Moving to York/Leeds

[Robob]

Hello, me & my partner are hoping to move from Essex up to York/Leeds. Our budget is £230k and we are hoping for a driveway/parking, garden and a min of a 2 bed house. Please can you give some recommendations on areas to live either in York, Leeds or anywhere in between the two? Also any advice on moving from the South to the North Thank you!

We just moved to Leeds after 18 years in the US. We chose it as we want to live in a city and have easy access to London and countryside. Everyone it seems wants to live in North Leeds right now. As I read about others having problems selling here it seems to be the reverse. Homes fly off the market at ridiculous prices. Most homes are semis but you’re looking at over £350k for something decent. We’re currently renting so in a good position and looking anywhere from Kirkstall to Oakwood. York and Harrogate are more expensive. I’d look at areas like Pudsey and Guiseley - nice housing stock and cheaper. West Yorkshire seems to be the place to be right now and even Ilkley and Otley are expensive. If you have children it’s a nightmare as there is a school over subscription crisis due to the number of families relocating here. We LOVE Leeds though! I’m now an expert on housing here even though myself and OH have never lived here before!

Hello! Thank you very much for the recommendations, we will be sure to check some of them areas out. Out of interest how easy did you find getting work up there? I currently work in London and I'm not sure how easy it will be to find a new job in comparison to the opportunities in London

We're in a very fortunate position - we own our business in the US so are working remotely here - hence we need an extra bedroom too for our home office. There are lots of businesses moving here though like Burberry and Skybet. Of course there are 3 Universities too, so there are jobs - again which is why people are attracted to Yorkshire. Unfortunately the Sunday papers seem to be obsessed with places like Chapel Allerton as the places to live right now - so the press is driving up demand and hence prices. If you want a period terrace you will find one easy in your budget if you're not concerned about location, but that's no drive and no garden. A 3 bedroom terrace in Chapel Allerton is going for upwards of £280k. I think first you need to decide if you want country or city, then decide how 'cosmopolitan' or 'trendy' you want the area to be. It's important to us to have a community and local amenities to walk to so we are looking at Headingley as we love being in a vibrant student community, and yet don't want to pay inflated prices of Chapel Allerton and Roundhay. If you are considering Leeds itself join the CARA community group on Facebook for Chapel Allerton as they discuss lots of other areas too. We investigated Harrogate and York but decided they were lacking in the diversity we wanted. They are both quite middle class cities lacking the grittiness of Leeds. Coach trips of OAPS daily lol. We lived in Spitalfields for years so wanted a similar vibe. Rightmove is my most used app right now lol!

Lots of areas of business are flourishing in Leeds and there's a lot of investment atm. Leeds I would say is more business focused with a higher legal and financial district. York however is more beautiful and historic. Commuting between the 2 is quick in the train so don't worry too much.

As pp said north leeds is lovely, weatherby is sort of between the two and nice. There are some nice areas in South Leeds but also some really not nice ones, if a house looks like too good a deal to be true it probably is!

Broadway, Leeds, LS18
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74257040.html

Ainsty Crescent, Wetherby, LS22 7QR
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72536432.html

Leeds is huge, so are you looking at work in York which would suggest North Leeds or just keeping your options open?

We live in South Leeds as Dh works in the city at the moment but has commuted to other areas via M1 and M62. He is in IT.

We originally looked at North Leeds but the ring road congestion to get down to either the M1 or M62 was horrific, hence South Leeds. £230k where I am will get you a 3 possibly a 4 bed detached house with drive and gardens with outstanding primary and secondary schools (why we are here.)

semi to west of York
new build in lovely village
traditional semi in market town
I would steer clear of city centre living if you have children as sadly seen increase in drug users & homeless.

Difficult to say really as it depends on what sort of area you want: schools, bars/restaurants, countryside, train station etc etc.

For a two bed you should be able to find a house in pretty much any area for that price, but obviously the nicer areas you won't get as much for your money.

As others have said, South Leeds is much cheaper than North. In north Leeds I like Farsley - good family area with decent shops and good value too. Other areas I'd look at would be Garforth, Church Fenton, Wetherby.

Have a look at the area between Leeds and York (vale of York) Lots of nice villages around there, near Selby/Garforth. My parents moved there a few years ago (I'm based in Halifax)
Also remember, because you are near the M62 you can get to Leeds from most outlying areas pretty easily.
Job market seems pretty good at the mo but Leeds is mainly the centre for Finance/insurance etc, so most jobs are in those areas.
As far as house prices go, Leeds (and York) is pretty pricey in general (hence why I don't live there anymore) so you may have to look around and consider lots of areas to get a good price. It's certainly not cheap to live in the more desirable neighborhoods.