Places to live/places to avoid in North East

[JalapenoCheeseOnToast]

My family and I are planning to move to the North East in the next couple of years and I'm looking for recommendations on where is amazing to live and where is best to avoid :)

DH is from Sunderland and his family are still there. I also have a family member near to Durham. I don't fancy Sunderland myself but we are looking for anywhere within a 30 min drive radius of there so that we are near family. Thinking anywhere between Newcastle and Durham (heading towards the coast, not further inland than these).

I have DS who will be in y7/8 and DD who will be about to start Reception at the time of the move so will also be interested in good schools.

As a born and bred Southerner (lived in SE, SW and now East Anglia), I have no idea of places in NE and DH knows a lot about Sunderland areas and not much else!

Any advice or recommendations would be gratefully received! We need to start making some decisions early next year and it's a minefield!

@JalapenoCheeseOnToast

Thank you for all your replies, they are very helpful!

@nomdeguerrrr you have hit the nail on the head of what we are looking for, including the school! DH is concerned that perhaps I found Durham Johnson and whilst it might be a good school, it may not be in a good area and that is what sparked us off talking about it (again!) last night. And yes, we don't mind being near the coast but don't want to really be further west inland than Durham as we start getting further away from family then - we currently live very far from all family so it is a priority to be a reasonable distance from someone at least!

DH has been reading the replies too and we both really appreciate it, thank you!!

Durham Johnston is in a very good area but with your budget you would either need to settle for somewhere fairly small or needing work, close to the school (I live 20 minutes walk away but not in guaranteed catchment area) or one of the nearby villages - the school is literally on the outskirts of the city.

There's lots of townhouses nearby "3 bedroom terraced house for sale in Kirkwood Drive, Nevilles Cross, Durham, Co Durham, DH1" www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107679689#/?channel=RES_BUY

Stuff like this doesn't stick around for nearly as long, for obvious reasons! "4 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Toll House Road, Crossgate Moor, Durham, DH1" www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109119377#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thank you all, have been looking briefly at the villages to the west of Durham and we might be able to afford it at a push. We still have a couple of years to go before this move but we all know how time flies!

In terms of Durham Johnston, I only found it by googling good schools in NE. Other than that, I didn't really know where to start! I know we all think our DC are amazing but DS is very academic and school-orientated and I'm keen to give him as much opportunity as possible but I'm always open to looking at other schools as well!

There are houses available in DJ catchment for £230K, here’s an example in Meadowfield:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104026727#/?channel=RES_BUY

If you want DJ though make sure you are within 2 miles of the school, or it’s the nearest school, as some of the alternatives are dire.

Also I agree that The Academy at Shotton Hall is a better/nicer just as outstanding school as Durham Johnston

Peterlee (the town where Shotton Hall is) isn't great though.

Another vote for Whitley Bay!

Three tier system though if that might put you off (middle schools)

Would it be worth looking inland - Hexham, Corbridge?

To the south of Durham Sedgefield has an outstanding secondary school, might be more expensive though

So much snobbery about Sunderland
There are lots of nice and safe areas in Sunderland with fantastic schools. East Herrington, Doxford Park (lots of new estates with bigger houses although the larger ones will be over budget), Whitburn, Cleadon, area around Alexandra Road, etc. I'd just come up and drive around a bit and you'll get a feel for it. We moved up from a very posh Hertfordshire village 4 years ago and it's the best decision we've made. DP also grew up in Sunderland; initially I wasn't too keen as bad rep but it's been really nice AND cheaper than similar areas in Newcastle. I'd look at schools first and then area; the best schools are hugely oversubscribed.

@nomdeguerrrr

Peterlee (the town where Shotton Hall is) isn't great though.

It has good & bad like most places. My kids bussed in from Castle Eden, made lots of great friends & never had a jot of trouble. It's hardly some kind of sink estate

I live in Seaburn, Sunderland. It’s fabulous here. We got a large 4 bed semi for 245k 5 mins walk to the beach. Seaburn and Roker beaches are unrivalled in the north-east imo, and the sea front at Seaburn is really cool.

We also have the metro line so 25 mins into Ncl City centre.

There are decent secondaries here / look up Whitburn, Southmoor, St Anthony’s…

Coastal North Tyneside (Whitley bay, Tynemouth, Cullercoats etc) is three tier, the rest of NT is two tier. I’m in the western part of NT, about 5 miles from the sea and can see it from my upstairs windows so not far inland.

Newcastle areas such as gosforth, jesmond, ponteland are probably above your budget. I don’t rate south or North Shields. Parts of Durham are very cold in winter and have much more snow eg consett although that’s more inland than you’re looking. I like Seaham but I favour north of the river more as it’s what I know best. Even South Northumberland isn’t far from your search are so I wouldn’t exclude that.

