Originally Posted by Pulaski

Generally speaking, the cost of housing is related to the distance from London, so if you aren't dependent on access to London, you may want to focus on areas that are not reasonably commutable to London - and yes, San Diego Girl is right, Guildford is lovely, but it is almost a suburb of London - for a while I did a reverse commute from Kingston in SW London, to near Guildford, and it's only about a 20 minute drive, and even less on the train, so there is a reason why the area is known as the stockbroker belt, and affordable it is not!

I would say, if looking for somewhere away from London I would look across the cities of northern England - Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, or the many satellite cities - Wigan, Preston, Huddersfield, Doncaster, York, Harrogate, etc. All of the larger cities, and most of the smaller ones are going to have a range of areas from ones where you might dream of being able to afford, to ones that are, so be blunt, run down and dangerous, but there are going to be many areas that are comfortable middle class suburbs with medical services, vets, local supermarkets (groceries) and good public transport to the city center for shopping and entertainment.

My family is actually from Sheffield, and it has some great areas, though I left there a long time ago, but although in the UK it has a reputation as a northern steel town, in fact there are some very expensive areas, and lots of middle ground suburbs - we lived in the SW of the city, just a few miles from the Peak District National Park.

Originally Posted by A Bit Cheeky

Good information. Just the kind of details I'm looking for.

Originally Posted by A Bit Cheeky

Thanks. I'm not retired, btw so Cornwall might not be for me right now. I'm from a suburb of a very large city so I don't think I'd be overwhelmed by a city there. I do however prefer a suburban kind of area and certainly not a rough one. I'm hoping to find a nice, safe, leafy place.

Originally Posted by A Bit Cheeky

Can you tell me the names of some of the middle ground suburbs to look at?

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Fun fact: Rick Allen's, drummer of Def Leppard, parents used to live there, before Def Leppard got massive.

Originally Posted by BritInParis

Bungalows are likely to be a bit of rarity given the general housing stock but this is indicative of what’s available and the price you might be paying if you go a bit further out.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130392698

Originally Posted by Moses2013

Never lived in that part of the UK but Ranmoor is rated highly and the whole area is leafy. It all comes at a cost though and properties aren't cheap.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

The areas I remember best are west and SW of Woodseats, which is the edge of "urban", with terraced (row) housing. We lived off Abbeydale Rd, but Ecclesall Rd also goes through some nice areas, and both roads go out towards Dore and Totley. You only have to look at a map to see there are a lot of parks and other green areas around there, not at all what people would expect from an industrial/ steel town. If I were to go back, those are the areas I would be looking.

Or if those areas are still too urban, which I think is unlikely, you could go just a couple of miles south to Dronfield, where my parents owned their first home - it's in the next county (Derbyshire), but is a de facto suburb of Sheffield. Fun fact: Rick Allen's, drummer of Def Leppard, parents used to live there, before Def Leppard got massive.

Originally Posted by A Bit Cheeky

I'll have a look at these areas. Thank you!