Decent areas in the south of wales?

[drummergirl34]

I'm on a very tight budget of ~£60-65kand looking for 2bed+. I'd like to be near supermarket, post office and a bit of a community and not too close to a major road (the smell of diesel fumes haunts me), but wouldn't mind living in the middle of nowhere as long as the basic needs are met!

Where could I be looking?

Pontypridd, Ebbw Vale, Pontypool, Merthyr. These are £70k but give you a bit of an ideal if just do a Rightmove search of maximum £65k within 20 miles of Caerphilly maybe to give you a rough idea. There are some "dodgier" areas than others so may be worth asking around or Googling if you find a particularly cheap property you like.

www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/48111327
www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/58699939

Do you think seeing a house listed as £70k and putting in an offer of £60-65 is too low?

£60k would be but £65k is worth a go, especially for houses that have been up for a while. It can be hard to sell houses that are deep in the valleys so to speakm a friend of mine has just bought a £125k house for £117k, they didn't think the offer was going to be accepted. The estate agents would be in a better place to advise though!

Sometimes a low offer is accepted depending on how long to property has been on the market or the price nearby properties have sold for.

Using Unihorns search criteria there's 384 properties for sale for less than £60,000 within 20 miles of Caerphilly. Like all places there's good and bad areas. How well do you know South Wales? I live in the Valleys. It doesn't have the greatest of reputations but I've had no problems since moving here.

I don't know Wales at all. I want to move for a clean start, but also for the views (and hopefully fresh air). I've been reading all I can and there seems to be some places that are rather heavily polluted that I'd want to avoid.

Are there places with a particularly notorious crime rate?

Tbh 60-65k isnt going to get you much and definitely not in the naice areas you will want to live. 2 bedroom houses were i live in the south wales valleys go for around 85-90k.

Once you browse rightmove, if you post links to your favourites I am sure MNers will be able to talk to you about the areas.

You don't mention work. The job market in the valleys is pretty dire.

I'm looking now, and will post things I like, though don't want to raise any competition!

what is ferndale like?

Might be a silly question, but are you a cash buyer? I only ask because you might get more for your money at auction.

Also, are you dead set on South Wales, or would you look at other areas within budget?

I'm a cash buyer yes. I've considered up around Durham counties as well. Also have considered auctions but find the guide prices to be totally misleading and that puts me off.

How about Nelson? It is quite a nice little town from what I have seen.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47695689.html

Or Aberdulais? it is near Neath. very little crime...

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47478675.html

Aberdare is really beautiful, especially Cwmaman. Returned for a visit at Christmas after 30 years away and so vibrant compared to what I'd experienced. Benefits from rail link.

Aberdare:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59580098.html

This is a nice bit of Merthyr:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67165157.html

All of the places mentioned so far have been fine. None of them would be considered dangerous if that's one of your concerns but there is a lot of poverty, particularly in Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr.

Aberdare is probably the "best" in your price range but it really is very subjective. Are you able to travel and visit the area for a short while before purchasing? Preferably on a dull or overcast day because then you will see it at its most depressing..!

Thank you, there really are some nice properties! I'm not really able to travel, but I figure it'd be best to get a hotel for a few days nearby and pop in on the train / bus to see what's what in a few places. I could probably also knock out some viewings. I've learnt though that EA's get itchy when they find out you're not in Wales. And yeah, I've always been concerned about safety / crime rates etc beyond the angsty kids but it seems Wales in general doesn't appear to be that bad in general.

Unihorn: the only thing about poverty that may concern me is alcoholism/drugs and its effect on the population. I don't really see this buy as a forever home and at my price range I don't think I can't afford to be too picky!

Obviously I don't know if you drive? or, which part of the UK you want to escape from, but here are some random ideas for other areas that look safe and might fit your criteria.

Close to Manchester for £50,000 so plenty of money to make your own

Spacious in a near to Durham cul de sac again £50,000 so can be upgraded easily enough.

Durham area, just over top budget, but you never know

Nr Merthyr, bit over budget, area stats not quite so good, but appealing?

Hengoed, offers over £65,000 end terrace, looks spacious

Food for thought?

Also

Rural, £65,000 in Burry Port, South Wales

Or an escape to Scotland instead?
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/44116044?search_identifier=d98022cc2c53ac1ba9c9af91c5fd758a#dG0dW1tIfStoiRVe.97

Treorchy for £62,000

Does it need to be Wales - this is in a lovely part of Scotland - people go on holiday there! www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67233560.html

Also Dunfemline area ( handy for Edinburgh ) and some market towns in the borders may be affordable.

I love living in South Wales valleys and the view from my house is amazing I never get tired of looking at it. I can recommend living around here.

wow - www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/41206038?search_identifier=c1a960a79a808c2dcf736bccca0faa59#KKUBWIzEKKWc3A6e.97

reduced from 80k down to 67.5k and another house on the same street sold for 45. A very unrealistic seller!

noenemee: thank you! I've gone through all the above properties and some are really appealing, but because of things like graffitti on the outside wall, being opposite to a (fuel) garage and so on, excluded most of them! There are a few that have caught my eye! The last property - the flat - looks really nice, but one of the bedrooms is currently being used as a lounge, so it's really a one-bed (again, untrustworthy EA's)!