 10 mins in the car. Spend weekends walking in the countryside with my digs and kids. Kids sports teams in the village and events in the village.

It's the same as anywhere else some people dont like it. Lots of people do. And the same as evert area, it has it's good bits and bad bits.