Another Londonder considering York

[EllieH86]

Hello.
My husband and I are considering moving to York from London with our two boys (1 and 4). It's one of a couple places we're considering but are in need of some advice regarding location. We have found the properties in this area very attractive (price as well as what you get for it) but after more research (including looking at other mumsnet threads) it seems that most of the houses we've seen are in undesirable areas (lots of houses we've seen are in clifton..?) I also hear Tang Hall should be avoided.

Basically, could you just throw some place names at me - what areas would you recommend and which to avoid? This way I can be more specific in my property search and get a realistic idea of whether or not we can afford what we want in a decent area.

Also interested to know what places outside of York you'd recommend but would have to have good transport links as neither I nor husband drive (I want to learn but he doesn't and will probably be commuting for work).

Thanks!

One question that would inform your search is how you are intending to educate your children - if you choose to go private then being central would have merits.
The villages to the south of York are the ones I know best and in the one I live in we have playgroup, infants and junior schools, regular buses into the city centre and it takes 10/15 mins to walk up to the park and ride into town.

There seem to be a lot of Londoners on here attempting to move to York. Do you any of you fancy meeting up for a chat about it? It would nice to meet people making similar plans. We're in south London with a 2 & 4 year old and planning to move next summer.

We're also Londoners (E17) thinking of moving to York in about a year. We have a 3 year-old and (v nearly) 1 year-old twins. I haven't done much research yet, as it's a little way off, but I'd definitely be interested in meeting up for a chat.

Hello! I'm from York originally, moved to London for a decade for work and then moved north again with my two young children. Much as my husband and I loved London, bringing the kids up there would have been impossible. We lived in NW3 where we would have needed a lottery win to afford to upgrade to somewhere with a garden/own front door. So we're back in York and absolutely love it. The schools are fab and free, we can walk everywhere, and the quality of life is 100% better. There's always loads going on for kids too. We haven't looked back. In terms of areas, I'd highly recommend South Bank/Clementhorpe. It's a fantastic community with great schools and you can walk to town and the station. It doesn't feel like too much of a leap from London life. Friends who've moved up and straight to a village have struggled slightly to adjust! Hope that helps.

Great to hear you're enjoying York, eboracmum. We love the south bank area but are a bit fixed on Fulford School probably because we both went there. Any thoughts on secondaries? Should we let go of old prejudice?

Fulford is not strong on pastoral care. It gets good results but it's not somewhere I'd send my kids. I'd go for Archbishops or Huntington. Not Jo Ro, York High or Canon Lee and I don't rate Millthorpe either although the yummy parents of the south bank are flocking there now that they can't get in at All Saints (RC population went up post arrivals from Poland etc leading to many v annoyed South Bank parents)
Primary schools - all pretty good really. There is a plan afoot to academies some South Bank schools but they may not come off. A lot of local opposition.
Property - no where is a total NO GO area. Personally I would avoid Bell Farm, Tang Hall, parts of Acomb, parts of Clifton but that's preference not essential. Parts of Acomb are fine, Parts of Clifton are terribly posh. Same with Tang Hall. Anything that's really Burnholme or (parts of) Heworth is fine.
The South Bank is overpriced and over-rated. There are other much better value areas. If I was moving up from London I'd look at Stockton Lane. Primary schools are nice, houses have gardens (which you won't get in the South Bank often even IF you pay top dollar), Secondary school you're now looking at Archbishops or Huntington and it's 15 minutes walk or 5 minutes on a bike in to the city centre. Closer to John Lewis and M&S food hall too

This is what I mean:

Stockton Lane area for £450,000 - 5 beds, plenty of living space and a decent size garden plus off street parking.

Also Stockton Lane and prettier, 4 beds, off street parking, garden

and another one Mind you the décor on that one is a bit interesting

Or in the south bank you can buy this a b&b with no outside space. Or this an ex HMO with a courtyard. Or this which is nice and 50 grand less than the Stockton Road houses but it's smaller, on a busy road, affected by race traffic and look at the outside space. And to be honest that's pretty good for the South Bank.

But north of the river there's this which is next to a good primary, less than 10 minutes walk from town and is drop dead gorgeous.

Only Londoners with more money than sense buy in the South Bank atm Plus you WILL be living next to a student let.

Yes, we may well come round to this point of view. I know the area around Stockton Lane well as my Nana lived there and my Dad's about to move there. It's funny it's only 15m walk. Here we'd think nothing of walking 15-25 minutes to get somewhere but my family never used to walk from Heworth into town.

Oh and I love that last house but it's put off our budget :(

Yes with kids the ages yours are it would be ideal. Still it's only just been listed. May take a while to sell and it's hard to value. I would say it's a little overpriced atm. The one next door sold for 580,000 in 2007 and you could argue that was the top of the market. I think 600,000 would be more than fair. Still over budget I expect though.

I live in heworth with my family and cannot recommend it highly enough. 15 mins walk to town or monks cross and it's far enough out of town to be peaceful but still close enough to do everything. Love it :)