Calling all York-folk!

[Dottoressa]

I've posted before that we're moving to York; however, we are now getting to the looking-at-houses stage. We are seeing this house tomorrow - but would love opinions, good or bad, on the general area/road/anything at all! On the face of it, there is nothing not to like - but we don't know York well, so there may be all kinds of things wrong with it that we know nothing about (like the nearest children are ten miles away, or there are students in the back garden...)

Any advice would be very gratefully received!

Kettle - thank you! I think DD might struggle to be silent, but the head assured me that they don't expect more than a minute from the little ones (a minute???! That certainly doesn't happen at home...)

Kathy - I'd be more than happy to bundle a secondary pupil off on a bus or two, but DD is four. I'd quite happily take her on the bus myself, but I'm a bit bothered by the logistics of getting her to the Mount and DS to the Minster. It's obviously possible, but it would be nice if it were relatively straightforward. Her drop-off is half an hour later than his; her pick-up will be two hours earlier on his chorister days and the same time on the (very few) days that he's not singing or rehearsing. But we just have to find a way!

Following all this discussion (and a recent session in the Pig and Pastry), I'm keen again on the Bishopthorpe Road area. If the P&P is anything to go by, there are lots of nice people/families around there. However, there don't seem to be many houses with gardens, unless you count the lovely million-pounder...

Bishopthorpe rd a lovely area and logistically good for you re the school drop offs.

I would say the areas you are best looking at are B. Road, scarcroft rd and hill. taadcaster rd also good and prob a better chance of a good garden, poss dringhouses too. Also Holgate as is the right side of town for the schools AS THE mOUNT IS IN hOLGATE...also slightly cheaper area. (I live in holgate though so biased!!).

This is also a good area though not as good logistically, but easier than Heslington. here

Or this..here

Fab location, just round the corner from the mount school, literally!

Hi OP - I live in York and go to the Minster too. Heslington very difficult to get to and from at busy times, although houses are lovely and area is also v nice. You could also try looking around the Poppleton Road/Clifton area or around the Mount - you could cycle to Minster school in 10 - 15 mins in the morning from the Mount (as long as you lived at the top of the hill!)We live in Copmanthorpe which is a village on the edge of York, to the West, and we can get to the Minster in 20 mins coming in to York on the A19 fulford road if that helps at all? Happy house hunting!

HarryJoesMummy - thank you! That is very helpful. Do you mean you have DCs at the Minster School? I'm surprised (and encouraged) that you can get to the Minster from Copmanthorpe in 20 minutes - that's much less than I imagined.

Hairybaby's mum - we like the Mount house very much, but fear there's a parking issue (not that we're fussy). It would be v handy for DD's school, though!

If i win the lottery...ill gazump you for it!! Not in my league unfortunately.

We have stret parking where i live and its not a big deal really...i thought there were lots of parking bays down the Mount for residents and they are probably residents permit only. Oviously not as nice as your own drive but its one of those things that you maybe have to compromise on to live v centrally.

Not convinced you can do copmanthorpe to minster in 20 mins in rush hour, especially via fulford rd?? It would take me 15 mins on my bike on the cycle path. Fulford rd extremely busy.

There is a house near be that has an amazing garden but there is a sold sign up this week, after its been on the market for months!

Hi my ds is only two at the mo so we just go to the Minster on a Sunday. We'll wait and see about the school....! Bishopthorpe is very close to Copmanthorpe where I am - the thing about York is that on some days you can get right across town in 15 mins and other days it takes you 45mins you just can never tell. My advice would be to steer clear of the ring road A1237 and bootham at all costs because they are always bad!

One thing this thread is telling me is that there are lots of very nice, kind and helpful mums in York!

Our hand may be forced so far as the Heslington dream house is concerned, in that we haven't even put ours on the market yet, never mind sold it. By the time we've sold it, we will almost certainly have missed the boat. There's a v v nice house for sale on Mount Vale - a private sale which we noticed when driving past the other day. However, it's bound to be out of our price-range - 6 beds, garden, parking.

