Liverpool/Bradford/Swansea or where?

[Mushypeasandlemonjuice]

Happy Saturday everyone.

looking for some location advice. We’ll have a budget of around £200,000 and need a 3bed. Property could be either a flat or house & we’d be ok being more rural if there are safe public transport options.

i last lived in Scotland but for different reasons that’s not an option now so I’m a bit stuck where to move to & we’re coming back from time abroad so visiting to decide isn’t an easy option.
i’m familiar with and like Liverpool & Swansea but wondered about Bradford also? (Don't know Bradford at all but its been recommended & within budget)

Wish it didn’t matter but it’s relevant to add that I’m (white) British but visibly Muslim (hijab) & my husband & children are olive skinned.

Aware the budget isnt high but we don’t need schools (for continuity kids have been/will be homeschooled) & are happy to buy a fixer-upper.

kids are teenagers & are interested in active hobbies (rock climbing/gym/water-based stuff), chess, science, music..they want to be actively engaged in groups etc so that’s a consideration.

any ideas about which city/area might be a good match? Open to other suggestions if there’s somewhere i haven’t thought of - WFH so totally flexible.

thanks!

Mumbles in Swansea, although not sure if your budget would stretch. Lovely place.

Mumbles would be dreamy but yeah don't think we’d find anything in budget

What about Bolton?

There are some run down bits but also lovely bits and not far from some beautiful countryside and scenery. Got a town centre which does need a bit of TLC but not bad to
have close by.

Im not Muslim bit there a big Muslim community there if that’s what you are looking for :)

Good links to Manchester City centre, Salford and Wigan.

Ooh interesting suggestion, thanks! Any specific areas you’d recommend looking at?

I'd personally avoid Bradford unless you can rent there first to suss out the good/bad areas. Since it's become the City of Culture it's been cleaned up a fair bit, but it's still not somewhere I'd be happy to buy without knowing the area quite well (though the same could be said for any larger city).

Halifax is worth a look - lots of lovely parts, beautiful surrounding countryside, and many houses available within your budget.

How old are the kids? South Liverpool particularly is good for all the things you mention, you would be able to get a terrace or ex council house in a decent area with that budget (not the nicest ones such as Woolton, Aigburth etc), or a flat in the nicest areas.
My biggest concern would be the ages of the children. The better schools are heavily oversubscribed and if they are already in high school age you would struggle for an in year place. The schools are a really lottery with a mixture of entrance exams, stringent faith criteria etc for a lot of the sought after.
However if you are able to get a place there are some really excellent schools.
Also I think there is a well established Muslim community, with two mosques in the south of the city.
Generally I find it a very welcoming, family friendly and community orientated place
Edited for typo.

Liverpool 100%. Property is such good value,

Thanks for this. The kids will be doing GCSEs as private candidates because they’ve been homeschooled while abroad so schools wouldn't be an issue. Colleges (+16) would though but theyd be able to travel out of area then. Do you have any suggestion for ex-council house areas that might work? Is it really street-by-street dependent?

Thanks. That’s my concern with Bradford too - not knowing the area at all. There’s only so far internet research can get you to the reality. Will have a look at Halifax :)

I'd avoid Bradford.
Have you looked at some areas around Huddersfield? Halifax is also on the up as someone said.

You would definitely need to look closely (like all cities there are good and bad areas), however what I would do is look at the places where you want to be, e.g. Woolton has a lovely village centre, or Allerton road is a lovely high street with independent shops etc, and put those in Rightmove but extend the search radius by 0.5 miles. The fact you are not worrying about school catchments will give you some freedom with that.

A lot of the good schools will have sixth form intakes, Cronton Sixth Form College in Widnes is outstanding and is popular with South Liverpool students, and there are college buses. If either kids are science focused there are Maths and Science Sixth form centres attached to Liverpool Uni in the city centre .. absolutely loads of choice.

3 bed flat in Aigburth (lovely quintessential leafy suburbia)
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158161151

3 bed in Gatacre (lovely, very suburban... Doesn't really have a high street or centre but not far from Woolton)
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158367470

3 bed semi in West Allerton if you don't mind a project
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152574980

This one is in Garston, but close to Aigburth
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152574980

I love mooching on Rightmove 😂

Bradford is grim.

