Nice areas to live near York?

[JackRatt]

Having been stuck in the south east for a few years, we now have the chance to escape and Mrs JackRatt is very keen to return to her native Yorkshire.

Part of the idea is that her mum could help out with childcare, so it would need to be within about half an hour of York (strictly speaking, Acomb).

We want somewhere at least semi-rural with its own community (as opposed to simply a dormitory town for York or Leeds). It needs to be affordable enough for us to get a three or more bedroom detached house with a decent garden (and double garage, naturally) within our £300k budget. I'd also like somewhere we could get an older house for that sort of money - a lot of the places we've seen on Rightmove are rather soulless modern developments.

Good schools are a must - partly for the family and partly for my wife's job as a music teacher, which also means she could do with somewhere that has a ready supply of families looking for private lessons nearby! Half decent links to the A1 or M1 would be a bonus, but not essential. Obviously somewhere with decent B-roads too, but that seems to be virtually a given.

So ... where's good?

[JackRatt]

Yep, we've got family in Haxby. Easingwold came up a couple of times on Rightmove so I was wondering about that. There seem to be a lot of houses in Selby and the surrounding villages, but heard rather mixed things about the town itself.

[JackRatt]

gemini said:

Acomb? Grotty? Nice way to put his family down!

Oh, don't worry, I know Acomb. Last time we were up we left our offspring with his grandma for the evening and went into York. Walking back we were passed by seven police cars and three ambulances attending the triple stabbing that had just taken places two streets away from where our toddler was sleeping...

It's a shame, because the village bit is quite nice, I think. Used to go to the pub opposite the green (The Sun?) occasionally.

ST-Alex said:

I live on the outskirts of Acomb and have lived around York all my life. I've lived between York and Tadcaster and also between York and Selby so have quite a good knowledge of York and surrounding areas. Feel free to drop me a message with any questions. There are plenty of villages / suburbs near to York that you'd get a detached 3 bed house for around 300K. I'm happy to recommend places to look or if you've found any houses but don't know the area give me a shout and I can hopefully help.

Regards

Alex

Thanks Alex. May well take you up on that nearer the time. We won't be looking seriously for a good few months as my wife wants to coincide the move with the school summer holidays ... next year.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

This is a beautiful spot

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

32 minutes to Acomb according to Google Maps

I do like those old terraced houses, but due to my better half's students honking and squeaking their way through Three Blind Mice for eight hours a day we'd need at least one wall that wasn't attached to another house.

I understand Battered's comment about the price hike for period properties and that may explain why we haven't seen many older houses in budget up north (we're also considering Devon, where I come from originally, and Yorkshire seems to have a lot more new/recent builds in comparison).

I do prefer older houses, but I'd say the priority is to have a bit more space and a nicer environment. At the moment we're overlooked by half a dozen other new builds, with everybody triple parked to try and fit in! What I really want is something where the front door opens onto a small but reasonably lively town or village while the back opens up onto fields.

[JackRatt]

Vaud said:

JackRatt said:

I do prefer older houses, but I'd say the priority is to have a bit more space and a nicer environment. At the moment we're overlooked by half a dozen other new builds, with everybody triple parked to try and fit in! What I really want is something where the front door opens onto a small but reasonably lively town or village while the back opens up onto fields.

Be aware that many of the local authorities are allowing village ribbon development and also building on such fields, so choose carefully. National Trust land tends to be completely protected. Around York a lot may be flood plain...

Look at Rightmove and when you find your ideal 5 bed detached property with a village and fields, google "village name + flood" (rather than just the environment agency site which is "ok"). I found my dream house near Cawood, drove out and saw the owners stash of sandbags, tiled floors and elbow height wall sockets.

It's happening everywhere. When we were looking for our current house we nearly went for another one on the grounds it was more rural, only to discover they'd just granted planning permission for 500 new homes on the fields it overlooked. Strange that the estate agent hadn't mentioned it.

