Newly single and priced out of the south help me find a new home town

[Shitonthebloodything]

My absolute peach of a husband is buggering off leaving me with 3 kids and no hope of securing a mortgage anywhere close to my home county of Essex. I can’t rent forever and I don’t qualify for any single parent help from UC so it’s time to put down roots somewhere new.

Budget £150-170 (yeah, I know!)
I need at least 3 bedrooms, close to a town that’s good for shopping and teenage socialising.
A college where ds16 can finish his plumbing training or equivalent opportunities
A decent secondary to start ds10 in yr 7
A decent primary for ds3 to start reception
Plenty of things to do
Somewhere reasonably safe
Somewhere friendly that will welcome us
Somewhere with nice outdoor places to visit seeing as I’ll be bloody skint forever.
Poss near a motorway to allow for regular travelling back to see family etc.

And the moon on a stick.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated, at this point I’m basically just sticking pins in the map and searching on Rightmove.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116482277#/?channel=RES_BUY

Southport. I grew up there. My friends children go to the schools closest to this property and rates them.

If you don't fancy North, how about South West?

You could get 3 beds in Cornwall / Devon / Somerset for 170k

Colwyn Bay? Not exactly glam, but better than you might think and lots of outdoorsy stuff to do. 2:47 direct train to Euston. Trains to Manchester less than 2 hours. On the sea and near Snowdonia. Local high school is rated ‘good’ and has a lovely site right on the park. The tech college just down road does plumbing. This is only slightly over budget: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114267473

Sheffield? It's a great City and quite easy for Essex.

surprised you can get a 3 bed house for 170k in SW. Where I live you couldnt even get a 2 bed flat for that. And the wages are low and jobs limited unless you work in care/public sector/retail and leisure

Your rental property - when you say you can't sell it for 6 months, di you mean the sale can't go through for 6 months?
Could you get the ball rolling soon and exchange in 6 months - presuming it might help boost your budget, maybe you could then afford something closer (maybe Suffolk - Ipswich or Stowmarket, for example)? Usually takes close to 6 months for a sale to go through anyway.

@MinnieMountain

Peterborough. This is not far from us www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115987979#/?channel=RES_BUY so I can tell you that the primary and secondary schools are decent.

There’s a college the other side of town.

We have a big country park which you can cycle to along the river (which is also nice). There’s plenty of pretty countryside nearby.

I was going to say Peterborough - still reasonably close to Essex and has decent road and rail connections

@dreamingofsun

surprised you can get a 3 bed house for 170k in SW. Where I live you couldnt even get a 2 bed flat for that. And the wages are low and jobs limited unless you work in care/public sector/retail and leisure

Depends if you are within commuting distance (both time and affordability) of London or if its a desirable retirement location. Ipswich for example - not many people would be willing/able to spend that much time or money on a daily commute, and its not a chocolate box village type place, so it's more affordable than somewhere more easily commutable like Chelmsfod.

@spotcheck

Budget £150-170 (yeah, I know!

I don't understand.

170k

That isn't terrible though?

You’re not from south of The Watford Gap are you.

I know I'm off point and if prices are too high for you to buy then they're too high but.... please don't underestimate leaving your friends and family behind. If you move away you do risk becoming a bit isolated until you settle and make new friends, but it's not always easy in places where everyone else already has established friendship groups.

You sound like a great mum who is looking to secure a good base for her kids but don't leave yourself out on a limb and lonely. If your split is recent you might need those good friends close to you.

Good luck with your search!!

Barnsley.

Quick onto the M1. £150-170k will go quite far. Town centre is currently at the tail end of an overhaul. Short drive (20-30minutes) into the peak District. Direct trains to Leeds, Sheffield and London. I moved here two years ago. I love it!

@Longingforatikihut

Barnsley.

Quick onto the M1. £150-170k will go quite far. Town centre is currently at the tail end of an overhaul. Short drive (20-30minutes) into the peak District. Direct trains to Leeds, Sheffield and London. I moved here two years ago. I love it!

I recently visited Barnsley (only to nip to a specific shop) but was very pleasantly surprised at how nice the town centre seemed.

