So I live in Cookridge in the suburbia of Leeds, I have always wanted to move into the city, what is it like, how expensive is it and is it worth it?

Depends where you live, it can vary quite a lot. I rent in a 2 bedroom flat with parking in Ahlux House, which is just off Regent Street on the fringes of the centre, and that's £650 per month (or £325 per person/£76 per week if you share like me). If you were in Clarence Dock though or somewhere more central it'd probably be a lot more.

I live in this building, although I'm moving out next week for the considerably cheaper delights of Burley.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/3199716768_26534f50d6.jpg?v=0

I rent in New York Apartments, above the new Co-op store by the bus station, and its only £525 a month. Which i think is really good considering its right in the city centre and theres lots of communal outdoor gardens and terraces in the building, something you dont get at clarence dock!

525 is for 2 bedrooms presumebley

In the City Centre 525 could be for 1 bedroom, a lot of them are... in which case it's not great value really.

I'm the opposite of Rhinomatt, I live in the city but want to move to Horsforth!

525 is for a 1 bed however it is right in the city centre, i dont need a car due to proximity to bus station and the iceworks, next door, wanted 575 for a 1 bes flat half the size of my currnet flat and with no outdoor space.
For me having outdoor space in the city centre is great and worth paying for, i know a friend who lives in a one bed at clarence dock, same size as mine, but is paying 600 a month and only has a very tiny balcony for outdoor space.

its just perhaps not as pleasent directly opposite the bus station compared to other city centre pads, which is why I wondered if the price was perhaps not as high as some other places. You can get a 2 bed appartment on whitehall water front for 550pcm - which has plenty of communal outdoor space, and the river front etc, and is also equally central, if not more :dunno:

I'm looking at living in Whitehall Waterfront or Whitehall Quayside for my next academic year at uni.
I'm sick of living in drafty and cold terrace houses in Burley and Headingley. The students that live there don't look after the area either it's always covered with litter.

I've (also) been flat-hunting today as I'm looking to move to Leeds, having just started working on the edge of the city (west park ring road). Driving in from York is becoming tiresome already, and it's quite pricey on the train and theres the hike from Horsforth station (tho the walk is probably good for me!)

SK - what's the walk like from there to the city centre?

I'd prefer to live on the edge of the city (ie. withing walking distance to the city, so say up to 1.5miles walk out), than somewhere further out which might be handy for work but crap for everything else. I guess somewhere like Horsforth might be okay - at least it has a train station, tho it's still a taxi back from Leeds if it's late.

The main options for the newish flats seem to be - City Island, the Clarance Dock/Calls type area, around East Street, and around Regent Street.

The other areas that have come up are around Burley and the northern bits of Hunslet - I've read mixed things about both of them.

Anyone any comments or suggestions for places to look at (or avoid). I'm probably (ie. 99% sure) i'm going to be renting and it'll need parking.

I'm now looking for a 1 bed flat in the city centre. I was going to live with my mate in the year below but he wants to live in Headingley in a 6 bed house. As I'll be in my third year I don't want to live in a big house with a lot of people as I need to concentrate on my work and don't want to be woken up by pissed up seconds years coming in at 5am.
I've been looking on the net for hours trying to find a place. I've found a flat in the Marlborough Tower Block near Park Lane College for £465pcm. Good location (kind of), nice looking flat and it's cheaper than a lot of modern city centre apartments.

cmj - I personally wouldn't look at City Island as it's a bit cut off from everything. There aren't really any local amenities apart from the Coop on Wellington Street and a newsagent. The area at night is also really quiet with barely any people around. I used to live at Liberty Park, which is just over the road and walking along Wellington Street late at night isn't that nice.
I'd personally pick Clarence Dock or somewhere closer to the train station (Whitehall Quayside) but it depends how much you're willing to spend.

The only reason I'm thinking about moving into the flat in the Marlborough Towers is that it's a lot cheaper than anything in the city centre and it's fairly close to uni. I can't afford to be paying £550-£600 a month as it's not fair on my parents who currently pay for my rent.
It's annoying that I have to do an extra year as it's really screwed me over in terms of accomodation.

There seem to be a few places in Holbeck Urban Village (Manor Street?) around - what's that like thesedays?

Stefan88: Is Whitehall Quayside the stuff just off Whitehall Road, and is City Island further out? I might've been getting the two confused.

City Island is the one that's closer to the dual carriageway. Whitehall Quayside is next to the Novotel, just over the road from the Lumiere site.

I've (also) been flat-hunting today as I'm looking to move to Leeds, having just started working on the edge of the city (west park ring road). Driving in from York is becoming tiresome already, and it's quite pricey on the train and theres the hike from Horsforth station (tho the walk is probably good for me!)

SK - what's the walk like from there to the city centre?

I'd prefer to live on the edge of the city (ie. withing walking distance to the city, so say up to 1.5miles walk out), than somewhere further out which might be handy for work but crap for everything else. I guess somewhere like Horsforth might be okay - at least it has a train station, tho it's still a taxi back from Leeds if it's late.

The main options for the newish flats seem to be - City Island, the Clarance Dock/Calls type area, around East Street, and around Regent Street.

The other areas that have come up are around Burley and the northern bits of Hunslet - I've read mixed things about both of them.

Anyone any comments or suggestions for places to look at (or avoid). I'm probably (ie. 99% sure) i'm going to be renting and it'll need parking.

Hey,

From the flats around Regent Street I'd say it's about a 10 min walk to Briggate. I worked on the other side of the City Centre though, so my walk t owork was more like 20mins - which is why I moved to Burley, as it's also 20mins from here to work. However, the students next door make a racket all night all week - next time I move I'm thinking Horsforth/Far Headingley/West Park :)

Hey,

From the flats around Regent Street I'd say it's about a 10 min walk to Briggate. I worked on the other side of the City Centre though, so my walk t owork was more like 20mins - which is why I moved to Burley, as it's also 20mins from here to work. However, the students next door make a racket all night all week - next time I move I'm thinking Horsforth/Far Headingley/West Park :)

Sounds like Burley is an area to miss then? :)

Found a place by the dockside in Victoria Quays so all being well I should be moving there in 3-4 weeks.

Looks well sited - the nearest pub is the Adelphi which seems pretty good, and it's right near town. Driving anywhere might be fun tho, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Which is Victoraia Quays? Is that one of those off Dock Street?

Which is Victoraia Quays? Is that one of those off Dock Street?

Yeah. At least thats where the flat is - I think that's Victoria Quays anyway.

I've lived in the city for a couple of years now and have always found flat hunting hard work.

When looking for my first flat i visited lots of developments and was disappointed by most. For me, the lack of attention to detail in the design of the apartments was the most annoying thing - light switches placed behind doors so when you enter a room you have shut the door in the dark to reach the switch! a very small detail, but after 6 months really starts to get on your nerves.

I eventually settled on Mackenzie House in Clarence Dock. (£750 pcm knocked down from £825pcm)The apartment won me over due to the high spec of the kitchen and living area, and it had two large bedrooms, two bathrooms, large hallway and a secure parking space. My only fault with the apartment came when i was on the balcony one night (2am in December) and the handle fell of the balcony door. The police finally tracked down my flatmate 8 very cold hours later, and he was able to open the door from the inside.

I then moved to Whitehall Quay (behind Novotel) and found another great apartment similar spec to CD. Although i'm paying slightly more at £760 (again knocked down from £850), the location couldn't be more perfect. The building is always kept tidy, and neighbours are great. I face the railway and have a great view of Granary Wharf under construction. The noise from the station is only noticeable with the windows open, so no problem really.

I'm due to move again next month and have found an apartment in the HUV. A lovely 1 bed apmt, for £600pcm - although i do need to find a parking space. (any ideas?) The large open plan living space and exposed brick work mean this is a place with great character, something which i've struggled to find in most city centre developments.

So in my experience, i can recommend CD, Whitehall Quay and the HUV - although i've not actually lived there, but the apmts look really nice.

I'm expecting to move to Leeds in June.

Looking at all the flats around the station and the canal - what do people reckon are the best places to be?

I'd be looking to rent a 2 bedroom place and try and find a flatmate, to keep costs down.

Are they decent places to be and are there facilities in and around the blocks, like shops, gym etc?

its just perhaps not as pleasent directly opposite the bus station compared to other city centre pads, which is why I wondered if the price was perhaps not as high as some other places. You can get a 2 bed appartment on whitehall water front for 550pcm - which has plenty of communal outdoor space, and the river front etc, and is also equally central, if not more :dunno:

All right wiggley

In Whitehall waterfront, what facilities are there? I'll be lookign round the area next week.

I've seen places there for £700pcm for the whole 2 bed flat. Are you saying £550pcm for a 2 bed flat? Or do prices rise as you go up the floors?

All right wiggley

In Whitehall waterfront, what facilities are there? I'll be lookign round the area next week.

I've seen places there for £700pcm for the whole 2 bed flat. Are you saying £550pcm for a 2 bed flat? Or do prices rise as you go up the floors?


It really seems to depend when you're looking as to what rent you can get. Unfortunately, most of the demand for city flat renting is during the summer (as it's when lots of students graduate and get real jobs I guess), so it's a little tougher to get the same deals you'd get in the grim winter months.

Well I'm still looking.

Also looking at 1 bed places in the city centre as I cant seem to find anyone to live with, anywhere!

Stefan you got a place yet?

The cheaper 1 beds and studios are on for like £375 to £500 and £700 for 2 bed flats.

Despite rents apparently dropping by 20% in the past year, the quality of places on offer doesnt seem to be that great. Where are all the places with shops, gyms etc? I must be missing something!

I visited West Point - i dunno what they were playign at with that creme carpet?

And anyone know what citispace and/or the chandlers in the calls are like?

brewery wharf?? too many developments.

Well I'm still looking.

Also looking at 1 bed places in the city centre as I cant seem to find anyone to live with, anywhere!

Stefan you got a place yet?

The cheaper 1 beds and studios are on for like £375 to £500 and £700 for 2 bed flats.

Despite rents apparently dropping by 20% in the past year, the quality of places on offer doesnt seem to be that great. Where are all the places with shops, gyms etc? I must be missing something!

I visited West Point - i dunno what they were playign at with that creme carpet?

And anyone know what citispace and/or the chandlers in the calls are like?

brewery wharf?? too many developments.

There seem to be a lot of mediocre developments around, and my worry is that it'll eventually put people off city centre living, and it'll all go full circle again and end up as inner city ghettos.

Victoria Quays (which is where I am) feels like it was done "on the cheap". I'm not sure how it compares to other development, but the flats don't seem all that well designed, and are SINGLE GLAZED (bad for both noise and being cold in winter). The walls seem to do a good job at transmitting sound, but that could be the case in all/most developments. Before I moved to Leeds I lived in a 1930sish terrace in York - old buildings seem to be better built!

On the plus side, I think they all have a parking space. I can't say I'd be staying there too long, but it is handy for the city :)

I did look at a place in the Chandlers, I think what put me off was it had odd shaped rooms, felt like it had been squeezed in (probably was) but they may not all be like that.

I can't remember where has the gym now, I was meant to go see a flat there but it had either gone before I got to go or something else happened.

Roberts Wharf looked nice when I went to look at those. They were all furnished (and I had furniture so really wanted unfurnished), and Clarance Dock has some nice places, but generally more expensive, and think parking was extra on the ones i looked at.

Yeah I was severely dissappointed by West point when I got there. No doubt theres some nice flats in there, but the hallways, and the flat I saw were shockers. Was a 2 bed going for £80k, 15th floor, and you have to take 2 lifts to get up there and cross this bizarre empty hallway with the thick creme carpet with brown stains all over it to get to the second lift.

West point could have been excellent what with the possibility of Lumiere or something similar on one side, and that mega development on the other side which is on hold (whats it called?).

^^ if you are looking to buy, my advice would be to buy now in this dip, as prices will return back to what they are really worth quite soon. Make stupid offers. A 2 bed renovated back to back in beeston or armley that was 95k before the price-crash, will be up for 80k now, but a cheeky offer of 75k and it may be yours. Give it a year, and it will jump back up to its real worth of 95k.

^^ if you are looking to buy, my advice would be to buy now in this dip, as prices will return back to what they are really worth quite soon. Make stupid offers. A 2 bed renovated back to back in beeston or armley that was 95k before the price-crash, will be up for 80k now, but a cheeky offer of 75k and it may be yours. Give it a year, and it will jump back up to its real worth of 95k.

One could argue it's real worth is more like the 75k (or less) you might get it for now, and the 95k for a small pile of bricks in Beeston is over-inflated.

Well I'm still looking.

Also looking at 1 bed places in the city centre as I cant seem to find anyone to live with, anywhere!

Stefan you got a place yet?

The cheaper 1 beds and studios are on for like £375 to £500 and £700 for 2 bed flats.

Despite rents apparently dropping by 20% in the past year, the quality of places on offer doesnt seem to be that great. Where are all the places with shops, gyms etc? I must be missing something!

I visited West Point - i dunno what they were playign at with that creme carpet?

And anyone know what citispace and/or the chandlers in the calls are like?

brewery wharf?? too many developments.


Know what you mean about cream carpet - I lived in a flat in Ahlux House off Regent Street and that had cream throughout - I swear they do it just so they can extract large amounts of money from your deposit for 'cleaning' bills.

DON'T settle for Citispace unless you're desperate. The flats are fitted with a 'space saving kitchen', which is basically a cupboard which opens up to contain a sink, a hob and a microwave (no oven as they expect young professionals will want to eat out every night).

Think I'd rather pay considerably more to buy a house in Horsforth, Chapel Allerton or West Park than settle for living in Beeston/Armley.

^^ if you are looking to buy, my advice would be to buy now in this dip, as prices will return back to what they are really worth quite soon. Make stupid offers. A 2 bed renovated back to back in beeston or armley that was 95k before the price-crash, will be up for 80k now, but a cheeky offer of 75k and it may be yours. Give it a year, and it will jump back up to its real worth of 95k.

I'm afraid prices reflect what they are worth and what people are prepared to pay. Saying they will jump 20% in a year makes you sound like a dodgy salesman trying to flog real estate in Dubai or Bulgaria, or the the very worst practices that occured in the UK before the housing crash. Bullshit basically. I'd be interested to know on what you base your assuptions that the market will miraculously recover 20% by this time next year?

^^

It is because property prices are always linked directly with rental yield in transient areas.

2 bed back to backs in armley, done up, rent for 500pcm. This means such properties stop being commercially viable after 95k. The identical 2 bed back 2 backs in hyde park stop being viable after 130k, which is the price they go for, given the rental income (600pcm)

The only thing bringing prices down is that people cant buy right now due to restricted lending. I dont mean reduced lending multiples, but tougher criteria, particularly for buy2let etc. These are already being relaxed infact. Once it returns to being easier to get mortgages again (and it has to as banks have to start lending to each other again in order to start making money again), you'll see demand push them back up to their optimum price which is dependent solely on the rental value that can be acheived.

Properties in armley will be the first to shoot back up given that they are one of the few places where a new family can buy their own home for under 100k and live in a reasonable area. This is why 2bed properties appreciate much more in value than apartments - because, while apartments have an equal rental yield, they dont appreciate in value so much because people dont actually want to buy them to live in them, they would rather buy a terrace house in an inner suburb.

Know what you mean about cream carpet - I lived in a flat in Ahlux House off Regent Street and that had cream throughout - I swear they do it just so they can extract large amounts of money from your deposit for 'cleaning' bills.

DON'T settle for Citispace unless you're desperate. The flats are fitted with a 'space saving kitchen', which is basically a cupboard which opens up to contain a sink, a hob and a microwave (no oven as they expect young professionals will want to eat out every night).

Think I'd rather pay considerably more to buy a house in Horsforth, Chapel Allerton or West Park than settle for living in Beeston/Armley.

It had crossed my mind about the cleaning bills and the carpets too. In west point theres a little offshoot from it where all those grey bits are round the back. The corridoors there are cool, metal and wood and they are outside basically - much nicer. Shame the flat I saw was utter crap.

They all have a space saving kitchen in citispace? That rules me out, I need to cook!

I'll have a look at the cheaper ones in the chandlers, although I would like to share but I dont want to live with some nutter. I want a flat too because I dont want to have a grotty student like house that im used to and I dont want an overgrown garden. Plus i want to be able to walk to work and the pub :). I want never gets though I suppose!

I'm still looking for a place in the city centre from January onwards really. I only want a 6 month let but I'm unsure how easy it'll be to get one.
A lot of landlords also don't rent city centre apartments out to students because they think they'll wreck them.

It's so annoying that a 1 bed flat is only like 100 quid cheaper than a two bed. If I shared with someone I'd save myself loads of money.

Yeah, sharing saves loads and gives you more choice too really.

You could house share with me? :nuts:

We've a room available :D

at least i would have someone to share my geeky building fascination with

^^ No, but you can rent me your flat at Granary Wharf if you like :)

£550 a month. Deal :|

its only a large stuiod tho and to be fair, i'd probably let it for a bit less, as i dont really need the extra money, it just seems a bit wrong paying for a studio for more than 500.

u can get a 1 bedroom in city island for 500pcm.

^^ I'm not a huge fan of City Island to be honest. It's too cut off from everything. Heard not so nice stories from previous tenants (crap build quality, crap sound insulation, annoying neighbours etc etc)

It's too far away from uni and the nearest decent supermarket is Morrison's in town and it's a fair way to walk with a load of shopping.

Would I be able to ask for some advice from you when I'm looking to rent. I've had a good look on the internet on rightmove etc etc.

sure. ask away whenever ya want. dont forget torent.co.uk and gumtree if ur lookin for flat-shares.