Best & Cheapest Place to Rent?

AdGeEs

Hello everyone. My wife and I are able to move almost anywhere in the UK in a year time. We think we will carry on renting. The question is what is the best and cheapest place to rent in the whole UK (preferably England). Of course there will be places in polluted, busy, devalued neighbourhoods where renting will be cheaper, but that is not what we are looking for. We don't mind being in the countryside or in the city, by the mountain or by the sea, North or South, as long as the area is family friendly. Being next to a train station will also be a must. What would you consider being the best and cheapest place to rent? Thank you very much.

numbercruncher8

The best place almost certainly will not be the cheapest.
I suppose you must mean 'best value for money', but that is going to be quite subjective and depends on how much you weight your criteria, almost certainly you will have to compromise on some of them.

AdGeEs

numbercruncher8 said:

The best place almost certainly will not be the cheapest.
I suppose you must mean 'best value for money', but that is going to be quite subjective and depends on how much you weight your criteria, almost certainly you will have to compromise on some of them.

Yes I meant "best value for money". I know it will be subjective but I would like to know as many opinions as I can to then investigate on my own. So far the are of Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield or Liverpool seems the best value for money, but maybe I have overlooked other areas. Thanks for your answer.

numbercruncher8

TBH I've been thinking the same thing although I don't have the same flexibility.
If your income is not reliant on location I feel most of the South is ruled out. 
Depending on how much you need to travel you should look at the rail network maps, as all train stations are not equal and vary tremendously with service. 
Places like Bradford or Hull are quite cheap as well, you can get a place close to the main station pretty cheaply. 
One of the conundrums is that going further out into town suburbs will get you cheaper places, or you get a house for the price of a flat, but without some real local knowledge it may not be that nice a place to live. 

csgohan4

depends where the work is, then you can work out where you can live from your salary and surrounding area

davidmcn

AdGeEs said:

Being next to a train station will also be a must.

How close is "next to", and where are you going (and how often)?

AdGeEs

numbercruncher8 said:

TBH I've been thinking the same thing although I don't have the same flexibility.
If your income is not reliant on location I feel most of the South is ruled out. 
Depending on how much you need to travel you should look at the rail network maps, as all train stations are not equal and vary tremendously with service. 
Places like Bradford or Hull are quite cheap as well, you can get a place close to the main station pretty cheaply. 
One of the conundrums is that going further out into town suburbs will get you cheaper places, or you get a house for the price of a flat, but without some real local knowledge it may not be that nice a place to live. 

Exactly the "local knowledge" is what I was after

AdGeEs

csgohan4 said:

depends where the work is, then you can work out where you can live from your salary and surrounding area

The thing is that in a year time, potentially I could go anywhere in the UK.

AdGeEs

davidmcn said:

AdGeEs said:

Being next to a train station will also be a must.

How close is "next to", and where are you going (and how often)?

Closeby. To feel I'm connected with an airport sometimes or just in case I need to move around and cannot use a car. I've always used the train as my second transport after the bike. It's not that I'm going to be using it often.

davidmcn

AdGeEs said:

davidmcn said:

AdGeEs said:

Being next to a train station will also be a must.

How close is "next to", and where are you going (and how often)?

Closeby. To feel I'm connected with an airport sometimes

Aha, that helps to narrow the field a bit. Lots of places will have a nearby railway station, but not one which is much use for travelling to the nearest airport.

knightstyle

Go East for value but not too far North.  have a look at Lincoln, lots going for it.