Funnily enough I ended up Googling Cawood for that very reason this morning. The fact the flood waters extended for well over a mile suggest that our previous logic of 'if it's not in a low lying area next to a river, it's probably okay' was hopelessly optimistic.

We're going to go for a bit of a look round next time we're up to visit the inlaws. In no particular order, my short list - based fairly indiscriminately on houses that came up on Rightmove - is:

Boston Spa
Wetherby (presume this is a larger town - less villagey - than the others listed?)
Easingwold
Tadcaster (if it's not underwater)
Dunnington
Gate Helmsley
Stamford Bridge (looks nice, but the OH's grandmother lives there, kind of assume it's a bit OAP?)
Collingham
Bolton Percy
Walton
Appleton Roebuck
Elvington (principally because of the circuit)

Any others that you'd add? North of York (to drop down into Acomb) and/or east of it (for motorway links) would be advantageous.

[JackRatt]

ellroy said:

I'd not bother with Elvington, there are areas that can suffer from flooding as I recall, and it's not that great a village in my opinion.

I wouldn't discount Haxby or even Strensall for that matter if you're looking at the northern edge.

A little further out Sheriff Hutton is very nice, as is Stillington and Sutton on the Forrest.

What's Strensall like? All I remember is driving past the barracks.

We know Haxby quite well. Mrs R grew up there.

Drove through Sutton on The Forest last time we were up there - looks nice but don't think we've seen anything in budget (not that we're looking to buy just yet, but as a guide...)

[JackRatt]

battered said:

Strensall's pretty good. A nice village centre, with a Tesco Metro and a PO and a couple of pubs, some nice period housing. A fair bit of modern stuff between there and the barracks on the edge of the village. The barracks is mostly for medics AIUI so it doesn't generate the large numbers of 19 yr old squaddies that you might expect. It's an easy bus ride to town, and only just off the ring road with easy access to the likes of Monk's Cross Shopping Centre when you need to refill the store cupboards. Low flood risk for the area, it had no problems over Christmas when York centre, Tad and Leeds got pasted.

Might be worth looking into.

An ex girlfriend of mine lived in Plymouth and that could be a nightmare when the squaddies were in town.

[JackRatt]

Am I right in thinking the towns/villages near York with a direct train route into the centre are Poppleton, Hammerton and Cattal on the Harrogate line, plus Ulleskelf and Church Fenton on the Leeds line?

Neither of us will be commuting regularly - and we don't particularly want to be stuck in a dormitory town full of people who do - but access to York for gigs, shopping, nights out etc. would be a bonus.

ETA What's Poppleton like? Seems to be quite affordable for an area that's close to the ring road and York itself, well connected to the A1 and served by a train station.

Ideally, I think we'd go for somewhere more rural like Sutton on The Forest or Stillington, but I wonder if they might be a bit too quiet (and too expensive).

Ah. Possibly answered my own question? http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14092931.Drivers_w...

Edited by JackRatt on Monday 28th March 11:36

[JackRatt]

The alternative isn't really staying in the South East, but heading down towards my family (and hence the other potential babysitters!) in East Devon. It's usefully cheaper down there, but things tend to be spread out. There isn't really a focal point to the same extent as York or Leeds.

If we moved up north one of the advantages would be having a couple of proper cities within reach - not for regular visits, but things like Christmas shopping or the odd day out. And like you say, close enough to the Moors or Dales for a day trip and the Lakes, Northumbria or even Scotland for a weekend away.

[JackRatt]

battered said:

That's a reasonable summary. I'm sure N Devon is a delight but it's too remote for me. I'm not out every night but once a month or so it's nice to go out round Leeds or into Headingley. YMMV, some people are happy to stay in the local and/or entertain at home.

Only you know whether you'll prefer Devon to Yorkshire.

In addition, it's worth thinking about East Leeds, or the villages further out. You have to watch for noise from the A1M but there are some fantastic spots that are very easy for the A64 going to York or Leeds, the A1 either way and rail links. Do bear in mind that the east side of inner city Leeds is fairly uniformly dreadful with the odd oasis of suburban calm futher out, so proceed with caution, but once outside the Ring Road it's lovely. Have a Streetview in Ledsham or Monk Fryston for a flavour of it, but in Ledsham in particular be prepared to put your hand in your pocket.

