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Where's nice to live in the UK?

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    Where's nice to live in the UK?

    Right, I've got a house deposit saved up and want to buy ....preferably under the 250K stamp duty limit but I can go to perhaps 280.
    Perhaps you esteemed chaps/esses could help me figure some places in the UK to live?

    Ok what am I after?
    1. spacious place with 2 double beds and a box room
    2. semi is ok, not terraced
    3. sizeable garage (preferably double detached) or space to build one since my hobbies are motorbikes and making stuff.
    4. close to civilisation, being able to walk to lively pubs with late opening a bonus but ideallly no further than an affordable taxi or night bus.
    5. now the crunch. Commutable to contract employment! This probably means accessible for London doesn't it? Other big cities definitely considered.


    Ok so where have I looked so far?

    Basingstoke: ticks a lot of boxes but right at top of budget or beyond to escape the chav areas (of which there are many).

    Maidenhead: Had a nasty vibe to it, great links to London but just a bit spread out...on paper a clear winner, in reality there's a reason you can get a place for 250K there.

    Reading: Long commute but doable(ish), will have to search to get something in budget but a strong contender.

    Southampton: Budget sufficient, coast close, long commute.

    Bournemouth: Friends there, lovely place, pricey to be close the sea/centre, huge commute, but at least a small chance of local jobs. Damn I wish I had financial or insurance experience.

    That's about it so far...I like Winchester but need another 50 or 100K. Frimley is a possibility too but I guess price a barrier also.

    So, any ideas? Wildcards welcome, Chester was an option, especially as I had an interview at Shell there a few months ago.

    Thanks

    #2
    There are no nice places to live in the UK. That's why I emigrated.
    Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

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      #3
      Isle of Man?

      Not strictly UK but y'know. Good for biking too.
      Last edited by Durbs; 12 March 2010, 19:18.

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        #4
        Anywhere commutable to London isn't a nice place to live.

        How about saving some more pennies and buying a small flat near/in London and a home in a nicer part of the country? Devon/Cornwall/Highlands etc. Or just rent digs near where you end up working whille having your home somewhere nice - that's what i do

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          #5
          Originally posted by SuperZ View Post
          How about saving some more pennies and buying a small flat near/in London and a home in a nicer part of the country? Devon/Cornwall/Highlands etc. Or just rent digs near where you end up working whille having your home somewhere nice - that's what i do
          Yep...I'm considering that...have no qualms living like that 3 or 4 nights a week as I have no family. But I can't save more pennies, 35 now.....gotta get myself a "base" before it lose the plot.

          Some other suggestions other than Devon as is just a bit too isolated and far from the capital.
          Mumbles appeals in Swansea, 7 years of drunken pub crawls there as a student have left an indelible impression...still a long drive to London town

          IoM..nah...wwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too isolated.
          Last edited by Olly; 12 March 2010, 19:45.

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            #6
            Originally posted by NotAllThere View Post
            There are no nice places to live in the UK. That's why I emigrated.
            Not true but the nice bits generally have little/less well paid work than the 'orrible big cities.

            It's always a compromise I'm afraid, I choose to live in Somerset which limits my work options but I do have beeches and countryside on my doorstep.
            Science isn't about why, it's about why not. You ask: why is so much of our science dangerous? I say: why not marry safe science if you love it so much. In fact, why not invent a special safety door that won't hit you in the butt on the way out, because you are fired. - Cave Johnson

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              #7
              How about Liverpool

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                #8
                Oxford is lovely.
                +50 Xeno Geek Points
                Come back Toolpusher, scotspine, Voodooflux. Pogle
                As for the rest of you - DILLIGAF

                Purveyor of fine quality smut since 2005

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Green Mango View Post
                  How about Liverpool
                  Maybe, but I'm a bit worried about chavs and crime in places like that!
                  Will 250K really get somewhere immune to it but still have the benefits of being close the city?
                  Strikes me there are smaller nicer places than Liverpool (Chester?) that still have enough of what I'm after.

                  Anyone got ideas about East coast, Hastings, that kind of thing?

                  Went to Canterbury for a weekend...quite liked it there

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Green Mango View Post
                    How about Liverpool
                    not a bad suggestion actually. Bootle is an up and coming yuppie area, not too many contracts but your running and hand to hand combat skills will really take off



                    (\__/)
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                    ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

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