To move up north for a big but cheap house!

[dancingmonkey]

Just that really. I l live in Hertfordshire- south east and very expensive part of Uk. Budget is around £270,000 and around here that will get me a small 2 bed/ poss 3 bed. But have looked at properties in York which I know is lovely and the will get me a 4/5 bed with massive garden, playroom, utility etc!

Has anyone on here moved far from friends and family to get more value for money on a house? did you regret? I have a 2 year old so obviously it would be hard to not see grandparents and friends but other that that not sure what I would miss! I also work from home so wouldn't need to worry about that.

Am now about to read this thread, but ...'£270,000 and around here that will get me a small 2 bed/ poss 3 bed. But have looked at properties in York which I know is lovely and the will get me a 4/5 bed with massive garden, playroom, utility..'
Oh, if only. Yes we may be in the north, but the idea you can get great properties in York, with large grounds, on the cheap, because we're 'in the north', does not play out in reality. The most you'd get for your money in York is a two bedroomed terrace with next to no outside space.

Yep,

Moved from Southwater Horsham up to Aberdeenshire.
Best move ever.

Where we were was just becoming one big building site.

So sold an end terrace 2 bed house with nice garden for £310k (mental)
Bought a detached 3 bed farm house with a load of outbuildings and 18 acres for £315k (mental)

No regrets.

It seems like you already get a lot for £270k in Herts already; in most parts of the South East you’d only get a flat for that (though admittedly I’m thinking more of Kent/Sussex/Surrey/Dorset).

I guess if you get much, much more than that in York, plus your income will be the same, then the deciding factor will be how much you rely on family/friends being close by?

Re; nicelegsshameabouttheface - have you lived up north or do you live up north?
You get far more value for money house wise.
I live in the Lake District and it’s fab - you should try it x

thunderthighs - it's already been established that you DON'T get more than that in York. York is not cheap.

Er...house prices in York are, on the whole, higher than Herts / Bucks for decent school areas. If you are seeing a 4 bed with grounds in York for under 400k then there is probably a very good reason!

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable Apologies, I’m never certain how accurate posts are on here re house prices etc. Someone could easily claim that you can get a family house for £400k in my area (Sussex) but that would be in a run down coastal town rather than anywhere local.

@dancingmonkey Have you thought about Lincolnshire? I grew up there and know the area around Lincoln well. Villages with outstanding primaries within easy reach of Lincoln would have a wealth of family houses in your budget. If I didn’t love being in Sussex so much, I’d be there like a shot!

Thanks for this thread, it's been a shit week but that first comment cheered me right up.

I'm in York, and I'm definitely an acquired taste 😂

Good luck in the house hunt OP

Lived in the south till I was 18.
Lived in the north for 42 years after that.
Moved back down south 3 years ago.

Much prefer the north personally - but be warned - the weather is crap!

I moved from South East London to Sussex over twenty years ago because I didn't want to bring up a child in London. I am married and our son went to brilliant schools and college, we had and still have a very nice house - more house for less money (son is 21 and away at uni now) but, although we're not that far from London, I've always really missed that close family connection. It was very lonely bringing up my son as my parents and one of my sisters lived abroad for 12 years. My son barely knows my sisters, mum and other close family - that's partly my fault for not being terribly family oriented while he was growing up. My husband doesn't have any siblings and his parents died when my son was less than a year old. He therefore doesn't "get" sibling relationships or closeness. My son came with me to visit my sister last year and he seemed awkward. We spoke about it on the way home and he told me he doesn't feel any connection with my family and doesn't really want to go again. That made me very upset and then that upset him.

OP - if you are sure you'll keep in close touch with your family if you move then go for it! I've been to York and it's stunningly beautiful as are lots of places in the North. But think very carefully about your family connections. I adore my family but don't get the chance to see them as often as I'd like due to work and a slightly controlling miserable husband.

I did. I regretted it.

@louderthan1 care to expand?

Err, £270k?

A colleague of mine has just bought a 4 bed detached, room for a pony, etc. "up north" (not far from York) and it cost him £495k.

As far as the north being an acquired taste is concerned, I love it up there. Try living in Cornwall, bugger me, that's an "acquired taste"!!

Absolutely agreed @PhilCornwall1
plans escape

Lincolnshire is your answer. Cheap and close to family.

Much like the rest of the country the "north" varies in price from area to area. I live in Somerset in a village with good employment, a good school and a station. Houses here are significantly more expensive than the next village 5 miles down the road which doesn't have any of those things.

My family is from Yorkshire, the Leeds area. The town my grandma lived in went from lovely and really quite a posh area when I was very young, to awful to booming again. It's just far enough out of Leeds that it seems to be becoming popular with young professionals who cannot quite afford Leeds prices.

RTFT!

The house the OP found was actually in Driffield. YorkSHIRE, but not York.

There's North and there's North. Harrogate can be as much as anywhere in the SE bar Kensington and Chelsea.

York is beautiful. I live in Yorkshire and gave friends in York. Also worked in the property market for 5 years here.....not too sure where you're going to find that in York for 270k to be honest, York is expensive.

Oh just RTFT op 🤣😂🤣😂 Driffield is nowhere near York.....its not even in the same county!! It's in East Yorks, York is North Yorks....that’s why you’re able to get all that for under 300k.

Op I grew up in York, where I grew up it was probably quite "rough", my parents sold their house last year for £210,000- a three bed end of terrace. DH parents live in a sought after area of York and their similar sized house is worth about £400,000!

I have relatives in Driffield, there are some lovely properties and it is not far from York but it definitely isn't York!

Selby and barlby are definitely much nicer than they were when I was growing up and might be worth a look? Cheaper than York but closer than Driffield!

Woodlands View, Barlby, Selby, YO8
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81808204.html

@GrumpyHoonMain yes I thought that I literally read that and did this 😬😬 as knew exactly where that would be!!!!

Parts East Yorks are really nice although it does get a bit of a bad rep in Yorkshire for being a bit rough and a bit backwards - and I can say that as amy Dad and his family are all from that area, Howden, Beverly and my great grandad was born in Hull.

I have no idea why though, I was brought in and am now back living in West Yorks and I think there are far prettier an nicer areas in East Yorks. I'm actually not familiar with Driffield as a town but know the larger area and it is lovely visually you could commute to the Hull area via train for work....Hull would be your nearest city unfortunately...you’re not really near York at all I'm closer in West Yorks. Hull is still a bit of a 💩 hole in afraid but there is industry there. Caveat being that the outlying villages are gorgeous though.

You’d have Beverley and Malton nearby in Driffield, they're both lovely for shopping and fantastic restaurants and bars.

I’d go for Penrith as it’s Cumbria but cheaper than the lakes e.g. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-89238143.html

Sorry OP I am still only on page 1, but I can't be asked to wade through all the posts so I will just say (on the off chance that it hasn't already been said) that if you work from home, and would have no family or friends wherever you wanted to move to, then that could be pretty isolating, as you may have few chances to build up a circle of friends. Of course if you are a loner anyway maybe that wouldn't bother you? Good luck.