Moving to Newport...

[Deleted account 210609001]

There's a faint possibility I may have the opportunity to move with work to Newport. Won't be until next Spring, but need to decide fairly soon whether to keep my options open or exclude myself from the outset.

I've been past Newport many times on the M4, but never closer than that.

So, what's it like? Is it a reasonable area to live and work? Reasonable property prices (well, if any property prices these days can be called "reasonable")? Enormous amounts of anti-English feeling?

Thanks in advance,

Robin.

 

[Doug]

There's a faint possibility I may have the opportunity to move with work to Newport. Won't be until next Spring, but need to decide fairly soon whether to keep my options open or exclude myself from the outset.

I've been past Newport many times on the M4, but never closer than that.

So, what's it like? Is it a reasonable area to live and work? Reasonable property prices (well, if any property prices these days can be called "reasonable")? Enormous amounts of anti-English feeling?

Thanks in advance,

Robin.

Hello Robin, Newport is not a bad place to stay mate like most places with big council estates it has it's fair share of problems (i was born and brought up on one) but there are plenty of nice places especially in the surrounding areas.

Here's a link to one of the bigger estate agents http://www.robertsandcoestateagents.co.uk/

I spent a year working on C.T.R.L and stayed in Ashford, give me Newport anytime.

If I can help you out give me a PM I'll do what I can and I'll answer any specific questions about any particular area your looking at

What work do you do to move here?

 

[Bob Jeffries]

I live 5 miles up the valley in Cwmbran and have lived here all my (long) life.

Newport was made a city a couple of years ago and like many other cities with “docks” is undergoing massive re-generation with much of the central shopping area having been recently knocked down and in the process of being re-built. A lot of major companies are/have moving to the area and it is quite a prosperous area (at least by Welsh standards).

Some areas are considered “rough” and “lawless” and the town centre seems like a battlefield to me on Friday & Saturday nights but my 22 year old daughter thinks it’s great!

It’s not far from the Brecon Beacons National Park, has good seaside places not far away and plenty of fantastic biking roads are within easy reach.

Property prices are high for Wales but very low prices are within easy (< 20min) commuting distance, so you have plenty of choice. There’s no anti-English at all as the English (and other non-Welsh) almost certainly outnumber us Welsh this far East, Welsh Wales only really starts West of Cardiff and North of Cwmbran.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Many thanks, Bob and Bigbird. I'll check out the estate agents link and see what I can see. Sounds like a weekend in the area might be called for just seeing where's where.

Ideally, I'd be looking for a rural location ouside of town, but I completely agree with what you say - any reasonably large town in this day and age will have its dodgier areas. Ashford's a dump, but 10 miles outside are some nice villages

Property prices around here in the extreme south-east are not massive - 40 miles nearer to London and prices double - so I reckon they're roughly the same. Our budget (assuming the move ever happens) will be around £650,000 - will that get us anything much in the sticks?


(PS Just kidding - if only! - £200,000 max is what our house is worth, so that's all we'll have to spend.)

 

[Doug]

Robin, £200,000 will get you a nice wooden shed in the docks area


Naaa it will get you a 3 bed detatched in most places. Or you can buy most of Risca.

 

[Fanum]

Robin, £200,000 will get you a nice wooden shed in the docks area


Naaa it will get you a 3 bed detatched in most places. Or you can buy most of Risca.

No chance of making it Northumberland is there Robin???

You could buy the county for that, and still have some left over to buy Chris some Gin

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

No chance of making it Northumberland is there Robin???

You could buy the county for that, and still have some left over to buy Chris some Gin

Might make the commute a bit tedious!

I have absolutely no desire to live in a town or city, and would happily live in a village 30 miles away if it meant somewhere bigger/nicer/more rural/bigger garage.

 

[Britishbeefy]

£200K will still just about get you a 4 bed nearly new detached with garage within 40 mins (commuting time) of Newport.
Anti-English? They might not speak a lot of Welsh but that doesn't mean you won't "get it" come 6 Nations time! Try wearing the red rose out around town of a weekend and see where it gets you

 

[Dickieboy]

Many thanks, Bob and Bigbird. I'll check out the estate agents link and see what I can see. Sounds like a weekend in the area might be called for just seeing where's where.

Ideally, I'd be looking for a rural location ouside of town, but I completely agree with what you say - any reasonably large town in this day and age will have its dodgier areas. Ashford's a dump, but 10 miles outside are some nice villages

Property prices around here in the extreme south-east are not massive - 40 miles nearer to London and prices double - so I reckon they're roughly the same. Our budget (assuming the move ever happens) will be around £650,000 - will that get us anything much in the sticks?


