Rural area with (infrequent) access to Manchester

[KievLoverTwo]

Hello folks. I wonder if you can help me find areas to look in with the following criteria.

Must have

• Houses with big bedrooms, two need to be at least 12ft x 12ft (a disability thing)
• Preferably need another two rooms; one a WFH office + a drying space for me (another disability thing, not just lazy, honest)
• Moderate level of privacy
• Access to Manchester on some sort of direct link; it doesn't have to be a 30 minute commute, he's frankly alright with sitting on a train for 2 hours if it means the journey's not stressful, but many changes of connection or trying to park in a car park that never has enough spaces will tip him over the edge and he'll never go in (which he kind of needs if he's ever going to get this promotion). NB: VISITS WOULD BE INFREQUENT. Once a month, a fortnight at absolute most.
• Internet connection of at least 30MB.
• Low crime rate

Please be kind. It's not easy living with a partner with autism, they can't just 'put up and shut up' regarding housing needs.

Most new build houses are ruled out. We don't like the lack of privacy with most of them anyway; we're both also autistic so noise sensitivity is a bit of an issue. Generally stuff we've looked at older than 40 years in other counties fit our needs better.

Don't need

• We're used to living rural. We don't need access to tons of supermarkets, I stock up and plan well.
• We don't even really need a local shop.
• We don't need a village with lots of restaurants and lots going on (although having one nearby would be the perfect scenario).
• We don't need a gas connection or food/takeaway deliveries available to us (we're on oil/used to it).
• Schools

Would be nice

• Lovely countryside surrounds.
• Enough space to not have neighbours six feet away (looking for detached).
• Enough garden to keep a bored cat happy.

That's it really. Sorry for the wall of text. It's not fun house hunting with him, as much as I love him.

I only really know Rochdale and know that I sort of like it because I once stayed with a friend there, everywhere else is a complete unknown to me.

Budget 350-450k and I think we comfortably need 1400 sq ft but 1700-2000 would be the ideal amount of physical space for my disability (don't need a bungalow, just cannot squeeze past furniture/small kitchen spaces/lift most things, so need to WALK around my furniture, etc).

Thank you :)

There is a direct train from Llandudno Junction to Manchester Piccadilly but it takes 2 hours at its fastest. From Wrexham you would have to change at Chester.

Leek Staffs. Not too far from Manchester and you could get a very nice house for your budget. Lovely countryside, no station but cheaper than Cheshire and the main Peak District.

Marsden in Huddersfield is lovely.

It's virtually on the edge of the moors. But has all the amenities that you would want.

It has a lovely community feel.
There's a good mix of housing.

villages on the edge of morecambe bay north of lancaster - Warton, silverdale, Arnside, Milnthorpe, the yellanss

direct train access to Manchester
area of outstanding natural beauty.
easy access to the lakes, dales, trough of Bowland

close to the m6

zero crime.

should find something price wise within those areas.

Kirklees - Outlying areas of Marsden, Meltham, Slaithwaite, Holmfirth - direct train line to Manc from Marsden and Slaithwaite, short drive to Marsden station from Meltham, bit further from Holmfirth, but villages like Scholes, Hade Edge and Totties might suit you.

The train service provider is Transpennine though, who are notoriously unreliable.

I was going to say Rossendale but somebody upthread has mentioned it.
I would also say the Ribble Valley. Don't rule out rural Burnley/East Lancashire way, it may be much maligned but it is a beautiful area where you can get a lot of house for your money.

As PP have said do you know which station in Manchester is closest to his office? It’s quite a walk between Victoria and Piccadilly for example. Some trains on the line between kirklees/Manchester are served by northern which is more reliable.

South Lakes. There’s a direct train from Windermere to Manchester. Windermere and Staveley would probably be out of your budget, but Burneside or Oxenholme are in the same route and would almost definitely have houses in that brackets.

North Shropshire or North Wales, the closer you are to Chester its just over an hour to Manchester on the train. There are some lovely rural and less popular properties and areas.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Chinley/4-bed-houses.html

I’m in the Peak District too so will also throw this link into the ring. The Buxton to Manchester line includes a few nice villages and the Sheffield to Manchester line as Edale and Chinley.

Marple? Stockport area, quite rural.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128123855?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Absolutely agree with Halifax, plenty rural areas that totally fit your bill.

Rams bottom

Ha, autocorrect 😂 Ramsbottom

There's some nice places in Bury, Ramsbottom and the Rosendale valley. Lot's of inexpensive housing in semi rural areas. You do have to be a bit picky about location but parts of it are gorgeous.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133497185

If you type in "commute time map" or similar into Google there are a few good pages which help you spot places within a given commute. The one I used allowed me to specify type of transport (car, bike, walk, public transport) and helped me spot which areas looked easiest. Someone else noted that there are several stations in Manchester so it's worth checking the office location on one as it can add an extra chunk of time (and more importantly for me, stress) if you have to travel across the city after your journey.

Burnley! One of my best friends has just moved there and it ticks all your boxes. You get a lot of house for your money too.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126608519
bit outing but I live near here- under an hour on direct train from the village to Mancs, lovely walks on and around the bay, property pretty reasonable - this is just an eg. One of the lowest crime rates in the country

Honestly OP your choice of areas is endless, it's just a matter of finding the type of house in the areas you're looking at. Perhaps talk to some estate agents register your requirements and help you do some sifting?

I go walking in the hills between Leeds and Manchester a lot and https://www.fineandcountry.co.uk/ seems to specialise in sales of larger houses in the area.

I also occasionally go to Manchester for shopping/museum/lunch trips and I generally get the tram in. Some of the tram stops are set up as park and ride so could be an option - if you look for Manchester park and ride on google maps, it will show you where they are and you can click to see the number of spaces.

But something to consider re noise - is aircraft noise if you're near the flight paths going to be an issue?

Shrewsbury, beautiful old town, surrounded by gorgeous countryside. Direct train to Manchester Piccadilly, 1.5 hours.

If you live on the North Coast it's straight through from Holyhead to Manchester.

I know people who live as far away as Stoke on Trent and Blackburn who commute into Manchester by train within 2 hours. Also don't forget Liverpool, Merseyside and the Wirral.

Macclesfield and surrounding areas

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132322073#/?channel=RES_BUY

You won't get detached with space for £450 in culcheth.

I can't believe how many replies and options this thread has given me, I am kind of overwhelmed and so grateful, people are even posting houses!

Aircraft noise will be a bit of a problem. We have looked at a few in another county within a few miles of airports, the OH always looks at what direction the runways are facing before completely dismissing it.