Location vs house (Stamford)

[housesearching]

I will be specific with area in the off chance people here know it, but it's the classic house vs location question many of us battle! We visit Stamford a fair bit and think it's lovely, but those who know the area know there is huge disparity in house prices between Stamford and local villages or towns like Market Deeping. In your opinion is it worth the money? We could afford a very large high end 4 bed in the Fens, but Stamford is looking more like a 3 bed that needs doing up (looking for detached). Is it worth compromising in your opinion or do you live somewhere less desirable with more of a drive for the perfect house?

See how you get on. Once you’ve been to a few viewings and know how much you’re getting for your current property, you will in a better position to decide.
From what you’re saying, the detached thing will probably be a very difficult compromise.

You can park near the Cecil for free and walk into town from there. TBH there is a lot of free 2-hour parking.

How about Barnack or Ufford?

We're near Barnack now but Barnack is more expensive than Stamford. Will have a look at Ufford.

Or Castor?

If you’re near Barnack then you are 5 miles from Stamford so I cannot see the point of this thread. You already live in the Stamford area and you already have booked viewings on houses.

@ErnestJones no I do not live in Stamford, living a 10 minute drive down the A1 is not the same as living in a town and that is the whole point of my thread, I have asked if it is worth compromising on house in order to be closer (ie walking distance) to a prime location. No need to be so rude.

@MinnieMountain I think Castor will be out of our price range as well and have also suffered from the recent bus cuts sadly.

Have they? Bugger wipes plans to move to Castor off list

@MinnieMountain I believe so, double check before doing so entirely, Castor is on the same bus route as ours between Stamford and Peterborough and is due to be cut this week, I'm not sure if Castor has other bus routes though, we only have the one.

So is the main concern about your teens getting into town after the bus has been cut? Given the costs involved in moving house and the fact you’re pretty close already, wouldn’t it be easier to set aside a bit of money for Ubers when needed until they start driving?

Grew up in Bourne. I really did not enjoy living in the fens, whilst Stamford is a pleasant, artsy town.

We don't have Ubers here sadly, I would love that as I hate using taxis (whole other thread!) We need to move house, this one is too small, if something came up in our village we would consider it for ease in terms of what we know but right now there isn't anything suitable on (limited housing stock here) hence completely re-evaluating location, our children are one consideration but I'm keen to be somewhere with things happening too, I'm a bit sick of living somewhere with literally just a village shop.

But there are other places with better transport links like Market Deeping, a town about 10 miles(?) from Stamford, cheaper but the "wrong" direction from us. And as @Sharonthetotallyinsane says with a very different culture.

My dh used to live in Stamford and we had a similar conversation the other day.

He said Stamford has 'snob value' as he called it. Nothing makes people raise eye brows when you tell them you live in Stamford. It's got some lovely pubs and restaurants and if you're in walking distance of the town centre it's great if you've got disposable cash to be 'out and about'

The negatives, he said, were it's got 'no soul' (again a quote from him), and has quite a large drug problem, kids from rich parents using.

House prices are extremely high due to it being a lovely area and also a train journey from London.

He used to live on one of the new housing estates that are popping up around Stamford and he said once the door was shut you could be anywhere. He wouldn't move back but did enjoy living there.

I agree with the snob culture actually, folk do think Stamford is better than other places. (Mind you, Market Deeping is better than going further east towards Spalding or Boston.)

Which direction are your parents in?

I would second the problem with teenagers in Stamford. We have friends with teens at the Stamford school who have developed drug problems and the kids from the local state school in town are even worse. They love catcalling and there is visible drug use, a small amount of vandalism, loud abnoxious behaviour on weekends etc. I wouldn’t send my children to either school quite frankly. Obviously not all the children are like that, it’s mostly the boys and again only some of them (a lot of them are lovely are polite) but if you want to give your teens a lot of independence it’s something to keep in mind.

Would you consider Peterborough itself OP?
We're thinking of Castor for the countryside but otherwise we're happy here. DS will have plenty to do when he's a teenager.

Thanks again everyone.

Parents are Wansford way.

Stamford Wellend is the catchment school for us so I have a few friends with children there already and they've not spoken about any issues. Though we will visit Casterton too when we do open days, my eldest will demand to go to SWA though as it's where his friends are going so I'm not sure how much sway I will have!

I'm really not too convinced on Peterborough to be honest, I like the city as a whole and to be honest we go there much, much more often than Stamford despite it being further as it's easier to drive to. It's just I have a friend who works for the police and while I know they are exposed to a side most of us won't ever witness it does make me quit apprehensive some of what they tell me, particularly in regards to gang culture. I know there are some nicer areas, it's just difficult house searching on Rightmove in Peterborough because you get hundreds of hits ha. I should probably have another look though because the nicer Ortons, Alwalton way etc would be a good compromise and I haven't looked there since our budget increased, I'm going to go have a look now!

I wish you could omit certain areas on Rightmove, whenever I try and look at houses in Peterborough I get flooded with houses in Hampton where we know we don't want to be. Quite surprised we could afford Orton Longueville and even Longthorpe so I will take a deeper look to compare to the houses we see in Stamford.

Find the postcode of a business in the area you like, then search within 1/2 a mile of it. That should cut out soulless Hampton.

Does your friend say what children are at risk from involvement in gangs?

Parking is dreadful!! Does the house come with parking, if so it’s lovely, friendly, vibrant community and great walks.

Apologies to high jack this post! I am moving out of London to Stamford. Any suggestion on GP? Thanks

Stamford! An amazing place