HBM - compromise will be the only way. If we were on Relocation, Relocation, Phil and Kirsty would be lecturing us about reality checks .

It partly depends what happens with the York housing market, I think. There have been quite a few professional job losses in York lately, which might slow things down (who knows.... you might even end up paying less for it!). The uni extension at Hes East is supposed to be associated with a lot of new jobs which would mean great competition for houses like the Hes one, but the uni is doing so badly financially at the moment that this process of expansion might be slowed down. Fingers crossed that you get something nice!

Wasa out running last night and saw a fab house on Tadcaster road oppositre the race course. Cant bloomin find it on t'internet though...will ahve a proper rummage at lunchtime and post link.

This is the one i run past...here

It was on the market for £865 000 last year so should be cheaper than that. Is this the private sale one you mention??

Also ive been pondering other good locations for you, heres my list of fabbo strets i would love to live.

Hobgate/Moorgate.. you will get garden & parking here i reckon.

St Pauls Square...fab houses not sure re garden etc.

St Georges Place and Mount Vale Rd...im not rich enought o even venture up these but they look fab when i run by!

St Pauls Square - you don't need a garden you've got the square garden!! I think most have garages there. That Mount Vale one is beautiful.

I love www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25219220.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1498&minBed rooms=4&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&pageNumber=2&backToListURL=%2Fprope rty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E1498%26minBedrooms%3D4%26displayPropertyT ype%3Dhouses%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26index%3D10this

and what about this??

Oh and hairybabysmum - did you know the lovely arts and crafts house at the end of St Georges is for sale? 1.7 million!!!

Hello again!

Please tell me what's wrong with this one. Please tell me lots of bad things about this house/area to make me feel better about the scary price!

We are seeing the Marygate one next weekend. It's smaller (and more expensive) than the house we live in at the moment, which is a downer - but it is close to the Minster, which is a big plus. And it does have a garden...

The Mount Vale one is the one that's for sale privately; we looked at it last week. It's a lovely house, but probably not for us: at that price, there would have to be letting possibilities, and we couldn't see how you could easily let out bits of it whilst still keeping the space we need.

I think we've discounted the Mount as seeming a bit claustrophobic and traffic-y; Mount Vale seems greener and wider. We're hoping to look at the semi on Tadcaster Road next weekend - it appears to have a nice garden. We're also looking at Orchard House in Bishopthorpe, which looks lovely - but we do rather feel that Bishopthorpe is a bit of a trek when we have to go to school and back three times a day. It's okay in summer, but may be a bind in the depths of winter!

I think I am discovering that we are unduly picky!!

Dwayne - the children are nearly five and nearly seven, and they do need others to play with if possible...

Right, unfortunately there is nothing wrong with that house/location/area...hence the price i gues...it does have a building plot at the end though so surely that will recoup some of your outlay.

The only downside is that B'thorpe rd also a bit trafficky and more claustrophobic than the mount as the mount is a much wider st. However in reality in both locations i think that you wont have thatfeel at the back of the house where your garden is IYSWIM.

Yes NL, that is also on my lottery shopping list!

I love St Pauls Square too!

This one is near me and v nice but probably too cheap for you , not in the same leage as the one you linked too though!!

oooh...what about this one. Looks fab and appears to have its own abbey in the garden!

Have just told DH i feel like Kirsty Alsopp (this after he asked what the frig i was doing looking at houses on the mount ). He said i'd better not start making my own wallpaper and stained glass!!

LOL at making your own wallpaper, HBM. Personally, I am going to try my hand at glass-blowing .

I'm sure that between us we could find something wrong with that house we you tried hard enough. We're off to a good start with Bish. Rd being full of traffic. And who wants a building plot in their back garden?

DH is put off the one with the abbey in the garden (although church-mad DS would love it) as it is Grade II listed, which means he can't practise his DIY skills on it . As I say, it's not as if we're fussy or anything... And even the abbey one is really more than we can readily afford!

