Leaving London for York - top tips?

[herbaceous]

I've seen lots of previous threads about moving to York, but wondered if I could start yet another one just for me, me, me.

We have been looking for a while to basically cash in on our London house and buy somewhere else, with good schools, open spaces, friendly people, lots of culture, good train links to friends down South, and enough to keep us and our 8yo son busy until we keel over.

We fell in love with York last summer, and although we wobbled a bit (looking at fairly tedious London suburbs with 'meh' secondary schools), I think we're going to bite the bullet.

I now of course spend approx 7 hours a day on right move, reading Ofsted reports, picking friends' brains, and have just got myself all confused about where to look at living.

We want somewhere near open spaces (I love the look of Rowntree Park), but that isn't going to flood every year (although I believe there's some cunning community insurance thing), in the catchment for one of the outstanding secondaries, walkable or cyclable to the city centre, four/five bedrooms, with a garden, and with a friendly community.

Fulford seems great, but one friend I've been speaking to moved there from where we live ATM, and said it's been much harder than she expected to make friends. People tend to be family-oriented, or just stick to the friends they've had for years.

The South Bank area seems great from all aspects other than schools, while Heworth and Heslington also seem nice but have no idea about them.

Looking to spend about £500K.

I'm also confused by school catchments. On the map from the council each secondary has a very defined catchment area, yet on Right Move houses are said to be 'inside admissions area' even if they're outside the official catchment. What gwan?

I'm a TA and tutor and writer and editor, so am hoping I can find some kind of lovely job up there in time...

Oh. Another criterion is that I want a garden. Doesn't have to be massive, especially if it's next to a river or park, but not just a tiny courtyard.

I used to live in York but many years ago, so don't know about schools. When I lived there, South Bank was less desirable than the other areas but I think it's gone up in the world since. I'd be very surprised if Fulford is very different from the other areas in terms of ease of making friends - your experience might be really different from your friends. I can't see why anywhere in York would be especially different to integrate - there's loads of incomers and southerners. Of those areas, Fulford is my favourite - Heslington is too dominated by the university (and doesn't actually have that much housing).

Have you considered holgate/acomb? Gardens aplenty and you'd get value for your money. I say this as someone who lives in acomb......!

Holgate looked lovely on Locationx3! What's is the school situation? Millthorpe looks good, though not as 'outstanding' as some.

Ha ha ha, oh how we all LAUGHED at LLL! 🙄

Yes millthorpe good, all saints good, The Mount good, if you're that way inclined. It's a v easy walk into town and good for buses, not that you really need buses in york. Nice Georgian terraces on the town side, nice semis slightly further out.

We're not inclined towards private ed no, though our son is a chorister so might be in with a chance at the Minster School.

Saw some incredible houses in Poppleton, but not sure we want to live away from the city itself.

We're coming up to York next weekend for a shufty, so will explore South Bank, Fulford, Holgate, Heworth, Heslington, Huntington (all the Hs) and, maybe, Poppleton (it has such a good name!).

There was a feature in the Guardian the other day about Bishopthorpe Road, and it does sound great, but worry it might be a bit overhyped and thus overpriced.

Ah, bishy road. Yeah, it's nice but difficult to get a house with a garden and you can add £60k+ to the value just for being able to say you live in the area. Parking can be a butch if you don't have a driveway. I wouldn't personally, it's just a high street with a few cafes! York is small, you can just walk there, or help create the same culture elsewhere : )

We have a friend who has a daughter at the minster school and she LOVES it- it's very full on around Christmas and Easter, as you might imagine, but my friend is full of praise for the place

Hello all. An update. We're in York at the moment looking at houses! Saw two in Stockton lane, which were nice but the area seemed kinda dull. No shops! Then a massive 'grown-ups' house in Poppleton, but that was too far out. Then a GORGEOUS one on east parade with a huge garden, walkable to the city that we're going to offer on!

@herbaceous how exciting- hope it goes well! Lovely street.

Exciting! I live just off Stockton Lane. There are some shops on nearby East Parade but, you're right, it's not in the same league as Bishy Road.

Great neighbourhood round here though and very friendly. The schools are very good too, and you can walk into town from here.

I'm intrigued as to which houses you might have viewed now! jumpsontorightmove

I'm having to get used to the way York is different from London. Here, all the main-ish roads are lined with shops and cafes, and then there's half a mile or so of residential streets, dotted with pubs, parks, etc. Whereas in the bits of York we looked at, it was city centre with noisy streets-> terraced areas with the odd pub > suburbia -> villages, without the defined 'centres' that London has. I guess it's because of the less dense population, meaning not so many 'centres' are needed/sustainable.

