Shirtback

I can only speak for Darlington (link won't work properly either on my 'phone or my laptop).

It's (Darlo) not that bad. It's MUCH better than when I was growing up in the Back-of-Nowhere, where Darlo was often our closest town. And as mentioned, it has easy transport links elsewhere.

Huge - possibly too much? - amounts of ultra-affordable housing (80k would get you a very nice place in a nice part of town; there are OK houses going for ~1/2 that in less "desirable" areas). Then again there are >250k properties too.

Job market ain't brilliant, but lots of people commute to Teesside/N'castle/Sunderland etc etc.

I have relatives who live & work & earn a reasonable living in the area.

(I co-own a couple of rental properties in the area, which we bought really, really cheap; for the moment, they're paying off.)

Downton Gabby

Thanks for all the replies. I am hoping to get some specific recommendations of towns/villages to look into that are in the nice, affordable areas. I do realize that I 'm not really going to know where I want to be til I get there and look around for awhile to get a proper feel, but I am trying to narrow things down to choose a good starting point where I can rent for a bit.

Any ideas based on this article and the map?

Pulaski

I have a feeling of deja vu.

Downton Gabby

I do believe I asked about properties in the areas mentioned in this article.

As for deja vu, I am sure I've enquired about this general topic before, as I am still trying to narrow it down as I stated, so rather than making a snide comment like that , Pulaski, perhaps you could just ignore this thread altogether if it seems repetitive to you.

Pulaski

I have read your threads and posts with great interest and many people have been generous with their time and experience, pointing you to pretty much everywhere in the UK between Kent and the Scottish highlands and from Cornwall to East Anglia. Places small and not so small have been suggested, urban, suburban, and outright rural, places with great public transport or next to none. At this point I am not sure what more you want from us, short of negotiating a lease for you and sending you the paperwork to sign.

Downton Gabby

Yes, people have been very kind and generous. In referencing all the info I've gotten, I think you have inadvertently said something I am trying to express....I have gotten a lot of information about many places and I am trying to narrow all these choices down

Your smart ___ comment is not called for nor is it helpful.You don't have to participate and others can be helpful if they wish, as many have. You're not in my shoes, therefore, you really are not in a position to criticize and judge what I'm asking, how I'm asking it, where I'm placing my questions, and how often I'm doing it.

Pulaski

From my perspective I have seen others come to BE looking for help and asking questions, questions and more questions, then more questions still. And then they wonder why the help declines and people stop responding.

At some point it becomes tiresome to keep responding to apparently endless open questions, when at some point it you really need to say, "After all this advice, I have narrowed my interest down to places in or around X, Y, and Z (hopefully places with some similarity, not just three-five place names picked by sticking pins in a map. What do people think? How do they compare?"

At very least you could give us a clue as to what you want, after half a dozen or more threads of us debating this for you, you surely have some idea as to your preference of rural-urban, wet-dry, public transport, mild winters or cooler summers, etc.

Downton Gabby

First of all, if it's tiresome (and you're the only one who has said that here, btw) you do not have to reply at all. No one is twisting your arm.

Second, I do believe I have expressed what I'm looking for in my many previous posts that you said you have read, so I don't know why you're asking this and saying I haven't given a clue regarding what I'm looking for - what my preferences are. However, in case some ppl haven't been reading my other posts, I will put all that here shortly as I'm sure it would be helpful when ppl are trying to make suggestions.

Also, thanks for providing a link to one of my threads from Jan. Now that I've looked at it again I've decided to print that one and others out so I can highlight some of the very helpful suggestions and narrow things down that way.

Finally, please try to control your snarkiness and understand that this is HARD and a BIG DEAL and there's a lot to figure out.

petitefrancaise

Stockton on Tees is on this list?
You have got to be joking? It is hideous, you might be able to buy a decent sized house there but you'll never sell it. I can't think of anywhere else that would be a worse place to live in. My brother in law lives there so I've visited once. Never again.
So for me, that means that the rest of the article is a piece of tripe.

Like all the estate agents say..... location, location, location. I'd rather have a tiny house further well, south.
Was it you asking about the Scottish borders? Nice countryside, shame about the weather. I lived in Scotland for 8 years so I'm not talking rubbish. When it rains all the time your options are limited and it gets tedious.

Look at Banbury maybe? Plenty of houses that might need a bit of renovation to be had for cheap (one of my friends does this for a living there), lovely countryside and nice towns. Weather is rather nicer than in the grim northeast and the people are nicer too. I honestly couldn't believe how thoroughly unpleasant some of the characters in stockton were.

SanDiegogirl

I must admit that I agree with Pulaski, that, at some point after numerous responses to your questions as to where to reside in the UK, you need to make a decision based on the information received.

The UK is full of cities, big/little towns, big/little villages, rural/urban areas and everything in-between.

