Right, we've had enough of paying a huge mortgage on a mediocre house

[lizziehoney]

so have decided to bite the bullet, up sticks and go live somewhere else! We live in the South of England, and tbh, I've had it up to here with watching half our monthly income disappearing into the mortgage black hole, when all we have to show for it is a boring as hell 3 bed semi. We both have jobs which are reasonably transferable (and have a national pay scale, so we'll earn the same wherever we live). The plan is to make our home the top priority - we want detached, old, preferably characterful and 4 bedrooms. Rural would be nice, and obvs want decent schools, but other than that we really don't mind where we go. Our extended family are scattered all over England so no preferences there. I've been quite depressed recently, and talking things over with dh, we both feel this feeling of constantly scrimping and worrying about money and not even liking the house we're in is a major factor. So - suggestions please about where we could move!

i agree unquietdad i did understand that either

schools in hull don't have a great reputation though, agree with not an otter about Skipton schools - the whole of the rest of north and west yorks is v.envious, though would be worried if they didn't make it into the grammars. Lincolnshire remains fairly cheap.

4 bed detached houses in teesside between 200-240k, a village location, such as yarm or sedgefield would be about 240-280k. it's not the most exciting place in the world, but lakes is 2hrs west, york is 1hr south, leeds about 1.5hrs, newcastle 40mins north. whitby about the same south. so lots of nice things to do see/places go.

I didn't mean I thought that myself, but that they weren't going mad to be next to a mega school with the top scores in the nation-and I thought if I was a teacher myself, I would be less worried about school proximity too, because I would understand the system better than I do.

lizziehoney "Also, when I say 'good' schools, I don't mean they need to be 'Ofsted outstanding'or any of that nonsense. We're really not snobby about stuff like that - I just meant I wouldnt want to move to a catchment that actually had a reputation for poor schools."

Hi piffle (sorry about quick hijack!) Had to nip away there. We live in Quarrington, near to St Bodolph's primary school...how about you?

NORTH EAST COAST
[GRIN]

Norfolk is lovely.

Sounds like it's "Norfolk in hope" then.

house is a bit characterless but just to show that it is possible to find something on the North East Coast ...

www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-8375690.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

These are no good
She wants character!!!

Mine is the best

Am about to convince dh we need a holiday home

Yes I know CD, I know, but there's not an awful lot of character to be had for £280k on the North East Coast. It's blardy nice there. You bagged Wales first.

Not characterful, and on an estate...but its a lot of house for the price!

www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-15427369.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

Bugger...why,why,why do my links not work...?

I just wanted to say think carefully before moving. We were determined to move to a cheaper area to get a bigger house, but were putting moving jobs on hold while we had the children. In the interim, prices had gone up out of reach, so we have ended up staying put.

However, dh's brother did make the move to a gorgeous 4 bed house in the North. They are now thinking of moving on again, maybe even back to London, despite the cost.

I'm not saying property prices aren't important, just that they aren't everything. If there are other reasons you want to move, then that is a good thing, but a house in itself might not be enough.

The days where you could genuinely move somewhere good value are over - in my opinion. The only places that are cheaper are cheaper for a reason - the market has found its own level. Schools, job prospects etc all have an impact on price.

If you are going to move for the longer term, choose your ara carefully and make sure you fall in love with it. Good luck and hope you find what you want.

www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-9717500.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy

If it worked, this would show a 4 bed, 3 reception Grade 2 listed property in good nick with a nice garden for under 200K

I love !

It's almost as good as 'snurk'.

End hijack.

but notyummy
that is not detached and it has a weeny garden

why thank you expat

Feel free to use it!

'tis true....but it has excellent schools within walking distance...and a gym....and a supermarket....and the best recycling facilities in the country from the council. No more lugging your bottles to the bottle bank...we can even put our clothes and shoes in the recycle!

So can we
Not convinced sorry!

DH has just emailed me to say he is considering buying welsh house unseen

Sounds like a great adventure! I wish you all the very best If you consider Scotland, we have a detached, 5 bedroom house in West Lothian ? not old (3 years in fact) but it has character we are hoping to move to Spain. You sound like perfect people for relocation, relocation

TheDuchess- schools have a percentage that they are not allowed to exceed as far as non Welsh speaking teachers go. Also something else to consider is that Welsh is a core subject ont he National Curriculum in Wales so any children you have will be taught bilingually and will have to learn Welsh

CD, I once rented a flat unseen.

NO, don't do it!!!

OMG! That was the neighbour from hell!

we have just worked out ocado don't deliver there and the only wine would be boxes of South African Pinotage at 2.99 for 3 litres from the co-op which would be the only supermarket for miles around and you probably couldn't get basics that we need anyway

Am rethinking

Where's 'moondog' when you need some info on Wales?