Where in the country could we get a family house for around £160,000?

[WannaBeWildCosMyLifesSoTame]

Due to DH being made redundant we are considering moving as we don't need to be commutable to London any more and need to rethink our finances. Our current house is worth around £180,000 so to cover moving and free up a bit of cash to pay off some debts we'd need to buy something around the 160,000 mark.

We have family in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire so would need to be within reasonable travelling distance of those although that may not be practical. We'd like to be in a village or small town with decent schools and access to countryside. We've looked at a few areas (I grew up in Norfolk/Cambs so know that area quite well) but wondered if there was anywhere we hadn't thought of.

Lincolnshire? Close enough to family in Cambs/Beds but prices maybe lower.

Lincolnshire? The Kesteven bit. It's a long, but possible, commute to London from Grantham (or Peterborough). House prices low, full grammar school area, dead easy to reach both Cambs and Beds from there.

Funnily enough I have just been looking at Lincolnshire on Rightmove. Any suggests for 'nice' areas or those to avoid?

I grew up in Lincolnshire. I'd say it's mostly rural, quiet, not really posh apart from a few enclaves (predominance of antique shops). The Wolds are prettiest. Friends live on the outskirts of Grantham and are very happy with it, the schools etc. Would you need to be in reach of somewhere bigger for employment options though? I was going to suggest East Midlands/Leicestershire as well, it's similar but better connected to the outside world . Lincolnshire does not have brilliant roads, you need to be reasonably near the A1 or A46 to get anywhere fast.

DH commutes to London daily from Grantham should that be something you need to consider a possibility again in the future. The journey is about 1hr15 mins. Season ticket about £7000 a year.

I do have to say think about what your DH will do job wise? Is there something in mind, because certain parts of Lincs are not great job market wise.

I'd say look in the south part of the county rather than North Lincs. I'm not sure I can advise on areas all that much as I live a bit further up (i'll PM you where if you'd like to know)
If you let me know some areas you're thinking of I do have family and friends living further south who I could ask for their opinion.

at predominance of antiques shops

and yes - the roads...if travelling for work is important that will make a difference to where you want to be. DH has a 45 min drive to Grantham, if the weather is bad he can't always do it - but that's in part because we live rurally.

Alternatively, Leicestershire has very reasonably priced houses and we find it very convenient - we're about 10 min drive from Leicester city centre and about 5 mins from open countryside. Even in some of the villages (with good schools) you could get a 3 bed semi for £160K. It's an hour to London St Pancras from Leicester station. Well connected in terms of motorway links etc too.

grantham /sleaford are nice. how big a place are you after

When we moved out of London (also with a fairly open book) we sat down with a map and drew out what was reasonable for work, 1-1.5 hour travel to family and narrowed it down to about a 30 mile wide area. I'm sure other areas would have suited but at least it helped focus us.

I wonder about somewhere like around Stamford, that looks like a pretty, small market town (OK I only stopped there once!).

There are parts of Northamptsonshire that are reasonable in price with good(ish) schools. Kettering, for example has some nice looking 4 bed houses in your price range and Bishops Stopford School is supposed to be good. Kettering is also easily commutable to London should the need arise, with good road links to most of the rest of the country.

Thanks all, this is really useful. These were all areas we were thinking about but it's great to hear specifics about countryside and antique shops

DH's job may not be an issue - after 20 years in London he is really ready for a change and the main reason for moving would be to free up cash so we can build up our own business from home. It could be do-able as we have a semi-built up business already (I freelance from home at the moment so we are half way there), some contacts and the knowledge and experience, but it's not possible with our current outgoings hence the possibility of a move.

Derbyshire/nottinghamshire?

You could a family home in derbyshire for £140k!

PS Forgot to say we need ideally 3 bed or 2 bed with a room that can be used as an office - something with outbuildings or similar would be the dream but may be a bit much to ask!

