Relocating to East Midlands/Lincs

[c1403]

Firstly...not sure if this is the right place. Apologies if not.

OH and I are seriously considering relocation from Kent (south east) to the midlands (Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire).
We have two girls age 7 and 9. Main reason being house prices and how much more you can get for your money and wanting away from the Medway towns!

We have lived in our house (mortgaged) for 15 years and the area has just got worse (anti social behaviour, crimes, criminal damage etc) and to move within Kent is totally unaffordable. Which is a shame as we love their school.

Just wondering how others have relocated, if you have relocated to Lincolnshire and just general advice really. Appreciate its different for everyone and we have have different needs/requirements.

Did you sell/buy at the same time? OR Sell and then rent for a short period (whilst finding schools and a job). Ideally we want somewhere semi rural with decent train links to London for family. (Thinking Grantham, Lincoln, Peterborough) and good schools for the girls, potentially grammar in a few years.

House price wise, wed probably be able to stretch to £270k providing we sell our house first and don't waste too much renting.

I wouldn't suggest Grantham as a place to live, but yes to Lincoln, or even Newark. Newark has brilliant train links to London and £270k is a decent budget. I currently live between Newark and Lincoln. Currently renting, but in the painfully slow process of buying a property the other side of Lincoln. Primary schools tend to be pretty good across the board, but some secondaries are more questionable.

Grantham could be a good choice, it's on the mainline to London and has a good grammar school. Although don't stray too far across into Newark and Sherwood - they have one of the highest council tax rates in the country.

Lincoln is a lovely Uni city but it does feel a bit remote/difficult to get and cut off from everywhere, but that's slowly changing now. It has recently had some infrastructure upgrades so it does have a better train link to London now.

For reference, we're from the SE originally, and don't regret the move up at all!

Villages along A52 have good schools and bus to Nottingham, Grantham and Newark for London trains.

I'm from South Lincolnshire, and while it was and is a grammar area with very cheap property (MN holy grail perhaps), I woukd not recommend it.

Lincoln and Grantham both have much to recommend. Don't know re schools so much tho Willism Farr near L is popular. Both decentish places. L agree us very isolated but an appealing city. G less lovely but quick to London.

What do you do op? Is it a,transferable role?

Thanks all.

We don't mind if there isn't too much going on, as long as there are options for clubs the girls can do (one does kickboxing the other dancing) and acess by car to supermarkets, shops etc.

OH is a bus driver (also used to be a plumber) and I work in admin, so not transferable jobs but jobs (I'd like to think) we could find up there.

Not really looking for or town centres, so any suggestions of villages which are close to good schools would be main priority.

We wouldn't be travelling to London often, its more so for my parents when they come to visit as they do not drive.

Thanks

@Shmithecat2

I wouldn't suggest Grantham as a place to live, but yes to Lincoln, or even Newark. Newark has brilliant train links to London and £270k is a decent budget. I currently live between Newark and Lincoln. Currently renting, but in the painfully slow process of buying a property the other side of Lincoln. Primary schools tend to be pretty good across the board, but some secondaries are more questionable.

Thanks, Will make a note of those areas.

Personally, I'd go north cambs...do like newark though.

@c1403

This is an example of what's available in the area near me. Not sure if this kind of thing is too rural for you?

Stamford is lovely.

£270k should get you a decent house in one of the villages south of the city and there is a good choice of primary and secondary schools. Lots of local Kick boxing clubs, Dance schools in most villages and a lot of clubs in the city if they want to take up other activities. Choose a village with a bus service so that your children can be more independent as they grow up but the crime rate is very low and children get to have more freedom as a result.

This is my suggestion of villages to look to www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=USERDEFINEDAREA%5E%7B%22polylines%22%3A%22sbrcIfolBpa%40fPpWsDdy%40tg%40vrGjm%40vrG%7B%60EkxFoyEk%7CG%7DxAyi%40unFavAdo%40ypCd%5CpL%60gLldBpyA_%40v%60%40rZpP%22%7D&maxPrice=280000&propertyTypes=&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

We live 20 minutes from Newark station and this is 1hr 15m to Kings Cross as well as being on the A1.

