Where to live in Britain

[SCJ]

Originally Posted by Destination Spain

I am from Wiltshire not far from Stonehenge and though it is beautiful can be boring, I have been out of England 7 years but if I had to go back I would head for Bath. It is a special city and very laid back but trendy. Definately check it out......

Good luck.

I am starting to plan for a move to the UK and would love to live in or near Bath. Are there any particular areas to avoid? We are looking at house purchase budget up to 175K GBP at the moment. Any where you or others here could recommend?

Thanks

[pipersdancing]

Originally Posted by reallylight

Personally I like living in a city, but could never live in a HUGE city like London or Birmingham. I am currently located in Leeds.

If you have the money Bath. Definitely the best place in the U.K I have ever been to but the price of properties is very high. It has a very continental feel and quite a lot of tourists from different countries. I strongly advise not to go to London or Nottingham but i think Manchester is quite nice for shopping lol. Oh and im not sure about Birmingham.. not been there enough times to comment. Perhaps someone else can help you out? Hope this helps

[jellybaby_344]

i don't think any parts of the UK are particularly bad....only inner city areas in the larger cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester etc. I think both the North and South of England have a lot going for it. While the South of England is seen as more wealthy, hence higher house prices, the North is a lot friendlier, and a lot cheaper to live there. I'd recommend cities like Sheffield, Bath, York, Harrogate, Leeds. Sheffield is the greenest city in England, and is being redeveloped day by day. While places like Bath, York and Harrogate are smaller, they are picturesque, have a lot of history, and are quiet if you like that kind of thing. But London is the hub of the country.....with a lot of high-paid jobs based there. But at the same time, they don't call it one of the most expensive cities to live in the world for no reason. Prepare to SPEND when u live there.....almost all house prices are really expensive!

[rosco]

Leeds or Manchester I would say

there are loads of empty appartments in leeds so rent is cheap

manchester rent has come down massively and house prices are falling

[woodsym1]

i have been to somerset and love it there--so nice are the people -and safe too

[london6]

What about the Barnet and Hurtfordshire area. I know it's outside of London, quit and very nice. Any advice or opinions?

[NancyEDunne]

I would second Leeds as a good place to live. My husband has lived all his life in Keighley, in Yorkshire, and so far I find Keighley OK but not where I want to stay for the rest of our married life. In travelling around Yorkshire I really like Leeds for "city" living and probably Haworth for village living, but who can afford to live in an historically rich village like that these days. Ugh.

Leeds has everything you need, has a direct train to London as well as easy train access to points north, and is just a nice sized city. Plus it has my favorite place on EARTH, Leeds Kirgate Market...I was sold on it after one trip!

[woodsym1]

Originally Posted by Woodaril

I have lived in Wiltshire for the last 11 years and love it. You also have good employment around there. Someone that previously posted said that Bath area nice but boring.....well we're near Bath Bristol, Salisbury, Devizes, Chippenham, Trowbridge. Always something to do and rents and house prices are very good considering a lot of places are no time at all from the countryside
Good Luck.......but I would personally plump for Wiltshire...........they also have a below national average crime rate

another nice place to live is Llangollen -it would take 35 minute drive to chester and 50 to liverpool -ther is lots to do up there ..

[NottmandBenidorm]

I have to dissagree with your comments about Nottingham. Although we have had some bad press the majority of Nottingham is very nice. I seldom lock my car, or my front door for that matter, I have lived here for the best part of 30 years and it's a thriving and vibrant city. I lived in Leeds for 3 years wages were low, people were on drugs and my car was stolen (even though it was locked and alarmed) and I had my drink spiked on a night out! I think everywhere has it's good and bad parts and it depands on your needs here. Do you need to be near motorways? Do you need to work? Do you want to be near an Airport? I have all these things in Nottingham, I drive into the city cantre it takes 20 minutes, I drive 30 minutes the opposite direction and I am in the Beautiful Derbyshire Dales. I walk out my house 10 minutes to the River Trent... I feel quite lucky really

[Joleyn]

Originally Posted by NottmandBenidorm

I have to dissagree with your comments about Nottingham. Although we have had some bad press the majority of Nottingham is very nice. I seldom lock my car, or my front door for that matter, I have lived here for the best part of 30 years and it's a thriving and vibrant city. I lived in Leeds for 3 years wages were low, people were on drugs and my car was stolen (even though it was locked and alarmed) and I had my drink spiked on a night out! I think everywhere has it's good and bad parts and it depands on your needs here. Do you need to be near motorways? Do you need to work? Do you want to be near an Airport? I have all these things in Nottingham, I drive into the city cantre it takes 20 minutes, I drive 30 minutes the opposite direction and I am in the Beautiful Derbyshire Dales. I walk out my house 10 minutes to the River Trent... I feel quite lucky really

I agree with you. Nottingham gets a very bad rap and it is a great city and when I go back to England, I usually rent a place there. I recently came back from an 8 month stay and this time stayed in Toton/ Beeston. Beeston is a university town. I love Nottingham never had any problems at all on public transport,or where I lived. Toton/ Beeston/ and Long Eaton have some great places to live and the people are fantastic.
Yes there are some bad areas but I have just been in Sydney (Australia) after a gap of 15 years and behaviour on transport and on the street was far worse. I saw nothing in my time in Nottingham , first week in Sydney was a nightmare and that was in the day time .
I would consider this a great place to live. if I went back permanently this would be a place I would think of first.