Freehold 1 bedroom house Northampton area 165k

[AndrewMVP]

Hello, I am planning to buy a semi-detached or terraced One-bedroom house freehold in the Northampton area because, with £165k, I am unable to get something in Milton Keynes. Northampton seems to be a really cheap area. I own a car and work in IT in Milton Keynes; I am not too bothered to travel to Milton Keynes 3 times a week. I have a 6-year-old son, and my sole concern is to buy a property in a safe area. Even in Milton Keynes, where the property prices are so high, we have issues with the crime rate in certain areas. Please tell me which areas to avoid when buying a property in Northampton. I have never been to Northampton, and if you also have some suggestions on what areas are considered safe, your advice will be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Andrew

You won't get a nice area in the town than this area.

Ignore the person who said avoid Duston and Kingsthorpe as both are lovely areas.

Also ignore the person who said you won't get one in these areas for what you want to pay.

I live in Duston and am from Kingsthorpe.

It will take a long time in the morning to get to MK from Kingsthorpe though.

Northampton escapee here - family still live there though. I'd recommend to loo at Abington and Far Cotton. YOu'd probably get 2 beds for that money:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146356757#/media?id=media0&channel=RES_BUY

Thank you so much for your message; it's much appreciated.

• Too bad is Sale by Modern Auction (T&Cs apply)

"I am trying to get a freehold one-bedroom property with a parking space in front of the house and a small garden in a safe area. In MK, I will not be able to find a property like this. That's why I believe that Northampton is a better option. I am restricted in terms of the maximum amount I want to pay—£165k or £170k if the property is near the motorway."

Realistically, that's going to be next to impossible in the most affluent areas near the southern edge/ M1: your budget will get you a flat in some of those places (and in some, not even a flat).
You're either going to have to lower your expectations or look slightly further into Northampton.
eg, if you go to about £175k, you might get East Hunsbury or St Crispins (which is between Upton and Duston).

Delapre, Far Cotton and Briar Hill (which are all on the south side of Northampton town centre) are worth considering but even they might be unrealistic with a £165k budget for what you're looking for.

and I will go and visit them to get a feel for the city as well.

We aren’t actually a city. Only a town, albeit a big town.

Thank you so much for your message. I don't think I want to lower my expectations. I don't want to buy a flat; I'd rather buy something around 170 to 175k and be content with what I bought. First things first, I need to make time to go for a drive to Northampton and visit all those shortlisted areas you recommended to me as nice/good/decent. All those locations near the M1 are highly desirable to me in terms of commuting to MK. At the end of the day, even if I pay more money than I initially wanted to, the most important thing is that I get more value for my money in the Northampton area than in MK. I am trying not to borrow too much money from the bank and to be mortgage-free in 15 years; that is the goal.

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/14909010/

Action property, no thank you.

Someone made a good point about offering on properties you’ve never seen. They are right, you won’t be taken seriously.

You said you had a strict budget of £165k but you've now said up to £175k?

Initially, I preferred not to spend more than £165k; however, it seems that if I want a property in a better area, I may need to reconsider my budget. Although borrowing more money from the bank isn't ideal, I might have to accept it. With your assistance, I've shortlisted a few promising areas and plan to visit Northampton to get a sense of the town and these neighborhoods.

Feel confident you'll be able to get something decent if you can stretch to £175k

I am a fully qualified accountant now working in IT. I have a worldwide certification in IT. If I want, I can get a mortgage for £250k. I intend to borrow less money from the bank because in 10-15 years' time, I will be mortgage-free. The more money I borrow from the bank, the harder it will be to pay it back. Especially since I am all by myself, you never know when you could be made redundant, and you could end up in a really difficult situation if the monthly mortgage exceeds £1200. That's why I want to keep my mortgage monthly payments as low as possible and pay off the loan in 10-15 years.

When I worked in MK I lived in Duston, there are around three different routes to MK, so when traffic was bad on the M1 I used to go either via the Newport pagnell road or the A508, or the A43 to Towcester picking up the A5.

Good luck OP, Northampton has some really nice areas and I’m sure you’ll find a nice place within your budget.

I assume that you use Waze when commuting, and it is quite easy to avoid those areas where traffic has built up. Waze will automatically redirect you to use a faster and better route if it detects a crash on your route or if there is a traffic build-up ahead.

I work in Northampton now, this was a while ago, but yes I did used to use that and it was helpful, I knew the back roads quite well though after a year of bsc and forth

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146859548#/?channel=RES_BUY This has been on the market for a while so might take an offer - Duston is a nice area, and you can cut down the back of Upton / Pineham to J15A

I know we are all different in terms of how we view risk. But in your position I would stretch the budget a little to find a place in a good, safe area with two beds.
It is fabulous to be able to pay off the mortgage ASAP but by increasing your budget you will find a property in a nicer area with a bedroom for your son when he stays at weekends. Something he will really appreciate as he gets older.
You don't have to go to the max they will lend but one beds also tend to be harder to re sell
If you did go for a longer term to keep payments lower there is nothing stopping you making over payments to get it paid off quicker

Then why haven’t you visited?

I have not visited Northampton yet due to a lack of time. I work in IT and am working during the weekends and even on bank holidays.

This.

I mean I don’t know the area but it seems worth stretching a bit when you can get something like this if you increase your budget a bit. Day-to-day life gets better.

That’s in the Eastern development which everyone agrees could be a bit dodgy.