Where's cheap to live?

[DelphiniumBlue]

I was looking at another thread about adult children living at home, and some people were saying how theirs had saved up for a few years for a deposit and were thus able to move out and buy their own place in their 20's.
I am a Londoner, as are my sons. One of them lives in a University town that costs 800 pm for a room in a shared house, in the SE, the others live at home.
They all want to get their own places but with rent at that level, it's really hard to save. But now that working from home is becoming such a thing, it strikes me that they could live almost anywhere, if the wfh continues.
So where is pleasant to live and affordable, either for a starter home or rent? Near public transport and and not too rural - they are used to be able to easily get to cinema/pub/cafe etc.
Because here it's just not an option - DS1 ( living at home) has saved several thousands this year , with no fares etc, but it will be a decade at least before he has enough for a deposit for anything. I'd like them all to have a an acheiveable 5 year plan, especially for DS1 who is already late 20's.
Any suggestions?

There are plenty of other places across the country too that are really nice, not "cheap" but desirable and affordable, so Stamford for example, a beautiful historic market town with a lot going on, quite a bit more expensive than its surrounding areas, but still noticeably cheaper than SE and entirely possible to buy a range of housing so most people can get on the ladder.

Kettering, Corby and Nuneaton are not North! At least not to us Northerners! Come up here, Yorkshire, it’s lovely and fairly reasonable (although I still think York is very expensive).

Look at areas that are grim like run-down seaside towns or areas with high unemployment

Will this be a happy existence though? Moving somewhere you don't like because it is cheap, having no connection to neighbours etc. So rude to call places you've never lived 'grim'.

I wasn’t suggesting Nuneaton, Kettering or Corby are ‘North’, I’m saying I’d have to be in dire straits before I’d live in any of them.

We live just outside York so not cheap by northern standards but a nice place to live. We moved back here 14 years ago. I’ve lived in central London when I first moved out of home and it was bloody awful. Noisy, dirty and busy. Bought our first house in Dunstable which was nice but decided to come back north.

How old are they?

Nottingham or Sheffield both affordable and good for young people.

Stop suggesting NE 《Stomps feet》

The beaches are vile.....the city centres are drab and boring....we don't have indoor loos or electricity.....they chuck the sewage down the gulleys.

Don't come any further north than Liverpool.

@notheragain4

There are plenty of other places across the country too that are really nice, not "cheap" but desirable and affordable, so Stamford for example, a beautiful historic market town with a lot going on, quite a bit more expensive than its surrounding areas, but still noticeably cheaper than SE and entirely possible to buy a range of housing so most people can get on the ladder.

Stamford’s gorgeous but it’s not affordable for ftbs any more. It also involves a train to Peterborough and a change to get to London.

I come from rural Northamptonshire and live in London. Much of the SE is beginning to pall, tbh. It's like a massive housing estate. I wouldn't go back to Northamptonshire (prices are rising and it's becoming another massive housing estate) but I'm open to moving north. There are deprived areas in SE you know.

Hull, Lincoln, parts of Manchester, huge parts of the north east, some of the areas around Leeds. Actually most cities have areas and suburbs that are cheaper. The trick is finding the right balance so you can afford it but also actually want to live in it.

Luton and other villages in Bedfordshire

@VinylDetective I think it depends what you're after, you can still pick up an ex council house 3 bed for not much more than £200k, it's still vastly more affordable than SE, plenty of my friends are FTBs buyer in Stamford, I'm not buying there as it isn't worth the extra considering what you get in the surrounding areas for me. But we could if we wanted to, it just wouldn't be as nice of a house! I used to drive to Peterborough for the train. My point was just you can get desirable areas that are vastly cheaper than the SE.

@giggly yes I do know Kilwinning really well. There are some bits that aren’t great but transport wise it’s fine, it has masses of countryside and the sea nearby. The newer built areas are actually really nice. ‘mon the Buffs!

Surely where they move to will depend on work, friends, relationships and where they want to live. Fair enough to tell them you'd like them to be moving out in about 5 years but I can't imagine where they'd like to think they'd like to live in 5 years will be the same a reality.

The problem with this type of thread is that unless you really know an area you don't know where is nice and where isn't.
I live in Sheldon (suburb of Birmingham) where I live is ok but not brilliant, houses are reasonably affordable around 200k for a 2 or 3 bed. I live in a safe area you can walk the streets alone in the dark, I could recommend Sheldon to you, then you could look at a house 5 minutes drive from mine and be somewhere I wouldn't feel safe driving through in the middle of the day let alone walking home in the dark on my own. It's still Sheldon.
I don't reccomend it really, for what you are after I do reccomend Coventry but I don't know the suburbs well enough to give you the exact areas that are nice as opposed to those that are more than a bit dodgy.

Go north, teeside is very reasonable and has good pubs

@KenAdams

£10k a year from Leicester, so the £200k house isn't so cheap after all. That said it's only 1 hour 6 mins into st Pancras. Kettering is quicker still

@notheragain4

So true, exh is public sector, would get the same in central London with huge housing costs and commute, instead he's 10 mins on his bike. Downside was I struggled to find decent work

@InDeoEstMeaFiducia That's just not true.

LB Croydon - South Norwood for Londonish or south of borough for more leafy/suburban. ‘Cheap for london’.

Margate.
Rents are around £400/500pm for own flat and it's 1.5hrs on the train to London.

Medway towns £150-£200K or South Coast, Margate or Hastings. Or the Midlands - some cheap flats in central Birmingham (£120K). Lots of even cheaper housing if they don't mind living in a grottier area.

Forgot to say that places like Erith and Dartford have shared ownership properties that start at £100K for a flat but there is a portion of rent on top of the mortgage and minimum income requirements for a household. They're not the greatest areas of London but have shopping centres, the river and are easily commutable to central London without huge season ticket costs. There is also a lot of regeneration in those areas with Crossrail likely to expand to both.

What towns and cities outside London do they like? It s all good to suggest places like Lincoln but it s so different from London, not everyone would like it. (I do buy I can imagine some would be disappointed).

Wow, so many responses!
I'd like to know of more place with the sort of vibe that Norwich has - I do like Norwich, and it is a possibility, but I just want other ideas.
I'm beginning to think Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle would be nice, but they just feel so far away!