House prices

Legacy_user

Feel free to skip straight to my question beyond the highlighter bold text if you don't want to be bored of my waffling...but here goes...

I am in my late 20's looking at getting onto the property ladder....

I have a hefty deposit ready, but aim to buy somewhere next summer after saving a little bit more....

I was bought up in Surrey and still live here, my family are in here and I'd prefer to stay here....PROBLEM: House prices around here are getting ridiculous.

I think a lot of us younger generation who have grown up and want to stay in and buy property in the area simply won't be able too. We have been priced out massively.

When my parents purchased their house in 1987 - Which was a 3 bedroom semi-detached house in a very nice area - it was £68,000, the average salary was £10,000. So house prices were around 7x the average salary at the time.....

Today that house is worth £380,000+. The average salary today is £25,000. So now costs 15x the average salary. AND house prices are supposed to rise another 20-30% in the area in the next 5 years.

These days - around here the best 3 bed properties you can get for 7x the average salary (£175,000) are the very few flats in the less inviting areas.


I just wondered....

I can work from home so I could live anywhere in the UK...so...

If you could buy anywhere in the UK, you had a maximum budget of £200,000....Where would you live? (Has to be a house with at least 2 bedrooms).

There are of course places in the South that you could get a reasonable property for this amount. Bournemouth and Bristol areas aren't too bad.

Anyone have any reasonable towns/areas that aren't too bad anywhere in the UK that have at least 2 bed reasonable looking houses under £200,000?

ManuelG

Going to change my answer else they'll be loads of shout-outs.

More, what else is important to you? Countryside? Coast? Castles? A decent train connection back to your parents?

Fleshing it out will get better answers.

MARTYM8`

To be honest I think living in Surrey distorts your view of house prices in the UK.

Maybe you might fancy some of the nicer parts of Cheshire - a bit like the Surrey of the north.

As an example here is a 3 bed mews house in Macclesfield for £185k.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49283398.html

Of course if you want to stay nearer homes there are plenty of nice properties - ideally get one near a station with good links to London - in Sussex and Kent. Just try a county wide search on rightmove.

Depends what you want really - peace and quiet or with a bit more excitement.

LottieLou

I really feel you're pain.

Can't really help re: nice areas to live around Surrey as I am up north. But I can say that you wont get very much for 200k in the nicer parts of cheshire as suggested above unfortunately. Where are all you're friends moving to? Like people have said, it all depends what you want from a house and the area

PixelPound

House prices are definitely skewed,
3 bed detached in Morley for £180K
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34880100.html
or new builds like this 4-bed detached
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51259091.html

Leeds to London 2-3 hours, if/when HS2 comes that will shorten.

Hoploz

I am also in Surrey, but a bit ahead of you in years.

Have you investigated shared ownership? I did this in 1999. Bought an ordinary flat with 25% owned by Thames valley housing association. I letter bought the rest as my salary increased and sold after 5 years with a huge profit I don't know whether they still run this system but it's worth inquiring. However, I would not consider it if you have to buy on an estate surrounded by other 'social housing' - this would affect values and would not have offered the same investment opportunity as I benefited from.

Alternatively consider Ash Vale/Farnborough area. My husband and I moved out there for a while as it was quite a bit cheaper. We have just sold a flat we kept hold of a few months ago, 2 beds, parking, modern, reasonable condition for £170k. Could get somewhere near trains and not far from Guildford there. Perhaps Basingstoke? That was another place wee looked when we bought in Ash Vale.

Other experience I have further afield is in Hastings. If you want a cosmopolitan lifestyle with loads to do all the time, fresh air and great investment potential in a very up-and-coming area then this is the place. You can get a house for 200k or a nice 2 bed period flat in a good area for 150k.

MoaningMyrtle

Was going to suggest Aldershot/Farnborough or Bordon/Whitehill.

ukcarper

Prices have gone up quite a bit in Ash Vale a 3 bed semi would cost £300k although Bordon/Whitehill cheaper (bad transport links I suppose)

ciderboy2009

Your going to struggle to get anything much in a decent area of Bristol now for less than £250k - prices here have shot up over the last 6 months.

System

The difference between house prices in the South East and other areas of the country is vast.


Let's start.....

What you can get for £200,000 within 10 mile radius from Guildford, Surrey on RightMove:

2 Bedroom (what looks like an ex council house) in Farnborough.
Not the most attractive house...£200,000
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34072956.html

2 Bedroom Bloomin Park Home, £200,000:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48401716.html?premiumA=true

A bleeding Church apparently awaiting conversion - you couldn't swing a sausage in here and I would probably be haunted by ghosts, £200,000:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33739908.html

Chavvy area in Farnborough, £200,000:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47254309.html



On a more positive note, this isn't too bad considering:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33607533.html

Though - if I'm picky - I am never keen on these houses where the 'front garden' blends together.



Summary of houses in the areas under £200,000: Any 2 bedroom houses are in the rougher areas and tend to have that rough look about them. There are a lot of 1 bedroom houses, some in nice areas. I came across 2 nice cottage style 1 bedroom properties, but no parking. 1 bedroom is not really what I am after, but I'll keep open minded.


Now onto other areas of the country......

goodwithsaving

You are going to have to make compromises. We've just bought and it wasn't everything we wanted, but was what we could afford.
The benefit of buying in the SE of course is that's where the housing shortage may well be most prominent, therefore "protecting" the investment in years to come.
Other areas of the country (mostly in the south, but equally it's all relative to local jobs) are just as affected. The SW for example. House prices are shooting up on par with some areas of the SE and there aren't the jobs or wages to support it, causing people to leave the areas they grew up in for work elsewhere.