Renting in Belfast

jenny-wren

Holland Crescent - close to bus routes and shops off the Upper Newtownards Road, smallish semis from memory, nice area. 15-20 mins into town in the morning.

Florida Drive - closer to town but not such a nice area. Smaller houses, some can be quite 'pokey'.

Woodbreda Drive - a bit further out of town, just below Newtownbreda 'village'. Further to walk to the bus stop and the buses can be slow on this route (believe me, I endured endless mornings stuck on the bus from Four Winds before I left home and got my own place in East Belfast!) Could take 30mins +. Nice area though, fair sized semis. You could walk to Forestside shopping centre or the big Tesco easily.

Upper Newtownards Road - depends on where the property is. Close to all amenities. Again, on a major bus route- but a busy 4 lane road- could be noisy.

If I were to rank them in order:
Woodbreda Drive
Holland Drive
Florida Drive
Upp N'Ards Road.

Why don't you check out the Property News website and see how much properties are selling for in those areas - the prices should give you an idea of how desirable each area is!

Happy hunting.

Marty_J

Does the house have to be in Belfast?

Bangor is a great town to live in (it was voted NI's best last year), and it's only 40 minutes away from the centre of Belfast by train (20 minutes if it's an express), and even faster by car (depending on the traffic of course!).

vincennes_2

I have friends living in Holland Crescent. Although the houses are quite small, the street is very quiet. I also live around that area and it's great for shops (marks & spencer) and for schools (St joseph in holland drive and Strandtown around the corner). There is a local pub too and plenty of restaurants.
I love this area.

nozzadamozza

Hi Everyone- so day 2 of my search continues....and thank you all very much..(I feel liking going on mastermind now with my indepth knowledge of the rental market in belfast lol)
one of the biggest problem I have found is that estate agents dont remove sale agreed listings- so some of the houses I was interested in yesterday and asked opinions on(Holland Crescent, Florida Drive,Woodbreda Drive) had been let but didnt say so on the web...grrrr (even when you search for 'for rent' on property news)

Its also quite surprising the prices of some places (due to this site I am a tightwad ) I dont really want to pay anything more than £570 (am ideally looking for three bedroom, semi detached house), which I think is reasonable for outside the city centre/Lisburn Road but its amazing the prices of some places...this may me laugh yesterday - its a steal at £450 a month but you need to decorate it !!!!!(now I am looking unfurnished but I was hoping for a lick of pain on the walls)- link here- you are all invited up to the house warming / decorating party lol

So have a list of some properties and I think we are definitely looking at many of the areas you have suggested..so my plan is to go through my list, phone up estate agents, bother you good people with more questions and then hubby and I have decided we are going to go on a re-con mission to belfast next week-and actually go around these areas

But all suggestions are welcome- and thank you all again..its fantastic to have so much advice:)

heavysnow

Yup - I can vouch for Bangor - not only is it a great place to live, but you will get a much better house for your money. For example:

A detached bungalow for £675pm including rates:
http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=104&s=51599226&i=9&p=NEANEA0895

OR
A newly built townhouse(including an ensuite bathroom) for £650pm including rates. I live in this area of Bangor and it is only 25 mins walk into town and just 10 mins walk to the beach :T:
http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=104&s=51599226&i=12&p=PMBPMB0197

OR
A huge 3 bed, 3 rec detached home with garage AND conservatory for £650pm including rates:
http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=104&s=51599226&i=16&p=PNC388835

If your budget is closer to £500pm , you can still get a cheaper detached home:
http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=104&s=51599226&i=98&p=NEANEA0737

ballyblack

also if you are in Ballyhackamore;


Prestige Property Rentals
342 Upper Newtownards Road
Ballyhackamore
Belfast
BT4 3EX
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]028 9065 5060[/FONT]

http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk/estate-agents/prestige-property-rentals-4741.shtml

nozzadamozza

Thanks again..hadnt considered Bangor..will check them out & will check out the estate agents:T

Bigcammy

You should also have a look at http://www.therentalcompany.co.uk/

They don't always advertise on Property News and they have a wide range of properties.

leftieM

The EAs will have more up-to-date listings on their own websites. If you go into the offices they have a printed list of available houses too.
I think 570 a month isn't going to get you much choice of house in the good areas tbh although East Belfast has been and still appears to be much cheaper to rent in than South.
Definitely negotiate, especially if a house has been on for some time.

tara747

Bangor wouldn't suit me AT ALL with working in Belfast, think of the commute!! If you like to be handy to stuff then Belfast is the best place to be (IMHO!). I hear there isn't a decent bar in Bangor either (sorry if that's not true, just what I am told!).