Moving from London to Manchester Area

[Wallaceada]

My wife and I are looking to relocate from SW London to the Manchester area/Cheshire shortly which we are excited about. Priorities are:

1. Having a community feel town/high street nearby. ie would like to be near some cafes, bars, restaurants, cinema, exercise classes etc but obviously would be happy to drive a short distance to some of these things.

1. Easy ish to commute into Manchester and can get train to London (happy to commute up to 45 mins/drive to a train station to commute)

1. Garden, parks and outdoor space for kids

1. Good primary schools

We ideally need a 3/4 bed for approx £800k. From research looks like this should be do-able.

I would like to hear opinions on what areas would best suit our needs and interests as a couple hoping to start a family soon?

We don't know the areas that well so would value some local advice.

Thanks very much.

Trafford or Stockport would tick all your boxes. Since Covid both are heaving with packs of ex-Londoners moving North. So long as you resist the urge to keep telling the locals how much better London is, you’ll be okay 😉
Seriously, if commutability into Manchester is key, look along tram routes and train stations. You could go out as far as Macclesfield and still be on the main London to Manchester train line.

Two main things to consider:

1. What's your view on selective education? Trafford borough is wholly selective, which attracts some and repels me others

1. Traffic in Manchester is second only to London. Very often when someone tells you it takes 20mins to get into town from where they live, they mean at 3am. If you're traveling to town regularly at peak hours tram is the most reliable, followed by train.

We live in Trafford, which would tick all your boxes, but do have a good think about whether you want to enter the 11 plus chaos.

And be warned, in Sale (and I am pretty sure Altrinham and Timperley), being in catchment for both primary and secondary schools means very little -currently anyway, I believe for younger children (reception / younger) it is relaxing bit. You can be easily within catchment and still not get a space due to demands for the schools.

I suggest you look at Trafford gov website for allocations in recent years so you can see how far from each school they allocated. A couple of the secondary schools you need to be less than 0.8 mile away, and when we were looking at the primary schools at the end of our road, houses a few doors down from the school weren’t given spaces.

Having said all that, Trafford is a lovely place to Iive with some really great schools at primary and secondary level.

I think Heaton Moor or Heaton chapel in Stockport would fit the bill

@StrangewaysHereWeCome You’re right on both counts, but all Trafford schools are generally highly rated if that’s any consolation.

You can get a lot of house of that budget in Macclesfield - 23 mins to Manchester by train and easy access to the Peaks:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchLocation=Macclesfield%2C+Cheshire&useLocationIdentifier=true&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E890&radius=0.0&maxPrice=700000&_includeSSTC=on&includeSSTC=false

Altringcham is also very nice:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchLocation=Altrincham%2C+Greater+Manchester&useLocationIdentifier=true&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E33&buy=For+sale&radius=0.0&maxPrice=700000&_includeSSTC=on&includeSSTC=false

The obvious place to move in this order
Hale
Bowden
Altrincham
Timperley
Chorlton (Manchester not Trafford)
Sale
Urmston
Flixton
Stretford

Top 3 are spendy. Sale is a bitch to park and a bit of a dump but a useful town centre. Housing stock is nicer there than the ones below. Your budget would stretch to something nice in Urmston. Stretford probably not posh enough for you but has community spirit in spades.

And in Stockport I hear the Heatons are nice (Mersey/Moor/Chapel I think). Lots of nice stockport/Cheshire options like Bramall or Cheadle. Nor very familiar with the area myself as I'm in trafford.

I'd also consider Knutsford and Hartford in Cheshire East and Cheshire West respectively.

Trafford for grammar schools.

Saddleworth for outdoor pursuits.

Your budget would easily cover Didsbury or Sale as well.

Community feel, countryside, connection into Manchester, and good (outstanding) primary schools? Marple/Marple Bridge. However, quite far out and only one road in/out so famously bad for traffic. Healthy budget for a nice 4 bed too.

Edit: Sorry OP, I confused parks/outdoor space with you saying you'd want countryside (which you didn't say).

We wanted similar, we didn't want grammar schools so went for Wilmslow in Cheshire East.

I’d look at Wilmslow and Knutsford if you want something a bit less suburban. I find Trafford very boring suburban these days and the traffic is horrendous. If you don’t live with a walking distance of the metrolink then the bus service isn’t great.

Didsbury ticks all your boxes and is very central with bus and tram routes to central Manchester.

I've been in the area for 25+ years and lived all over. Parts of Trafford, South Manchester and Stockport.

Top choice for me would be Altrincham with your budget, but it may surprise you how much/little you get for even that budget there! Hale is hideously priced, so look at Altrincham/Timperley.

Agree Sale has lots of nice property (look at Sale Moor in particular) but the town centre really is a dump. Great kids music service though, we're there each week!