Newark. Good links to Nottingham, Grantham or Lincoln. Good schools and college. Nice countryside. Nice small market town. Right on the A1 so easy to get back down south.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116379284#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116380592#/?channel=RES_BUY

What about this OP?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116127743#/?channel=RES_BUY

Yorks, near the coast, near the N Yorks moors, 3 primary schools within walking distance, 6 bedrooms so room for family to visit you.

Grantham or Newark? On the a1 so easy Essex access.

Wales? I moved to Somerset but looking at Rightmove recently you would not get a house for £170 even in a rough area.

@HundredMilesAnHour

What about this OP?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116127743#/?channel=RES_BUY

Yorks, near the coast, near the N Yorks moors, 3 primary schools within walking distance, 6 bedrooms so room for family to visit you.

Loftus is not the place to take teens for a social life I worked in a job that required a lot of home visits for a few years and Loftus was in my patch, it's a very unique place and some of the locals love it to death, but needing to travel 40 minutes for the cinema, over an hour for bowling or a night out or even a decent range of shops isn't for teenagers. I would certainly consider Newcastle, Durham or York if you want a city, or Darlington, Middlesbrough or Stockton for a town with all the things teens could want in it, Darlington is on the East Coast mainline for work or a 2 hour trip to London, you'd get a 3 or 4 bed in all of them for the budget and all have decent secondaries and primaries (as well as not so decent ones). If your teens don't mind a short bus journey for their socialising then Yarm, Eaglescliffe, Sedgefield and Ingleby Barwick are all smaller towns but with exceptionally well performing primaries and at least 2 outstanding secondaries as well as direct rail links to London, York, Leeds etc from Yarm and Eaglescliffe.

@spotcheck

Budget £150-170 (yeah, I know!

I don't understand.

170k

That isn't terrible though?

£170K wouldn't buy a garden shed south of the Thames.

But the OP has said she's happy to move and there are plenty of places where you can get what she needs on budget without living in a shithole.

But there might not be as much choice as I'd thought, I did think there would be something in my town or surrounding area, but having looked. It seems that recent price rises have pushed it just out of budget.

@BarbaraofSeville

But the OP has said she's happy to move and there are plenty of places where you can get what she needs on budget without living in a shithole.

But there might not be as much choice as I'd thought, I did think there would be something in my town or surrounding area, but having looked. It seems that recent price rises have pushed it just out of budget.

Yes, I thought the same but checking local house prices they have all risen a lot recently!

Hi OP, I'm in the same situation as you and I chose Devon.

Just wanted to fill you in on the property situation here. I have a slightly bigger budget 200k. I had settled on Totnes but by the time I got round to viewing everything in my price range had gone.

I offered on a 2 bed Victorian mid-terrace in Newtown Abbot a month ago. It was on for 200k. Went to sealed bids and we got it at 210 but the vendor has had higher offers since. If I lose this house It means I'm probably priced out of Newton Abbot too.

There are properties in Torquay that meet my criteria and the ops but I'm told parts of it are very rough these days (My parents have lived in Devon for 20 years and advised me against Torquay)

When I lived abroad with DH we were considering coming back to the UK and he was very keen on the idea of Trowbridge as mentioned upthread.

Another one for Peterborough.
£170k should buy you a modest 3 beds, good links to London and Essex. Schools ok, a college and a university.
Lots to do for families, parks, cycle rides, lots of walks.
It is an OK town centre, couple of theatres, lots of music venues. Some nice country pubs.
Look at Norwich & Ipswich as well.

My budget was 200k in Hampshire and I can’t even get a 2 bed house. I’m stuck in my one bedroom flat and due a baby. With maternity now I feel well and truely stuck. It’s shit.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112993811#/?channel=RES_BUY

Durham and surrounding areas are lovely. As someone said upthread, Chester le Street and places nearby could be good for you. Close to Newcastle which has everything a teen could want. Not far from lovely coast. Very close to A1 for visiting relatives!

Agreed with @VikingsandDragons about avoiding Loftus though (Redcar and Cleveland). Places down that way are going to be too far from cities and transport links to give you what you need.