@rubyfowler agree about North Shields there some lovely bits. Look at the Marden estate, it is in North Shields but right next to Tynemouth and the coast

I think the problem with stating areas is that fairly nice areas and fairly not nice areas can be a stones throw away from each other.

An example being I used to live in an £80k house on a not nice street in Fenham but could walk 2 or 3 minutes from my door to some £450k houses on a lovely street.

I'd say lovely but expensive areas are jesmond, gosforth, tynemouth, Morpeth, Hexham and ponteland.

Lovely but a bit cheaper are Heaton, seaham, Whitburn, low fell.

And seaburn - it's lovely there.

Ryhope and villages like that between Sunderland and Seaham are nice.

I'm sorry though but I had to laugh at someone originally from Sunderland worried that the catchment area for Durham Johnston might not be in a good area!🤣🤣🤣

Thank you all again for your replies! They are all very helpful and I'm keeping a note of the schools and areas mentioned :)

@ISeeTheLight I do know that there are some nice places around Sunderland and it is still possible but so far from my visits I'm not so keen.

@CremeEggThief DH found that really funny! Honestly, I do know what he means HOWEVER he has done no looking at schools at all, whereas I have at least nosed through DJ's website to get a gist. I'm the planner in this relationship and he is the executor I think!

We made our move to durham in 2019 and settled for the newer estate in Bowburn. Amid much snobbery and negative comments about the area, we’ve found it perfect for our needs. We snagged a 4bed detached for under £200 and being a couple of minutes from the A1 makes our commute to Newcastle for work really easy. The parking space in front of the house is small, that’s virtually my only gripe, so we can only get one car in the drive then park the second across the kerb in front of the car. It’s v easy to get into city centre and avoids the horrible Neville’s Cross rush hour traffic. We missed having closer shops than Dragonville where we go at present that’s about 3.5m away but there’s a talk of supermarket/ shopping coming up soon coz of the Amazon warehouse that came up recently. There’s a coop nearby and a few corner shop / family shopper type shops dotted around the estate. Good luck with ur plans.

@JalapenoCheeseOnToast

Thank you all again for your replies! They are all very helpful and I'm keeping a note of the schools and areas mentioned :)

@ISeeTheLight I do know that there are some nice places around Sunderland and it is still possible but so far from my visits I'm not so keen.

@CremeEggThief DH found that really funny! Honestly, I do know what he means HOWEVER he has done no looking at schools at all, whereas I have at least nosed through DJ's website to get a gist. I'm the planner in this relationship and he is the executor I think!

I have the same issue please let me add few questions here!

@@JalapenoCheeseOnToast
@allnomdeguerrrr
@CeeceeBloomingdale
@EllenMonte

I have recently moved in to Newcastle and planning to move my family after the summer vacation. I am looking for a good/outstanding sate secondary co-ed school for my kids.
I checked the good school guide and got few suggestions from friends too. Not bothered by buying a house since l plan to rent at the moment. kindly help me with few questions and about the schools also please recommend other schools you know
School suggestions
1.St Wilfrids RC College (Temple Park Road, South Shields, NE34 0QA)
2.St Thomas More Cathiloc (High School Lynn Road, North Shields, NE29 8LF)
3.Valley Gaedens Middle then to Whitley Bay High (Whitley Bay)
4.St Lenoard’s CatholicSchool (North End, Durham, DH1 4NG)
5.Belmont Commuity School (Buckinghamshire Road, Durham, DH1 2QP)

Is it difficult to travel daily from Durham to north shield for work during bc hours?

Durham Sedgefield has good schools too, would it be difficult to travel to North sheilds daily ?

Why south shields houses are cheaper than north shields?

Thanks

Durham to North Shields isn't a commute I've ever had to do, but I would imagine there would be a likelihood of challenging traffic conditions on a regular basis.

If you need to work in North Shields then you'd probably save yourself a heap of travel aggravation by living on the north side of the Tyne in North Shields, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth etc.

@allnomdeguerrrr
Thanks. I am torn between work and finding a good school. According to my research Durham has better schools. have you heard about any state schools I have mentioned?

Agree if you are working in North Shields look in North Tyneside and look at the schools there.
With the catholic schools if you qualify for entry on criteria, then great, they are both oversubscribed, but if you qualify you will have flexibility as the geographical catchment is bigger if you see what I mean.
VGMS and WBHS are both great schools and there are huge advantages to the middle school system, but because they are good that can be seen in the house prices in much of the catchment.

I live very close to St. Leonard's school. Both it and Durham Johnston are walking distance from. Leonard's has always had a decent reputation but the local clamour is to get into Johnston (for better or worse). St Bede's in Lanchester is another highly thought of Catholic secondary. Really nice village as well.

Belmont traditionally has been okay but never thought of as one of the better Durham schools. Belmont itself is perfectly pleasant and very handy for the A1.

I'm sure there are good schools on North Tyneside though. Lots of posh Geordies live there so there must be. It would be a kindness to yourself to avoid that commute.