Moving to Yorkshire

[CityToCountryMouse]

My partner and I are relocating from Merseyside to Yorkshire. Our absolute max budget would be £500,000 for a 4 bedroom house. My partner will be working two days a week from an office in Leeds and from home the rest of the time and I work from home. This will be our first joint home together and the home we look to start our family in so being in close proximity to a good primary school would be important and being able to commute to Leeds too. We’d also like somewhere that is close enough to go into York on the weekends. And we’d need to be able to get to Liverpool and Wrexham with ease for going back to see family. Our ideal place would be a more countryside setting, with nice walks / cycle routes and with all the main amenities you’d need (pharmacy, butchers, bakers, local shop) so we wouldn’t have to travel into a bigger place too often. Any recommendations? So far we’re thinking places like Boroughbridge and Easingwold? But we are still doing our research and I’d really value others advice / recommendations etc. Thanks in advance if you’re able to help

I wouldn't rule out places near the airport. Honestly we don't hear the planes you just tune them out, it's really fine!

@CityToCountryMouse you have just totally described my lifestyle. Have a look at villages around Denby Dale HD8 postcode.
Excellent schools
An hour drive to York
Commutable to Leeds
Train station - frequent trains to Leeds from Wakefield Westgate (20 mins, 2 buses an hour)

How about Malton? It has a train station, making Leeds an easy commute. It's close to the Wolds, North Yorkshire Moors, coast and Howardian Hills for outdoor things. Bus or train into York too.

Easingwold is lovely - i grew up there. But it has doesn't have a station as you have identified. Recently the Sunday bus service was stopped, then restarted again. A new bus company has just taken over the York - Easingwold route and it doesn't run late at night. So public transport is iffy. I also think it isnt a great commute to Leeds because you are the wrong side, although i know many who do it. If you are planning on doing car to Park & Ride, then bus to the station, then train to Leeds, then your commute will be awful. There have been three newish big developments but even before those there was pressure on the GP and the dentist, although one of the dentists recently opened a new bigger surgery, so maybe that will improve. Only one supermarket (a Co Op) although planning has been approved for a second but noone has bought the site yet. (Keep hearing rumours about Lidl or Aldi). My family go to Thirsk for their shopping. Lovely new play park for kids though and the town council are continually improving the market place. Plenty of cafes, couple of nice pubs and a couple of good restaurants.

Don't know much about Boroughbridge anymore other than it has had masses of new development lately so if that isn't what you want, you probably want to avoid.

It's not really the picturesque countryside setting that you'd get with Hebden Bridge etc but you could do worse than Garforth. It's apparently (along with Farsley) one of the up and coming suburbs in Leeds and has fast and frequent trains to both Leeds and York, and with a change in Leeds easily on to Liverpool & Manchester. Plentiful buses into Leeds too, and very easy access to the motorway. Good schools too I believe.

It's a long time since I've been so I'm not sure what they're like these days but I had friends live in Barwick in Elmet and Scholes that were a short drive from Garforth train station and high street but felt much more villagey. Micklefield is also on the Leeds / York train line but I'm not sure what it's like or has got in terms of amenities in the village itself either.

Yes. I'd add the WF4 area to my recommendation for neighbouring HD8 - train station @Sandall and Agbrigg with direct links to Leeds (20 mins)

I'd avoid travelling into York by car to get the train. The York ring road on the northern side is very slow and congested. I think the times you mentioned to get to the park and ride sites, especially the Poppleton one, could be optimistic at rush hour.

I've lived in York for ten years, and before that we lived in Selby. DH worked on the outskirts of Leeds and drove in, which was manageable. Villages to the north of Selby are nice, but the A19 to the A64 south of York gets very busy in the mornings. If you need to commute to the centre of Leeds, it would be better to drive to Selby and get the train from there.

Maybe somewhere like this? There are a couple of shops in Cawood, but Selby is near for supermarkets etc.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147895505#/?channel=RES_BUY

You can buy our house 😉 We're a 5 bed Georgian cottage in a traditional Dales style in a very pretty village just outside Skipton. We're on for 450k.

I'd say that if you're looking for easy access to both Leeds and York, you need to be somewhere along the trainline route unless you're happy to drive. It's about an hour each way from here depending on traffic. We're also an hour from Manchester and 90 mins from the east coast.

Leeds and York and the surrounding towns and villages are vastly different and there are lots of beautiful places in between (that I would personally prefer but then I'm not a city-dweller!).

I live in the Calder Valley and there are lots of nice places to live with rail links within a couple of miles. Be sure though to check out the flood risk before you commit to an area or property. It is a valley afterall and Hebden Bridge for example, lovely as it is, has been hit hard by flooding in the past, notably 2015.

Burley in Wharfedale is perfect for you!!

Beverley is lovely, I wish we’d looked there when we moved to Yorkshire, we’re not too far away though and it’s somewhere we shop, eat and drink. PP was right though, you can’t go directly by train to Leeds from Beverley, you’d have to get to York first, unless there’s another route I’m not aware of and it’s a bit of a drive, around an hour on a good day.

Selby surrounds are nice and Selby has a train station or you could do a short drive to a station on the Leeds line like Mickelfield, 20 minutes into Leeds.

Great minds think alike @Whycanineverthinkofone! We’ve bought two Yorkshire visitors maps so we can start marking up areas that we’ve been recommended. Starting with areas we want to explore further on the first and the second for whittling down / shortlisting areas further. I also discovered a handy app called Locrating, which you can subscribe to and it provides information on school catchment areas, exam results, and inspection reports. It also provides neighbourhood data, which includes things like health, crime, environmental quality (inside and out), and accessibility of housing and services.

