Buying a house in south Manchester, but what areas to go for / avoid?

louise3uk

I'm thinking of buying a property in the whythenshaw/gatley border area of Manchester , particularly sharston.
Can anyone provide a bit of advice on these areas and any areas I should definitely avoid?

Thanks

ACG

I used to live in Gatley about 7-8 years ago. Our house backed on to the big park there off style road?

To be honest, in 3 years there the only thing we had was some daft kid smacking a golf ball that came into our garden, and someone trying to climb through the back window one night...

Im not sure how well you know Manchester, Wythenshawe is the biggest housing estate in europe...

But they are spending a lot of money on the area at the minute, there will be a tram going there in the next year or 2 and they have just built a college. In the main, around the Sharston area its not as bad as it used to be.

Its also pretty handy for getting to town, your not far away from princess parkway which is one of the main roads into the city centre, decent bus routes - and the new tram. Your close to other places too, altrincham is about 10 minutes away, stockport is about 15-20 mins away.

All in all location wise its not too bad.

The down sides - im not sure you will find a decent local unless you head towards the horse and farrier in Gatley, im not 100% sure on the schools there either - if you have kids or are planning on them.

I live about 10 minutes away from there in a place called Handforth, its a little bit further out, but you get just as much for your money house wise but without seeing any hoodies - the downside is, your a little bit further out from town, didsbury etc, commuter links are not quite as good.

dimbo61

South Manchester can really be split into two/three areas
1 Student land ie fallowfield, withington,rusholme,
2 Upmarket student land ie Chorlton, Didsbury
3 The rest of south manchester Hale, Bramhall, Handforth, Wilmslow and even Alderley edge
Lots of very nice towns as well nearby Stockport, Knutsford
The metro is going to have a huge impact on prices when fully up and running so anywhere within a 5/10 minute walk of a metro station will see an increase in prices.
This is only my views

louise3uk

Not planning on a family in the near future so not too concerned about schools etc, the main thing I want to avoid is Jeremy Kyle wannabes . I want to sleep at night knowing me and my belongings are safe. Or if I need to walk from the bus stop that I won't get mugged.

ACG

Its a warm saturday night, go and drive round the areas your thinking of. If theyre going to be hanging round street corners any time its going to be a day/night like today.

Personally, after my experience when i lived in Gatley - im not 100% i would want to live there unless i was in one of those new places near the sharston roundabouts - but then your on top of the motorway. I dont think i would be too worried about the buses etc i would be more worried about some one breaking in.

But, i was brought up in Burnage. A lot of people would class that as a less than perfect area. We never had any problems and once everyone knows you - your probably safer there than anywhere.

I would personally just go a couple of times over the next week or so get a feel for the area and see how you feel.

louise3uk

That's what I'm planning to do, just wanted to see people's opinions too. The houses I'm looking at around around sharston and are new so were possibly thinking of the same place.

ACG

Is it one off that fresh pool way? Thats the only road i know round there as i get stopped at the lights everytime im coming back from the office.

I come past there a few times a week between 6-8.30pm and i dont really see people hanging around, infact i have a client in one of the apartments there and theyre both teachers so im presuming its generally decent enough people that live there. They were looking to buy somewhere else, they never said anything bad about where they were living although i think they were on the 3rd or 4th floor.

zzzLazyDaisy

Avoid houses around the edge of Wythenshaw. There are a lot of smallish newish developments and the prices look appealing. But the vandalism and general aggravation you get from the council estate there is soul destroying. Before anyone jumps on me, I have nothing against council estates generally, but that particular one is known throughout the area. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of this and bought a two yr old apartment on one of the lovely little developments. I loved the apartment but the local yobs made my life (and those of the other owners) a misery. I lasted 12 months before I put the flat back up for sale and in that time most of my neighbours has also moved out.

If you find Wythenshaw Shopping Centre you are pretty much in the centre of the area to avoid.

On the other hand, Didsbury, Timperley, Altrincham, most parts of Sale (especially Sale West and the surrounding area) are pleasant places to live. Further south Wilmslow and Alderley edge are nice, but more pricey.

louise3uk

Not quite freshpool but definately near there. I might go knocking on a few peoples doors in that are where this nice house is and see what they say, they are all lovely houses in the development and all seem very well looked after.
Ohh its a hard decision! I love the houses but do I want to risk a bad area.....

cte1111

I'm a bit surprised people are saying Sharston is nice. I live near the areas that you are talking about and wouldn't touch Sharston with a barge pole. I think Gatley village is pretty pleasant and I'd pick this area any day. Best thing about Sharston is the tip!

If you're willing to go a bit further afield, Cheadle Hulme and Cheadle Heath have lots of decent houses, Timperley is handy as it's on the Metrolink, Sale is also generally pretty OK and again has good housing stock.

I love where I live (West Didsbury) so would also recommend looking around here, although prices might be quite a bit higher.

ACG

Ive not said Sharston is nice - although i very did nearly mention the tip myself haha! Handy when your moving house! All i have said is that its not as bad as it used to be.

As for Cheadle heath, when i was looking for houses myself around 6 months ago i went to look at one in cheadle heath - the road reminded me of shameless! 4pm on a weekday afternoon there were adults stood in the street with cans of stella and feral kids walking round with cigs (when i say kids i mean about 12-13!).

I think we all agree, there are nicer areas and if its a case of home or area - personally, area wins as i would prefer somewhere i feel safe walking home from the pub at 1am or knowing if i forget to lock my windows on a night like lastnight im not going to have one of te local addicts trying to climb through my window etc.

There have been plenty of suggestions of other areas and in the main i agree with them:
Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle Village, Didsbury (east & west), Burnage, Timperley, Sale, Altrincham, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Moor, Handforth are all nice enough areas.

The places i would personally avoid are Withington, Fallowfield, Northenden (although parts of it are alright) and if im being completely honest i would'nt fancy moving to wythenshawe - although it seems to be getting better its never going to be perfect.