To ask anyone from Manchester...

[totaketheplunge]

Hi all,

Please can I have some advice? If you were a solo, 26yo old woman wanting to move to Manchester. Where would you look at moving to? Some things to consider:

• I'm a teacher so needs to be decent schools around

• I don't necessarily need to be in the middle of Manchester

• I like somewhere with plenty going on but also not keen on mega busy roads with loads of traffic

• somewhere I will feel safe

Thanks so much!

NORRIS! I couldn’t remember the 4th one! It is really nice there!

I was a student in Whalley Range 15 years ago and definitely wouldn’t have described it as nice either, especially the Alexandra Park end. Would be nice if it has been regenerated as some of those houses we destroyed with our student squalor were really lovely.

Worsley, Monton and parts of Swinton are nice areas in Salford.

Lots of very valid commentary on here about areas. Would be helpful if you have a budget and what kind of vibe you're looking for.

Sale, Timperley, Altrincham, Chorlton, Didsbury will be upper quartile price wise. Many perfectly lovely places to live but your budget will dictate to a large extent. GM has 10 boroughs and there are nice and not so nice among all of them.

I would look on right move and then ask specifically about x, y, z areas.

Worsley is nice

You have a shared ownership property.

So if you aren't living in it, who is?

You may not be able to rent it out as that's the catch with shared ownership - it's classed as sub-letting which is illegal.

Before you do anything else, I would be making sure your plans for your property are fine. We've had shared ownership and two of our neighbours were caught out by this as they didn't realise the problem.

Do you want to live near to the school as a teacher?
I would have thought the first step is to find a job, then work out your budget, how far you’re prepared to travel, check the rush hour traffic and then find a house (perhaps rent first).
Greater Manchester is big enough to find whatever you want, but budget and job are key criteria.

I live in Tameside. Houses are still reasonably priced and there's good travel links into the city centre (trains from Hyde, Guide Bridge, or trams from Ashton).

There's good schools across Tameside and surrounding boroughs and the commute times are not all that bad, so I wouldn't worry too much about being based in say Denton or Ashton (which are both close to the M60) and looking for jobs in Stockport or Oldham which are both linked to the M60.

I've worked in Oldham schools for 15 years now and there are plenty that are wonderful places to be with great leadership teams who really care about their staff.

Moston is one place. Judging north Manchester by Moston is like judging South Manchester by, eg, Gorton, Longsight or Wythenshawe.

Prestwich, which is very nice and way more affordable than Chorlton or Didsbury, was recently named by the Sunday Times as one of the 10 best places in the UK to buy a first home, is in North Manchester. It’s leafy, has a good centre with plenty of nice bars and restaurants, a busy arts scene and fantastic parks. Also tram links straight to the city centre.

Manchester is fabulous. Lived here 23 years. First in chorlton (which is great), then in Urmston (lovely place, pricey now). Trafford is a great area to be a teacher. The 11+ doesn't make a difference to state school primary teaching save that it makes life easier in year 5 and 6 when lots of people are tutoring their dc.

I recommend renting until you get the lay of the land. Can you rent out your own flat for a year.

Manchester traffic is busy. As others have said being on a tram line is great but then you pay for it in property prices.

I recommend aspull which is a village on the outskirts of wigan. It's just off the m61 and a 15 min drive to horwich Park way which has direct rail links into Manchester.

It really doesn't! They are quite boring suburbia. I have lived in whalley range, levenshulme, Stretford, Hulme, Prestwich and city centre. All great and much cheaper and more fun than the above.

Well of course Whalley Range and Moss Side were extremely desirable areas once. All those big crumbling multi occupancy houses were very fancy in their day. I've been reseaching my family history and found my great grandmother was a nanny for an accountant's children in Moss Side. Their neighbour was a judge and most of the houses on the same road and surrounding streets were occupied by families with servants. I lived in a student house not that far away almost exactly 100 years later and it was very hard to imagine wealthy people ever living in the area!
On the other hand, it amuses me that the Heatons are now sought after places as several generations of my family lived there and they would definitely not have thought they lived anywhere special.
Even within my lifetime the desirability of different parts of Greater Manchester has changed hugely and will, I'm sure, continue to do so. Didsbury, Sale and out to Altrincham/Hale/Bowden etc have always been expensive and I think always will be, but there's been a lot of changes in the city. They must be running out of areas to gentrify, so who knows, maybe Whalley Range will be restored to it's former glory eventually and could be a good investment? There are indeed some beautiful old buildings but whether they're salvageable I wouldn't like to guess.

Manchester is really a very big place, so there are lots of areas & lots of schools. To give perspectives Oldham (North) is an hour on the bus into the centre - Stockport is the same. This translates to approximately 20/25 minutes on the train.
I know south Manchester - some of the areas named are lovely but the housing association properties will be few & far between.
Maybe start to investigate areas where there are properties you could afford - then look at the areas/schools etc...

@Obi73 has it spot in with this:
it's the ethics and values of the school you need to consider first, then the headteacher and your mentor’s perspective and personalities - after that it’s geography. Find your tribe 🥰

I've been teaching for 23 years, it's a tough game and is getting tougher. The difference a good environment (not necessarily a naice school, I've been at my happiest in PRU units and high Pupil Premium areas but it has to be good for you) makes is immeasurable

Smithills area of Bolton is lovely. Very affordable, only a few minutes drive and you're in the moors but also accessible to town centre/train station

From my perspective, the North/South Manchester divide is as significant in its own way as the country’s North/South divide. Where you feel most at home depends on the sort of person you are and the kind of life you want to lead.

You don't always need to own a house. You can sell your current house, put the money in a savings account or ISA then rent for a short time and work out where you want to live. You will then be in a stronger position to buy as you will not be in a chain. Also means you can take your time deciding where you want to be and not stress about doing it all in the school holidays.

I live in Sale and find it really convenient for motorway access, metrolink and distance to general things like shops etc. However, we are currently having an influx of people moving to the area for the schools which is pushing up house prices and making it difficult as a lot are first time buyers. My own son has to attend a school 4.5 miles away as the nearest secondary school was so oversubscribed.

However, if you are looking at a teaching point of view, Trafford Schools are some of the highest rated hence the demand so might be worth looking into areas on the outskirts that you could travel into.

But you'll be moving without a wage, that will impede your chances of getting a mortgage. I got one when they were practically handing mortgage agreements out on the street and they still wanted to know how long the commute would be to work (in miles) from the new house and I needed to provide a wage slip from the job of the new house, to assess affordability. There's no way you'll pass affordability checks without a job lined up.

Chorlton cum Hardy

I lived in Altrincham for years and really didn’t like it - horrendous traffic and smug people everywhere. Worsley and chorlton are nice and more reasonably priced. Salford is a definitely a bit hit and miss.

Off you poodle to another thread picky Vicky.

Another vote for the nicer bits of the Bury/Ramsbottom/Prestwich etc areas of North Manchester.

I was born in Littleborough and brought up, lived, bought my first house in Bury, I only defected to the West Midlands to follow family as my Dad aged. I'd go back, as pretty as where I live now is... I don't feel particularly rooted here!

Like all places, theres nice bits and shitty bits but you'll get more for your money in North Manc than South!

Not giving your budget is ridiculous IMO, when people are suggesting Altrincham or Didsbury and the reality might be Rochdale.

it’s like me thinking I should move to Hampstead when I might not be able to afford a two bed in Watford.

it’s hardly identifying.

I'm a teacher of 5 years. Getting a mortgage isn't a problem.

Yes but you won't have a job in your current area. You could be a teacher of 30 years but without proof of employment you won't get a mortgage.