I guess I'm after the Bishopsthorpe road kinda thing, but with gardens to the houses, and without the slight air of being pleased with itself!

SallyOMalley - the houses we looked at were around the junction of Stockton Lane and Hempland Road. Lovely houses, but alarmingly quiet.

The place we love on East Parade is pricey, but detached, with a big garden, near a parade of shops, and is just totally 'us'.

Yes, I guess it's what you're used to! York is very different to even the larger cities in Yorkshire. It expanded massively in the 1930s into surrounding farmland, hence the semi-detached 'burbs almost entirely circling the city.

I think I know which houses you viewed on Stockton Lane - just round the corner from me! And I can take a good guess at the detached house you love. There aren't that many on East Parade as most are terraces. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's gorgeous! Lovely garden too.

Are you looking at primary or secondary schools?

I have to confess ... Before I sound utterly stalkerish, I have an ongoing Rightmove alert that comes through on email. I never unsubscribed after moving here 8 years ago!

Our son is year 4, so we're looking towards secondary. And will take whatever primary has room and is local!

Re suburbia it seems you almost need to be in the shadow of the city walls for commercial buzz. I'm so used to little hubs of commerce on every corner that york seems v quiet. How do you meet people!?

The school gate mostly! And the neighbourhoods are incredibly friendly. I knew the names of more people living close-by in 3 weeks than I did living in a large city for 4 years. If you've got kids, it'll be absolutely fine. We had our new neighbours turn up with cards, cake and wine - couldn't believe it!

My ds is year 4 too. Take a look at Hempland Primary and Heworth C of E: the latter will be your catchment school if you get the east parade house. Both are very good schools and part of the same MAT. The secondary school for this catchment is Archbishop Holgate which again is considered to be very good and is also part of the same MAT, so there is some continuity.

Ooh / maybe our DSs can be friends! Can one also go to Huntington, or are the catchments fixed? It's a very different system from London, though proximity to good secondaries is one of the main reasons for leaving.

Ah the match-making wonders of MN

No, the catchments aren't absolutely fixed and you can apply to other schools, but priority will be given to those in catchment, then where there are siblings in school, then distance. Of course, for in-year admissions (so for primary in your case), I guess it is a case of where there are places.

For comprehensive schools, Huntington is a possibility - it's a good school. Round here, though, the vast majority go to Archbishop Holgate's (or just Archie's as everyone calls it). A few also go to All Saints (Roman Catholic). I know several children who started y7 in Archie's this year and all have settled in very well and are really enjoying it.

Fulford is the one that gets all the attention, isn't it. But if Archies and Huntington are both 'outstanding', is there much difference? I didn't quite 'get' the Fulford side - big main road, but once again no shops, and oddly quiet side roads. But of course it did have the lovely river, flooded while we were there.

Yes, Fulford has got a very good rep, but when it comes down to it I really don't think there's much in it! We're in a very lucky situation with regard to schools, really.

The quiet side roads are the norm, I'm afraid. I guess that's the difference between a large city (the capital, no less!) and somewhere like York. You just don't get the commercial activity mixed with residential areas like you do in large cities, unless you live in the centre as you pointed out. By their nature, cities like York have expanded with a more suburban feel. Yes, in York it invariably means the ubiquitous 1930s semi, but that comes with good sized gardens, off road parking, quiet streets etc etc. I can see why it might be a bit of a culture shock though!

Quietness and less noise is in fact what we want, but indeed, it will be a culture shock. But one I'm sure we'll get over pretty quickly!

Very comforting to have it confirmed that it's a friendly place, though. Each time we've visited York we've got chatting to people in bars/restaurants, which hardly ever happens in London.

So... we had 11 viewings of our house over the weekend, and are waiting for the estate agent to say whether we've had any offers. If we have, we will make an offer on 'our' York house!

I also very much like the Bootham side of the city, but it doesn't seem so good for state schools over there...

Fulford has a pretty big catchment area - my nephews live near bishopthorpe which is a lovely area.

Good luck with your house btw, hope you get some good offers.

York is v friendly - most of my friends and fam were either born here or studied here and never left!

No offers yet! Gah! I do hope we haven't chosen just the wrong time to sell - London's slowing down, just as the north is speeding up!