why is northamptonshire so cheap???
Discussion
as above really, where i live (just outside aylesbury,buckinghamshire) house prices round here are pretty high
for example:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
however move to rushden,northamptonshire and this is what you pay:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
investigating more the average price for a 2 bed flat/apartment in northamptonshire seems to be around the 75-80k mark
(around 150-160k mark round here)
which has got me and a friend thinking about buying round that area as a bit of an investment( probably to rent out)
this is nothing more than pub talk at the mo, however with none of us with any debt etc and looking to buy this seems like a much easier way to get onto the property (almost buying 2 for the price of 1)
is northamptonshire a good area to buy? almost seems to good to be true....
for example:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
however move to rushden,northamptonshire and this is what you pay:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
investigating more the average price for a 2 bed flat/apartment in northamptonshire seems to be around the 75-80k mark
(around 150-160k mark round here)which has got me and a friend thinking about buying round that area as a bit of an investment( probably to rent out)
this is nothing more than pub talk at the mo, however with none of us with any debt etc and looking to buy this seems like a much easier way to get onto the property (almost buying 2 for the price of 1)
is northamptonshire a good area to buy? almost seems to good to be true....
rich85uk said:
why though? i was under the impression its an ok area to live though? and thats a fair point but even if the place stood empty for periods of time it would still be much, much more affordable than a mortgage for around here
Where are you planning on working?There's very little in the way of high paid jobs and even less in the way of good commuting.
Whilst it's not a s
thole, unless you live in Northampton itself, unless you can run a business from home then there's minimal chance of earning good money.It's suffered due to it's proximity to MK, and to the lack of forethought by the town elders in the 19th Century. They were all canal owners, so resisted the railways. This has left Northampton on a branch line, meaning that the Intercity trains between Birmingham and Euston bypass it and go straight from Rugby to MK- this in turn means that it usually takes almost twice as long to get to Euston as it does from MK.
Upsides? It's on the M1/M6/A14 crux so it's easy to get anywhere. It's also on the edge of the Cotswolds and the countryside is beautiful, as are a number of the outlying villages. It's also the home of Carlsberg, Barclaycard and Nationwide so unlike other similarly sized places it's got a reasonable jobs market, and that's not mentioning the dozens of head offices just down the M1 in MK.
Downsides? It's a new town so has had a large part of it's soul ripped out by unsympathetic redevelopment. Anyone too rough to live in the East End of London in the 60's now lives in Jimmy's End. Rushden, Kettering and Corby aren't any better, except in Corby's case it's full of Scottish ex-steelworkers. It also flooded 10 years ago and the council has had a running battle with developers who keep trying to remove the flood defences to improve the view in their new builds in Southbridge.
I've lived there on and off from the age of 9 and my parents still do. It's not a bad town and it is underpriced when compared with other places nearby, but in all honesty I'd not buy a flat there.
ETA: I'd not looked at your property examples- if you buy a house in Rushden you'll be the only person in your postcode with a job, unless you're right on the outskirts. Try Kingsthorpe or Great Billing.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
£240k!
Upsides? It's on the M1/M6/A14 crux so it's easy to get anywhere. It's also on the edge of the Cotswolds and the countryside is beautiful, as are a number of the outlying villages. It's also the home of Carlsberg, Barclaycard and Nationwide so unlike other similarly sized places it's got a reasonable jobs market, and that's not mentioning the dozens of head offices just down the M1 in MK.
Downsides? It's a new town so has had a large part of it's soul ripped out by unsympathetic redevelopment. Anyone too rough to live in the East End of London in the 60's now lives in Jimmy's End. Rushden, Kettering and Corby aren't any better, except in Corby's case it's full of Scottish ex-steelworkers. It also flooded 10 years ago and the council has had a running battle with developers who keep trying to remove the flood defences to improve the view in their new builds in Southbridge.
I've lived there on and off from the age of 9 and my parents still do. It's not a bad town and it is underpriced when compared with other places nearby, but in all honesty I'd not buy a flat there.
ETA: I'd not looked at your property examples- if you buy a house in Rushden you'll be the only person in your postcode with a job, unless you're right on the outskirts. Try Kingsthorpe or Great Billing.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
£240k!
Edited by Alfa numeric on Wednesday 29th September 15:39
A lot of Northants is rural, not particularly close to anywhere and lacking in decent connections to places that people with money want to be close to. There are a fair proportion of not-so-nice places - Corby, Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Kettering, et al - and lots of pretty small villages with little in the way of facilities.
Northampton itself is an ok place but the centre of town feels quite separate to the vast majority of the housing that surrounds the ring road IMO. But as said above there are lots of big companies based nearby and I suspect a lot of people commute to Milton Keynes. As noted above, you get a lot of house for your money in N'hampton, especially if you don't mind living on a modern housing estate.
The village I live in is pretty much equidistant between Milton Keynes and Northampton, and I work in MK. It's a 30 mile commute each day which might put some people off, but it's generally not an issue for me. My village has 1 tiny shop/post-office, a pub, a (Conservative) club, a first school and a church. That's it. This appealed to my wife and I, but is not to everyone's taste! And our village is very far from the exception.
