Where to move in/near Leeds

[longestlurkerever]

Hello. I currently live in London though am a northerner by birth. Due to dh's chronic health conditions he may have to give up work for a while and we are considering a relocation to somewhere more affordable on one salary. I have the potential to relocate my job to Leeds and have a budget of about £600k for a 4 bedroom house (tbh I have no idea really about accuracy of this figure in future housing market but that would be ballpark figure based on recent market prices).

What areas would be good to look at? Priorities would be state schools for our 2 dds currently in y4 and reception - I think there are grammar schools in Leeds? Is that right? What kind of percentage of children end up at grammar school and what are the alternatives like?

It'd be nice to live somewhere with access to the countryside but with a reasonable commute to leeds central station - I think properly rural would be a bit of a shock to the system and dh doesn't drive, but it'd be nice for there to be some positive aspects to the move and where we currently live is a bit urban grit.

I have no real idea what I am looking for - I wouldn't be leaving where I currently live if circumstances weren't forcing my hand but trying to look on this as an opportunity/adventure. Please help get me excited, mumsnetters!

Ilkley is lovely .

Ilkley does look lovely, though property is not cheap there. Are schools and transport links good? I'd need in-year school places and have no idea how difficult that would be to achieve.

Chapel Allerton in North Leeds is lovely & abit more central than Ilkley- about 20 mins into the city centre. Lots of schools around there plus shops/ cafes/ restaurants etc xx

Leeds doesn’t have grammar schools. There is ‘The Grammar School at Leeds’ but it’s fee-paying.

Conversely Ilkley grammar school and Prince Henry’s grammar school in Otley are both state

Leeds itself is pretty large so the big decision would be town or country. If you want to stay in town then Roundhay is a good option, but I don't know about schools I'm afraid. Wetherby is lovely but no trains.

We moved from London to near Selby a few years ago and if I'm honest, while our house is lovely and the primary school great, the area gets me down (ex mining town, plenty going for it but the locals don't think so). So if we were moving again if do a lot of visiting, research individual areas, try and speak to people currently there. I know that sounds obvious and we did a bit of it, but communities are very different up here, in good and not so good ways. A good example is one parent recently told me she's decided against one secondary school (with a wider range of gcse subjects on offer) because the bus doesn't go into school grounds, they have a short walk. That kind of thing!!

Ah, I think Ilkley Grammar is actually not a grammar school at all? That helps actually, thanks! Any secondary recommendations, as we'll be applying in just over a year.

Leeds is lovely, and £600K (or its current equivalent) should get you a big house in a nice area. There isn't a grammar school system, but schools and traffic would be your big concerns - traffic is bad in Leeds, especially to the centre.

Have a look at Roundhay (huge park) and Horsforth in Leeds. Harrogate and Ilkley are lovely a bit further out, but transport is tricky. There was a recent "Location, Location, Location' on in Leeds that you should check out.

My sister went to uni in Leeds and I really liked visiting her there but that's about as far as my knowledge goes! She lived in Headingley and Hyde Park

Hyde Park = studenty, lots of terrace houses with HMO licenses. Headingley is very nice, but quite heterogeneous. Nice big 1930s semi's by Beckett Park. Good for access to the universities.

Ilkley is lovely, it's only a short train into Leeds. If you're wanting a state, selective, single sex grammar then Skipton still has(I think!) Skipton Girls' and Ermysteads but it's further on the train. Gorgeous place though. Bradford grammar is private but you don't want to live anywhere very near it- maybe Bingley(easy train to leeds)or surrounding villages.

Headingley and Hyde Park are student areas. Roundhay is nice.

Yes, actually, I was passing Ilkley last year and the traffic was awful. There are trains though I think? Is Ben Rhydding nice? I will look at the places closer to the centre too, thank you.

We have family in Cookridge Leeds and that seems a nice area with good primary and secondary schools.

Ben Rhydding is really beautiful but not much there, the train station has a direct train to leeds. The Wheatley Arms is a good pub! It's about a mile into Ilkley so your dh would have a bit if a walk if he doesn't drive. I wouldn't even contemplate driving into Leeds centre from Ilkley!

Roundhay is nice. Huge park to explore, buses into town (though depending on where you live it can be 10min walk to bus stop). There is a clusters of shops on Street Lane and a cafe/post office parade near Gledhow primary. Then there are more shops in Oakwood which is just on edge of Roundhay, monthly farmers market there. Not sure what the schools are like - Roundhay school is state 4-18 then there are a couple of other primaries and people used to go to Allertom Grange as the other secondary option depending where in Roundhay they lived.

It's easy to get from there out towards York, Otley, Harrogate and nice countryside (by car that is).

Chapel Allerton is also nice.

Have a look in Alwoodley- Allerton High is rated outstanding and is in the top 10% nationally for a state school. Alwoodley primary is also excellent.
Alwoodley is a fabulous area to live, easy access into the city and Harrogate if going the other way

Thanks - this list will keep me occupied for now. I guess I should probably concentrate on places where you can walk to the shops for dh, though I guess he could always learn to drive if his health doesn't decline. The hope would be he'd improve having gived up work, but I guess I don't know. Dd1 will be a teenager before I know it though and public transport would be good for her too.

I live in Ilkley and have a DD in year 4 and a DS in year 1. Loved here for over 20 years and love it. It's a bit of a pain to get to motorways but we think worth it. You'd get a 4 bed for £600k.

Alwoodley is lovely. If you’re not set on Leeds I have family in baildon (just past guiseley but is a Bradford postcode) that has 2 fab schools, houses are reasonable prices for the size and the Moors is there but has brilliant transport links to Leeds - about 20-25 mins on a train.
Hawksworth is very small with a tiny but wonderful school and some gorgeous countryside and houses too which isn’t far from baildon/guiseley

Farsley, Rodley, Horsforth, Guiseley, Menston, Ilkley etc basically anywhere in north Leeds.

I enjoyed being a teenager in Roundhay (though it was a long time ago so may have changed!) The park was great in the summer or most people had decent sized gardens to hang out on, could get the bus into the city centre for shopping (and later for going out though we tended to get taxis back). I do sometimes wish I could move back and have family there myself but sadly not an option.

I would look at anywhere along the Wharfe Valley line - Guiseley, Menston, Burley in Wharfedale, Ben Rhydding and Ilkely. Otley is nice, but has no rail links.

I grew up in the Ilkley area. All those towns/villages along the train line to Leeds are lovely. Menston, Burley in Wharfedale, Ben Rhydding. The train is only about 20 minutes. Schools are good.

I’ll third what Gin and Delatron say. If you want more city-ish then Weetwood, Far Headingley, north parts of Horsforth or parts of Roundhay are lovely