(PS Just kidding - if only! - £200,000 max is what our house is worth, so that's all we'll have to spend.)

Robin I left Newport years ago to live first up in the Gwent Valleys and latterly just outside Abergavenny. Depending on where you will actually be working you have a vast choice of rural areas to the North and North east of Newport, lots of places between Chepstow and Newport, you've also got Usk and Monmouth. There are lots of new developments around the the town and the satellite areas.
The M4 isn't so much a motorway at Newport it's more of a bypass with 5 exits serving the town alone.
Let us know when you are coming down and we'll sort some hospitality out.
As Bob says there is no 'anti' feeling at all in Newport.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Thanks, Dickieboy and British Beefy.

My ideal (whether here, in Wales, or anywhere else) is to have a house from which I can't see any other houses! I'd rather have a two-bedroomed cottage with a big garden and garage/workshop miles from anywhere than a four-bedroomed house in a town. But then I'd rather have a house like THIS. One must cut one's cloth according to one's pocket, I suppose.

Anyway, you've all given me encouragement I need, so I will start making plans. It'll be dependant upon a Civil Service relocation going to plan/budget/timescale...

 

[Andy Michael]

Robin for £650k you will pretty much get what you want in the newport / surrounding area, there are plenty of out of town rural places with the kind of lifestyle your looking for, Newport itself is no picture postcard although it's heading in the right direction, the main thing from a bike point of view is you've got some of the best roads in the UK on your doorstep and that's not a bad thing. Anti English? in general Newport folk get accused more of being Anti Welsh, so that's never going to be a problem.
Best wishes for what ever you decide to do and if you want to head out on a fact finding visit drop any of us locals a line and we will do what we can to help

 

[archaeo]

hi robin,
good luck with the move here to wales, i hope you enjoy where you choose to move to..... i live to the west of you, there are some lovely roads to play on over here to the west.... and once a month there is also the abercrave meet of the tossers, of whom i am proud to be one...

as they say here groeso i gymru (my welsh isnt fantastic, so i hope i have written welcome to wales and not something rude )

 

[PW Cymru]

Is there something you need to tell us Maria

 

[archaeo]

ummm i changed thumper and i got a TDM....sorry

 

[Backmarker]

Working as I do for a charity that covers England and Wales, I find myself depart' mentally 'located' in Cardiff and 'physically' located in London. So I travel a bit to Cardiff. And a mate of mine at work (in London), used to work for our Newport branch, so I have lept on a train (when staying overnight in Cardiff) to Newport for a meal and a few beers.

Suggest you do the same. Plenty of B&B's, make up your own mind.

As to 'is it a nice place to live and work' and 'are property prices reasonable', well, which do you want?

 

[Backmarker]

Working as I do for a charity that covers England and Wales, I find myself 'departmentally' 'located' in Cardiff and 'physically' located in London. So I travel a bit to Cardiff. And a mate of mine at work (in London), used to work for our Newport branch, so I have lept on a train (when staying overnight in Cardiff) to Newport for a meal and a few beers when she was visiting her old stomping grounds.

Suggest you do the same. Plenty of B&B's, make up your own mind.

As to 'is it a nice place to live and work' and 'are property prices reasonable', well, which do you want?

 

[wessie]

My father's family come from Newport and I've lived in Monmouthshire for much of my life.

I'd quite happily work in Newport but I'd probably choose to live elsewhere. The city is in a state of transition and I'd rather avoid it until some sort of cohesion is developed. I lived in Cardiff for 3 years recently and, given a change of circumstance, I'd quite happily go back there as it has moved much further along the transition from industrial modernity to the postmodern.

Anyway, enough of this socio-bollocks.....

Whilst Monmouthshire has the most expensive housing in Wales, average house prices exceeding many counties in SE England, your budget will afford you a des res in a suitably secluded location. One of the benefits of the topography, dominated by a series of river valleys, is that you can live in a seemingly isolated wilderness yet be 20 minutes drive from a reasonably sized town.

If I had your budget I would initially look at the A449 corridor from Raglan, Usk down to the M4 to see what was available. Next would be the Usk/Chepstow road and finally the Usk Valley north of Caerleon and around Usk itself. If you can find a property in any of these areas then you will have a commute of around 30 mins. Once you get as far north as Monmouth or Abergavenny then the commute is likley to be 60mins.