It is impossible to find the most suitable for your own needs based on other people's opinions no matter how many responses you get. Even in the article you included in your post I would disagree with the finding that Guildford is where people are skint and miserable. I spent nearly 10 years in Guildford, loved it and and the countryside around - I did not commute into London, a criteria the article used when placing Guildford in this category. So if you lived in Guildford and did not commute into London you too might enjoy it.

With your forum name as Downton Gabby presumably you are a Downton Abbey fan, so, although Highclere Castle where the series was filmed in by no means as grand as it looks, why not try living in nearby Newbury? - a middle size country town, perfectly pleasant with good road links to most places around and rail links to London and the coast.

Mallory

Have to agree with Mr P, you have been asking the same questions for two years. How long can you take to make a decision? Guildford is very nice, albeit a tad expensive. You said you work from home - try the Isle of Wight. Quite reasonable, and nicer weather.

Downton Gabby

Thank you for the suggestions. I am so sorry that I have taken longer than some people feel is acceptable to decide where to move in a new country and for asking some of the same sorts of questions over the course of the time I've been on BE.

I've seen people here take way longer than I to decide whether or not to even move country. I have decided to move. Now I need to decide where to live when I first arrive.My reasons for the amount of time it's taking to happen really should not be questioned or criticized.

Anyone that is willing and interested in sharing their helpful answers to questions posed here on these forums is appreciated, and anyone who finds questions annoying should just move on and let others answer if they please.

Stormer999

The M40 made Banbury a London Commuter area so house prices have risen very sharply. The fast train link Banbury to London then pushed up house prices to Oxford levels. The town is expanding at an alarming rate.

petitefrancaise

and yet she bought a house a month ago, she is renovating it now and will sell it at a profit in about another 2 months. Not easy pickings but there are some nice outlying villages that aren't cotswold ones. Thinking of going towards Leamington Spa and Southam.

Pistolpete2

Indeed! You would need to go back over the two years of threads in order to now be able to contribute in a completely meaningful way, as I have now discovered .

The OP, so I understand, would like to be near a big city or in the suburbs. This kind of rules out the IOW, as Southampton probably doesn't meet most people's idea of a big city in terms of what it has to offer.

I have contributed elsewhere regarding winter lets but now realise that the OP might have some difficulty putting the entire rent down upfront, though in fact if it is for 20 weeks at 500-550 pounds per month (say) fully furnished this is not too bad for starters. As with normal lets, council tax and utilities would be add-ons (probably 200 a month in winter).

This renting and credit issue does seem to rule out large areas in the Home Counties (incl Berkshire) since the rental market is so strong and landlords would not be bothered with renting on a direct basis - why would they be? If you can find places that are not readily commutable to London or it is prohibitively expensive to do so, such as Romney Marsh and thereabouts or Mersea in Essex, then it is possible to rent fairly reasonably but then there are other boxes to tick in terms of access.

If I were whittling things down afresh, with a dog, I would consider the big city as Bristol (Bath is a bonus) and look to settle around South Somerset/North Dorset and I might not even need a car at the get-go. Shopping would be in Street (Frome say for local markets) as well as Bath.

(Bristol now has excellent flight coverage to all quarters of Europe as well as connections on Aer Lingus and WOW to the States and Canada and KLM to the 'world')

Medical and vets should be in more than ample supply there, particularly the latter, in an agricultural area.

Good access by rail to London and Exeter too. Wonderful access to open country right on your doorstep.

And YES that area is routinely covered in other media lifestyle quality polls/leagues where it comes near top, just in The Sunday Times not The Daily Telegraph (DT).

(Closer in to Bristol and 'fitting the bill' is Bradford-on-Avon though it is very popular and rents are higher due to access to Bath too, which is typically expensive. The Rode/Beckington area has access to Bath and Frome plus to Westbury for rail access to London. Colerne area has easy access to Bath)

IF you are looking for a mansion as a bolt-hole from London then there are mansions there for you too (and the FT DT and Guardian love to focus on celebs who have places in the area and the rush for rental property at Glastonbury Festival time) but typical rents in your standard residential properties are commensurate with the local market's ability to pay and are reasonable ( for plentiful supply).

I think that we have established that a typical car costs around 10 pounds a day to run incl all items such as finance and depreciation plus that bugbear of parking and this needs to be considered. I don't miss a car one iota with my bus pass and senior rail card. I don't feel that I have to make too many sacrifices in terms of where I just can't get to without my own 'wheels'.

For big shops and culture here in South Dorset, we would need to go to Poole and Bournemouth, neither of which 'touch' big city life. The weather here is milder and dryer than South Somerset though, in spite of it only being 30 odd miles away.

I have to say that after spending two winters here, and not just comparing it with 'winter' in the Caribbean where we returned from, I have decided that we will need to take evasive action as soon as possible and look to spend the harshest winter months elsewhere in southern Europe and work out what to do with what we have here accommodation-wise. Therefore for me, spending ANY time in the north between October and March is something to be avoided if at all possible. I'm sure that there are others who feel the same way when their bones start to creak and their nose starts to run the moment they set foot there. Admittedly it is possible to travel for just one hour east of Glasgow to completely escape the rain.