Moving to Lincoln or Nottingham?

[mallowa]

I'm a LP with a small budget and want to buy a house (max £110 - 120k) within a very small budget! Lincoln and Nottingham both look to be affordable and both sound nice enough. I can't really go any further north than this, I'm in the South East at the moment and don't want to be too far from family, but am open to other locations within reach.

I have one DD age 7 and no relatives or friends in either location! And not even been to visit yet.

But need to afford a house and this is all I can come up with for now. I don't drive so can't live rurally and want to be somewhere there are amenities and enough stuff to do nearby (hence wanting to live in a small city or larger city rather than a boring town).

What do you think? Which would you go for? Any other locations that might work?

I’ve been in Lincolnshire for a few years now, and it’s got a lot to offer, not least value for money. You can certainly get a house near Lincoln city centre for £100k, but I’d go a little further out. There are plenty of direct trains to/from London now, plus Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

I also think Newark is a good call; it seems like a nice town, with good facilities, and it has excellent transport links.

Nottingham is a small but lively city. Much more diverse than Lincoln. I live near the river, so very green and yet walkable into the city in 20 mins. Public transport is good although secondary schools are a bit hit and miss. You might find a little Victorian terrace round here in your price range.

I live in a village just outside Lincoln, been in Lincoln for 16 years. I love it here, it’s got character. Surprised at the negativity to be honest! You’ll need to pick and chose the areas in your budget but your money will go further in Lincoln than most places (in part because it’s not an easy commute to London, there are trains but you either have to change at Peterborough or go via Nottingham so it’s about 3 hours). Lincoln shopping is okay, not amazing but you’re only an hour from Nottingham and it’s not much further to Meadowhall if you want more options. My biggest gripes would be that the transport links aren’t brilliant (I grew up near Birmingham so I had buses every 10 minutes at the bottom of the road and good trains links, where I live it’s 2 buses an hour but they come within 10 minutes of each other!) and also that it’s not great for music gigs etc, it’s improving as the uni grows and we travel for big gigs.
Weather wise you definitely feel the wind in Lincoln, there’s not much between the city and the coast!

Hi op. Good on you for making a fresh start and taking a leap to make things work for you and your child

I’m in Nottingham and love it, and there’s Derby too as an option. You get a bit more for your money and the transport links to London are brilliant. I grew up in derby so can vouch for it and there’s a lot more going on there than there used to be, lovely bars, loads of history, brilliant shopping centre and countryside a stones throw away so fab for cheap day trips.

With any house you see on Rightmove though definitely check the crime stats as some places are cheap for a reason. Also, some inevitably are boring suburbs you say you want to avoid with few amenities. Places on the outskirts of cities are cheaper, eg Sandiacre near Nottingham, but there’s little there and you would be bored from what you’ve said.

There are places which have good bus or tram links to the city centre while still having a little hub and vibe of their own and I think you’d like that. Ones like this possibly within your budget in Nottingham are chilwell, beeston, stapleford, Arnold, mapperley, Kimberley, nuthall.

In derby littleover, most of sunny hill, most of alvaston and some of city centre/DE22 would work for you I reckon.

Not always, but generally places that are Nottinghamshire rather than Nottingham might not suit as they’ll be far out from the city without access to a car and you might feel a bit stuck or adrift.

Good luck!

Mutiny, there are now about five direct trains a day to/from London. I’ve not been on since the start of the year, but it was a much improved service all round. I still wouldn’t fancy it for a commute, but trips to London and beyond are so much easier than they used to be.

Nottingham all the way. Lincoln gives me the creeps.

Nottingham has much more to do. I'd look at areas off the A52 to the East of Nottingham (Radcliffe on trent, cotgrave, etc)

I live in Lincoln and like it a lot. It is quite small but because it is far from any other major places, the town centre remains lively and busy where other town centres are empty or full of boring chain shops. Uphill has lots of character and nice restaurants etc. It’s nice to be on the canal and there are lots of nice areas to live.

Blenheim Mews, Blenheim Road, Lincoln

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71088573.html

This property is a flat so may not be to your liking, but the area is pretty good. Within easy walking distance from Uphill, the Brayford and High Street. It’s a little student but not overly so. Other nice areas are uphill (Burton Road etc) and estates around Boulton Park. Boulton Park area is more residential and you’ll probably need to use the bus to get into town unless you’re a keen walker or cyclist. The East side (Monks Road) is more affordable and also more modest, perhaps a little tougher but perfectly fine). Only downside of Lincoln is that if you want to go somewhere other than Lincoln, there aren’t that many options. I used to live near Oxford and in the south east, if you fancy a trip somewhere different, it’s easy to find somewhere to go. However as you don’t use a car, that wouldn’t actually affect you too much. As smallish towns go, Lincoln is pretty nice.

Ended up in Lincoln when my dad was in the RAF when I was 16. That was 37 years ago! I like it here & despite other comments it is friendly!
You will have a lot of choice in your budget. Look at Brant Road - just outside Lincoln, decent schools, variety of housing.
Lincoln also isn’t that far from Nottingham & Sheffield for a good shopping day.
There’s plenty to do & plenty of parks etc.

I don’t know Lincoln but do know Nottingham. There are a lot of bad areas in Nottingham so do some research . Having said that you could look at the Meadows as even though it’s got a bad rep, it’s a good location in that it’s inbetween West Bridgford and the city centre. Clifton would be in your budget too, it’s a huge estate with ugly houses but not that bad. Would you consider Leicester? I live there now after growing up in Nottingham and prefer it.

I’ve also lived in Leicester OP and can also recommended it - left Lincoln at 18, studied at Leicester and then Nottingham. Leicester always felt like an also ran to Nottingham but I think it’s probably on a par nowadays.

One other thing to take into consideration is that you can do Nottingham and back from where you currently live, in a day but it'd be much harder to do Lincoln and back in a day. I'm only writing this as you say your family is also in the south. It's just something to consider if you really need them.

This village (just outside Lincoln) is nice and quiet and has: shops, takeaways, station, primary school, library, swimming pool, pubs, playground and weekly car boot sale

Characterful cottage £119k

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-85035944.html

Hi,

What area would you advice is best to live and raise a family in Lincoln and surrounding cities?
Kids in family age ranges 6-15 years. Need good schools both secondary and primary. Would you say Lincoln is diverse and active for children of these ages? Looking to move this summer and wanting to start looking for the right areas locally to rent. All advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks