moving to manchester with family-needing urgent advice

[schatzu]

Hi, we are moving to manchester very soon and wanted some advice on a nice area to live. We are a young family with 2 kids (2 yrs old and 4 yrs old) so wanted a nice family friendly area with good primary school as my 4yr old boy will soon attend school. My husband will undertake a post at the University of Manchester so we wanted to have easy access to the university.
Please if you can give me some advice where to start from would be great
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OP look at National Rail for train timings and GMPTA has a journey planner for all forms of public transport in the Greater Manchester area.

I have family in Sale and it's literally the most perfect place for families and so close to Manc using the tram. Schools are brilliant, lots of parks, close to trafford centre for shopping and entertainment

mandy it takes roughly 1.5 hours in the car, if it leave at 7:30 I get into my workplace for 9am, depending on traffic (however I always leave later on a Friday, as it is much quicker on that day - about an hour).

Tram is quicker - if I get on the 8.10 tram I get to manchester for 9am. 50 mins.

Tram home I found much worse for some reason and tends to take me an hour. I wouldn't exaggerate - this is how long it has taken me from Alty to manchester.

OP would need to be in accommodation before she could register her DC because of the requirements of Trafford council. As the deadline is tonight, her DC would more than likely be on a waiting list due to the high subscription to most schools in the area.

However I have known several children get into our local school having been on the waiting list - lots of moves with parents in year R and year 1.

You would get a school place but it wouldn't necessarily be the closest school or your main choice.

Hale, Altrincham, timperley and Sale are lovely but not the only places OP should be told about.

Sale, Flixton, Urmston, Altrincham. Close to town and uni. Great Trafford schools, parks, good family areas. Urmston and Flixton are in a train line, 10mins to Oxford Rd. Sale and Altrincham on the metro. Good luck.

• sorry on the return it's from manchester to alty, generally takes an hour in rush hour.

Sorry, Wowfudge, we're in Wilmslow but I have a couple of friends in Bramhall and Woodford and my kids are at school in CH. We spent months looking for a house in hale but the right one never came up so, no, we having lived there although I have supply taught in Altrincham and Timperley. I also have a very good friend in Sale and she loves it there but it wouldn't be for me. It's because I feel like you drive through it rather that it having a centre. But I know lots of people love it and the pull of the Trafford grammar system is huge not to mention the tram links. Wilmslow is certainly an acquired taste, shall we say and in fact we did move away at one point but then came back and we're on the whole really happy here even though I'm very far from your typical Cheshire wife.
I agree that Worsley is lovely. I used to teach at St Marks. Lovely school. A lot of the parents had lots of angst about secondary schools though. And it does suffer from places like Walkden and Swinton being considered less salubrious. Although, I must say, both Worsley and Swinton into town is very quick. Pendlebury is probably 10mjns down the A666 into town outside rush hour.

And again, Swinton isn't all bad. Some parts (Clifton end and down towards the tip) have a few social issues. Again I taught in a school there that had major issues. It may actually have closed? Silverdale? Anyway, other parts such as towards Worsley are lovely.
Also, to be helpful to the op, if she's telling us she only needs 3beds and her budget is £800 a month then it's pointless for so many people to suggest Hale or Bramhall. But somewhere like Heaton Moor is closer in, a nice place to live and the op could get something decent for her budget.

reindeer we'll have to agree to disagree.

OP if you are considering anywhere on the tram line, just get your H to try it for himself.

I grew up in Bramhall and was very happy there.

OP: if schools are a real problem due to missing the application deadline (most good schools will be very very oversubscribed) then could you consider going private? There are lots of excellent prep schools in Stockport and a Trafford and quite a few excellent 3-18 independent schools and fees are cheaper in the NW than they are in other parts of the country,

Hi everyone,

I have been to Manchester finally!
So I wanted to give you my impressions and ask you for a further advice!
I have been around several regions and the one I liked the most was Chorlton. Lovely environment, lively and family friendly at same time, with its cafes, parks, nice streets, etc However the prices are very high!
I found some properties I kind of liked, and I wantd your opinion on the area:

1. Longmead Ave, Hazel Grove, SK7
2. Crossley Road, M33, sale
3. Willaston Ave, Chorlton, M21

Thank you so much!!

Can you please post links to those houses?

If you liked Chorlton, consider Stretford - around the Victoria Park area. Very close to Chorlton so you can access the cafes etc, great community feel with lots going on, nice park, good schools. Cheap. You can get a house in catchment for outstanding primary school for £800 a month.

Should have said, around the Victoria Park or Longford Park area.

Just had a look - I can't find the Sale one, the Chorlron one looks to have been let and the Hazel Grove one looks fine (good transport links, decent schools, etc), but it's very different from Chorlton. The pp who mentioned specific areas of Stretford makes a good point.

Willaston Avenue is in a great area. You should be reliably in the catchment for Brookburn School there, and that's something people pay a lot of money for. I have no idea about application deadlines though.

This is the link for the one in sale! What do u think about this one?!area and house? I saw there are several outstanding schools around but the area is a but too calm maybe,
search.issl.co.uk/newsearch.aspx?chainid=0453&contract=renting&class=residential

What kind of house are you looking for? The house on Crossley Road, Sale (if I've got the right one) is a terraced house and has only two bedrooms. I cannot get some of the features to work so I can't see the floor plan or room dimensions but it looks small from the photos.

On reading the description again there is a loft room of some sort, but with two small children you might want to look for a better garden - one that isn't decking and gravel.

Hi wowfudge

It is actually a good siZe for us. It has around 80 m2 We don t want a huge house. About garden you are right...
The one in chorton is even smaller, but the region is nice and garden is better. The house is being refurbished and so not on market yet. But I found another one in the same street. So outside looks the same
Willaston Close, Chorlton, Manchester. M21

www.jpandbrimelow.co.uk/property/8805

This is the link

What do u think about this kind of news house?

Honestly: small. Would the children share the bigger of the two bedrooms? (Assuming the layout is the same as the one you've linked to as an example - the floor plan is on the sold prices info.)

What kind of house or flat do you currently live in? If I were you I would be looking to maximise the space for the money. I understand that a smaller house might be the compromise to be in the area you want, but there are three bed houses to let in good locations in Chorlton for the same kind of money. I can also see the attraction of somewhere that has been freshly renovated/decorated.

Yes but they are all let...you call and they are gone... Difficult! Also I was there for only 3 days, until u see the areas etc the time is gone
Yes we prefer freshly refurbished...
This one is perfect but I am a bit concerned as it is a bit far from the university and I would need to take train everyday. Also the area is a bit to calm for our taste

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-33383208.html

When you say calm area, I get the feeling you mean you want somewhere less suburban. That house in Cheadle Hulme is on a busy road and the garden is completely open - not secure for small children at all.

Have you registered with letting agents so they'll contact you when something comes on the market?

Maybe that house on Willaston Close is your best bet then, at least for six months.