areas of the UK that are cheap-ish for houses now but bound to go up in value? + why is Nottingham so cheap?

[allaflutter]

This would have to exclude South coast (Hastings and so on), and also the North proper, as I need easy access to London and other parts of the country.
Just find myself really hankering after space and a house or large maisonette, without other people living on top of you or on both sides (3 good size beds semi-detached ideally, or a flat on two top floors with loft space), having only lived and looked at flats in London and SW - I'm increasingly finding that a nice area doesn't compensate for the lack of space anymore. I think the older you get the more space you want!

The area has to be reasonably nice but not chi-chi, i.e. low crime levels and must have a train station with access to london ideally in 1hr but could stretch a bit. It also has to be quite green with nice surrounding country. Town or city. I can't do cottages or modern boxes, used to live in high ceilinged London flats.

So far I found a couple of nice looking places with cheap houses, but usually too far from London (i.e. around Harrogate - just great old houses there, small towns in SW). Or places like Abingdon in Oxon but no train station.

Well, there is Nottingham - some nice spacious period houses on rightmove, MUCH bigger than what you can get in many places. What I don't understand is why it takes so long on the train - are there plans for faster trains there? York is much faster even though further out. What's Nottingham really like? Is it likely to go up in value? Is it better than Sheffield which I know a little?

What about Stamford/Northampton to compare with Nott? In sw there is Chippenham and Swindon that are cheap but not attractive, are these places better in comparison?

I need to buy somewhere where prices are not going to drop and ideally rise as my cash income is low atm and it's important to invest well. My mum may well need to move in with me when a bit older too, so somewhere with buses a bonus. Oh and reasonably nice, friendly people a big bonus. School cattchments are not important.

If anyone is selling something like this, PM me - and maybe introduce me to a new area!
Sorry for the long saga...I'd be grateful for someone to help put an end to this frustration!

I guess my ideas of "cheapish" are skewed by years living in St Albans :-)

Swindon is ok. It's not pretty by any measure, but has everything you listed and you can get a nice 3 bed in Old Town close to nice cafes etc for 250k. Or something big 4 beds plus out in the new builds.

Prices hold well here it seems. Lots of local employment and under an hour to London, but can be expesnsive.

Town has everything you need and a giant load of outlets which are good for a poke round. Cotswolds on the door step. Good east west train links (going north is a pain though) and M4 skirts by.

Never thought I'd end up in Swindon, but it is a good fit, and cheap as overlooked.

Em2, meant to say thanks for planning to have a look, you've really invested wisely those years ago!

Em - yes, for me after London StA just seems overpriced, it's not ALL that (very small for one). but it was VERY wise to buy in StA years ago, one of the greatest returns around.
What's MH like - is it tiny? aer people nice?

10 min walk to town from Mapperly park. Amazing properties but near red light area & schools ate terrible. Mist the people there send there kids to private school.
we live in Woodthorpe & have had no crime issues & the schools are good ( which is why we moved from sherwood)
I don't go into town at night really ( too old) but its like any other big city...there will be incidents but its a nice city centre to shop in.

If you are looking for a good school keep out of city catchment.Everyone rants about west bridgeford but prefer the other side of the city. Lots if big gardens in Woodthorpe. Not sure what your budget is but you can get a 3 bed from around £200,000.

London trains stop at Long Eaton, shorter trip from there to London than from Nottingham

Walking distance to the station

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33487033.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33487033.html

quite like the space in the one on MH and near station. Do you know the facilities there/parks? Kenilworth too expensive.

turkey, yes I meant to ask about Swindon, it seems better than Chippenham as that bit closer to london and more facilities, but I've hearad it's rough in the eves - is this true? what about parks? new builds def npt for me, I thought most of it was modern built. you mean trains are expensive? I'm kind of hankering more after a small but charming town with a few nice cafes than big with many outlets, but again it's worth a look as you seem to like it despite similar reservations.

Notjust
Avoid Chaham and Strood??? At least 2 Mnetters live here. Some great schools, film society, arts centre, writers group, reading group.

