Cardiff

[whotheeff]

Considering relocating to Cardiff due to a job offer at USW. I have a rising year 9 and year 7. Budget for a home is £600k. Where would you live? We like to be pedestrian with shops and cafes. Not interested in private schools. Thanks!

If you are moving from London or the SE, I would recommend renting out your home and renting in Wales. Had we done that, we would be a great deal richer! At the time, I was worried about tenants and quality, but even had they trashed the place it would have far, far more than paid in equity alone.

@Indigo2019 ha no I don't think they'd appreciate that!

@Trickyteens we are moving from Leeds so will probably rent out property here as our London flat is already rented. We'll decide which to sell once we know where we're buying. Yes I'll be in Pontypridd but don't want to lose our urban lifestyle.

Thanks @Squirreltamer I'm amazed at house prices it seems every seller is trying it on. You don't get much for your money anymore. Obviously this isn't the best time of year either to look at homes for sale. I'm sure come next spring we'll have more knowledge about where to buy. I just stress out about schools.

That house is gorgeous (I was admiring it online with friends on the weekend!) but it's so overpriced, Clive Road is nice but a busy road, very urban. So not worth the money, and as PP have said your English catchment high school is Fitzalan which isn't worth paying those house prices.

I would look at Penarth, or Whitchurch or Rhiwbina if you're working in Pontypridd. Much more house/plot for your money, you could get something lovely for £600k. I think Whitchurch high is a decent school (you'd have to check though!).

Radyr might be an option if you're working in Pontypridd. The school is good I think (but check).

I wouldn’t go to Penarth if you are working in Pontypridd as the commute would be a pain. Doable but far better to be in North Cardiff.

I agree that North Cardiff would be better for Ponty. You might get more house for your money too. Cyncoed, Lisvane, Rhwbina and Llanishen are all nice.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81939785.html

Much less that 600k!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71564077.html

than

This is great too Albany Road, Cardiff
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63582510.html

Lovely with extra cash to update the bathrooms Partridge Road, Roath
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83318840.html

Please don’t take my advise as golden. I no longer live in Cardiff but did for 10 years and return very frequently

Partridge road house is nice. But there are 3 reasons the houses are cheaper in that area.
Local school is Cardiff high but zero chance of getting in the past decade. Locals send their children to faith and welsh schools. The next local school Cathays high is pretty bad. Most send their children to Llanishen high if they don’t want to go down the faith,Welsh route. Llanishen is a 3/4 mile journey.
A lot of houses are HMO’s, check the neighbours before putting in an offer if this would bother you.
The prices also took a knock after a man was murdered on the next street over last year. This price is about right for the area.

Albany road is nice. Good selection of cafes, pubs etc. Same issues with schools.
Albany road is cheaper than some surrounding streets due to traffic which whilst not crazy busy is busy later at night due to taxis ferrying students.

I feel those houses in Llanishen may not be your cup of tea. You seem to have a eye for a Victorian property. You’ll find these on Station road, Tyglas road (village end), Lisvane road and Fidlas road(village end) they’re all around 400k to 600k depending on their size and garden. Some are huge on Lisvane road 120 plus feet of garden and 6 + bedrooms. Biggest nicest ones go for up to a million but generally in the fore-mentioned price range. Prices are cheaper than Whitchurch, Cyncoed due to Llanishen High being middling to good and the village traffic is quite busy. Also quite a lot of social housing but it’s all very tidy and nice. But the area isn’t as urban as Roath, Canton etc

If I had 600k to spend I’d be looking at this house. Not everything to my taste but a great plot and could look nicer again with a slight change of window colour etc. But it is overpriced in my mind. It’s a 3 min drive from the junction to get to A470 or M4. A few mins walk to the train station or to the local shops/pubs.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72643702.html

Or if I didn’t care about parking it would be this one. Think the driveway is why it’s not being snapped up.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62608230.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72643702.html

@Squirreltamer this is great guidance. We currently live in a huge Victorian in a student area of Leeds so we're not averse to HMOs - our house is one of the few family homes on our street. After years in the USA we're trying our best to avoid 'leafy' suburbs we're very much non-conformists

@Squirreltamer that garden is immense! My dogs would be in heaven. I've heard conflicting things about the school in Whitchurch. It's so tough though because I'm a great believer that children can succeed in any school and I hate Ofsted ratings and the impact they have on house prices. I'm going down again today so will have a good look around and try and get a feel for different areas.

Sam warburton and Gareth Bale both went to whitchurch high so it can't be all bad! I left cardiff a long time ago but still have family there and I think it's a good school. Definitely an area worth looking at.

And Gareth Thomas....

Standard English schools in Cardiff go like this IMHO

Cardiff High - regularly rated best school in wales

Gap

Radyr - excellent school, may be issues with catchment once new massive housing estate is built by it.

Smallish gap

Whitchurch - largest school in Cardiff. Can usually get in outside of catchment. Especially good for sports

Smallish gap

Llanishen - good school sometimes switching places with Whitchurch. Results can suffer some of the less well off areas get put into this school and have to travel 4 miles in due to Cardiff High catchment and parents desperate not to have their kids go to more local schools of Cathays and Eastern high which are both in the bottom of Cardiff schools.

Bigger gap

Fitzalan - improving all the time was once not to be recommended but has had a few steady years of improvement.

Then the rest are below the national average and pretty dire compared to the others.

I think Whitchurch and Llanishen are pretty much the leafy subs you want to avoid. Especially Llanishen where the action is centred around 3 nice streets and the pubs/cafe are average. Penylan, Pontcanna and Canton might be closer to the action for you with a large mix of pubs/cafes and art, entertainment venues.
But you can get to the centre anywhere in Cardiff in 15 mins. Both Whitchurch and Llanishen have trains 2-4 times an hour which take no time to get into town.

Thanks @BlodwynBludd people warned us about our current school and we love it. Horses for courses...

@Squirreltamer this is fabulous and just what I needed! People warned us about our current school and we love it. My kids are thriving. I'm going to let the universe take its course! X

I went to Cardiff high for a few years (a long time ago) but I found that all the kids who did well there had tutors. I still have lots of friends from Cardiff and most went to Cardiff high, llanishen, whitchurch or Howells and I would say the outcomes for earnings would go whitchurch, llanishen, cardiff high. I loved living there and it's a great city to be a teenager. Any of the areas you've spoken of are easy travelling into town and the buses were really good. You and your family will love it.

Llanishen High is performing poorly at the moment, from my understanding. I am in the catchment but will be going down the Welsh medium education or faith route (DC are still babies/pre school age).

Cardiff High is full of children of pushy parents (friend is a teacher there) so that comes with its own challenges I imagine.

@Confusedandworried321 yes that would drive me insane. Lots of parents trying to live vicariously through their kids, praying that they grow up to get a 'good job' as a middle manager somewhere

@BlodwynBludd I think we would love it. Uprooting the kids after only a year back in the UK is what concerns me, but ironically because of what we've overcome to date it might not faze them in the slightest!

Yes Op it drives my friend nuts! I won't say what subject they teach as I don't want to risk outing him/her, but they get calls saying why is x child not in top set? I want them to be a [insert high paid job] etc etc. Hmm. What about what x child actually wants?!