True. Mrs JackRatt and I have both been away from the areas we grew up in for quite a while, so we need to do a bit of exploring to find out which would work better for us as grownups. In some respects I'd prefer to move back to Devon, but it's only really my parents left and they're getting a bit old to chase after a toddler, whereas we have a much larger, younger group of family up north.

For that reason, though, I'm still reluctant to stray too far from York. A mate lives near Wakefield and rates the villages in that area quite highly, but one of the main things Yorkshire offers over Devon is that proximity to family. If we couldn't be at "grandma's" in, say, half an hour it destroys part of the reason for moving.

Thanks for all the info.

[JackRatt]

Newscuttlepanel said:

Cawood village hasn't flooded since the flood defences were beefed up in 1983, the Kelfield Inge side does, but that's the whole idea, the only problem being if you intend to commute to York the bridge is usually shut at some point during winter, nice little village, handy for Selby and with a couple of pubs.

Really? I thought that was one of the worst areas for flooding?
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2015-12-27/watch-...

Speaking to the estate agent, we may have a little more budget to play with than I thought. Somewhere like Sutton on The Forest would probably be our main target, but we're going to have a really good look round next time we're up. Certainly wouldn't rule out the area around Selby. I just remember a mate of mine who lived in Leeds describing Selby as "a bit rough".

[JackRatt]

Viperzs said:

I think you have quite a hard criteria actually. The nice communities away from the centre tend to be more desirable which will push the prices up. You can be close to Acomb with lower prices however good luck finding a double garage.

Yep.

Character houses often predate the need to have garages or parking. Those that do have them often go for a premium that might be touch and go on our budget (although a recent valuation suggests we might have a bit more to play with than we thought).

Either way, the first thing to do is have a proper look round, I think. Our current house and current town are both nice enough in a slightly underwhelming sort of a way, so we're waiting to see if anything else really grabs us.

[JackRatt]

Vaud said:

LordHaveMurci said:

My OH lived in Pocklington, she's lived in Exeter for 17yrs now & would never consider moving back.

Pock has changed a bit in recent years. Great art centre, beer festival and stuff. York is nicer than Exeter (aside from climate) in my view although they are both nice cities.

I like York as a city. Exeter was one of our Christmas shopping destinations when I was growing up and I'd say York has more character.

That kind of sums up the Devon Vs Yorkshire dilemma for me. Yorkshire is better in terms of access to amenities - you've got York, Leeds and all the outdoors stuff that comes with the Moors and the Dales. Devon is generally prettier, cheaper (inland at least) and has more of an emphasis on community in the immediate area around small villages (because there isn't really the option of driving to a city).

[JackRatt]

LordHaveMurci said:

JackRatt said:

I like York as a city. Exeter was one of our Christmas shopping destinations when I was growing up and I'd say York had more character.

That kind of sums up the Devon Vs Yorkshire dilemma for me. Yorkshire is better in terms of access to amenities - you've got York, Leeds and all the outdoors stuff that comes with the Moors and the Dales. Devon is generally prettier, cheaper (inland at least) and has more of an emphasis on community in the immediate area around small villages (because it's not practical to drive to a city).

Bear in mind you have Exeter in the middle of Plymouth & Taunton with Bristol an hour or so away so lots of options here too.

Don't know York personally so not saying one's better than t'other.

True, but Plymouth and Bristol are both a long drive from where we're looking down south. The villages we're considering up north are less than half an hour into York and not much more into Leeds; some with their own train station. You could realistically head into the city centre a couple of nights a week and the Moors every weekend if you wanted to.

In practice, I'm not sure we'd actually do that and having a nice environment on the doorstep is where Devon/Somerset/Dorset scores really well. And being much hillier - Levels aside - there aren't the flood concerns.

Tricky one.