Attleborough in Norfolk?

cashorcheque

Hi,

I posted this in a local thread but got no response.

My husband and I are about to have our first baby :j (well, in June), and need to move to Norfolk from Cambridge because my commute is currently too long (70 mins each way). The baby will be going to a nursery on site at my employers in Norwich (once I'm back off maternity leave, obviously) - we want this because it's massively cheaper (salary sacrifice scheme), an excellent nursery, and I can effectively take the baby to work with me if she goes there.

My husband works 15 miles west of Cambridge so we're hoping to move house and swap commutes - no more than 70 minutes each way for him, and no more than 20 minutes each way for me and the baby. Norwich is a step too far because by the time you get in and out of the city it could easily take 1hr 30 or even 1hr 45 for him to get to work. So we're looking at towns/villages along the A11.

We both like Wymondham but it's still quite far away from Cambridgeshire, so we're looking at Attleborough at the moment. We've looked round and it seemed pleasant enough, and you can get a lot for your money there (rent and buying - we're not sure which yet), but I can't really tell if it's nice or not. What about the surrounding villages? Old Buckenham? Besthorpe? Great Ellingham? Morley? Obviously we've got one eye on the Wymondham secondary schools, though we're years away from that being an issue. Nonetheless, we don't want to move a lot - we've done that a lot during our 20s (we're both 28) and it has cost us a fortune! So being close to good schools is a consideration in case we stay a long time.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Greatgimp

No opinion really, but beware of THIS.

cashorcheque

Woah, power and poultry in one business. How weird!

And definitely something to bear in mind. Thank you - I had no idea.

sunshinetours

Greatgimp wrote: »

No opinion really, but beware of THIS.

I appreciate you wouldn't want it in your back garden but great news for local houses if this goes ahead if local electricity can be secured surely? Interesting link though thanks.

Only point I would make re the OP question is maybe to seriously consider renting before buying purely because you have moved a lot by the sounds of it and moving to an unknown are is alwys a risk. Rent for a year and if settled look round for your next home to buy then?

cashorcheque

Thanks - yes, that's an option we're considering.

Mainly we've moved because I've been studying and in temporary jobs (I'm an academic) in Oxford and Cambridge, and now have a permanent job at the University of East Anglia. It was stupid of us to buy before now (because of the temporary job situation) but all I can say is we were young and everybody was telling us to get on the property market and we did. Now we're in negative equity (about 10%).

We were going to rent until we saw that Lloyds (our lender is C&G, so part of Lloyds) are now doing a 'Second Steppers' mortgage, effectively allowing you to port your negative equity mortgage across to a property of equal or lesser value. Nobody seems to know much about it when you actually call them, despite wide reporting in the press, and we haven't looked into it enough yet to make our minds up what's best. But our only other option is to rent our current property out and rent something there, which is riskier (especially as we are inexperienced landlords).

So anyway, this is a permanent move, and either option is not ideal but this is the position we find ourselves in. So we're trying to research all the options as thoroughly as possible before we make any decisions.

Anyone with any views on Attleborough vs Wymondham, or surrounding areas?

stokesley

I like Attleborough - used to be dreadful as the A11 went bang through the middle, but it's now a nice little town with good facilities and good road links, though the last part of your journey to UEA will be slow if you're driving at peak times. Wymondham has had too much development for my taste, but may suit you. Hethersett used to have excellent schools - sorry, I'm rather out of date now that my offspring have departed. Old and New Buckenham are both lovely rural villages, and have never heard anything other than positive remarks about them.

Seem to recall someone posting a while ago about problems with migrant workers in Attleborough, but have no idea how accurate that was.

Well done on the job, and I've heard that the UEA nursery is excellent - if you have any problems there's also an easily accessible one at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital nearby.

cashorcheque

Brilliant - thank you. I like Hethersett but it's getting far from Cambridgeshire. I drive at peak times to UEA through that traffic anyway at the moment so it's bearable. Glad you like Attleborough! I've seen a nice house in Great Ellingham, too ...

stokesley

cashorcheque wrote: »

I've seen a nice house in Great Ellingham, too ...

So off I went to Rightmove and started playing 'guess which house'...

Some nice properties in Great Ellingham; don't know anything about it, though. Somewhere there is another thread from a couple of months ago about South Norfolk areas - I'll see if I can find it.

Edited to add: have a look at these threads; may be something useful:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=98804478

cashorcheque

Brilliant - thank you! The house is £178k and although it only has two bedrooms it has a study and a dining room, either of which could be used for a bedroom if additional sprogs come along!!!

stokesley

I guessed it was that one:). Very nice and looks like a good price.

Don't have any more sprogs.

Stokesley
Parent of 3:eek:

cashorcheque

:rotfl::D:rotfl::D