Is there anywhere in Britain where the housing is cheap(er) and the schools are good?

[SpawnChorus]

DH is planning on looking for another job in the next couple of years, and it would make sense to move somewhere with good schools. Does this always mean paying through the nose for a house?

lol Expat... I've clocked up 4 ASBOs now... it's a record round here. Ricky & Bianca arguing is NOTHING compared to me trying to get the kids out the door in the morning.

Hi SSD, these name changes are really throwing me lol.

I change my name when I'm bored!

BTW expat, I remember reading you're going to visit the aquarium at Loch Lomond, if you buy kellogs creals you'll get a free child ticket on the side of some of the packets

the paper round here lists all the crimes that have come up to sheriff court.

we laugh and laugh at the headlines, mostly recurring every week:
drunkenness
brawling
driving whilst intoxicated
cannabis

the funniest was the chap, from Glesga of course, who was apprehended in the local Co-op for nicking a bottle of voddy.

and a packet of SuperNoodles.

thanks, Jello! we're there for Wednesday.

can't wait!

thanks, Jello! we're there for Wednesday.

can't wait!

what do you mean Glesga OF COURSE!!

we're not all nutters.........

Pure class expat... cannae buy it.

anyway it was probably buckie not voddy

Occassionally they get over here and cause a ruck, Jello, but no more than the lassies who argue in the high street after closing time and 'challenge' the polis.

Agree some parts of Derbyshire are quite reasonable with house prices still (and they're falling!) and the schools are of good form.

no, it was voddy. i mean, he got community service for it!

can you imagine what that would involve round here?

bet he couldn't wait to get back to weegie-land and tell everyone of his big adventures across the water .

A rather friendly Ned offered me a swig of his buckie on the Glasgow train on Friday. I politely declined. lol

Expat - Doesn't every Policeman love it when drunken girls shout things like "show us yer truncheon" etc etc? It's SO original and sassy.

shnigger

Ok, if you pick a cheaper area e.g. Notts, Derbyshire, Lincs, Northants, you'll find house prices generally lower but where there's a good school house prices rocket. E.g Oundle in Northants (very good state school there alongside the public school), Minster in Southwell Notts.

You might be better going for a town with one high school that serves all the community that has good but not amazing results which reflects the total range of intake. Pick the school first (primary feeding into good secondary) e.g. friends chose Knaresborough, N Yorks for schooling & Leeds is commutable. Others come to mind as long as you choose catchment carefully might be Chesterfield (nr Sheffield), Tamworth nr Birmingham, and my own but I'm remaining shh!

The other thing to bear in mind with lower house prices is that in those areas, average salaries are also lower. You'd need to think about what kind of jobs you/your husband would get and how much you would earn as this would affect a potential mortgage.

DB lives in Cheshire but he is sending his DCs to a catholic (sort of) grammar in Stoke-On-Trent next year. The exam results are very good, the entrace exam only makes sure children will be reaching level 4 at the end of primary school so as long as your children are average or above then the academics aren't a problem, you do need to be a regular church goer for a chance of entry though. There isn't a catchment area but the houses nearest are very cheap...

"Indeed, there are grammar schools in some of the very cheapest towns. You don't need a fortune to live in Stoke-on-Trent, home to St Joseph's College and where the average home costs just £115,728"

here

There was a bit of a hooha about it possibly closing this year but it is aparently safe now!

here are itsexam results