'we you'? I mean 'if we'!! (I need an early night).

It's got to be worth a lok though, that room int he firat picture is as big as my entire ground floor!!

Surely it will be a good challenge for your DH to hone his DIY skills to the level of craftmanship!

Its a pretty unique house though.

I shall tell DH that!

I think it will go on the 'to see' list...

Ahem! Could I just point out that I linked to that house on the Mount on Wednesday so if you buy it I will be having the commission not the hairybabysmum!

Right - well I've been out on my bike today and took the opportunity to survey the property situation. I had a good look at the Bishopthorpe Road on and I think the road is quite intrusive. You definately need to ask the council what the traffic situation is when races are on - I think they have some clever scheme and I would want to know what! Also - there is an electrical substation at the bottom of the garden. Whilst the garden looks pretty good and is only over looked by neighbouring houses (nothing at the back iyswim) I think having a new house built there is really going to change the vibe. To be honest I'm astounded they've got planning permission and if I were the neighbours I would very much object - so just check that's all very much fixed. To be totally honest I think it's a horrific amount of money for the location.
Have you seen this? Looks quite interesting and in a good location.

I think St Pauls Square would be a good bet as well - so handy for the Mount and easy to get to the Minster too really. There was one for sale there but it's sold. If you haven't looked at the square before though do go and have a look - it's a prime type of place for the letter through the door saying 'fancy selling us your house?'

just seen this - definately worth a look. The location is great, very handy for an amazing park and getting to both schools would be pretty straightforward

Oops, sorry NL, missed that one. I reckon thats the best. Agree totally that the B'thorpe Rd one is not worth 1.2 million .

Think your one in Clifton green is good but am thinking the OP would prefer character of an older house.

I think anywhere off Bootham down to Clifton Green is also an excellent location for the schools.

Where do you live NL...i live near The Fox on Holgate Rd.

that Bootham Terrace one looks fab!

what about [[http://www.carterjonas.co.uk/buy/residential/search.aspx#/list/fulldetails/buy-YOR080395/?q=York&s t=0&sc=0&pt=buy&t=null&xp=50000000&nb=4&c=new,sld&id=null this]

If you look at Bishopthorpe village you might as well look n Upper Poppleton..same distance out plus has a train station.
here

You are all so nice! Thank you for the suggestions and negative comments about Bish. Road.

We parked in Bishopthorpe today and walked (DS cycled, but the rest of us don't yet have bikes, to DD's disgust) to Rowntree Park. On the way back, we saw the vendor in the garden of the 1.2million house, and asked if we could have a look at the garden. He was very nice and said we were most welcome, but that they're now not really planning to sell it and are thinking of developing the site themselves instead. We were quite surprised by the size of the building plot; it's what I'd describe as a small garden, and I'm not sure how anyone would fit a house on there. The garden of the actual house is also nowhere near as big as it looks in the pictures, though the house is lovely. DH says there's no added value to be had!! It did make us feel better about the fact that we couldn't actually afford it. It seemed over-priced by quite some way, though I suppose you do get the flat too. But hey-ho - that one is a no-no, which is worth knowing.

I like the Bootham Terrace house, but it has no garden -sadly. I like my gardening! HBM - you're right about character. We'd seen the Clifton Green one on rightmove, but are struggling with the vintage of house. We are hideously spoilt, in that our existing house is so lovely (1840s with all original features plus garden and parking and great location). However, today acted as an interesting reality check: what we're looking for doesn't exist in York at any kind of realistic price, so we will have to compromise on something. We'll still go and look at Marygate, as space and parking may have to be the compromises if we want the convenient location and the character... The Mount is still a possibility, too. There's a development on Dalton Terrace; does anyone know about that? It's v. handy for the Mount school!!

We might also put a note through the house next door to millionaire's mansion on Bish. Road. It looks smaller, but is still nice, and looks as if it needs some TLC, which would appeal to DH!