Urmston/Flixton/Davyhulme nice leafy area, more down to earth. We're very happy here.

Primary and Secondary schools generally excellent across the board, but as others said, the 11+ system may put you off. Even many of the non grammars are good though.

I personally don't like Stockport, even living in a nicer part (Heatons) I couldn't live with that town centre, it's grim.

Other areas with very good high schools and avoid 11+, look at Lymm (though doesn't have a train station) or Knutsford. Not that keen on Wilmslow, a bit soulless.

Bramhall. I recently moved from Bramhall down south after moving from London to Bramhall and honestly if I could, I'd move back in a flash.

Local to Stockport, great train and transport connections. Beautiful village community feel. Great schools.

Nothing bad to say about it.

Not getting the Sale-haters on here; the town centre isn’t great aesthetically but is improving. Pluses - increasing number of independent businesses, diverse community, thriving arts scene and performance space (Waterside), lots to do, bars, restaurants, good schools, lots of green space, easy transport access. Lovely houses if your entry level is £800k or more
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149593136#/?channel=RES_BUY

Didsbury ticks all your boxes and is a very convenient commute by tram or train, with a good primary and high school options. Heaton Moor is also really nice. Personally I wouldn't want to be much further out than that, especially as commuting by car here is a royal pain in the arse.

Edit - good green space, river walks and parks in and around Didsbury too.

I’d recommend, like others, Sale. Lots to do, superb travel links, and it’s not as mumsy / bland as some other areas of Trafford. The traffic at peak times is horrendous, but that’s Greater Manchester for you.

Definitely not Knutsford - right in the flight path of Manchester airport so hugely noisy and polluted. Far too many cheap new builds being thrown up there as well with a lack of adequate infrastructure.

Or Hartford. It’s a long commute into Manchester and the trains aren’t reliable.

Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme in Stockport fit the bill.

A 3 to 4 bed will probably range from about £600k to £800k with a decent garden, depending on the spec.

The commute to Manchester isn't bad. A lot of people drive to Didsbury East metro, park there and get the metro into town.

Primary schools are great. In terms of secondary, Cheadle Hulme High School is probably the most academic but oversubscribed.

Quite close to 3 cinemas (Wilmslow, Didsbury and Stockport).

Various big chain gyms in the area and lots of boutique style gyms, pilates and plenty of community fitness classes, park runs etc.

In terms of parks, there are a fair few. The biggest park is probably Bramhall Park but there's a great park called Bruntwood park and there's The Carrs in Wilmslow. Lyme park is fab and about 20 to 30 mins away in the car.

"We ideally need a 3/4 bed for approx £800k."

As others have said, you might be surprised how expensive some parts can be (eg Hale Barns, Hale, Bowden etc).

Even Sale can be quite expensive. For example, this is a four bed detached house on Framingham Road which is about a 5 minute walk to the Brooklands metrolink station that goes direct into the centre of Manchester.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152513678#/?channel=RES_BUY

or this one a bit further away on Brooklands Road for £750k

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154208285#/?channel=RES_BUY

Timperley is also really nice but the village centre really just has a couple of Indian takeaways and a pub.
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"Having a community feel town/high street nearby. ie would like to be near some cafes, bars, restaurants, cinema, exercise classes etc"

This might be a bit of an unusual suggestion, but how about Wilmslow?

That may have more of the vibe that you are looking for?

"Easy ish to commute into Manchester and can get train to London"

It takes about 20 minutes on the train to get from Wilmslow to Manchester Piccadilly (but there are much slower stopping trains). There are also direct trains that go from Wilmslow to London Euston.

As well as older homes you also get a lot more new-ish homes as well, like this 1970s ish detached house for £800k

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153964088#/?channel=RES_BUY

Have you thought of Poynton. It is Cheshire East but on a good train line into Manchester. It has the community feel you are after in spades and the schools are good.

And be warned, in Sale (and I am pretty sure Altrinham and Timperley), being in catchment for both primary and secondary schools means very little -currently anyway, I believe for younger children (reception / younger) it is relaxing bit. You can be easily within catchment and still not get a space due to demands for the schools.

This is no longer true. Primary schools in Sale and Altrincham have struggled to fill their classes for the last couple of years of reception entrants. People with young families can't afford to live there any more. As I understand this pressure has moved to urmston and stretford

Hale & Bowden are very pricey, Altrincham & Wilmslow not far behind. Think top 5% price wise.

Sale, Timperley, Didsbury, Chorlton, Cheadle, Bramhall are south side, leafy with good schools, commutable to town by tram/train, and a short hop to Stockport for trains south (or M56/M6).

Some lovely other parts of Manchester if you wanted to ask for advice if you see a house you like elsewhere. Good luck, and welcome!