The upside is a lovely, tranquil rural life. Open fields are literally next to my driveway and I only have a pretty bog-standard 3-bed semi-detached. I can take my dog for long walks and not encounter another soul. Again, not everyone's cup of tea and prices reflect that - I bought a new-build 2 years ago and it cost me £30-40k less than an equivalent house in MK.
Possibly there's a degree of snobbery too? The further south you go in Bucks, the higher the prices tend to creep. And tbh, I don't see what extra you get for your money (and due to family I know the area fairly well!)
Northampton itself is an ok place but the centre of town feels quite separate to the vast majority of the housing that surrounds the ring road IMO. But as said above there are lots of big companies based nearby and I suspect a lot of people commute to Milton Keynes. As noted above, you get a lot of house for your money in N'hampton, especially if you don't mind living on a modern housing estate.
The village I live in is pretty much equidistant between Milton Keynes and Northampton, and I work in MK. It's a 30 mile commute each day which might put some people off, but it's generally not an issue for me. My village has 1 tiny shop/post-office, a pub, a (Conservative) club, a first school and a church. That's it. This appealed to my wife and I, but is not to everyone's taste! And our village is very far from the exception.
The upside is a lovely, tranquil rural life. Open fields are literally next to my driveway and I only have a pretty bog-standard 3-bed semi-detached. I can take my dog for long walks and not encounter another soul. Again, not everyone's cup of tea and prices reflect that - I bought a new-build 2 years ago and it cost me £30-40k less than an equivalent house in MK.
Possibly there's a degree of snobbery too? The further south you go in Bucks, the higher the prices tend to creep. And tbh, I don't see what extra you get for your money (and due to family I know the area fairly well!)
Edited by Bill Carr on Wednesday 29th September 16:10
Because it's further from London.
MK is commutable, and priced accordingly.
Northamptonshire isn't really, not only due to time but due to £££. Last time I looked, train fares from Northampton were double the cost from MK.
As for buying as an investment, be careful. It's not suddenly about to rocket in value. I live in MK and Northampton has always been about 50% cheaper for equivalent property.
ETA - Rushden??
Christ - don't park up for too long when you view, the wheels will be gone. Make sure you're tooled up aswell ;o)
MK is commutable, and priced accordingly.
Northamptonshire isn't really, not only due to time but due to £££. Last time I looked, train fares from Northampton were double the cost from MK.
As for buying as an investment, be careful. It's not suddenly about to rocket in value. I live in MK and Northampton has always been about 50% cheaper for equivalent property.
ETA - Rushden??
Christ - don't park up for too long when you view, the wheels will be gone. Make sure you're tooled up aswell ;o)
Edited by Muzzer on Wednesday 29th September 16:16
thanks for the input guys, sorry i should of said we will not be moving into it just rent it out via an agency/ do it up over time as a project and give us something to do!
we will still be living and working in/around aylesbury, bucks.
so it seems some of the towns are abit rough? but them so can some in bucks(aylesbury,slough, high wycombe all have bad areas) or are we talking council estates with most the houses borded up and loads of burnt out cars?
the idea is to buy>sell>use money for a deposit round here to put it bluntly
is northants likely to be an area that goes up in value or is it an area that you will struggle to sell/rent in?
we will still be living and working in/around aylesbury, bucks.
so it seems some of the towns are abit rough? but them so can some in bucks(aylesbury,slough, high wycombe all have bad areas) or are we talking council estates with most the houses borded up and loads of burnt out cars?
the idea is to buy>sell>use money for a deposit round here to put it bluntly
is northants likely to be an area that goes up in value or is it an area that you will struggle to sell/rent in?
I think it depends on where you buy, Rich.
Northampton itself has an excellent train service in to London - its under an hour. That said, people will only live so far away from a train station.
As said before, the major employers around are either MK - which can be difficult to get to depending where in Northants you are, or Birmingham, same applies.
We live in Northamptonshire, but near the M1 and the prices are high, mainly due to good transport links and the schools are very good.
HTH
Northampton itself has an excellent train service in to London - its under an hour. That said, people will only live so far away from a train station.
As said before, the major employers around are either MK - which can be difficult to get to depending where in Northants you are, or Birmingham, same applies.
We live in Northamptonshire, but near the M1 and the prices are high, mainly due to good transport links and the schools are very good.
HTH
[quote=Muzzer]
As for buying as an investment, be careful. It's not suddenly about to rocket in value. I live in MK and Northampton has always been about 50% cheaper for equivalent property.
quote]
doing the same in MK is an option, its cheaper than round here just not as cheap as northants. im guessing MK would be a better investent aswell as it seems to constantly developing....
As for buying as an investment, be careful. It's not suddenly about to rocket in value. I live in MK and Northampton has always been about 50% cheaper for equivalent property.
quote]
doing the same in MK is an option, its cheaper than round here just not as cheap as northants. im guessing MK would be a better investent aswell as it seems to constantly developing....
rich85uk said:
guys what are brackley and crick like? they both next to the motorway and look good location wise on a map
also wollaston and highan ferres seem to be more pricey, worth going for and paying the premium over rushden,kettering etc..?
