A little bit of advice needed for good areas in Manchester ...Follow on post

[shouldiorshouldinot]

Hi everyone,
I posted a couple of weeks ago about moving to Manchester and got some helpful responses, but still need a little advice...
Previously almost everyone suggested south Manchester, sale, Hale , Altrincham, as well as the moors and parts of Stockport.
I have 4dc and like I mentioned my budget is ideally max of £310k for a 4 bed, but that doesn't seem to get me much in those areas.
I was wandering if you guys could enlighten me on Eccles ( seen lovely affordable new builds there) , which parts of Stockport and stretford and prestwich (again lovely new builds) are good in terms of schools including secondary? I'm after good family locations not too rural.
I've noticed checking school checker on right move most primary schools seem good but secondary are touch and go, although they all seem good in the south but again just more pricey.
Any help would be appreciated?
Thanks

Steer well clear of levenshulme - it’s very rough

Parts of Cheadle Heath and Edgeley in stockport are good value - excellent transport links, ‘good’ primary schools (not sure about secondary), nice park, very close to Cheadle, walking distance (20mins) to stockport market area which has a few bars and restaurants and more opening all the time. Trains into Manchester every 3 or 4 mins during the day - only takes 10 mins

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70236421.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70236421.html

Stockport Academy is the high school for there. No way would I send my children there.

Monton is lovely, as are South Swinton and Worsley. A bit further down the East Lancs road you have Ellenbrook and Boothstown, both nice.

Prestwich and parts of Whitefield are also nice.

There are no nice parts of North East Manchester, and I’m allowed to say that because I’m from there! Unless you head right out to the sticks, ie Saddleworth.

If I were you I’d rent initially as a PP suggested to get a feel for what’s important to you, eg being near a tram line, access to the city centre, amenities etc.

I wouldnt call £20k for that house in Edgeley "good value". Edgeley is patchy. True i wouldnt choose to live up near the centre/shopping street area but there are pockets of decency .Not sure what denotes "deprived".

sorry £320k

I live in urmston, and have 4 children in the various schools

Urmston, flixton and some parts of stretford are lovely

They are good value because they are deprived areas. I used to be a practice nurse in Edgeley and my sister a TA. Rough as. But nice park! Cheadle Heath is right next door between Edgeley and Adswood. Avoid.

I think you have strange ideas of deprived. Both Edgeley and Cheadle Heath are definitely mixed areas, including working class and some professional people.
Certainly not ‘rough as’! Schools are all ofsted rated good and one has recently become outstanding.

Cheadle Heath is between Edgeley and Cheadle (which is an expensive area)

Pretty much every good area of Manchester is next door to somewhere rough so good luck finding anywhere that doesn’t have its issues!

@Tiptoetiptoetiptoe you must be on that local fb group. 😁 I don't think the crime is bad. I'd rather live in Romiley, and have done for years, rather than Levenshulme 😉.

www.stockportjsna.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2015-16-JSNA-Socio-Economic-Context.pdf

OP this is from 2013 but gives an idea of areas in terms of population and deprivation.

My DC go to a primary school in one of the area you mentioned and it's one of the top primaries in greater Manchester according to to the most recent ratings.

PM me if you want more info, don't want to post here as it's too outing

Agree on avoiding Partington. Drugs, gangs, ASBOs, you name it.

Shame cause it could be quite a nice up and coming area as they've just had a new shopping precinct built but the crime rate is stupidly high.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67479388.html

Just seen the above 4 beds in Knutsford. It's a lovely small town and Knutsford High is very popular. It's on the train line between Chester and Manchester via Hale and Altrincham and bus to Wilmslow. It's also close to Tatton Park. Not in Trafford per se, but DD goes to Alti Girls and there are plenty of girls from Knutsford. Same when DS was at Alti Boys.

Grew up in Flixton/Urmston and most of my family are still there. Went to Urmston Grammar.

Flixton and on into Woodsend are good options for getting close to Urmston but slightly cheaper.

I live in Levenshulme and not at all sure why people are saying it's so rough. There are some not so great areas as with all areas but I wouldn't live anywhere else. Chorlton especially is rough and they're having lots of issues with gangs at the moment.

The listing posted for Levenshulme on Osbourne Road will probably go for well over £340. We bought our Victorian Semi, 2 years ago for £225 and it's now worth nearly £300 and our old flat has also doubled in price.

I've lived in Levenshulme for 12 years, it's improved a hell of a lot but it also has an amazing community spirit. It feels more like a village than part of a city. We have lots of parks, community spaces, independent shops and the fantastic market. Plus six minutes to Manchester by train.

Google Levenshulme and come have a look.

People must be pushing up our house prices for a reason.

@Teanocoffee - Haha! I think that’s a no brainier. 😂

Also for the PP who asked why not Partington, I’ve spent a lot of time around the area, as a friend lives there.
I doubt a place where buses refuse the go after 8pm, due to vandalism and bus driver intimidation, is the place for the OP.
It really is rough, though it does have a good sense of community, unless you get on the wrong side of some neighbours.

Honestly in South Manchester the ‘good value’ houses seem to always come with a catch now. Either area, or condition of the home.
I’m sure there are still pockets left of good value, but during our house hunt last year and the one before, we found everything had shot up.

We compromised a bit on area whilst DC is young, and won’t be roaming the streets with other children, though we’ve found that actually it’s really quite nice here, despite a few groups of children causing trouble on the local park.
And we have lucked out with our neighbours as they’re lovely.

I’ve never lived, or looked, north of the City, always Trafford and Stockport so I can’t comment on anything that way.

Have a look at cuddington which is on the train line into Manchester

Anyone describing Levenshulme as rough has never lived anywhere genuinely rough! The tower blocks in Poland my DH grew up in, they are rough. The scheme in Langlees my dad grew up in and some of my family still live in, that is rough. The Fenland town I moved to Levy from a few years ago... parts of that are rough as fuck. Levenshulme? No. No comparison. It's still not posh, and hopefully never will be despite the current gentrification and sharp rise in house prices, but it is not rough in any meaningful sense of the word. I get the impression it once was, but these days it really, really isn't.

Partytown (Partington) is enormously rough.

Thank you everyone wow there's loads of responses. I'll have to go through everything and check. Definitely want good schools and not to far from some sort of shopping centre, lovely community feel. Hope we find something.

Like anywhere, there are good bits and bad bits. I'm in North Manc, near Failsworth. Solidly WC type area but I love it. Our budget got us the type of house I wouldn't be able to get near in South Manc. My neighbours are lovely, fantastic community spirit, lots of regeneration and community projects going on. Crime is pretty average but I don't feel unsafe walking around when I take my dogs out after dark or walking back from the Met stop.

I must admit when DH first drove into the street when we came to view, I was thinking WTF. But we've been here 18 months now and I love it. I really liked Whitefield but the same house and large garden would have put an extra £200K on the asking price!!

Drive round all over, don't be scared to talk to the neighbours and look at the crime stats in the immediate area. Look at the mix of shops - is it busy and thriving or are they all boarded up with the tills behind security partitions? What are the community projects like?

Does anyone know how offerton is in Stockport?

The Offerton Estate is rough as and has a bad reputation but most parts are lovely., especially Bosden Farm estate which is at the Marple end. Not sure about primary schools but Marple Hall High School is very good. I've heard very good things about it. Traffic awful though and no train station.

Sparklysneakers thank you. Can anyone recommend the good and not so good parts of Stockport?