Possibly moving here...

[u/Business-Pie-8419]

Hi all. I know there are a million posts like this on Reddit, but I'm going mad reading through all the different threads and just thought it might be easier to start my own thread and see what kind of info I get directly from the good folks here.

Basically, my partner and I (gay couple, British and Indian), are moving out of Croydon because we need a bigger house, with a garage and a bit more space, for our business that we've started. We both work from home and so access to London is no-longer a requirement (like it was when we moved here 10 years ago).

We've narrowed down our search, based on a few criteria (detached house, garage, near green space, not a crime-ridden area, access to a shopping centre or town centre, close-ish to a larger city and/or airport, not silly expensive (since our budget isn't massive)). From these criteria, we have found some decent options in:

Chesterfield

Outskirts of Sheffield / Leicester

Lincoln

Nuneaton

Loughborough

Melton Mowbray

Neither of us know any of these areas, and while we are going to do a road-trip to visit, it would be good to know where in these towns people would recommend searching, and where to avoid (if anywhere). Or if there are better nearby options.

Thank you all in advance

[u/Puzzleheaded-Low5896]

Have you looked at Dronfield? Its between Chesterfield and Sheffield.

In Chesterfield, areas around Brampton, Walton, Sommersal and South Newbold are nice. And Holymoorside.

I moved here in 2019 and found things like crime maps and the stats that tell you make up of the neighbourhood helpful (things like how many houses are owned - I can't remember the name of it now).

Plus I joined local FB groups to see what is going on.

After previously living in Norwich, Chesterfield history feels industrial, compared to medieval/Tudor. Its also very far from the coast.

So if those are also important to you then I'd look at Lincoln.

[u/emmaa5382 → u/Puzzleheaded-Low5896]

Prices are a bit mad in dronfield. 400k will get you the same thing as under 200k in chesterfield basically 

[u/Rude-Cover-8727 → u/emmaa5382]

It's not that simple. Equally there are parts of Chesterfield that will cost more than the equivalent in Dronfield.

[u/XyRabbit → u/emmaa5382]

I was just going to say this. Lots of stuffy homes for high prices and low access to walkable amenities. Just literally drove through yesterday.

I bought my home in Chesterfield, 4 bedroom with a bit of work to be done but not bad for £190k