Nice areas to live near York?

[JackRatt]

Having been stuck in the south east for a few years, we now have the chance to escape and Mrs JackRatt is very keen to return to her native Yorkshire.

Part of the idea is that her mum could help out with childcare, so it would need to be within about half an hour of York (strictly speaking, Acomb).

We want somewhere at least semi-rural with its own community (as opposed to simply a dormitory town for York or Leeds). It needs to be affordable enough for us to get a three or more bedroom detached house with a decent garden (and double garage, naturally) within our £300k budget. I'd also like somewhere we could get an older house for that sort of money - a lot of the places we've seen on Rightmove are rather soulless modern developments.

Good schools are a must - partly for the family and partly for my wife's job as a music teacher, which also means she could do with somewhere that has a ready supply of families looking for private lessons nearby! Half decent links to the A1 or M1 would be a bonus, but not essential. Obviously somewhere with decent B-roads too, but that seems to be virtually a given.

So ... where's good?

[Vaud]

My friends live in Pocklington which is nice - above flood zones, nice pubs, cinema, cafes, art centre with some good gigs, regular bus to York, roads out into the Yorkshire wolds are very nice... not too far from York.

Edit: that's right on the 30 min limit (depending on time of day)...

Edited by Vaud on Sunday 20th March 20:50

[ellroy]

You'd be doing very well indeed to make it from Pock to Acomb in 30 mins, completely the wrong side of town. More like at least an hour.

Further out on the right side for Acomb and you're heading to Tadcaster, Wetherby etc, the more expensive areas typically. If you head slightly North you could be looking at Easingwold, Haxby that sort of area, certainly more affordable.

[Vaud]

ellroy said:

You'd be doing very well indeed to make it from Pock to Acomb in 30 mins, completely the wrong side of town. More like at least an hour.

Further out on the right side for Acomb and you're heading to Tadcaster, Wetherby etc, the more expensive areas typically. If you head slightly North you could be looking at Easingwold, Haxby that sort of area, certainly more affordable.

Depends on the time of day. Weekends easier (I can do Pock to north Leeds in <80 mins).

Problem with the west side is you are competing with Leeds commuter zones.

[JackRatt]

Yep, we've got family in Haxby. Easingwold came up a couple of times on Rightmove so I was wondering about that. There seem to be a lot of houses in Selby and the surrounding villages, but heard rather mixed things about the town itself.

[bobtail4x4]

It depends where in Selby you are looking, most of the villages are nice, the middle of town is a bit run down,
look at tadcaster, or boston spa, as said west of York is commuter area to Leeds.

[ST-Alex]

I live on the outskirts of Acomb and have lived around York all my life. I've lived between York and Tadcaster and also between York and Selby so have quite a good knowledge of York and surrounding areas. Feel free to drop me a message with any questions. There are plenty of villages / suburbs near to York that you'd get a detached 3 bed house for around 300K. I'm happy to recommend places to look or if you've found any houses but don't know the area give me a shout and I can hopefully help.

Regards

Alex

[battered]

My parents recently moved to Haxby area and I have a friend in Huby which is a little further out. Really nice areas, low crime and in budget. If you must have mullioned windows and thatch, then be prepared as ever for the 30-50% price hike that goes with that type of house in any nice area.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

This is a beautiful spot

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...



32 minutes to Acomb according to Google Maps

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

This is a beautiful spot

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...



32 minutes to Acomb according to Google Maps

Except for no garden or garage Nice area though

[whoami]

ellroy said:

You'd be doing very well indeed to make it from Pock to Acomb in 30 mins, completely the wrong side of town. More like at least an hour.

No chance of that anywhere near peak times.

[Teebs]

I'm in Haxby if you have any questions.

[julianm]

It might not be seen as near York, but if you`re off to Acomb then Church Fenton could be good - easy to the A1 M1, onto the A64 for York in 15min. There are some lovely houses in the little estate which used to be the officers quarters for the airfield. The airfield is now owned privately with the outside chance of a daily commute to London by a mini twin engined thing (no good at aircraft!). You`ll pick them up easily on Google Earth. Trains to Leeds not that frequent but doable - excellent curry house on the railway bridge.
Some bits of Acomb are at the grotty end of grotty, but the locals there are mostly just horrible to each other.
Good luck!

[gemini]

Acomb? Grotty? Nice way to put his family down!

Houses south and west are more expensive.
North and north east more affordable.
East ( wrong side I know) much more affordable.

It's the old game of cost v distance.

Good luck with your hunt.