@Toddlerteaplease

Stamford is lovely.

Agreed. It’s one of the nicest & most desirable towns anywhere in the East Midlands. House prices reflect this, inevitably.

Thank you all. I am hoping we can stretch our budget to the £280k mark.

Shmithecat that house is lovely and not too rural for us. We initially moved from London to Kent because at the time we needed to be close to the city, now it isn't our main concern.

Thinking of planning a visit up there soon to get a feel for the area.
Any places to stay with two kids in tow? Maybe around Christmas time?

Thank you

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114036740#/?channel=RES_NEW

@c1403 Lincoln has a Travelodge and a Premier Inn both in the city centre. I'd stay at either of those, you can visit the surrounding towns from there pretty easily and be in the city for food and entertainment.

Thanks all. Some helpful comments which I have noted.

What is the rental market like in the village areas? I'm guessing we'd probably need to rent first as neither of us would have a job when we initially move up and the girls would need a school ASAP!
My head is spinning just wondering how this would work with kids in tow.
Thanks

We rented for a year when we moved here, and then realised we were at the wrong end of the city and moved to a village on the south side. We rented there for a further 9 months during which we bought the house we live in now.
There is quite a fast moving rental market but far less choice than there is in the city. This is the same area I posted before but for rentals not to buy.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if your husband couldn't line up a job before you get here - Stagecoach, PC Coaches and Black Cat travel all have a lot of school contracts and Stagecoach run most of the city bus routes. Lincoln has a lot of admin jobs going and you may be able to make it all work.

rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?keywords=&sortType=2&viewType=LIST&channel=RENT&index=0&radius=0.0&locationIdentifier=USERDEFINEDAREA%5E%7B%22polylines%22%3A%22%7D%7CrcIfglBfz%40h%60%40dYuLb%7B%40xK%7CbGseAvvFg%7DBq_FayHaeHhwGaxAoz%40oo%40qkTmoF%7EoBpA%60lNnoFzcH_%40v%60%40h%40pH%22%7D

Will have a look thank you

Did you have children at school?
I had to take my two out of our local school as it it was awful but didn't know that when we moved here. Fortunately found a village school with spaces a 7 mile drive away. I don't mind that again but certainly don't want to move them twice.

This one needs work but maybe the price allows the work to be budgeted for? The primary schools are good and the catchment senior is rated Outstanding.

We moved here 16 yrs ago when our girls were 7 and 9. Never regretted it.
We live in Lincs but our nearest town is Newark which is a lovely market town.
Girls went to a local primary and then one to sleaford grammar and the other to William Robertson. Both did really well.
Both went to Brownies in the village
Youngest went to gym club in Lincoln
Eldest rode and we kept ponies near where we live.
Both had swimming lessons in North Hykeham and Newark

Villages south of Lincoln and north of Newark are all very nice. Personally I wouldn’t live much further east than sleaford but that’s because I don’t like the flat fen landscape.

We have dogs and there are plenty of footpaths etc to walk and river walks in the surrounding area.

This is lovely but is behind McDonalds, KFC and a Travelodge. Price reflects that

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113820923#/?channel=RES_BUY

Lots of new builds at Fernwood and Middlebeck (Newark) but doesn’t seem to be much in your budget in Newark itself.

@c1403 Our eldest was at the start of year 6 when we moved here and our youngest was 1. We had moved around quite a bit before we came here and DD1 had 4 primary schools so we promised we would stay put until she finished secondary. Now DD2 is in year 11 so we have a few more years here.

Thanks again everyone. Nice to hear positive experiences of moving with children.

I love the cottage property, not sure DH would like all the DIY (it's constant in our old house)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/79644990#/?channel=RES_NEW How about something like this if you don’t want to be in Lincoln itself. Saxilby seems a great compromise, with good transport into Lincoln for when your girls want to be more independent- I had friends living in less well connected villages and they relied on parents for travel meaning they missed out or their parents spent ages driving about.

@SBAM there's a nice chip shop in Saxilby too