The house prices go up in the areas generally seen as nicer. Stamford, which is lovely, is more expensive than Grantham - which has good schools and is on the main roads and rail connexion, but a dreadful town centre (I really don't know why they've made such a muck up of traffic flow and parking; and shops like M&S have left). If you like village life, there are a lot of nice villages there.

If you can afford it, look over into Rutland as well. Oakham is a lovely town.

We are another one who did a similar thing. We left the South East last year and are currently renting on the edge of Grantham.

We looked all around as we wanted to make sure we got good value but was also near good schools.

Dd has gone to a small local primary and loves it. We had good schools near us previously but I would say the one she is at now is better. The secondary schools generally are better here as well.

We are buying in a small village , I commute to London and Dh has managed to get a job locally. Not a lot of pay but the money does go further up here. Though some of the estate agents admit that in areas the selling prices are far too high for what you get.

We looked around Cambs but some areas were very expensive in comparison to Lincs and the schools can also be hit and miss.

It is rural though the A1 is not far away. We are all happy with the move though and DH is a lot less stressed.

I live in Derbyshire/notts border and there are a few 3 bed semis round here in really good condition for £125-130k

I would say Co Durham, but that's too far! Staffordshire is pretty cheap - the 3 bed Semi i lived in as a teen, in a quiet area of a small town and with a fairly big garden appears to be currently worth about £100K.

I think Notts/Derbys might be a bit far although it might be worth considering because I know you get a lot more for your money there - I have several friends in the area and am at how much they paid for really nice houses!

Sushiqueen that's really encouraging, you sound a lot like us. How do you find Grantham?

Have a look at Thrapston - a nice small town with good schools - feeds into the state secondary in Oundle which has good results. You could get a nice family home for 160,000 - lots of modern 3 bed detatched houses in the 160 - 170 price range. Is not far off the A1/ A14 making Bedford, Northampton, Peterborough, Huntingdon and Cambridge all doable. Main line train from Kettering too.

Thrapston looks promising, some good houses in our budget.

Even in my town in Hertfordshire (24 minutes to Euston) there are 6 x 3 bed houses for under £170k. I know you don't need to be commutable but I think the closer you are to the wealthier areas for people to spend money in your business the better.

Sure, none of the houses are in the best areas in my town but even the 'worst' areas are not awful what with this being leafy Hertfordshire.

this one is in a really nice street and I would live there

Wannabe Grantham is growing on me. Dh didn't like it at first as parts of it are typical 60's infill.

We have found it to be a very friendly area. The main high street is suffering with shops having closed or pulled out, but there are some good little local shops (DD loves the sweet shop that sells a quarter of sweets for about £1). The market on a Saturday is pretty good. And Lincoln or Nottingham are not that far away if I need a big shopping fix.

We have chosen to move to a small village but that is just personal preference. If we wanted to keep mains gas central heating we would have needed to stay in a main town, such as Grantham or Sleaford.

I must admit the train connections from here are excellent. We can get to Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds as well as London, Nottingham, Peterborough etc.

There are a lot of people in the area who have moved here from the south east and south west. Some for the schools and some for a cheaper way of life. It is not a particularly rich area but we think we did the right thing.

If you're not too fussy about the style of the house you could JUST about pick up a 1960s type house in Stamford or Oakham for 170k. Both lovely towns and surprisingly good value!

I'd think you'd struggle to buy something in the better villages in Leicestershire for your budget and i'd avoid other areas like the plague, 3 beds go for at least 200k plus round here.

I would prefer an older style house if possible, mainly because you tend to get a bigger garden which is something we'd love. But I realise I am asking for a lot!

Oakham looks lovely as do some of the other places mentioned, I think we need to go and visit a few because at the moment I am thinking 'what's the catch?' :)

Wannabe I know what you mean :)

We sold a lovely, Victorian villa to buy a smaller, modern house (though it is only one of 6 on a lane so not a big estate) so we could afford to move back to one of the 'best' villages in the area. The perennial house vs location question...

I have to say we are a hundred times happier in our smaller house though! It's lovely to be able to walk to nice shops, deli etc.