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Original poster

A move from London to Bath

43 replies

allaboutmoving · 17/09/2024 15:37

Hi,
After going back and forth for the past couple of years at least, we have decided to move from London to Bath next year. Does anyone have recommendations of where to live? We want to have more space than we currently do in London, be somewhere with more green space, a bit quieter and safer than London, but somewhere where there are still shops, facilities and parks etc. So definitely not a village location.
We have two school-aged boys but will educate them privately. We are in the process of viewing schools but subject to dismissing any outright, we need to factor in where we would like to buy.
I've been looking at Bear Flat - does anyone have any thoughts on this area? And / or any recommendations for anywhere else?
We would like minimum 4 bedrooms and ideally 5. Must have a decent sized-garden and be a period property (open minded on which period, but definitely not a new build). Budget £1.3m max.
Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
alpacachino · 17/09/2024 15:40

I would look at Kenshyam. Nearby. I visited a friend there and it's lovely.

Els1e · 17/09/2024 15:43

My sister lives in Widcombe, which is lovely. Easy access to fields and woods leading upto Bath Skyline walk and Prior Park. I like Entry Hill as well as Bear Flat.

mitogoshigg · 17/09/2024 15:45

Bath itself is sought after and many gardens are small. Your budget will buy an excellent house but perhaps not a period property with land in the city. The surrounding villages are lovely and there are buses. Bear flat is pretty cramped housing wise in my experience, I'm there every week, terraces and rentals too. As for schools, there's a few options, what sort of environment are you looking for. Do you need access to the motorway or station regularly? If you need the motorway frequently I suggest the other side of the river, if you need access to Bristol, west side is best etc.

mitogoshigg · 17/09/2024 15:48

Not sure i would recommend keynsham but ive got friends in some of the villages between there and Bath which seem lovely. For schools I have friends use kids are at Bristol grammar school (independent) and they love it.

shadylane · 17/09/2024 15:53

I don’t think Bath is any safer than London, and despite it being officially a city, the size of it and small number of schools overall means it has a village mentality and this has its pros and cons. Bear flat and widcombe are very lovely but I doubt you’d get much for your budget. You’d be close to Prior Park which is a beautiful school and is more arty than say king Edwards, but all the private schools are pretty good.

Original poster
allaboutmoving · 17/09/2024 16:02

@mitogoshigg thank you, not fussed about 'land' per se, I think my description of decent-sized garden is probably not accurate to most people as I am comparing this to london sized-gardens! Yes, need access to the station so wouldn't like to be too far away. Re schools, we are visiting a number of them to get a feel. We want a homely feel, academic obviously but not overly pushy and more keen on a holistic approach than a pushy hot house.

@shadylane I think it's all relative. I grew up in the West Country and whilst nowhere is completely safe, London for me personally, is no longer where I want to raise my children. We currently live in what is regularly described as a village within London, so I am looking for a similar feel. From looking on rightmove - which is no use without a visit, I accept - it looks like we could get a 4 or 5 bed terrace in Bear Flat or Widcombe for our budget, which is more space than we currently have. Appreciate that a terraced house isn't often what people from the country regard as more space, but it is for us!

OP posts:
Scrahilliv · 17/09/2024 16:39

We did the move from London to Bath almost a decade ago. We live in the Bear Flat area and love it here. We find it very convenient for walking to train station, town, parks etc.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2024 16:43

Let me go on line and come back with my suggestions- we live up in claverton down - I love Bath - I like bear flat but only if you get a house with a drive-parking is a pig and there's a lot of houses with no drives -

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2024 17:08

I'm still laughing at the idea you can't get much here for a £1.3 mil max budget- you can get a bloody amazing house. You can get a perfectly lovely house for £800k and a very acceptable one for £600k

Asa bit of a cheaper outlier to those I've posted - this is £800k OP but on a lovely street close to Bear Flat facilities

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151970225

FernGullyLunchbox1994 · 17/09/2024 17:15

Tiverton. You'll get a mansion.
You couldn't pay me to live in Bath personally. It's so boring. No diversity. It's like a living wax museum.

