Places to live in York

[GemmaB78]

My husband, myself and our almosteam 2 year old will be moving to York within the next few months. We've started to look at houses but as we don't know it very well, don't know what counts as a 'good' area.

We need:

3 or 4 bedrooms
Decent garden
Garage
Within 4 miles of York St John uni

We're not big fans of big urban areas, preferring villages. I have a horse, so need to be able to get out of the city pretty easily.

So far, Osbaldwick, Heworth, Heslington and possibly Dunnington are looking like they might fit the bill.

Any thoughts? Any gems we have missed?

Depends on your budget. There are some lovely villages but they can be £££.

Are you going to be driving into work? Or planning on using public transport? Or cycling? That'll have an impact on what side of the city you want to be as the ring road can be tortuous - so 4 miles from one direction could take twice as long as 4 miles from another.

Do you need to take schools into account?

Will your horse be liveried or are you looking to buy/rent land with the house?

Budget is max of £300k. My husband will cycle into work. I'm looking for a new job but ideally one I can use public transport or cycle to. We will be looking for land to buy/rent but happy to use livery until we find the right land. It doesn't have to be with the house. Yes, primary school is a consideration for 2019.

Ok. A 4 mile radius is going to mean that it's hard to find what I'd call a "proper" village.

Parts of Heworth are lovely but it feels like a suburb more than a village I think. Very easy cycle to YSJ.

You could think about Haxby or Wigginton if you want to be a bit further out (nearer country for riding) although that's a wee way further to cycle. They are big villages and have good facilities including a library, school, mini supermarket and other shops.

Huntington is another village cum suburb which is on the right side of the city.

Heslington has pretty bits but it's hugely dominated by the University of York (with two very big campuses). Not a bad cycle to YSJ though.

The city centre has some lovely areas - The Groves is close to YSJ and has some very lovely Victorian houses but you need to be aware of flooding. You need to take that into account generally really - Fulford (next to Heslington) has some good family homes (and facilities) but is affected by flooding (not the houses so much, more the traffic chaos that flooding causes). Beware of heading too far south east out of the city - that's onto the flood plain and some of those roads have been affected when the floods have been bad.

Stockton on the Forest may be worth a look - good for access to countryside, although not massively pretty.

You may find that your budget doesn't go as far as you hope - York's very expensive. Better value housing tends to be heading south out of the city into places like Wheldrake, rather than into the more expensive northern villages.

Clifton moor, Fulford Acomb

Oh, and people seem to like Upper Poppleton but, again, it's quite £££.

The areas that Under has mentioned (Acomb & Clifton Moor) both have lots of good family houses with proper gardens (and are a little cheaper) but don't really have a village feel.

I second haxby or wiggint on- it's a slightly longer, albeit flat, road and your budget will allow for a lot more. The groves does have great houses and its v v close to ysj- more like 4 mins than 4 miles- you will also be within walking distance of town. It doesn't flood that that extensively- only Huntington road. So many great schools in York- you will be spoiled for choice! Best of luck with the move ☺️

Thanks so much for really useful replies. Any thoughts on Osbaldwick?

My husband is a river specialist (physical geography lecturer) so would enjoy a good flood!

Osbalwick isn't pretty, although it does have family houses with gardens. It joins onto Tang Hall, which has really been seen as one of York's less good areas (although so does Heworth). It's suburban - not village-like.

Are you going to have an opportunity to spend some time in and around York before you move? Or even to rent for 6 months while you learn which area would suit you and your family? I do think that all the different areas have very distinct personalities, so there's something to suit everyone!

Thank you. We're in Hull at the moment so only an hour away, so yes, we can spend some time exploring. We've visited the city as tourists a few times but not viewed it through a living there lens. We've moved quite a bit recently so no desire to rent only to move again in 6 months!

My family live and are from York. Osbaldwick has its rough areas, but what doesn't?

Heslington is village although York University site is just near by so you find a lot of students in the nearby pubs.

You want one of those lovely town houses as you're approaching the centre...if you have a million pounds!
York is lovely. Wherever you buy, at least it's going to be in York, and you can go to the centre whenever you want.

Thank you for your help with this. We went to York on Saturday and spent the day exploring, which was really helpful in narrowing down our search, and crystalising what is non negotiable and what we are prepared to compromise on.