I’d say whilst we’d like to live in a good area that’d be safe for starting a family in, it wouldn’t need to be “posh”. As people we’re not the type who have airs and graces, we’re very down to earth and work hard for the things we have. We would also place a higher value on practicality than places or brands that are seen as flashy or trendy. So we probably wouldn’t make the in-crowd!

My partner grew up surrounded by the beautiful countryside in North Wales. Whilst I grew up in Merseyside, so I’m technically a “city girl”, but we spent a lot of my childhood in Ireland (where my mum is from), playing in streams and feeding lambs on a family friends farm. So both of our happiest childhood memories growing up have been spent outdoors, enjoying the countryside, and being around animals and nature.

I think the goal would be buying in an area that offers the best of both worlds. Ideally with/near good transport links but also somewhere more rural. As we’d like to be able to provide the open spaces and good connection to nature we had growing up. In an area that’s quieter, less crowded, where the air is cleaner, and we have the option of buying locally produced foods etc too.

I’m not sure such an area exists, but hopefully this helps to give you a sense of what we’re thinking of and what’s important to us too! 😊

When DH and I were younger we used to dream of living in Lothersdale- we went there once on holiday and thought it was the perfect village. Beautiful location, ofsted outstanding school, you can get the train from Keighley to Leeds in 25 mins. We never managed it but you could live our dream 😂

Ilkley is a LOT more expensive! You won't get much for your money there. The villages surrounding bingley are nice, eldwick and harden especially (and both have excellent primary schools). And if you go early enough, you can park for free at Crossflatts station. 20 mins on the train to Leeds.

Another vote for Saltaire here. I have lived in Leeds for a long time but moved over this way when my child was born and we love it. We own a business here on the high street and the community is fab. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else now.

The local school is great, we have an abundance of independent businesses - bakeries, very good butchers, greengrocers, lots of cafes, restaurants, bars, other lovely shops. And of course the mill which is amazing. There's good nightlife and also lots of cultural things going on. We live in one of the original houses and parking is fine. I think people are dramatic about the parking situation to be honest.

Bradford itself isn't bad as a city - I work in the city centre, and we have an excellent theatre, and the new huge music venue opening this year. There's also a big new indoor market opening and it's not bad for shopping if you can't be bothered to go to Leeds. Leeds is 15 minutes on the train, and you can change at Leeds to get to York easily.

The thing I love most about living here is how close we are to both cities but I can walk 5 minutes down the road and be in the woods, the canal, go up to the moors. It's a lovely area.

There's some nice pockets of houses outside of the original village where you can get way more for your money. You would get something very nice with your budget.

Also happy to answer any questions if you're considering this area OP!

I’d look at living in York itself. I’m pretty sure you can still get a four bedroom house in a nice part of York for 500k. If you lived in the desirable South Bank area, you’d be close to the station, would be an easy commute to Leeds.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152420507#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would love this house!

Hebden Bridge does look absolutely stunning @SwanOfThoseThings and @harriethoyle. I know they filmed Happy Valley there, but it’s not an area we’ve visited yet, but it is on our list of places we’d like to explore. From what I’ve read it’s got an abundance of independent shops and hiking and cycling routes too. We’re National Trust members, so will have to travel up one weekend to Hardcastle Crags and walk down into Hebden Bridge for food and an explore! The 1920s Hebden Picture House looks good too, we used to go to the 1920s Woolton Picture House in Liverpool growing up. Unfortunately it’s been shut for a while now, but it was very quaint, as halfway through showing a film they’d always pause for an interval to sell ice creams, drinks etc at the front! We’d just have to have a better understanding of the high flood risk areas like @AcquadiP has mentioned, as I know that can come with it’s challenges - even with home insurance if you’re living close to high risk flood areas etc.

How about Northallerton, train station so easily get to Leeds and just off the a1 for York

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158393987#/?channel=RES_BUY

I was going to suggest Skipton, for commute and countryside. Some fantastic villages and small primary school federations. Bonus, if OP is keen, that Skipton has the selective grammar system. ( as does Ripon, but more of a commute).

@WeirdSponge Lothersdale is lovely, but not in the snow. One if my staff members would come to school by tractor!

I second looking at Northallerton.
Great shopping, butchers, cafe etc.
Easy access to train station.
York is a quick commute.
Park and ride just off the A19 and bus into centre for a couple of quid.

I’d say most of our research has begun with areas close to stops along the Harrogate Line @Meggy123, with this going to both Leeds and York. So we did look at Harrogate (we didn’t love it. For us it felt overhyped - traffic wasn’t great and that was outside of peak times and a lot of lovely older houses there but with on-street first come, first serve type permit parking), Knaresborough (a lot more new builds going up), and Boroughbridge (a bit more rural but more new housing going up here too). Plus we’ve stayed in Easingwold a lot when visiting York because of its close proximity to park and rides at Rawcliffe Bar and Poppleton Bar. Although I do think it’d could be expensive commuting from York to Leeds twice a week, so I’m starting to think that might not be so practical!

That said, we’ve widened our search now and I think the next places we’ll explore will be along the Calder Valley Line (Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge etc), Airedale Line (Saltaire, Skipton etc), and the Wharfedale Line (Menston, Burley In Wharfedale etc).

It’s been difficult as we both work full time so are using weekends / annual leave at the moment to explore areas. I think it’ll become much easier once we’ve completed our sale, broken our chain, and are renting in the area!