FernGullyLunchbox1994 · 17/09/2024 17:15

Sorry I meant Twerton!

IhateHPSDeaneCnt · 17/09/2024 17:23

I agree with @FernGullyLunchbox1994 - but perhaps that's what you want.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2024 17:26

@FernGullyLunchbox1994 what do you mean by diversity? We've got thousands of international students here for a start and plenty of houses with social housing/council areas. Vast estates of them in fact

Not everyone is that bothered about 'diversity' in the way I think you mean -

FernGullyLunchbox1994 · 17/09/2024 17:27

So diversity= social housing?

Elphame · 17/09/2024 17:27

I would go for a village outside. The pollution in Bath is horrible. Parking is a nightmare too.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2024 17:28

@FernGullyLunchbox1994 on the other side you couldn't pay me these days to live in Hackney or Bristol ( and I have lived in both)

Different strokes for different folks and at different times in life

Crikeyalmighty · 17/09/2024 17:32

@FernGullyLunchbox1994 I'm not going to argue about it - I'm presuming you mean loads of different ethnenticities . We do have a fair bit of this with the students - and have lots from Hong Kong too in recent times. it's really not something everyone prioritises though- if it's a priority for you then that's fine.

IhateHPSDeaneCnt · 18/09/2024 03:04

Bath is definitely not polluted - compared to London. Everyone complains about parking and how any scrap of land or derelict building is being built on / repurposed / converted for student accommodation. I've noticed a big surge in 'down and outs'; basically bussing themselves in from Bristol to claim best begging spots in summer. Unfortunately, like any other major city, a lot of the interesting shops have been priced out and replaced by those American style 'candy' stores. However, still think pretty safe and small enough to walk around centre - as long as you don't whinge about not being able to park in the first place! The centre was redeveloped and now is as generic as any other UK city centre re shops. Don't be surprised about prices - be it houses or eating out; restaurants are on par with London. You would expect a big University city to be more diverse.

Original poster
allaboutmoving · 18/09/2024 10:19

@Crikeyalmighty thank you, this is so unbelievably helpful! I actually love that 'cheaper' property in Bear Flat, I'm a total sucker for period features and a bit of work to be done.

Most of those houses fit our requirements so that gives me hope! It's all relative I guess, I would be very happy with any of these for our budget!

OP posts:
Original poster
allaboutmoving · 18/09/2024 10:22

@FernGullyLunchbox1994 I haven't heard great things about Twerton to be honest. Do you know it well?

I'm sure lots of people couldn't be paid enough to live in London but we have been very happy here for over 20 years. However, it's time to move on. Strangely, despite living fairly central to London, there is no real diversity in the area we live. 95% of the children at my childrens' schools have the same ethic background as us and their parents work similar jobs to me and DH. In my 20s I would perhaps have felt differently, but in my 40s, boring sounds great (!)

OP posts:
Crikeyalmighty · 18/09/2024 10:36

@GettingStuffed that road has no parking so a bit of a nightmare- hence why it's mainly student flats

Crikeyalmighty · 18/09/2024 10:41

@allaboutmoving I know- me too- I picked carefully to what I thought you might like- you honestly will get a fab house here- I love that cheaper bear flat one too and it's a really pretty road as well - one tip here for Right move is set your low level at £650k - sometimes you can go too high and miss out on some belters- there's plenty of lovely houses here between £650 and £900k that fit your brief too. Also with regard to villages- bathampton really is an edge of Bath 'supurb' as is Larkhall or Weston or even Bath Easton - all on bus routes , with facilities and no more than 3 to 8 minutes drive in

HeartandSeoul · 18/09/2024 11:03

OP, I can only imagine FernGully is trying to wind you up by mentioning Twerton. The area is perfectly fine, but it has always had a bit of a reputation for the wrong reasons.

I don’t agree with FernGully’s points about lack of social diversity either. Best Flat is lovely, but the main road would put me off. Have you looked at Upper Oldfield Park?