Moving to Newcastle - where to find city centre apartments?

[Jolly]

Hi all,

This is my first post over here, but I thought some of you might be able to help me out.

I have just finished University in Liverpool, and I am now back living with my parents for the summer months in the Lakes. In a nut shell, I have been offered a place on the Tesco management graduate scheme and providing I successfully achieve a 2:1, I will be relocating to Newcastle as of 1st September.

Ideally I would like to find an apartment on the quayside, I have roughly 600 - 750 (absolute max) pcm available for rent. A mortgage is out of the question for now, as my placement is only for 9 months so the hassle really isn't worth it until I get settled in a city after the training.

I have tried the internet, but I'm really struggling to find a website which has a good range available, most sites I have found have maybe 6 or 7, but nothing more. In Liverpool there is a free paper with hundreds of apartments available and estate agents who specifically deal with city centre apartments only. Are there similar companies in Newcastle?

Any pointers would be great fully received. Obviously I am not in a position to act immediately, but I'm just trying to get an idea at this stage.

Regards,

James.

[ItsTony]

www.sandersonyoung.co.uk

www.sarahmains.com

www.rookmatthewssayer.co.uk

These are just some off the top of my head

[wendyg]

Quayside is way too expensive, and there are lots of other options. Bus and metro links are fairly good, so consider lots of options

[Rob_F]

Most letting agents will advertise stuff on www.rightmove.co.uk where you can narrow it down to location/price quite accurately to save time. Alternatively you might find a place directly with a landlord thru' http://newcastle.gumtree.com and save yourself agents fees which are typically half a months rent + VAT (ie, facking expensive).

Other local agents that i know do quayside apartments are:
http://www.urban-base.com/
http://www.livingspaces.co.uk/

I made the move to Newcastle to start a Grad job last September so feel free to ask any other questions!

Oh, and although the Quayside is nice you may find your friends (as mine do) start a night in Osbourne road in Jesmond then get a taxi into town, so you might not actually be best located for the action depending on what your mates/colleagues do.

Cheers,
Rob.

[After_Shock]

As mentioned above rightmove.co.uk a good place to start.

Quayside isnt the best place to live, no were to park, no where to shop and not a lot to do apart from get lashed!

Gateshead quayside is a good bit cheaper but againg nothing really near to shop or to do apart from drink.

Get a house or flat in heaton, place is on the up, loads of take aways, shops and a few good pubs. If you go for a night out again as mentioned above a taxi to the centre is the way to go.

[Gad-Westy]

As others have said I'd avoid the quayside, its a little overhyped and unless you count daft electric buses, it has crap transport links. I reckon West Jesmond is the place to go. Walking distance from the city centre, loads of good bars/restaurants and right next to the Metro station and a bit cheaper than the quayside as well. Get yourself on Fish4 to see what sort of things are available.

[SeanyD]

Agreed, Jesmond and Heaton are fairly safe bets, lots of big old houses to rent at reasonable money. Quayside is nice but you pay the price for it, small pads, limited parking etc, fair old walk to the nearest metro station (doesn't look far, but I work down there, trust me its a good 15-20 mins or so).

Also, not quite as central as Jesmond/Heaton, but Kingston Park aint too bad if you want to get away from it all. Still got access to the metro, but its a bit more green and peaceful. Mortgages around here are fairly dear, but rental doesnt seem too bad.

Again rightmove is a safe bet, also pattinson.co.uk is fairly popular throughout the area.

HTH

[r129sl]

As others have said, the Quayside is somewhat sterile and over-priced. However, there are hundreds of unlet apartments here and the headline prices are woefully optimistic. The bottom line is they built too many: there is very little demand for posh quayside apartments in Newcastle, the students can't afford them and the real people want houses. There are a lot of worried buy-to-let investors with empty portfolios.

Your budget of 600 to 750 per month is ample to secure almost the best rented property anywhere in Newcastle. You would easily secure a nice two-bed quayside apartment. Try St Ann's Quay and Trinity Gardens (quite a nice development, actually). The Gateshead side is easier but many of the flats are let to unsavoury types (i.e. escort girls).

You could also get a very nice flat or house in Gosforth, South Gosforth, Ilford Road areas. These would be more convenient for the big Tesco which is on the north west side of the city. I would have thought that the ideal place would be on the western side of Gosforth High Street, either in Gosforth itself (not much rental in that part) or in Kenton.

Good luck.
The trouble with Jesmond is it is all students now and landlords rent houses to groups of them for a 12month term on an price per room per week basis. It isn't a very nice place to live anymore.

[Jolly]

Thanks for the replies folks, apologies for not replying sooner. I've been between Liverpool and the Lakes all week, which has been somewhat time consuming.

I'm flying out to Spain in a few hours, but once I'm back I will go over everyone's recommendations and get stuck in with some research. No doubt I'll then be back with more questions!

Once again, thanks for the help.

Regards,

James.