Relocating to Warrington

[Dmblover]

Hi all,

Myself, husband and son will be moving to Cheshire in a couple of months. We have done some scouting around and although in an ideal world we would rent in the area around Stockton Heath, there isn’t a great deal on the market….

We have considered all the “nice” areas that people have mentioned on other posts on here such as Lymm, Culcheth, N-L-W but again there isn’t a lot available.

Was hoping someone could recommend some other areas that we can add to list to widen our search. Would like to be in a catchment for a good school, 3 beds, upto £1300/£1400 per month.

Thanks!

Anyone out there with some advice?

I live in Lymm, it is lovely but Stockton Heath is a very good option. I would join the local Facebook groups and ask for help.

Ps Lymm and SH have vg schools so either is a good option. Have you looked at Appleton, Thelwall and Grappenhall as well?

A friend of mine lives in Birchwood near Warrington, and I used to work with someone who commuted to Manchester from Poulton-with-Fearnhead.

Good luck with the move!

Also second Appleton, Grappenhall and Thelwall. You could also go south of the M56 and try Northwich and some of the quieter villages around there.

Yeah so we have already considered Lymm, Culcheth, NLW, Stockton Heath and south of the ship canal and Frodsham. The problem is that we will need to rent for a year initially and rentals are few and far between…

Northwich area is another one we have added, just wondered if there are any other locations in Warrington that people could suggest so we have some more options as there seems to be more houses to choose from

Ah great, is Birchwood an OK area?

Would you not consider slightly north of the canal. Rents are much lower and you are walking distance from Stockton Heath village centre.

@CallmeIT Yes 100% :) but we don’t know the area well and not sure which parts are still nice?

We have done a couple of visits but only managed to get around the areas I have mentioned.

Stockton Heath, Grappenhall, Lower Walton, Appleton, Appleton Thorn. Northwich area in general is lovely , rural but quick to get to the M56 to get anywhere.

Birchwood is the complete opposite of all of these areas. Not rough as such but definitely not a desirable area.

These are the areas I would look at on RightMove for eg.
Avoid Runcorn completely, Daresbury used to be lovely but now is best avoided. If you go into Warrington, some will argue Great Sankey, Penketh, Westbrook are all ok (they are) but they're not great areas. Plus you'd end up in catchment for Great Sankey High School which isn't that great anymore.

Lymm High is a very good school and further down towards Northwich you've got Hartford High School and Weaverham High School, both excellent. If you're looking for private, you've got The Grange in Hartford and Cransley School in Great Budworth.

@catlady2222 Thank you! We do like a few areas around Northwich. How about padgate/Woolston area?

Honestly South Warrington is better generally - it's worth taking a hit and just going with a less than ideal property there than holding out for the nicer house.

How old is your son?

Primaries in the South are generally less full. And if you want to get into certain High Schools you want to check the admission policies CAREFULLY - they are all different. And the ones in the South currently heavily over subscribed.

So this may well play into where you want to move. No point trying for the South only to find no places in the local High Schools or vice versa with primaries in the North of the town!

@RedToothBrush he’s 4, will be starting school next year so will be registering for schools as soon as we move…. So I guess for now if primaries are ok in the South then we don’t need to worry too much

Yeah we do really like that whole area…just didn’t really want to be in a flat. We also have a car and van so parking for one car at least would be handy

Next year should be v easy to get into primary in South Warrington. Entry this year significantly down on previous in several schools, and I'm hearing it's even lower for next year.

Seriously just get anything you can in your budget in South Warrington. You generally can't go too far wrong in terms of location. Public transport is shocking and when the M6 is clogged it's a nightmare, but otherwise there's not a lot else to say. It's decent. No real issues. Schools all good.

North of the ship canal you are always going to be taking much more of a gamble.

The town has one of the highest levels of inequality in the country and the split is almost spot on the ship canal. Everything else follows on from this. There are ok areas in the north but you'll always eventually come across issues stemming from the inequality going on.

There are a general lack of rentals in the South for a reason, but I'd also say that the rentals that are available aren't bad either.

There's a few flats which aren't bad and are doable for a year. There's plenty of green space and parks in the area. Most have at least one parking space - and tbh most people have two cars and just park where they can. I'd argue that the terrace properties perhaps tend to be more problematic for that - but they'd do the job. Otherwise don't be put off by bungalows as there's occasionally a few of them - they aren't what most people would prefer but the housing stock is less standard house than maybe other towns.

Looking around I think there's a few in your budget, which might not fill you with joy but they really aren't awful either, especially if only relatively short term.

100% go for the area first if you possibly can.

@RedToothBrush

Thank you so much! Would you say it’s worth heading further south towards Northwich?
Our original plan was Chester, but work wise I think we will be in Warrington and Manchester so not sure that’s that doable with childcare etc… we have friends Altrincham/Timperley way but can’t afford that! 😅

Gorse Covert in Birchwood is a nice area. The school is rated good in ofsted with some really excellent childminders in the area. Also in the catchment for Culcheth High which is a good high school.

I totally disagree with @catlady2222 about Daresbury. I was going to suggest round there. It's much cheaper, ten mins to Stockton heath and accessible to so many places.
Moore and daresbury have brilliant primary schools.
Don't be put off by places that have Runcorn in their address.

I live on the estate that this property is on
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139020224#/?channel=RES_LET .. it’s a 5 min drive to Stockton Heath and less than 10 mins to lymm. There is a lovely primary school over the locks which is a 5 min walk too

Northwich has nice bits and not so great bits. I know a few people there but not so well. It's not as well regarded but it's not awful either.

I'd probably say go towards Knutsford instead. (But avoid the Longridge estate). I think the rental market there is slightly bigger than south Warrington. Schools are ok (high school reputation wasn't great for a long time but has improved considerably in recent years). Nice little town - and has the benefit of a train station unlike south Warrington. Slightly younger and trender than everywhere bar Stockton Heath. Tbh, you'd probably get a place at one of the Lymm primaries next year if you applied living in Knutsford too (check out the catchment distances for entry - I think it will go that far).

Its not the worst option. Area is definitely improving though other parts of latchford aren't so great. High school options are where it gets tricker.

One that I'd say you'd need to check it out, rather than go on recommendations though. I think it's a pain in the arse to get on and off the estate mind.

Knutsford? Decent place for families. Expensive, but none of your other options are particularly cheap.
My only issue with it (I worked there for a long time ) is public transport, but that's not great in any of the locations except for maybe Warrington. There's a train but it's once an hour (once every 2 hours on weekends) and is so often delayed/cancelled to be of no use anyway.

Altrincham is a a grammar school area also within your budget and much better transport links. A colleague currently rents in Bowdon 3 bed for 1.2K.

Strangely houses and rental prices don't correlate. Rentals in my somewhat more downmarket area of East Manchester costs the same as Altrincham which is the complete opposite. But when buying.... I've got a 4-bed semi here for the price of a 2 bed terrace there (not joking!)

@FasciaDreams

yeah I mean in an ideal world we will buy where we rent, or at least very close by, so that hat we don’t need to change schools again.

I guess that’s why I have shied away from Knutsford and Altrincham as we would likely be looking at around a budget of £350k and would want a 3 bed semi….

Sorry yes, just seen that Altrincham is too expensive for you.
Unfortunately I think renting close to where you buy to avoid changing schools is a bit idealistic. Family homes are hard enough to find as it is and it's only going to get worse with the new changes. How long are you prepared to wait for the perfect house?

Because of the big Barclays there's always a healthy rental market in Knutsford and Alty, so the search is much easier.