Where can I buy a nice 3 bed house in the south for 160k...

[thinkingaloud]

Or am I just kidding myself?

lol, I relaised that after I posted.. I live in Welwyn/hatfield area and the prices are so high here.

Hmmm, had been looking around East Herts for a while, but ridiculous prices! Maybe towards Hemel is better, I just don't know the area. Will look on rightmove though. Thanks you too.

Why not take a look at the local council's website - www.dacorum.gov.uk
London is only about 30 mins away by train.
Local unemployment is very low - around 3%. There are lots of large companies up on the industrial estate. My dh is a northerner and says that this area is much better for quality of life and opportunities.

I lived in Hemel for 17 years - whaddya want to know?!

Agree Hemel might be a good bet - don't know what the prices are though. I worked there for a few years and still live in the county...

Because it is a "New Town" there is a large stock of ex-council houses (or ex-New Town Corporation really). Som it may be more affordable than other parts of Hertfordshire. The town centre has come on a lot in the last 15 years and there is a very "leafy" feel to the whole town.

You won't get a 3 bed house in hemel for 160k, my mum sold her's last year for 185K and my aunt sold her 2 bed for 170k

I did think 160k sounded a bit low for anywhere in Herts....

I should have added both were ex council stock.

Check out www.houseprices.co.uk
I can assure you that 3 bed terraced houses in some areas of Hemel are still selling below your budget.
This is a government website and lists actual selling prices.

southampton probably

Thanks fortyplus. I'll look at that link now.

There are 3 bedroom houses in Hertfordshire under that price (Stevenage mainly but also Letchworth, Hemel & Dunstable). Obviously, the question is why are they so cheap? Looking at them, many are not very attractive (although that doesn't really matter) and I wonder about the area [snob emoticon] .

And yes, Southampton too.

My budget isn't set in stone, I was just wondering what I could get for the same money (so not increasing mortgage) when I sell my current home.

Message withdrawn

thinkingaloud - to be fair some of the secondary schools in the cheap areas aren't great, though if your kids are bright you can get place at a selective state school.
Some of the areas of Hemel that are mainly ex council housing have more problems than the town as a whole, but nothing outrageous.
You can look up an 'Index of Social Deprivation' that will tell you a lot about the circumstances of people living in any ward in England. Hemel only has 3 wards that fall into the 'worst' 50% for the whole country, and even then none are in the worst 25%. It covers factors such as unemployment, disability and % of single parent families.

this looks nice

Does look nice but Millbrook schools are awful .

How about \link{http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-5831490.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy/Romsey?} This is walking distance from the town centre which is lovely and in catchment for good schools. You could probably dig out some offroad parking in the front. It's ex-council and much of the street is probably still Council but Romsey Council tenants are posher than average!

Romsey even?

The Southampton house does look good for the money! The 'best' (in terms of academic results) secondary school in Hemel is 'The Hemel Hempstead School'. A 3 bed Victorian terrace in the catchment area will be just over £200K. I've got friends whose children attend @Longdean School'. The results don't look as good but bright kids do well there - 2 of my friends have children who took GCSEs last year - they both got 12 with about 7 or 8 A* or A grades.

southsea ( portsmouth) nice. seaside. Lots of 3 bed houses for £160k. Lots of friendly people...good parks but must admit schools not the best ( free ones anyway... private education is great)

You wouldnt get 3 bed in Slough for 160k. My MILs house is 3 bed, had no central heating, no double glazing, horrific condition, smoked in for 26 years, all yelow, crumbling walls and when FIL died we had to get it valued - £185,000. Needs at least 30,000 work doing. Still has the origional bathroom with a spanner for a tap!

BUT, there is a good choice of schools. Loads of grammers, Catholic and non catholic.

You are probably pushing it for Herts for a fairly OK area, parts of Beds and Cambs probably a good chance. Im' in East Herts so admit that I dont know the other areas too well, but friends have recently moved to Beds and Cambs and got lovely good value houses.

I have a lot of family that live in the Swindon area, the facilities are good, but its just getting huge and swallowing up lots of little villages, bit like the Milton Keynes effect I think.

Probably like any town, Letchworth has gorgeous houses but some areas that I certainly wouldnt want to live in and the same goes for Stevenage, think that Stevenage probably has a large ex council house stock.

I always assumed Letchworth was a nice place to live. Stevenage is okay for shopping occasionally but I wouldn't choose to live there.