There is a big Moslem community if that is what you are looking for, but they are pretty much all Mirpuri Pakistanis. If you/your family do not come from there you will still be outsiders.

Many of the women speak little or no English - only Punjabi or Urdu.

I wouldn’t live in Bradford. Bingley however is lovely but might be too expensive.
The Wirral is nice but I don’t know Liverpool.
Southport may be better. It’s, usually, fairly, quiet.

The second and third and fourth properties are in very 'white' areas. If a multicultural area is what you're looking for then Gateacre, Woolton, Allerton, Garston are not the areas for you.

I don't think you would encounter discrimination there. I've lived in this area my whole life. On my row of 30 houses, there is only one non-white family. So it depends on whether you would want to be in the heart of a Muslim community, or if you're just looking for somewhere where you wouldn't face discrimination. I hope that makes sense.

You could focus on the area from the first link if you want a more culturally mixed area. Liverpool 8 is very multicultural, as is L17. There is a large muslim community in L7, but it's not the best area.

My daughter lives in Woolton-it's really nice.

I agree with what others have said about Liverpool, brilliant city and you could absolutely find a 3 bed for £200k but although lovely areas (Woolton, Gateacre, Allerton), I wouldn’t say they are the most multi-cultural areas of the city. So it depends on how important this is to you.

Ah ok I hadn't thought of that, thanks for pointing that out.

L17...Sefton Park etc? Absolutely gorgeous but possibly out of the OP's price range. Maybe not if open to a flat...I would love to live there.

L7 sadly there is a lot of crime and antisocial behaviour. If the OP's children have been homeschooled etc it could be quite a culture shock.

L8, Toxteth has quite the reputation, but there are some absolutely lovely parts, beautiful buildings and excellent proximity to the city centre. Very multi cultural as you say, I would describe it as quite a vibrant place really. Also some very deprived pockets and again possibly a bit of a culture shock for teenagers who have previously been homeschooled etc.

You're right in that I couldn't imagine any discrimination across any of the areas suggested. My husband is south Asian and step children are mixed race, and it has never even occurred to any of us that there would be issues, children have never experienced anything negative at school etc. They do have local accents, are Catholic in Catholic schools so I have no experience of how things would be different if a different religion, or wearing hijab etc. I see teenage girls across the areas mentioned going to school in hijab, especially the all girls schools. But I'm possibly being a little naive as I have never had to navigate people's responses to wearing a hijab etc.

OP, would you have the chance to visit for a weekend and explore the different areas, see where you feel would be a good fit?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158182748?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

I know Liverpool and Bradford quite well. I also know Bolton and I would recommend it for you above all. It’s a brilliant place and you will find a lot for your money. Look at Heaton. I have put a link for a property above but there are a lot of great properties in your budget. The town is about to have a huge facelift, there is some fantastic countryside on your doorstep and the people are lovely.
if your DC do well in their GCSEs it may be worth looking at Bolton School Sixth Form. Otherwise a lot of students travel to Winstanley College, which is excellent.

Wow that's an amazing house for the price!

This is super useful thanks a lot!

Useful info thanks.

Agree Southport’s lovely but i think maybe a little less stuff going on for teenagers

If you’re considering Liverpool there’s also L15 where there’s a thriving Muslim community around Smithdown/Picton. Be aware that it’s also studentville (properties are cheap) with lots of HMOs.

Not necessarily looking for multicultural areas just not looking to avoid trouble! We've never had any discrimination problems in Liverpool though, people tend to be quite welcoming :) I'd probably prefer not to be in the heart of a Muslim community to be honest because they tend to be very culturally-focused communities and we're a bit of a mix. Secularly inclusive is more what we'd like (& how we live)
Thanks for the tip about L7 - chat-GPT suggested that area!

I lived by Sefton Park years ago and love the area but yeah it would probably be incredibly good luck to find somewhere within budget

Can you suggest any good areas of Toxteth? I only know it from reputation so if there're places I'm missing, that'd be good to know.