Please help me buy a home (Update on page 4)

ProDave

Yes I saw the light and smelled the coffee and left the SE of England for the Highlands where property is more sensibly priced.

And if you are in a national job, so ignoring things like London weighting, you will earn much the same up north and be able to afford a good house and have a much better standard of living.

gwynlas

Whilst property prices are much cheaper in other areas of the country there are still 00's of homes available in the south for your budget which would be much easier for you to view in the normal way. I have only looked at East and West Sussex and Hampshire not knowing where you currently are. Dependent on your role in the NHS there are almost always posts available. There are often ancillary posts available as well should your partner choose to move to a pensionable position.

RHemmings

I moved out from London, from one public (sorta) job to an equivalent job. The loss of London weighting was small compared to the lower living costs. 

Jami74

MultiFuelBurner said:

I am not sure whether people in the North should be offended that you think there is a divide and they might not get the minimum wage that the South does.

On that one sentence the North may not be the place for you.

It certainly wasn't meant to be offensive. It has been suggested more than once that the same job would pay less up north so I was pointing out that one of us work in the NHS and one of us has a minimum wage job. I know people in London get paid extra but as far as I understand, minimum wage is the same across the rest of England. That's what my reply was to. I don't know what you mean about a divide.

My husband is originally from Scotland. He doesn't want us to go that far North because he remembers it as being very cold. You can be offended by that if you like. And I know there is a divide between England and Scotland, I can see it on Google maps 

Slinky

400ixl said:

As others have mentioned there are all sorts of places you could look. East Anglia is another region, Kings Lynn, Great Yarmouth would be two areas with affordable housing and major hospitals. Both have decent and rough areas as you would expect. Kings Lynn has a direct train into London.

According to our regional TV, Kings Lynn's hospital is held up by massive numbers of props and has been for years. Wouldn't be a place I'd be seeking a new job.

Norwich appears to have a goodly number of properties you could buy for £240K and seems a decent place to live from our brief visits.

jonnydeppiwish!

zagubov said:

I'm pretty sure you can find somewhere more central in England where you can get affordable housing but still get to London or other big cities with good facilities.

Look around the M1; places like MK, Bedford, Dunstable then, further north, Birmingham or maybe Leicester.
If you want to stay in the south-east,  have you checked Worthing or Portsmouth?

Certain Portsmouth and Worthing have good jobs prospect for the Op, but I’m not sure the house prices would be suitable. Even terraces/Leigh Park/Wymering/Paulsgrove don’t have house that cheap!

400ixl

Slinky said:

400ixl said:

As others have mentioned there are all sorts of places you could look. East Anglia is another region, Kings Lynn, Great Yarmouth would be two areas with affordable housing and major hospitals. Both have decent and rough areas as you would expect. Kings Lynn has a direct train into London.

According to our regional TV, Kings Lynn's hospital is held up by massive numbers of props and has been for years. Wouldn't be a place I'd be seeking a new job.

Norwich appears to have a goodly number of properties you could buy for £240K and seems a decent place to live from our brief visits.

Queen Elizabeth hospital is currently help up by props yes, but it is getting a new build hospital to replace it. So will be a much better place to work within a few years.

Norfolk & Norwich Hospital is newer for sure, but has a lot of culture issues at the moment. Housing would be a stretch on the budget if the OP is looking for a larger 3 bed or 4 bed. You would likely be looking at housing in the Bowthorpe / West Earlham area which is OK, avoid Larkman if possible. Some of the areas like Cringleford, Easton, Costessey etc will be a push to buy something good for that money.

It is a nice city to live in though with access to the broads etc.

James Paget is the other hospital in Gorleston near Great Yarmouth.

All three hospitals are also on a transformation journey deploying a new Electronic Patient Record system from Meditech which will hopefully make then safer and more efficient places to work.

MikeJXE

Check out LE65

Easy access M42, M1, M6

Hospital within 30 minutes Burton Leicester Derby Nottingham 

Including the countries Top heart Heart hospital Glenfield 

Jami74

Thanks all! You have given me so many places to look. I am looking at prices in areas and jobs advertised in those areas.

I've done a couple of online mortgage calculators and it looks like we/I could either borrow £275,000 over 13 years or £230,000 over 18 years (due to our ages). Hence needing a cheapish property. Each month the deposit (currently £25,000) increases by at least £500. 

[iD]

Just here to appreciate the positive vibes. Well done everyone and all the best OP!