Location, Location C4 - Teesside to South

Redwurzel

Redwurzel

Well-known member
I recently watch most of a episode of Location, Location, Location - with a couple living on Teesside moving to Southampton area. There were mid 30s with a two year old boy. The husband was a chemical engineer. The programme looked like it was made last Summer. They thought they could buy a 4 bed detached house in excellent order for around £400k in a good area with good schools etc. After a lot of looking they had to increase their budget to £515k. They bought a new build that was 3 bed detached in Chandlers Ford from a small builder. The builder agreed to build a detached study in the garden. The house was screened by trees and a fence from the motorway but the motorway was about 50m from the front of the house. The area seemed nice and the gardens were a decent size. To me the programme emphasised the big price differences from Teesside to Southampton area (x2.25?). I don't see Southampton as a up market place to live, unlike say Oxford. And Its not really a daily commuter area (1 hour and 54 minutes on the train to Waterloo). I used to think places like Southampton were affordable to people with ordinary jobs, it doesn't like that now. I dread to think how much they would to borrow (£400k) what income would that require?
 
Chandler's Ford is actually in Eastleigh. It's probably one of the most expensive areas to move to due to its proximity to the M3, and Eastleigh rail station for the commute to London. Much nicer places in the area to live, next to the coast and cheaper.
 
NB

Schools seemed a very big thing to the couple which could be relevant to where they moved. Maybe transport links for the husbands job but in the part of the programme I watched that was not clear. They seem to think Chandlers Ford has the best schools

The property you found broadly meet their spec, but they were very choosey - on Teesside they looked at 96 properties before buying. I have just watched the introduction of the programme (called Hampshire on C4 website) and they are both chemical engineers who were originally Chinese Malay and met there. The programme said the price difference between their Teesside post code and Chandlers Ford was 85%. I suspect they lived in one of the most expensive areas of Teesside.

They bought brand new in CF which always adds another approx. 15% to prices in my experience, like new cars.
 
Last edited:
Schools in Locks Heath are excellent and it's close to the M27. It's 20 mins further away from London though. That's the only reason Chandler's Ford is so expensive, it's closer to London and right next to the M3 .Its a pretty soulless place to live if you ask me. Maybe I'm biased though I worked there for 10 years.Haha
 
I don't know these areas very well. I have been to Southampton for Boro games twice and went to Winchester for day when staying in Ashdown Forest. Winchester was like a small York and I imagine very expensive, CF was only 1.5 miles on road sign on the C4 programme from Winchester. As said I don't know how ordinary people can live in these sort of places, unless they have been on the property ladder for a long while. I would guess the job market isn't anything special, say lower incomes compared with London and less high paying jobs. I know North Kent and £400k will get you a decent house and its only 17 minutes to Kings Cross on the fast train.
 
I live in Fareham. Halfway between Southampton and Portsmouth... Not that far from Eastleigh. Been down here since 2001.

Outlying areas of Southampton and Portsmouth are no cheap by any stretch of the imagination.
Rents start around £750 a month and thats for flats in areas not that nice. Average town house rentals are £850-£1000PCM. For that sort of money you could afford to be in Wynyard.
Not uncommon to see rentals well in excess of £1100.
If you can afford it, its a nice place to live.
 
I live in Chandlers Ford and have had a flat in Eastleigh from 22 to 32 (four years ago).

Chandlers Ford is a lovely place to live, yes very close to the M3, but that's one property.

I only rent now, as I have been working on my business and investing all my finances in to that.

It's a very affluent area, the schools are extremely good and local business flourishes here.

Southampton itself, like any city, has its rough parts but it has its nice areas too.

It's not 1 hour 54 to London, I used to commute daily from Southampton Parkway station and sometimes from Winchester, the Eastleigh line is the stopping service. Most people from Chandlers Ford live closer to the Parkway Station.

There are a multitude of reasons as to why the area is expensive comparatively but here's a few.

2 Direct Train Links to London Waterloo.
1 Airport
M3 linking London and the rest of the country
M27 linking 3 coastal cities Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth - plus all the satellite towns.
The Docks and the Airports provide a lot of the industry here

It's like its own little economy, and has beautiful rolling countryside just outside your doorstep.

I've lived all over the South East of England, I've moved a lot, not by choice but by necessity and this is by far the nicest, friendliest and homely place I've ever lived.

I wouldn't buy a house right next to the motorway either, our friends live closer to the M3 and house prices are cheaper there than further in.
 
Cheers LK and Evil for your feedback

I stayed in Ashdown Forest near Petworth (West Sussex South Downs) for a week a few years back and its didn't seem like the South East as it was extremely quiet and underdeveloped. I saw very little house building completed in the last 60 years.

I got the train times from Google maybe its different in the lock down.

The price difference between the North and South seems to be getting bigger than ever, its not just within the M25.

I live in Herefordshire (very rural and pleasant) and for a 4 bed detached is more like £300k, as spec shown by Nobby Barnes - I guess there are a lot of service sector jobs moved to Hampshire from London like insurance and pensions companies and some people commute to London.
 
Being stuck indoors with trash tv over the last 4 weeks I have been watching some of these relocation programmes. One series has specialised on Florida: Loads of Brits buying detached 4 and 5 bedroom properties with swimming pools and a mooring at the end itheir gardens which front onto rivers. The prices? Generally about £100,000.

Wish someone had told us 20 years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top