[julianm]

Ah - but family will be at the lovely part of Acomb which really is lovely!

[DMN]

You want somewhere with decent and regular links into York via bus. It'd be a shame to not take advantage of all the great pubs and cafes etc. For that reason I'd discount Pocklington, yes its a great little town, but its on the other side of York for where you want to be and the bus service isn't regular enough.

If you did look at this side of York, then Dunninton, Gate Helmsley or Stamford Bridge make better sense. Both share the Number 10 bus service into town. It goes right through to Popleton on the other side, and crucially: going through Acomb. Popleton being another area to check out.

[JackRatt]

gemini said:

Acomb? Grotty? Nice way to put his family down!

Oh, don't worry, I know Acomb. Last time we were up we left our offspring with his grandma for the evening and went into York. Walking back we were passed by seven police cars and three ambulances attending the triple stabbing that had just taken places two streets away from where our toddler was sleeping...

It's a shame, because the village bit is quite nice, I think. Used to go to the pub opposite the green (The Sun?) occasionally.

ST-Alex said:

I live on the outskirts of Acomb and have lived around York all my life. I've lived between York and Tadcaster and also between York and Selby so have quite a good knowledge of York and surrounding areas. Feel free to drop me a message with any questions. There are plenty of villages / suburbs near to York that you'd get a detached 3 bed house for around 300K. I'm happy to recommend places to look or if you've found any houses but don't know the area give me a shout and I can hopefully help.

Regards

Alex

Thanks Alex. May well take you up on that nearer the time. We won't be looking seriously for a good few months as my wife wants to coincide the move with the school summer holidays ... next year.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

This is a beautiful spot

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

32 minutes to Acomb according to Google Maps

I do like those old terraced houses, but due to my better half's students honking and squeaking their way through Three Blind Mice for eight hours a day we'd need at least one wall that wasn't attached to another house.

I understand Battered's comment about the price hike for period properties and that may explain why we haven't seen many older houses in budget up north (we're also considering Devon, where I come from originally, and Yorkshire seems to have a lot more new/recent builds in comparison).

I do prefer older houses, but I'd say the priority is to have a bit more space and a nicer environment. At the moment we're overlooked by half a dozen other new builds, with everybody triple parked to try and fit in! What I really want is something where the front door opens onto a small but reasonably lively town or village while the back opens up onto fields.

[battered]

JackRatt said:

I understand Battered's comment about the price hike for period properties and that may explain why we haven't seen many older houses in budget up north (we're also considering Devon, where I come from originally, and Yorkshire seems to have a lot more new/recent builds in comparison).

In my own street there's evidence of this. Pre 1989 it was a farm, there was a big house and a number of workers' cottages. My house was one built as part of the development in 1989, it's a modern detatched family home in Bradstone, looks nice enough but not as pretty as the original cottages. One such has recently been put on sale, it's a big stone terrace or semi with a courtyard and garages. Great, but brace yourself for the thick end of £400k, making it about +50% over similarly sized modern places and it's not even detached.

I suspect that the newish housing in Leeds reflects its change in fortunes in recent years. Back in the 80s it was pretty grim, it started improving dramatically in the mid 90s and over recent years it's become really desirable. A lot of the old tanneries and fellmongers (wool processing to you) have been redeveloped and what were grotty rat-infested half-derelict buildings have become developments of flats and town houses. Not so romantic as the old wisteria cottage type stone cottages but a bloody sight more suited to the needs of a growing urban population.

[Vaud]

JackRatt said:

I do prefer older houses, but I'd say the priority is to have a bit more space and a nicer environment. At the moment we're overlooked by half a dozen other new builds, with everybody triple parked to try and fit in! What I really want is something where the front door opens onto a small but reasonably lively town or village while the back opens up onto fields.

Be aware that many of the local authorities are allowing village ribbon development and also building on such fields, so choose carefully. National Trust land tends to be completely protected. Around York a lot may be flood plain...

Look at Rightmove and when you find your ideal 5 bed detached property with a village and fields, google "village name + flood" (rather than just the environment agency site which is "ok"). I found my dream house near Cawood, drove out and saw the owners stash of sandbags, tiled floors and elbow height wall sockets.

[PH5121]

I live in a village about 3 miles west of Tadcaster. My BIL has lived there and is moving back there, it seems nice enough.
The Grammar School seems highly rated, and within your budget you might get a detached house with a double garage.

Boston Spa is a bit more expensive, between Tacaster and Boston Spa there is a new development being built at a little village called Newton Kyme. I haven't seen the prices they are going for advertised.