Moving to the North

timmothy said:
Where do you live now for reference? Where else can I actually move and have a decent work life balance with a small mortgage. It seems impossible other than choosing a small deprived town up north.
Click to expand...

I'm in Lincolnshire now - job market here is poor. But in the day and age of WFH, being near cities etc isn't as important. Are you able to do WFH?

Durham is a lovely city which is near all the places you mentioned and they are all near(ish) to the A1.

As you say, it comes down to affordability and the job market. I would 100% discount Newton Aycliffe - grim. But Spennymoor and Bishop - have a visit and get a feel for the place. I do remember i visited both a year or 2 ago and both high streets were miserable and very run down - but isn't that the case in most places nowadays? :(
 
Last edited:
If areas of Scotland are in consideration or you are open to it, a decent guide albeit a little blunt is the SIMD website which ranks areas of the country from education, health, income etc. that you may be or may not have considered.

simd.scot

SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation)

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
simd.scot simd.scot

A decent high level tool for looking at possible areas of interest.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
Spennymoor, Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland - all dumps.
Click to expand...

Like a lot of places, in both the North and South, the town centres are pretty poor. Apart from a few independent shops, the town centres arent really worth visiting to browse for shopping purposes... More just to pop in to a specific shop for a specific item.

Bishop Town centre is having a lot of money spent on various projects (doesn't really seem to address the empty shops etc, but at least there is some activity) and Auckland Park is nice (note - I mean the park here - https://maps.app.goo.gl/KqSUZK5H9bNH2Q298 , not the residential area also called Auckland Park!).The out of town shopping areas are much better and a new leisure complex (cinema, bowling etc) is being built at the moment.

Spennymoor and Aycliffe are also poor for shopping. Both have some leisure facilities. In particular there are a few things to do on NA Industrial Estate - Bowling, kids soft play, climbing walls, axe throwing, trampoline park etc.

There are plenty of nice places to live around all three towns. There are also plenty of awful places to live around all three! Generally speaking, the house prices reflect this.
 
Last edited:
Really surprised to see you found Consett so bad tbh.

This for example needs modernising like you said you would be up for, is in your budget. Northumberland is 5 mins round corner for countryside, Durham is 20 mins away, metro centre and Newcastle 20 mins the other way.

Decent area with great views too.

www.rightmove.co.uk

Check out this 3 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

3 bedroom detached house for sale in Alston Road, Consett, Durham, DH8 for £160,000. Marketed by Reeds Rains, Consett
www.rightmove.co.uk www.rightmove.co.uk
 
JamesH85 said:
Really surprised to see you found Consett so bad tbh.

This for example needs modernising like you said you would be up for, is in your budget. Northumberland is 5 mins round corner for countryside, Durham is 20 mins away, metro centre and Newcastle 20 mins the other way.

Decent area with great views too.

www.rightmove.co.uk

Check out this 3 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

3 bedroom detached house for sale in Alston Road, Consett, Durham, DH8 for £160,000. Marketed by Reeds Rains, Consett
www.rightmove.co.uk www.rightmove.co.uk
Click to expand...

I did see that house actually and like you say it's exactly what we are looking for. Not sure why we didn't like it so much. Just had a general feeling of deprivation and also seemed isolated even though it is close to things. The people didn't seem as nice that we spoke to compared to other places as well.

Also the issue with Consett is all the rentals are in terrible parts of town or not suitable. We would ideally like to live in the place we ultimately buy first.
 
Last edited:
That is my favourite house condition like mine was,.I call it granny bashed, in need of an update rather than major work,
 
the shadow said:
www.zoopla.co.uk

1 bed bungalow for sale in Little Horton Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5 - Zoopla

1 bed bungalow for sale in Little Horton Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5, selling for £10,000 from Auction House West Yorkshire. See property details on Zoopla or browse all our range of properties in Little Horton Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5.
www.zoopla.co.uk www.zoopla.co.uk
Click to expand...

Looks awesome. Unfortunately with our lifetime Isa we have to be able to get a mortgage and don't think we would get one on that
 
Do your self a favour and look at saltburn , google maps etc , houses around £160.000 can be had , great hippy vibe place , surfing etc right on sea , hard to find better area in middlesbrough area fot your price
 
Last edited:
maybe i'm missing something, but you say you want to live there because it's cheap, but it's cheap because there are very few job opportunities. I assume you have a lump of cash for whatever house you're considering, but then also say you need a mortgage, but don't even have a job in mind?

This is all quite confusing!
 
Last edited:
rG-tom said:
maybe i'm missing something, but you say you want to live here because it's cheap, but it's cheap because there are very few job opportunities. I assume you have a lump of cash for whatever house you're considering, but then also say you need a mortgage, but don't even have a job in mind?

This is all quite confusing!
Click to expand...

In other words they don't know what they want. Ideal world a job with a mortgage.
 
Last edited:
rG-tom said:
maybe i'm missing something, but you say you want to live there because it's cheap, but it's cheap because there are very few job opportunities. I assume you have a lump of cash for whatever house you're considering, but then also say you need a mortgage, but don't even have a job in mind?

This is all quite confusing!
Click to expand...

We have a lump sum for a mortgage deposit. Can't buy straight away as would need an approved mortgage in order to use our lifetime ISA. Basing how much we could borrow and afford on minimum wage jobs.

We would like to move to an area to rent where we could actually afford to buy a house in the near future. Settle down and make a life is our aim.

Rent is very high considering how cheap it is to purchase a house. Rent is almost double what our mortgage would be.
 
Last edited:
It's a tricky way to do it hence why we whacked the mortgage, sold and became cash buyers, better bargaining power on purchase price and can move without a job
 
GaryTheSnail said:
That depends on what area you want and how nice of a house you want.
Click to expand...

We would ideally want to rent into something similar to what we buy. At least 1/2 bedroom end of terrace, semi detached bungalow or detached house/bungalow. Can't find anything for under 850 that seems decent.

Mortgage on a similar house at 150000 works out just under 500 according to calculators.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom