Thoughts on areas of the UK that have cheap £150k detached housing?

Heres_the_deal

pinkteapot said:

Skiddaw1 said:

A vote for Carlisle from me. Very underrated city IMO. Lovely country all around (Lakes, Solway coast, Southern Uplands, Hadrians Wall, etc) and lots of local parks/river walks. I like Carlisle very much (we live near Penrith so it's our nearest large town).

Came here to say the same thing (hey again, skiddaw1 )

The type of house and budget you're talking won't be in the best parts of town - if you post where you're looking at there may be people with experience of living there. But I didn't hear about any *really* bad parts and there wasn't much crime in the local papers. Mr Teapot works in Carlisle so can ask his colleagues about areas if you get that far. 

The thing you should be aware of before even considering a move to Cumbria is the climate. It's grey and wet - we get all the weather coming off the Atlantic. 

When we took a quick look around the UK, properties were coming up in our price range close to Carlisle expanding upwards towards Gretna. Similarly, for parts of the boarders close to Berwick. However, I have no idea what these places are like. Over the next week I hope to pinpoint specific locations.

As for the climate, not an issue. I once lived on the west coast of Wales up the side of the  Preseli Hills. I thought the sun had been stolen at one point.

pinkteapot

Heres_the_deal said:

As for the climate, not an issue. I once lived on the west coast of Wales up the side of the  Preseli Hills. I thought the sun had been stolen at one point.

Ahh ok - that's good. If someone moved here from say the Kent coast they might get a shock. 

daivid

Plenty in North Wales to fit your price. My advice would be to stick close to the coast along the A55 or the Wales - England border unless you are prepared to put a lot of effort into integrating (or going to live happily in your own bubble).  

No idea on the neighbourhood but this looks like a bit of a bargain https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/102220466#/

Greymug

davidmcn said:

You can get something like that in most of Scotland and Wales.

you would think so, but not really. 

Greymug

ProDave said:

Have a look on hspc.co.uk, quite a few in the Highlands in quite nice locations.

The Highlands have got some real gems, but council tax can be a bit steep especially for detached houses.

jackieblack

Mutton_Geoff said:

lincroft1710 said:

Jaywick in Essex has some exceptionally cheap detached bungalows, but you probably wouldn't really want to live there!

Interesting coincidence. A friend is buying up some of these as they have a fairly healthy % return as BTLs.

Really?! 😱🤣

sheramber

What one person likes another hates.
I lived rurally in the far north of Scotland. ( Caithness/Suthrland). I loved it- friendly people, laid back lifestyle, - but you need to travel for facilities , no big shops but friendly local shops, questionable broadband depending on where you go, easy access to superb beaches loved by surfing enthusiasts, coastal walks, miles of moors.
Look at the popularity of the NC500. I lived in that area
My DIL hated it as too remote for her.

Best thing, when allowable, is to visit places that look a  possibility and spend some time there. 
Prices did rise last year as demand increased for rural properties when covid hit.

davidmcn

Greymug said:

davidmcn said:

You can get something like that in most of Scotland and Wales.

you would think so, but not really. 

You can though. Not a big selection everywhere, and it depends what size or standard the OP is looking for, but I can find some perfectly liveable examples even in the central belt of Scotland (and I'm currently sitting in a detached sub-£150k house in South Wales).

lincroft1710

Mutton_Geoff said:

lincroft1710 said:

Jaywick in Essex has some exceptionally cheap detached bungalows, but you probably wouldn't really want to live there!

Interesting coincidence. A friend is buying up some of these as they have a fairly healthy % return as BTLs.

There was a programme a few years ago about people who were renting in Jaywick, some of those were from ideal tenants.

moneysavinghero

Nebulous2 said:

moneysavinghero said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

Deleted_User said:

When a house is cheap its normally cheap for a reason - either in a undesirable area or in need of renovation. 

Depends how you define undesirable, there are plenty of areas of the UK which have low house values but are still perfectly pleasant places to live. 

Presumably undesirable is defined as an area that most people would prefer not to live in if they had the choice. Hence they choose to pay more to live in a different area and the 'undesirable' areas house prices become relatively cheaper. Does not mean they are terrible places, just that most people would rather spend a bit more to not live there.

Or it can be a place where lots of people would want to live, for the outdoors life and better air quality, but can't get work. There is a quote that says something like:- 
"Fort William is a place where a man could live like a king on half-a-crown a day. The only problem is there is no ready way to make half-a-crown a day." 

In other words the type of place where property prices could benefit from the WFH boom.

Still makes them undesirable though.  I would love to live there BUT i can't live there because it's from any decent jobs = undesirable ultimately if the downsides outweigh the benefits and mean that fewer people are prepared to go ahead and purchase.

Prices are the true measure of desirability. And as i said undesirable does not necessary mean a bad area. Everyone is looking for different things. If the OP does not need to work then maybe a remote beautiful area would be very suited to him ( and a remote slightly less beautiful area would be even cheaper again).