Moving to NorthEast - advice on areas

[lydia321]

Hello all,

We are moving the North East, hopefully by August 2021.
We'd like to be outskirts of Newcastle, 4 bed house with garden - preferably a village or smaller town with a nice community feel and opportunities for our boys to join sporting clubs and have hobbies etc.
We've visited a few times already to look at areas seen on Rightmove and suggestions made in this group on previous threads from a few years ago.
So far have liked Dinnington and Ponteland, but didn't like Morpeth.
Alnwick was too far out, as was Hexham.
We're looking south of the river on our next visit, at Chester-le-street , Pelton Fell, Whickham.
Low Fell was nice but houses for space we wanted were too expensive or didn't have a nice garden.
Our budget is up to £350k.
There are no particular restrictions regarding work, as both happy to have a commute up to 40 minutes.
Schools have been a bit of sticking point for me, as I would like to be in catchment for good secondary ..... I'm trying to have it all really, aren't I!

If anyone has any advice or new suggestions for me to look at, I'd really appreciate it !

Thank you for reading, Lydia x

Ovington View, Prudhoe, NE42
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74544549.html

Prudhoe?

Have you looked at great park? It's a new estate just north of gosforth. Close to Newcastle but with plenty if green space.

Chester le Street is a fair commute from Newcastle & the rush hour traffic gets bad on the A1, although not this year of course!

Whickham seems to fit the bill, great primaries and a good secondary school which has just been rebuilt.
There’s a lot of history to the place and a it has a nice village feel even though it’s a town really. It’s only 5 miles to Newcastle yet you can feel as though you’re on the edge of the countryside. For a suburban area there’s a good choice of nice walks in the vicinity which is handy during lockdown!

There’s definitely a good community spirit with volunteer groups that organise Christmas decs and flower planting etc...

You’ve got a choice of bog standard 3 bed semis through to millionaire mansions , but you should get what you’re looking for on that budget.

Sorry if I sound like an estate agent!

This is just outside Whickham

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-98561711.html

Have you also considered the coast? Whitley bay and Tynemouth have good secondaries, but you might struggle to get 4 bedrooms on budget.

I would suggest whitley bay or tynemouth, although not too sure of the prices for a 4 bed, the closer you get to the coast, the more expensive it is.

I stay in wallsend and although not as 'nice' as some of the other areas, we stay on a lovely street with very nice neighbours, amd have a 2 bed house with massive garden that we bought for 80k 2 years ago, so you would defo get something in your budget around here. Very handy with road links via coast road and a19.

What about Washington.

I grew up in Chester le street and the train to Newcastle only takes about ten minutes. Both my brothers were in a multitude of sporting clubs and their school, Park View gave them a great springboard to top universities. They still have friends from those schools. We lived near the cricket ground and there is so much open space all around. It was a great place to grow up

Cleadon, Whitburn, east Boldon all lovely near good schools and 5-10 minutes from lovely beach. 20-30 minutes in good traffic to newcastle city centre. All still have village feel but close to amenities.

Thanks everyone for your quick replies!
We did look at the coastal areas on our last visit up, but my husband wasn't too keen on them - he felt they might be too rowdy at weekends...? And prices were more into the £400k for our desired house.
I had thought about the south Tyne Valley area (Wylam, Ryton, Prudhoe etc), so will add it to our list of places to visit.

Washington - I did see houses on Rightmove I liked, but wasn't sure on the schools. But will do some more investigating into that area.

A friend-of-a-friend had recommended Whickham, possibly Sunniside village just outside, so that's on our list to visit.

Our next trip up (hopefully December depending on lockdown) will include

Chester-le-street,
Whickham,
Pelton Fell (just because we've seen a house we like, although I've previously read it's not that great)
Washington
South Tyne Valley villages.

Good to know about the traffic on A1 too, northbound from Chester-le-street.

I've got a feeling we'll end up renting first before we buy, but I'd like to have a confident area chosen first to rent within to minimise school moving.

We also looked at Newcastle Great Park (on paper it sounded great), but we didn't vibe with it, it was a little too purpose built for our taste, although you defo get value for money!

Thank you again for you're thoughts, it's a big move for us, so I'm being slightly obsessive with my research and weighing up pros/cons of each place. Visiting helps a lot because I find I either connect with somewhere or instantly know I can't picture living there.

Lydia x

Having lived and worked all over the North East, and, taking into account your budget, I would suggest: Whitley Bay or Cullercoats, Ponteland or Gosforth, Roker/Seaburn or Whitburn.

@TottyonTyne yeah another vote for the coast!

Thanks, I've seen this development and liked the houses, so I'll get in touch with them to arrange a viewing aftee lockdown. Your description of whickham sounds great !

Wylam is lovely although expensive. Or Greenside

Is Jesmond to close to town? I know it is a studenty area, but there are loads of families and it has a lovely vibe.

I know Morpeth quite well and am surprised you didn't like it. What did you not like about Morpeth?

People think its really cheap up here so xan be very specific and still get what they want for the money. This isn't totally the case. Especially as loads of the North East is fairly deprived. So then the fancier eareas are sort after.

Where are you moving from?

Ffs sorry for the various typos. I'm just not paying enough attention!

@Ginfordinner yeah Jesmond is easily walking distance from town

@Marcelduchamp good point. I’m from south Manchester and people think you can buy a 4 bed in a good area for £2. People also under-estimate the north east

can only recommend the coast
monkseaton or Tynemouth. inland has always felt a bit boring for me!

I live in Sunniside and love the village. Very much a neighbourly feel; the whole village goes full out for Halloween or Christmas, schools are excellent and the forests are amazing (our garden backs onto the forest and we spend a lot of time foraging and walking)
I work half my week in Durham and half in Newcastle and both are very quick commutes although where we live feels very rural.
Being on the right side of the a1 for traffic is great as I don’t waste time sat in queues but can get pretty much anywhere I want round the north east within 30 minutes. To be honest there is nothing I would change about living here.

They are building a new housing estate at Pelton Fell. Chester le Street is nice ( but not sure about trains at station). They are always complaining on local Facebook page. But excellent primary and secondary schools in Chester le street and when not COVID times loads of sports clubs and karate/ scouts etc.Not sure about primary schools but St Roberts in Washington is a good school.

What about high Heaton or longbenton? Whylam is nice but not sure on school perhaps Prudhoe is closest? Gosforth? Although you might not get the house you want. We're looking at the moment for 230k ish and a 2 bed and I'd say around Newcastle you basically can get a lovely house for that much. But once you have area requirements in mind you're a lot more limited. I think as you want a bigger house you're probably in a similar boat.

Re the coast. The area is fucking windy as shit in general . People seem less bothered by this than me. But anyway as its generally windy the coast is especially windy. I couldn't be doing with it everyday. Whenever I go to the coast I remember why I can't live there.

Rowlands Gill area is lovely (though shite Internet signal)

Though you could easily get the house you wanted heading into county Durham, the A1 and the A167 do get chocka, as a pp mentioned. The boldons might be worth investigating though the good bits aren't at all cheap.

Though if you headed right into Durham, this is what you can get
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/99416918#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98137115#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-74664801.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98448254#/

Have a look at Rowlands Gill, I loved living there

Wylam is lovely, I would like to live there, the main reason i didn’t mention it was because I’ve absolutely no idea what the nearest secondaries are like. Plus it has a station on the Tyne Valley line, with trains stopping at the metro centre & Newcastle.
If you’re into cycling the cycle path goes all the way to Newcastle too and is mostly away from traffic.

If you’re a foodie type the pub The Ship Inn in Wylam is owned by a guy who used to work with Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall.