45 OXFORD, SUMMERTOWN
Oxford tops lists for best schools, best lifestyle, pretty much best everything, but how do you buy into a city where houses in the centre rarely come onto the market — and where, when they do, they’re snapped up by a university college or super-rich tiger parents? Simple: head to Summertown, a couple of miles north of the city centre, so within walking and cycling distance.
Like a mini Oxford, with a hub of shops and cafes on the Banbury Road, this is the neighbourhood where everyone wants to live. It has leafy roads with large yellow- or red-brick Victorian houses that were once the domain of academics and intellectuals, including JRR Tolkien and Iris Murdoch. It’s stuffed with brilliant schools, both state and independent, and can’t expand because of the River Cherwell, to the east, and
Port Meadow, to the west. All that makes houses expensive, but at least you’ll be in good company.
AVERAGE AREA PRICE £598,261 ▲ 7.19%; zoopla.co.uk/market/ox2
Why we love it It’s the clever choice.
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46 SALFORD
Passengers on the Sunday-lunch and afternoon-tea cruises on the Manchester Ship Canal get a waterside view of life on the Quays, formerly the Salford docks and now dominated by the 200-acre MediaCity. Many of those who work there live in the new-build flats, which provide a weekday crash pad for those on the BBC payroll. But for others, including energetic retirees and downsizers who enjoy getting tickets to radio and TV shows, this is their permanent address.
They are attracted by the lifestyle on their doorstep: the Lowry theatres and gallery, the Imperial War Museum North, a shopping mall, bars and restaurants. For sporty types, there’s an aquatic centre with open-water swimming, windsurfing and wakeboarding. Regular Metrolink trams make the 20-minute journey to Manchester’s mainline station; cycling or walking take a little longer. It’s a dream location for Man U fans, too: the Red Devils’ stadium is a 15-minute walk across the Millennium footbridge.
AVERAGE AREA PRICE £221,449 ▲ 1.96%; zoopla.co.uk/market/greater-manchester/salford/the-quays
WHY WE LOVE IT It offers the perfect work/life balance.
47 SHEFFIELD, ECCLESALL
Sheffield folk like to tell visitors that the city is built on seven hills — just like Rome. The comparisons probably end there, though. The Second World War robbed it of much of its architectural heritage, but the hills lend the UK’s fifth largest city a certain character, creating distinct districts with their own atmosphere, and there is an abundance of green spaces.
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Ecclesall is a lively area, popular with young families and in the catchment of Silverdale School, long rated outstanding by Ofsted. Largely independent shops, cafes and restaurants line Ecclesall Road, which leads into the city centre, and there are tranquil spots, too: Ecclesall Woods (350 acres of ancient woodland), the Botanical Gardens and Endcliffe Park, from which you can walk through a series of parks into the Peak District National Park for wilder hills and moors. The city has a renowned theatre, the Crucible — which also hosts the World Snooker Championship — and several new or improved galleries and museums. For £350,000, you can buy a Victorian or Edwardian semi.
AVERAGE AREA PRICE £283,715 ▲ 2.81%; zoopla.co.uk/market/s11
WHY WE LOVE IT The steel city is surprisingly green and cultured.
48 WINCHESTER
To live here is to feel connected to centuries of English history — Alfred the Great’s statue gazes down the high street, Edward I’s round table (modelled on King Arthur’s) hangs in the medieval Great Hall and the 11th-century cathedral is one of the biggest in the country. England’s ancient capital also serves modern needs well, with thriving independent shops and restaurants, excellent schools, and the M3 and station providing easy access to London. The open spaces of the New Forest and South Downs national parks are on the doorstep, too.
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If you have the budget, St Cross, south of the centre, is the neighbourhood to aim for, with stucco Regency townhouses and solid Victorian piles. Across the River Itchen, St Giles Hill has large detached houses with great views over the city, while Fulflood — near the station, Westgate School and Peter Symonds College — is popular with families.
AVERAGE PRICE £467,670 ▲ 9.24%; zoopla.co.uk/market/winchester
WHY WE LOVE IT Round here, the past is not another country.
49 WORCESTER
The regeneration of this pocket-sized cathedral city is turning it into an attractive alternative to Birmingham, which is just 30 miles north along the M5. Waterside developments have been transforming the old potteries and porcelain factories (Royal Worcester) into loft apartments, with new-build homes now for sale. House prices are way below those in Cheltenham and Malvern, further south, but you get a lot of city for your money. The cathedral and King’s School are close to the River Severn, and from the centre, you can walk to the racecourse at one end of town and the cricket ground at the other.
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A smart new pedestrianised shopping area near the cathedral is planned for 2016, and a humongous new Waitrose is due to open later this year. Worcester sauce is still made here, and the city is being spiced up.
AVERAGE PRICE £230,501 ▲ 5.88%; zoopla.co.uk/market/worcester
WHY WE LOVE Ihttp://www.zoopla.co.uk/market/worcester-park/ T Small city, big ideas.
50 YORK
In Roman times, York was the capital of “Britannia Inferior”, the northern outpost of the empire. Inferior isn’t a word that springs to mind these days — this is one of our most beautiful cities, ringed by medieval walls and lorded over by the gothic bulk of the Minster. Despite the historic appeal, it’s no museum piece: York has a thriving university and science park, high-speed rail links to London — less than two hours to King’s Cross— and those middle-class must-haves John Lewis and Waitrose, as well as theatres, an opera house and a reputed 365 pubs.
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Terry’s confectionery production moved out of the city a decade ago, and the art deco Chocolate Works is being redeveloped to create more than 200 homes, as well as offices, hotels and restaurants. For a prime location within walking distance of the city centre, look at Bootham, a neighbourhood with well-preserved terraces of Georgian and Victorian townhouses, and the private Bootham and St Peter’s schools. Bootham Green, a conversion of a former schoolhouse into modern eco-homes, was snapped up within days.
AVERAGE PRICE £250,634 ▲ 3.02%; zoopla.co.uk/market/york
WHY WE LOVE IT The reasons are legion.