Advice on affordable places

[NiftyTurtle]

Sorry if there's been loads of threads like this, I have had a quick scan and couldn't see any relevant ones.

My partner, 2 kids (2 and 3yo) and I are looking to buy our first home, we have a deposit of 10k but where we are now it's unlikely we will be able to afford a 3 bedroom house even at a 5% deposit.

I was looking for recommendations on towns in the UK which have lots to do, are affordable and have good schools. We will miss it here but we have only been here a few years and I am sure we will make new friends in a new place as will the children!

We are both quiet, don't get involved much with drama and honestly big wimps 😂so wouldn't do well in a "rough" estate.

My partner and I both work remote so jobs aren't really an issue at the moment.

Looking forward to some suggestions :)

You probably need to specify your total budget for a home - how much mortgage do you have approved/ are you comfortable with borrowing?

We have 260k "approved" but ideally wouldn't want more than 200k. We can afford it but also want savings for "just in case" moments.

That would be more than achievable in many towns in the North West.

Penrith is a great place to live and beautiful!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146166446

Where were you living before you moved to your current area? Was it cheaper there? Or where one or both of you grew up? Even if those areas aren't within your budget or aren't somewhere you'd want to live in but you still have family there (and get on with them), perhaps you could base your search on towns with easy travel links to one of those places.

200k for 3 bed and decent schools and decent area and lots to do is not an amazing budget even for shit parts of the NW.

I think it depends on what you define as a good school.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145233461#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145419401#/?channel=RES_BUY

Definitely a good idea not to max out. We had £245,000 approved and we bought for £200,000 so glad we didn’t max out as definitely felt it with the increase from our old mortgage! Sometimes think would we have managed if we had went higher!

You'd get a 3 bedroom house in Hull for £140-£150. It's a city so things to do. The schools seem fine. My adult DS moved there 3 years ago as he couldn't afford a house where we lived but could in Hull and he had friends who lived there. He got a job with no problems.