seaham or middlesbrough?

[firsttimebuyer39]

I am looking to buy my first home in the next 12-24 months and have narrowed the location down to these two places - Middlesbrough or Seaham, based on links I have with the areas.

I would be looking at a budget of around £100k. I could get a mortgage for more based on my deposit and income, but I'm cautious about the monthly cost as a single person.

I don't and won't have any school-aged children to consider.

The houses seem to be similar in both areas from looking online - ex-council or terraced houses/cottages. In Seaham a lot of the options seem to be towards the Dawdon area. In Middlesbrough, I'd probably go for TS5 based on the type of housing and what I know about the area.

Can anyone with personal knowledge of the areas give me their opinion on the pros and cons of the towns?

Seaham is up and coming with lots of events eg food festival, carnival, fireworks display, Dalton Park has lots of events, new businesses opening, more stuff being built all the time. Middlesbrough less so, it’s in decline.

Job wise, if you live in Middlesbrough you’re looking at working around the Middlesbrough or Darlington area, because you ain’t gonna be commuting an hour to Newcastle. Seaham is more central so you can access both Newcastle and Middlesbrough in 30 minutes.

Thinking ahead if you have kids in the future… Seaham has lots of good primary schools but the secondary school is over subscribed, kids that live only 2 miles away can’t get in and are having to take buses to schools 10-15 miles away. This is ultimately why we moved away from Seaham, because there wasn’t a good secondary school available. That might not bother you for a number of years though!

Thanks @Bleppee I definitely don't need to worry about the school issue, I started my family young and my youngest will be finishing college next year and oldest is already at university. They're both happy with me buying a house in either area.

Work wise I will be in Teesside for the foreseeable but my working hours are flexible so I'm hoping I'd mostly be able to avoid rush house in the a19.

I am most familiar with Middlesbrough, having lived there previously, but Seaham is calling to me, so I'm quite pleased to hear your positive opinions.

I'm interested to know where you chose to move to, if you're happy to share?

The main issue with the a19 isn’t the morning if you can leave later, it’s between 4-6pm. There’s regularly incidents on the flyover or further down but causes issues for miles.

Im TS5 (we are here for a school still) but I’d look a bit wider around if that’s not tying you down. I know people who live in nice bits of Thornaby and Billingham. Someone might be able to suggest somewhere else.

I would say Seaham rather than Middlesbrough but choose which part carefully. I'd avoid Dawdon, it's not great.

Seaham is lovely, fabulous coast, shops and bars improving, still not expensive.

I'm interested to know where you chose to move to, if you're happy to share?
We moved to Neville’s Cross purely for the secondary school, it’s not an amazing place to live and you don’t get much house for your money. As soon as DS has finished secondary school we are going to move away, probably back towards the coast.

I don’t have any knowledge on either (so sorry for not being helpful!), but I would have to move to Seaham purely for all the amazing sea glass they have there 😁!

Seaham is nice but Dawdon isn't

Not any more. Tourists and people making jewellery have nabbed it all. There’s very little left now, you really have to dig and you only find tiny pieces. When I was a child there used to be tons, you could see it lying on the beach in colourful piles - but not nowadays.

Definitely not Middlesbrough considering your budget, have you visited it?! No idea about Seaham I'm afraid as we are West of the A1.

I quite like Middlesbrough, seaham is ok but a lot smaller, different vibe. Depends on what you are looking for. Stockton is nicer still

I agree that £100k in Middlesbrough isn’t great. You’d need more like £150k

Thank you for all of your replies.

A couple have mentioned avoiding Dawdon, can I ask why? @PitYacker @igglu

Haha @twistyizzy , yes I've been to Middlesbrough, we lived there for a number of years. I suppose what I want to get from this thread is how it compares to Seaham - which I do know a little, but realistically probably mainly the seafront area as a visitor.

I know my budget is small, I could increase it but I don't want to be spending a massive amount of my income on a mortgage. I am realistic about what the areas will be like. As I said I have lived in Middlesbrough in the past.

I don't think I'd go for Stockton/Billingham/Thornaby because the location just isn't where I want to be and I think I'd feel quite isolated. I know that probably sounds silly as they're really not that far away, but I'd be further away from friends and family in both Middlesbrough and Sunderland (I don't want to live in Sunderland). The benefit of both central Middlesbrough and Seaham is I'd be close enough to people to 'drop-in'. I know from experience that living more than 15-20 minutes drive away makes these types of casual get-togethers way less likely!

Love seaglass but I agree with @Bleppee , I was surprised when I last visited at how little there was compared to childhood memories!

Ah okay. Are you wanting to be close to town as I think if you could stretch your budget you could move further out and get a drive. We used to live near to Linthorpe Village and parking was tricky. Thought this was a good buy.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85965552

I'm most familiar with the TS5 area around Linthorpe rather than Acklam. I do quite like being close to lots of shops etc and like how multicultural the area is (and actually this is something we might miss in Seaham I suspect, we've always lived in quite diverse areas in the UK and spent some time living in Asia), but I definitely would consider Ackalm if I decided on Middlesbrough. I hadn't really thought a drive would be on my priority list. We also lived close to Linthorpe village in the past. I can't really remember parking being an issue but it was over 10 years ago and of course, the number of cars on the roads is increasing all of the time. Your experience is probably more recent than mine.

Its just really rough and run down. Murton is just along from Seaham and quite nice, never see many bad stories about it. I live just a few miles away from both

Murton and Seaham both have good and bad areas, unfortunately tied to house prices. £200k plus and the area seems fairly decent, under £100k and the area is a bit dodgy. In Murton you want to be in the village or the new build estates, in Seaham you want to be in East Shore Village, Dalton Heights or Dalton Grange.

I think the latter two are classed as Dalton le Dale on Rightmove? And there’s a Dalton le Dale village too, but houses are expensive there.

😔that’s sad to hear.

Seaham

Thornaby is lovely! And you could get a nice house for your budget x

Seaham is lovely too! 😍

@firsttimebuyer39 Dawdon is really rough. Someone else mentioned Murton, you might get something for a similar price but in a nicer part. On the whole Murton is ok, although there are some bits I'd avoid.

I don't have any current knowledge of either Middlesbrough or Seaham, but can say that a double fronted terraced cottage has a lot going for it, particularly if you're on your own/occasional long/short term visitors. The second bed is usually small, but the main is usually spacious and looks out over the garden/yard. Dual aspect through lounge/diner is also great - and not everyone needs an enormous kitchen diner. (My mum had a double fronted terraced cottage in Sunderland. Always filled with light - which is pretty amazing, given, well, Sunderland...) Just choose area wisely (specific, rather than Middlesbrough v Seaham).