Please help me find an area to live in Newcastle/Gateshead!

[OneNotDone]

We are a family of 3 (soon to be 4): me, DH, DD2.5, and DS due in April 25.

We're hoping to move to the North East within next 18 months, currently in East Anglia. DH grew up in and still has family in Gateshead.

We are hoping to move to a 3 bed house (with extra space e.g. conservatory or large diner that could be used for WFH if needed), or ideally (but unlikely) a 4 bed. Must haves are big garden, within 25 mins of Gateshead for grandparents, close to parks/countryside walks, good transport links and decent schools. Budget is 160-200k.

What I like about the area we live in now is that everything is walking/bus distance for a young child's needs. I walk DD to nursery, a number of baby groups, Aldi for top up shops, there's about 4-5 small parks in walking distance, and the area is reasonably quiet (despite bordering a rougher area). Ideally I'd like to find somewhere similar.

We have previously looked at Wallsend and South Shields, any insight on those areas welcomed.

So where should we move to???

(Obviously places like Gosforth, Jesmond, and Whitley Bay are lovely but definitely out of our budget)

South Shields is lovely.
I wouldn't move to County Durham area though, and stay out peterlee/Sunderland area they are very run down.

I think DH would rather swallow a pineapple whole than move to Sunderland... the football rivalry is insane 😂

Somewhere just off the A1? Easy from G'head, commutable to the city, the airport, and easy access to Northumberland.
Wideopen, Dudley, Great Park, Kenton, Fenham, etc

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E26899&maxBedrooms=4&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=200000&minPrice=100000&propertyTypes=&mustHave=garden&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E9850&maxBedrooms=4&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=200000&minPrice=100000&propertyTypes=&mustHave=garden&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E13800&maxBedrooms=4&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=200000&minPrice=100000&propertyTypes=&mustHave=garden&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

Thanks, do you know what these areas are like in terms of baby/toddler groups?

No idea I'm afraid, my baby days are long gone. Wideopen/N Gosforth has 2 primary schools and lots of new builds, so should have young families.
movingtonewcastle.co.uk/blog/what-is-there-to-do-for-families-in-newcastle-upon-tyne

Belmont/Carrville/Gilesgate Moor in Durham. Next to the A1, good schools, lots of properties and close to Durham itself for the east coast mainline if you need the train.

I’m from Fenham, my whole family lives there. It isn’t cheap, I don’t know if there’s much centrally for your budget, but I might be wrong. My mum’s house sold for nearly £300K last year, off the West Road, far end of Fenham very near the girls’ secondary. It’s very family friendly, Sacred Heart primary is nice, obviously Catholic, my cousin works there and 2 of her dc go there. My parents moved there to send us to the related secondaries. St James and Basil (not Catholic) is a good social hub. Both churches are very family friendly.

The outskirts of Fenham near Morrisons might be a good place to look. Access to Gateshead is easy, A1 access is not far from Morrisons, you drive from Fenham to Kenton via Morrisons.

Kenton isn’t bad but is classed as poor, a friend’s daughter qualifies for grants for a sport she does due to living there. Their street is really nice, tho, not far from the main secondary school.

Wideopen is very decent, we have family friends there.

Cramlington is nice, about 20 minutes drive from the Metro Centre, good public transport in to Newcastle. Has lots of schools/nurseries and baby groups and a decent shopping centre so all amenities are on your door stop x

Rowlands Gill or anywhere along the Derwent Valley, very green. Or south of Tyne Valley, Ryton, Greenside, maybe Prudhoe for best value.

Low Fell and surrounding area.

I like Seaham. It's a little further than the other suggestions but it's cheap and the coastlines lovely.

I would be looking for somewhere close to the Metro, entirely new fleet coming into service soon.

South Shields is a great place to raise a family. My sibling and partner have settled there and tell me it’s an affordable town to live in.
Their kids attend a good school, there’s a wide range of activities available for the children during term time and holidays, as well as good amenities for everyone and then there’s the beach!
Easy transport links to Newcastle and Sunderland.
If we ever left DH’s family firm, that’s where we’d go.

Ah this is really great to know! We had originally settled on South Shields before other houses started to turn our heads. Narrows down the search a bit.