To ask for cheap areas to rent?

[Sparklfairy]

Not really aibu, posting for traffic.

I live in SE and pay £550 for a tiny studio. I'm in the very lucky position of working freelance from home, so can work from anywhere. Recently I've been thinking about moving elsewhere in the country, so I can get something slightly bigger for the money (it really is a shoebox!) and/or put the what I save away towards buying in the future.

I have just renewed tenancy for another 6 months, so I am only at the thinking about it stage, but the only parameters would be:

Not 'too rural' (or if it is, fairly good transport links). I've grown up rurally and buses were irregular and train station miles away, so as long as public transport was a bit better than that I'd be okay! I don't drive.

... I think that's the only 'must have'. I was going to write a list but I don't think there's much else I won't compromise on. Basically I don't want to end up living isolated knowing no one in the middle of the field where it's a mission to even get a pint of milk

So tell me, where would you recommend?

Theres parts of liverpool and northeast you could probably buy a house for£550

Not great areas obviously

Liverpool is quite cheep and has a good city life. I pay £500 a month rent for a 3 bedroomed ground floor flat that has a massive garden attached and off-road parking. I'm close enough to the city centre to walk in, yet far enough away that I have no traffic and noise around.

It's got a crap reputation, but it's gotten so much better over the last 20 years and is a wonderful place to live now. I doubt I'll ever leave after moving here 12 years ago.

araiwa haha. I don't mind areas too much (within reason). I've lived all over London and my favourite was actually Croydon despite its reputation!

Shrewsbury.
Plenty of 2 bed houses and flats to rent for under £600 a month.

I always jump on these threads to say the Wirral! Just over the water from Liverpool. I live a 10 min drive or train from Lpool city centre but rent/car insurance etc. is cheaper than Liverpool. I lived in South Liverpool for 10 years but am from and now live on the Wirral. It's also commutable to Manchester and Chester as well as Liverpool (I know you don't need the job options - but for general life, good to know you're well connected!). Both Liverpool and the Wirral have good and bad areas so definitely do your research.

Sherwood in Nottingham. Good transport links but also a great community in itself. There's always something going on, but in a non intrusive way!

I do like Liverpool though. No idea on areas, but very nearly moved there for my postgrad.

I love that Liverpool and surrounding areas is consistently coming up. I've never lived further north than Watford! being connected would be a really good thing, I do worry about becoming isolated/not making any friends!

Why would you be isolated in Liverpool area ?

I meant I love the idea of Liverpool! I was worried people might say 'i live on the arse end of a farm with a population of 7 in my village' rather than suggesting big cities!

Excited now will check out Nottingham too as pp suggested

There is a direct train line between Liverpool and London, only 2 hours away. I travel to London fairly often for days out and weekends away.

We live in south Leeds, which is much cheaper that north Leeds great motorway access and 10 minutes to the city centre. Buses where I am are every ten minutes. You could get a two bedroom for around the money your paying. Xx

We have cities. We even have indoor toilets 😂.
Only joking, hope it works out.

I moved from Cornwall to Derbyshire 5 years ago and it's been a great move for me.

Community is still here similar to Cornwall
Transport is great (I'm between Notts and Derby)
Major cities in easy commute including Notts, Derby, Sheffield, Leicester ...
Lots of opportunities to do things always events art and shows on
Countryside on doorstep
City on doorstep
Decent school nearby for DS

The only thing I miss is the beach which is 2-3 hours away rather than 20 mins.

The east mids are lovely! Lots of smaller towns are very cheap. We also own a big house in a nice area for £600 a month (and that's an overpayment on the mortgage) but houses of a similar size rent for about the same.

Cost of living is much cheaper too.

Did you want to stay in the SE? How far out from London are you? Do you want to stay close to friends and family?

North east you can rent a 3-4 bed house for around £500 (or less in some areas) or buy a house for between £50-120k. Big cities, like Newcastle/Durham are more expensive but if you go out a little you still have good transport links from areas like Darlington, Middlesbrough or Stockton. a train from Darlington to London isn't that long either.

I expect it'd be similar in other outskirt type places if you look around. SE really is a different world.

bellinisurge surely not!

beccarocksbaby I really like the idea of the Midlands. Although I live in a city now I'm quite far away from any other cities iyswim (coastal ish peninsula!). Having so much choice in close proximity whilst still being relatively close to family back here sounds a great option

Mixingitall not fussed about staying in SE. Extended family are all over, it's just DM and friends that are here. Siblings have moved 3 ish hours away for work.

codenameduchess it really is a different world! I haven't even got room for a sofa in my place, the thought of a 3bed for the same price is shocking

I also came on to suggest Liverpool and the surrounding towns.

Liverpool is great, rain links to London and Manchester with ease for a bit of variety.

If you are worried about making friends I have a friend who moved to a new city and downloaded an app HeyVina which is a womens friendship app to find friends close by.

@Sparklfairy just before we bought me and dh rented a huge 3 bed semi with double driveway and massive garden (gardener included in rent) for £475, we've now bought a slightly smaller 3 bed semi in the same area and the mortgage is less than £400 a month.

I'm always shocked at SE and London prices! My cousin has just bought a tiny terraced house I'm London and it was about 4x more than we paid.

You can rent a house in Leicester for that, only just over an hour back into London. But obviously housing varies dramatically in cost depending on where in a city it is.

Liverpool is fantastic. Great life. Great value for money. Same money will get you a small rundown terrace inva decent area or a 1-2 bed modern apartment close to town. So much to do there. I love Liverpool. Lived there for 10 years. Had double my London house (near Wembley) for half the money in a beautiful part.

Corby is cheap. It's had lots of money invested in it, lots of facilities including train station with a direct train to London which is only an hour away.

Glossop in the high peak. Semi rural but close to Manchester with a decent train station. Around £650 for a decent 2 bed terrace. Thriving high Street, lots of community stuff going on so easy to find like minded people. My local pub also serves a double gin and tonic for £2.10.

Keepingbees Rent in Corby isn't cheap, lots of HMOs pushing the cost of rental up.