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!

Parks/nt near Newark? Is nt national trust?

Not sure of parks actually in Newark. But Sherwood Forest is close as is the lovely Sherwood pines and rufford park. Clumber park is national trust and also close. Then there is belt on house down the a1 at Grantham.

Poster who said secondary schools aren't great is correct. Tuxford school is fine. Collingham village is the furthest south, east point of catchment area so is quite close to newark.

Crime in Newark? Mmmm, google tolney la, Newark and draw your own conclusions. Personally I don't think it's much of a problem at all but I don't live in Newark. I'm fairly close to Newark and neighbours have had problems with visitors from there. A friend in the police says its a total no go area, he's chased stolen cars down the road but as soon as they turn in there he leaves it.

Wanda - but also Lincoln quite near?
Chippenham is well located for OTHER nice places, that's why I'm surprised that it's not nicer itself, I dunno, it just feel empty somehow. Gastropubs in villages aer great but I don't drive unless I need to so to me it's important to have a few delis/ places to eat/good coffee in centre of town where i live. Yes, spoilt by london and SW cities, but very willing to compromise on the number of these places and number of clothes shops as far as there are some of both, esp food, in town. Mind you, I haven't discounted Chipp'm as it may well be up and coming (well it's a gamble) - may be a good move as an investment. I haven;t been to the park, to be fair, so that's worth having a look at.

Google Sconce & Devon Park in Newark itself - believe has recently been improved (although not been) and has lots of facilities. Easy to get to NT Belton House and Clumber Park, Rufford Park too.

Plenty of nice walks nearby - is a traditional rural, farming County - Newark had a weekly cattle market with real cows and is not unusual to see tractors trundling through town! People come for its antique and jewellery fairs - there is also a local showground. V easy to get to Sheffield, Doncaster, York, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln etc due to proximity to A1/A46.

I think the area is 'up and coming' - certainly seems to be a lot of money around and I notice lots of improvement and investment when I visit. They've even managed to get Madness to play at their annual festival in June.

Weather is a bit cooler than down South, obviously, but often sunnier and the friendliness makes up for it.

Newark is near to Lincoln but the shops there also feel rathe sad and unloved. The cathedral is nice but I don't think there is much there to make a special trip for( similar to Chippenham in some ways but bigger!)

Lincoln's shops I meant not Newark( which are great!)

Lincoln is getting a h&m

Wow! I used to like spinning wheel and the market as a pre teen for jeans with zips on( shows age...)

Spinning wheel is still there.

Ooo, lots of pro-Newark posters suddenly! note that it's on my list of just four, have a good feeling about it, though so far no one mention places to eat/have coffee, probably people cook a lot in their farm kitchens what with the spacious houses. I'm a fan of antiques in a big way (though not vintage clothes!).
I hope it's only a bit cooler though, some places are cold around Mids, like Matlock I think (?). NT sound quite obscure but doesn't mean they aren't nice!
Wanda, was that the 80s you mean?

where is the wheel then - Newark or Lincoln?

We live in a village between Lincoln & Newark

Visit London via train (for work) 4 times a year & we get the express that doesn't stop between Newark & Kings Cross (about 80 mins)

For theatre, ice skating, gigs we go to Nottingham

For nice meals, drinks, independent shops we go to Lincoln

Newark is ok for a coffee & a browse (& waitrose!)

BEWARE, When the Trent floods parts of Newark are in big trouble.. google some of the ariel pics from earlier this year, it's pretty shocking

Spinning wheel is in Lincoln. I mentioned nice Newark places to eat-cafe bleu and Gannets. Also Caunton Beck just outside is good.

Also, If you are drving in, parking at Newark station is limited & pricey

Outdoors there are loads of country parks & some NT places, sherwood forest, also day trip distance to peak district which we do (a lot)

yes, flooding is a point, thanks, herladyship - can you tell me which parts are not affected? if you are in a village nearby, aren't you affected?
Same with Derby - the nice area by the park is also by the river, does that flood? what do you think of Derby, if you go there too?

I've never paid at Newark station yet and I go to London a lot. Always find somewhere free to park my car!

Oh and the nt places are fab, best I've been to. If you have kids You can spend a day in the adventure playground at Belton no problem.

Viva, so you live near Newark too! the express train sounds just great, is it quite full usually? I'm now alarmed about flooding though - are there any areas that are immune to it, yet still within the town?

There's trains every hour, prob every 30 mins in peak times so there's normally seats....but you can reserve seats online as well.

I don't know anything about the flooding. I wasn't really aware Newark floods but I don't live in the town.

Parts of the Trent do flood I think, but if you're in a town centre period property you'll be fine .

Also, if you're interested in archeology/history they're currently investigating the possibility of a huge network of tunnels underneath the town, leading to the castle remains. All set to become very exciting to those interested in civil war history and the town could potentially be awarded heritage status.

Another nice place to eat is Rushtons bistro. Ann et Vin is good for interesting bottles of wine. It also does food/wine on site, pre-theatre tapas and hosts a jazz festival every year. Strays is a nice independent book shop and coffee shop and there are loads of other places to go for coffee and cake.

Crime - not sure as don't live there. Tolney Lane has been mentioned and is home to a permanent site. Not sure if the additional settlement is still there -they got flooded out last year and had to move on . I think most places have their elements though - have a look on the crime map though if you're interested.

Weather is nowhere near as cold, wet and humid as Matlock!

Derby isn't one of the proposed stops for HS2 phase2 (although that could all change) so no quicker trains on the way. The whole thing is likely to be well over a decade away so I wouldn't allow it to influence your decisions too much. The location of a house relative to the train station will have a far greater bearing on travel times than any savings made by faster trains.

One thing I would say about Newark is it can be awkward if you need to go to places west from there. North and south links are good, west not so good.

Yes west is terrible. You can go up to York and then across to Manchester . I guess there you can access the west coast line.

I looked at getting a train to Birmingham once and it was going to be something like 4 hours.

flooding stuff

West isn't good, no - although DH can do Birmingham in an hour and a half by car he doesn't hang about though

Birds, I didn't mean HS2, indeed too long to wait for that! But someone said early on in the thread that they aer improving Derby station and the trains may become a bit faster (not radically but a little would help also). Still no info in that since from anyone, so not sure how accurate was that.
Flooding is putting me off, links to the west - well aer they better from Derby, Market H or Bedford (my places on the list ? I think probably not, sane as now I'm in SW and links to the east are 'forget it' - nearly 4 hrs to derby, so the only way - via london. It's not really a dealbreaker as I do stay in london sometimes.
Hopefully the other 3 places I'm considering don't flood! I've alwaus lived in upper floor large flats so far, so buying a house for the first time and then dealing with it flooding, fills me with dread ! especially as atm I don't have a live-in P.
Signora I hoe you aer right that town centre doesn't flood - is that CERTAIN though? thanks for all the cafes suggestions - you know exactly what I need to hear to warm up to a place! book shops too .
Thank for NT/parks info, that sounds good. But I'm wobbling a bit on newark.
Any more info in Derby? what's shopping/cafes like there. Are people definitely more gentle/friendly than in manchester/birmingham ? I find Yorks people are very relaxed and easy to get on with (generalisation).