And quite cheap
:)

Hi again, just picking up on a couple of points about Nottingham:

1. The near-naked drunken people are not all young - there's a lot of mutton, of both sexes, out there too! A lot of stag and hen dos in summer (v. entertaining sitting out watching them go past on a warm evening!). Most are young of course and, if I was, I'd definitely emphasise the fantastic night life. There are live music venues of every size and classical and opera too!) as well as clubs and bars. It's not as cold as Newcastle but yes, there are similarities.

2. Sherwood is fine, densely built but reasonably sized Victorian houses with small gardens but not lovely. It's scruffy around the edges, though has a good high street. You'd need a bus into town for the station though and the way they run now, all into the centre, you end up having to walk the last 5-10 minutes down to the station, which is a real pain if you're in a rush or doing it regularly (used to live up that way and did not enjoy this!).

3. I think you should look at Beeston - good Victorian houses, well within your budget, ok shops, lots of coffee shops and some restaurants, Attenborough nature reserve on your doorstep, Wollaton Park not very far. Studenty but grown-up too, unlike Lenton which is just studenty. Train station on the London line and must be about 1 hr 30 mins on the faster ones. Also further west and south for Long Eaton or East Mids Parkway stations and HS2 (in about fifteen years?).

4. Really, don't get sidetracked with the crime thing. The person who explained the City stats had it right. It's skewed and misrepresented and no different from any big city (but be sensible and selective about areas).

I've only visited MH once and it seemed fine. There's an old thread about moving there elsewhere on MN, maybe try getting in touch with the local lady that posted?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_leicester/a1463890-Living-in-Market-Harborough-would-you-need-to-drive

Huntingdon, St Neots area. Less than an hour on the train to London. Reasonable prices.

That IS a nice house, ILike! ooo that's interesting info - Long Eaton is actually direct to London and quicker? thanks for that, I will check train times. I assume also not a crime area.
Toomuch, any more info on Stamford? distance to london, is it reasonably friendly there? shopping? I did mean to go and look for a while. What about parks or NT?

prices will go up everywhere. and then down. and then up again and so on. this is the way it goes. there are no guarantees that the time you need to sell will be a high value period. there are no guarantees.

Swindon has a small Victorian Old Town, 30s estates, 70 estates and 80s and 90 and they are still building! So loads of types of housing to choose from. Cute shops and cafes on a few roads in Old Town with bog standard high street nearby and loads of outlet places on the outskirts.

Town center is rough of a weekend night. But unless you are into cheap shots, doubt you'd even see it. Old town has the nicer cafe and dining places and there are various suburban "entertainment centers" with cinemas and all you can eat type places.

Some nice parks in town and on outskirts too.

Long Eaton itself has more London trains than Nottingham as well I think as Chesterfield trains stop there as well as the ones from Nottingham

at 'a lot of mutton', lottie, hilarious! I'm not really that put off by crime as it's been explanied. It's more the longish train journey (15yrs to wait - TOO long!) and lack of really nice countryside or parks, but I am still considering Nott'm, especially now Long Eaton as you can get a house near station so could stretch to 1'30 journey, do you know whether these faster trains aer frequent though? if not, that's a problem as 1.30 is abs max. Ok, Sherwood is off list too.

littlemrs, could you give us more info - is it nice, green etc? which county is that?

Oh yes, houses fairly cheap but season ticket to London is 8k.... But you can do a 40 pound return if you book far enough in advance.

Bugged, does woodthorpe have easy access to station (walk or bus)?

We are in Ramsgate -
Ramsgate Westcliff is the area to be - a 3 bed semi should be less than £250k. 3 & 4 bed detatched about £300-£400.
Just over 1 hours to St Pancras on train - lots of people do it.
It has waitrose, beach, harbour - golf.
Good choice of private schools in and near.
Choice of grammar schools, + "outstanding school" for kids who don't get into Grammar (at Sandwich).

We are off to Bedford. Reasons we liked was commuter town (37 mins to st pancras), Victorian housing aplenty, compact town, nice big park, easy access to m1 for visiting relatives, close to St Neots where we have other rellies. Moving in 7 weeks so will report back.

Check out castle donington - trains from the new parkway rail station.
A village but with great transport links.

Have you told us your budget?