Cheapest place in the country to live?

There is a difference between cheap and pleasant. Middlesbrough is about as unpleasant as you can find, sorry but it is true. You should be paid to live there, not the other way around. A few miles away on the coast and it is very nice. The same applies to lots of places.

On a general theme, the NE is cheaper, as is Lancashire. Parts of Cumbria and N Wales are also lower in prices although all of these places will have hot spots.

As with all housing, location is everything. Why is an area cheap? Is it horrible, is it isolated, are there a lack of jobs in the area. The key is to find a lovely area that is comparatively cheap for entirely innocent reasons. Northumberland is pretty good on that front, handy as that is where I live :)
 
There is a difference between cheap and pleasant. Middlesbrough is about as unpleasant as you can find, sorry but it is true. You should be paid to live there, not the other way around. A few miles away on the coast and it is very nice. The same applies to lots of places.

On a general theme, the NE is cheaper, as is Lancashire. Parts of Cumbria and N Wales are also lower in prices although all of these places will have hot spots.

As with all housing, location is everything. Why is an area cheap? Is it horrible, is it isolated, are there a lack of jobs in the area. The key is to find a lovely area that is comparatively cheap for entirely innocent reasons. Northumberland is pretty good on that front, handy as that is where I live :)
Bit strong on the Boro bit there mate😃 Everywhere has good and bad and there are some really nice parts as well as some rubbish, people are good as well, I'd rather live in a regular place with good people than a chocolate box village where they're all up themselves.
 
Paul - A number of bad experiences of Boro have not helped but I stand by my view of the place. I have not seen anywhere grimmer in the UK. As I mentioned though, it is surrounded by some lovely places so all is not lost.
 
Everywhere is cheap, you just have to lower your life quality expectations.

Everywhere ?

And I guess it depends on what level you are saying is "cheap"

If you want a three bed house around here you need over £250k and that's at the cheapest level

2 beds from £200k

Apartments from £180k

On average
 
Paul - A number of bad experiences of Boro have not helped but I stand by my view of the place. I have not seen anywhere grimmer in the UK. As I mentioned though, it is surrounded by some lovely places so all is not lost.

Would suggest Hartlepool and Grimsby are equally as bad if not worse but again have some nice places around nearby

Can't agree with the view that everywhere is cheap if you lower expectations as every area has prices set based on markets. amenities etc and if you aren't on income sufficient to meet those market values in the first place how an you lower expectations further other than look elsewhere which is often not a viable solution
 
This thread is making me depressed, as I struggle to find a 2 bed flat for <£600k. My taste in location (SW London) is sufficiently more expensive than my income!


Head north. You can live like a king in some lovely places for that sort of money. No compromises needed. The SE of England, London in particular is bonkers in terms of housing.
 
The pay wouldn't follow me though! Pay jumped by 50% moving down here!

move a bit closer? somewhere with decent rail links into waterloo? i am 45 minutes from paddington, close enough to visit town, far enough away to be in the country.
My boss commutes to london from Newcastle, 2.5hrs each way straight into kings cross.

Depends on what you want from life i suppose, over priced house close to work or sensible priced house (or much bigger than you could get in town) but commute a few hours per day..
 
Would suggest Hartlepool and Grimsby are equally as bad if not worse but again have some nice places around nearby

Can't agree with the view that everywhere is cheap if you lower expectations as every area has prices set based on markets. amenities etc and if you aren't on income sufficient to meet those market values in the first place how an you lower expectations further other than look elsewhere which is often not a viable solution
Or Southall or parts of Hounslow and Slough, every were has bad areas.
Have any of you been to some of these places you mention ( not you Lord T)
 
This is what always gets me. Where I live in Lincolnshire you can be in King Cross in an hour on a direct train. I can get in to London quicker and easier from where I live than my in laws in Newbury.

I recently bought a 3 bed end terrace property, gardens front and rear, parking for 4 cars plus a double garage for £145000.00. Spent about £20000.00 gutting the place and now have a house that has everything I want (including a lovely village pub a 2 minute walk away) for £165000.00.
 
This is what always gets me. Where I live in Lincolnshire you can be in King Cross in an hour on a direct train. I can get in to London quicker and easier from where I live than my in laws in Newbury.

I recently bought a 3 bed end terrace property, gardens front and rear, parking for 4 cars plus a double garage for £145000.00. Spent about £20000.00 gutting the place and now have a house that has everything I want (including a lovely village pub a 2 minute walk away) for £165000.00.

Exactly! Pick a town with a decent rail link near by and you are laughing! My mrs wont move, too many friends and family local. Shame as i could live anywhere with my job.
 
Exactly! Pick a town with a decent rail link near by and you are laughing! My mrs wont move, too many friends and family local. Shame as i could live anywhere with my job.

Some of the villages around you have daft prices, Hermitage/Cold Ash etc
 
Exactly! Pick a town with a decent rail link near by and you are laughing! My mrs wont move, too many friends and family local. Shame as i could live anywhere with my job.

Quite a bit of my business is from exactly that. People buying lovely houses in picturesque towns like Stamford for less than an flat in Town. Train is hassle free and quick.
 
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