South Wales

[GinPink]

We live in a south London borough and it's so expensive, we really want a bigger house but can't afford one around here. We are considering moving to South Wales as one of my very close friends lives there and hubby could transfer his work to Cardiff. I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of nice places to live, with a commutable distance to Cardiff? We have looked on rightmove and seen some lovely houses but worried they may be in areas to avoid? (In particular maybe Caerphilly, Barry, Penarth, Tonyrefail (the Gelli Seren Estate), Bridgend, Chepstow)

Really after recommendations please 😊

Has anyone moved from London to South Wales before? Did it go well?

Many thanks xx

(Ps my first Mumsnet post!)

[GinPink]

Thanks all, this advice really is amazing!!! I'm just finishing up at work and will have a proper read of it all tonight and a chat with hubby. I may also need a chat with our financial advisor to see how much we could actually borrow (I'd probably be giving up work for a while if we moved but would have a deposit of about £240k, I wonder how much we could comfortably borrow just on hubbies wage.... which may change from London to Wales, maybe to around £35k per year?) x

[LegArmpits]

Parts of Barry are MUCH nicer than it's given credit for. Schools can be variable but there's some excellent primaries and the secondary system is being overhauled. Good transport links too.

[LegArmpits]

And 300k would buy you a small mansion 😂

[GoingAWOL]

You would get a lovely detached house in Barry for £300k. Some people are very snobby about it though for some reason.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Cowbridge is lovely. Pricey though.

Don't be tempted by a mansion in the valleys; they can be very unfriendly to outsiders.

[BrieAndChilli]

I live in a village near Chepstow.
Trainline that goes to Cardiff is the preferable mode of commuting to Cardiff for work.
Hose prices are starting rise quickly due to the likelihood of the bridge toll greatly reducing (which means if you buy know you are likely to make some money on it)
£300 will get you .. this list

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E22043&insId=2&maxPrice=300000&minBedrooms=4&radius=5.0&addGoogleTagManager=true&googleAnalyticsChannel=buying

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

The beaches and country parks in Barry are outstanding. Trains every 15 minutes into Cardiff.
There are loads of big houses in Rhoose and a good primary school but not much else unfortunately.
Penarth is very expensive and traffic is dreadful morning and evening but great schools on the whole.
Depends what you want really.

[GinPink]

How do you read private messages on the Mumsnet app? To be honest I think I want it all - realising now maybe a little unrealistic! Ideally:

Not being surrounded by locals that would hate us just for being 'outsiders'
Access to Cardiff within half hour ish
Big house
'Nice' area, low crime rates etc
Good schools
Not too middle of nowhere
Not too expensive... whole point of moving is less financial pressure (though seeing now this may be impossible in a nice area...)

[HamSandwichKiller]

Barry is seeing a big upsurge, still relatively affordable too so I'd consider it if I were you. I'd recommend renting though for a bit of you can face making multiple moves. You're less likely to make a decision you regret that way.

Oh and a new nursery is looking for planning permission to open in Rhiwbina so the childcare situation there might change in the next few months.

[BelafonteRavenclaw]

DH is Welsh and we both went to uni near Cardiff. Once we got married we wanted to settle back in Wales to start a family. We could never afford to buy property in Gants Hill. So we moved to Caerleon, it's not far from Cardiff. DH now works in Bristol and it's not too far for him to commute over the bridge. I like being near a big city like Cardiff with all of its facilities whilst enjoying the quite village life. We now have 2DS who attend a great school and there is lots for them to do here.

[Chimchar]

QUICK!!! Location location is the Cardiff one with an update tonight!!!

[SloanyAnne]

It's London on Channel 4 now though.

[GinPink]

Fab! Thanks I've just put it on! Xx

[GinPink]

It's such a big decision, we want more space and I want a bit more time with the children, so a move would be good for us. To get more space here I would have to up my hours at work which I don't want to do. However, our lives are here in London, both our families and nearly all our friends...

Cowbridge looked lovely!! We are going to stay in Wales for the Easter weekend and visit some areas: cowbridge, penarth, Barry, Cardiff and Caerphilly (we will be staying with my friend who lives in Caerphilly). I'm thinking now that we will need to try to stretch ourselves to just over £400,000, we would have a slightly lower mortgage than we do now but a much bigger house. I'm a teacher so although I'd be giving up work I could always complete marking for the exam board for a little extra ££.

[SloanyAnne]

Cowbridge is nice but I'd have said it's a full hour's commute to central Cardiff in rush hour.
Maybe have a look at Taff's Well/Tongwynlais too.

[GinPink]

Sorry one more question... is the weather in South Wales really as bad as they say it is? X

[SloanyAnne]

www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries

[SloanyAnne]

If you search UK regional climate on that site, you'll be able to access plenty of data.

[GinPink]

Thank you! Xx