Nice affordable areas SW England?

[rhubarbandcustardmm]

Looking for good affordable areas in SW England, good schools, affordable property, low crime etc etc... thanks

Bristol and Bath are expensive in terms of house prices and rents.

Anyone ?

What is 'affordable'? A 3 bed house for £1m? £500k? £250k?

How south-west?

Exeter/East Devon. Reasonably priced houses (though Exeter itself can be expensive), some fantastic schools, low crime rate. Just at the end of the M5, so relatively easy to get into other parts of the UK. I lived there for 3.5 years, and loved it.

I'm in Portsmouth and just bought 3 bed in nicer part for 200k

Depends what you mean by affordable. Properly affordable you're looking at villages up on the moors, dartmoor, bodmin etc. The nearer the coast you are, the higher the prices.

What's your budget?

Wiltshire. There are some lovey market towns with good schools, low crime and easy access to Bath/Bristol. Much, much cheaper than buying in Bath or Bristol.

Chippenham in West Wiltshire has direct trains to London Paddington in 1hour 15mins.

It's a bit bloody rude to ignore the first reply OP.

The south west is quite big.

Really good secondary in Bradford on Avon - villages nearby are cheaper than the town.

But you do need to say how much and how far SW! There are plenty of jobs in vibrant Bristol but few in Cornwall, for example.

Hi, sorry I don't have regular internet access at the moment as I'm away! Mortgage free would be £230k or top up to get bigger house which would mean waiting to complete probation period on a new job.... Devon is lovely, was thinking Devon, Exeter, Somerset, wilts... anywhere down that area really somewhere a bit warmer.

East Devon often gets overlooked by tourists heading to Torbay/Dartmoor/North Devon, so is quieter from a tourism point of view. How about West Dorset? We often hopped over the border, and it's lovely.

Just be aware that the West Country can be seriously wet! Warmer yes, but wet!

Devon is very wet. We are in south Somerset and moved from south east in 2004. I'd never go back east as this is home. I love it. We are an hour from Exeter and Bath, London can be visited in a day but we are also 45 minutes from Lyme Regis (my favourite beach ever) and the Jurassic coast in general and despite having the affordability and facilities of a house in a town we have 2 gorgeous country parks - one walking distance and one a 5 minute drive if that. There are rough parts in the town, like any, but I truly love it here. I've seen it slated on mn but I think people always see the negative, which every area will have.
230k would get you a lovely 3 bed and possibly a 4 bed if it was on a main road.

Thank you ladies that's really helpful and great to know about the wet weather! Always used to go on holidays down south of England as a child and have great memories

Sherborne and Gillingham in Dorset both have excellent schools
Property prices vary depending on whether you want to be in a village or town