Used to live in Crick until last year....nice village...also wollaston and highan ferres seem to be more pricey, worth going for and paying the premium over rushden,kettering etc..?
It is literally 2 minutes from the M1, and a ten minute drive to Rugby railway station. M6 5 minutes drive, M40 about 45 minutes away via A5/A43.
It has 3 pubs, and a very good Co-Op store, recently refurbished. By-passed as well so not much through traffic.
If it had had the house we wanted, we'd still live there, I imagine (we live a few miles away now).
Good village primary school, and very good local schools - this is reflected in the high-ish house prices.
spikeyhead said:
even less in the way of good commuting
How is being an hour from London or Birmingham on train, with 3 M1 junctions around the town and the M6 and M40 in close reach classed as not good commuting?I *would* invest in Northampton because my opinion is that prices are going to jump up over the next 5-10 years. There's the multi million pound redevelopment of the centre including the new marina (building work already started) and shopping centre, railway station and bus garage.
ETA - And fwiw yes I'm biased because I moved out out London and bought a house in Northampton and then got a job in Canary Wharf so I commute for approx 5 hours a day and don't have a problem with it.
Edited by mattdaniels on Thursday 30th September 11:49
GregE240 said:
rich85uk said:
guys what are brackley and crick like? they both next to the motorway and look good location wise on a map
also wollaston and highan ferres seem to be more pricey, worth going for and paying the premium over rushden,kettering etc..?
Used to live in Crick until last year....nice village...also wollaston and highan ferres seem to be more pricey, worth going for and paying the premium over rushden,kettering etc..?
It is literally 2 minutes from the M1, and a ten minute drive to Rugby railway station. M6 5 minutes drive, M40 about 45 minutes away via A5/A43.
It has 3 pubs, and a very good Co-Op store, recently refurbished. By-passed as well so not much through traffic.
If it had had the house we wanted, we'd still live there, I imagine (we live a few miles away now).
Good village primary school, and very good local schools - this is reflected in the high-ish house prices.
Bill Carr said:
rich85uk said:
also wollaston and highan ferres seem to be more pricey, worth going for and paying the premium over rushden,kettering etc..?
Wollaston maybe, Higham Ferrers definitely not! What's your budget and what sort of property are you after?
It is commutable, but as people have stated above it's a bit of a trek. My Dad's been doing it since 1985, and after a year of doing it with him I'm not entirely sure how.
He works at London Bridge,and to get in before 9 he gets the 7.12 out of Northampton. This only stops at Woolverton and MK and gets into Euston just after 8. This train isn't the norm though- it's a commuter special. A normal stopping train takes well over an hour, and there aren't any intercities.
Virgin do use a Pendelino for this service but if they have a breakdown or any other problem with another train they pull this one out of service to use there.
The journey home is similar- leaving work at 5 means he's normally home just after 7. It's a long day. I'm not sure about the cost of a season ticket any more but I'm guessing it's north of £5k.
He works at London Bridge,and to get in before 9 he gets the 7.12 out of Northampton. This only stops at Woolverton and MK and gets into Euston just after 8. This train isn't the norm though- it's a commuter special. A normal stopping train takes well over an hour, and there aren't any intercities.
Virgin do use a Pendelino for this service but if they have a breakdown or any other problem with another train they pull this one out of service to use there.
The journey home is similar- leaving work at 5 means he's normally home just after 7. It's a long day. I'm not sure about the cost of a season ticket any more but I'm guessing it's north of £5k.
I leave home at 5:30am. I catch the 5:45 London Midland to Euston which gets in at 6:50. Northern Line to London Bridge and Jubilee line to Canary Wharf and if there are no delays then I am at my desk with a cup of tea between 7:20 and 7:30am.
Coming home takes longer because I never leave work at the same time so I can't always minimise the waiting time between connections. Worse case is if I dont get to Euston until after 7 because then there's only 3 going down to 2 trains per hour, so I may have a half hour wait if I just miss one.
Coming home takes longer because I never leave work at the same time so I can't always minimise the waiting time between connections. Worse case is if I dont get to Euston until after 7 because then there's only 3 going down to 2 trains per hour, so I may have a half hour wait if I just miss one.
mattdaniels said:
spikeyhead said:
even less in the way of good commuting
How is being an hour from London or Birmingham on train, with 3 M1 junctions around the town and the M6 and M40 in close reach classed as not good commuting?I *would* invest in Northampton because my opinion is that prices are going to jump up over the next 5-10 years. There's the multi million pound redevelopment of the centre including the new marina (building work already started) and shopping centre, railway station and bus garage.
ETA - And fwiw yes I'm biased because I moved out out London and bought a house in Northampton and then got a job in Canary Wharf so I commute for approx 5 hours a day and don't have a problem with it.
Edited by mattdaniels on Thursday 30th September 11:49
that's more than I usually work, and that's including an hour for lunch and my current eight minute each way stroll to work.
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