flats in Bath

We've still got a bit of time before we will need to seriously look, in fact we need to get me over there! But I thought Id ask around and see if anyone has any tips/advice for finding a place in Bath, thats not super expensive.

And what sort of time frame will we need to be successful? DF works over on warminster so being close to there would be nice...we're hoping to find a flat near the city centre...

Oh and we wont have a car so anywhere not w/in walking distance is out for the first year or so :/

Katrina

if anyone has any tips/advice for finding a place in Bath, thats not super expensive.

we're hoping to find a flat near the city centre...

I'm really, really sorry to break this to you, but Bath is extremely expensive, ESPECIALLY near city centre.  Second only to London in the entire UK for cost of housing. 

I'm really, really sorry to break this to you, but Bath is extremely expensive, ESPECIALLY near city centre.  Second only to London in the entire UK for cost of housing. 

I was trying to avoid being the one to break this news! Thanks, expat!

I was trying to avoid being the one to break this news! Thanks, expat!

My mum and I stayed there in November, just visiting, and paid an absolute fortune for lodging.  And believe you me, we looked high and low. 

It's very lovely and historic, thus making it incredibly desirable and therefore mind-blowingly expensive.

A lot of people live in Bristol.  It's not cheap there, either, though.

We knew it would be expensive, I guess what Im saying is a flat thats not going to take 1/2 the money we make

I didnt realize it was second only to London though.

df mentioned living in kingswood which is a good location between bristol (family) and work (bath) but that would require a car. I pointed out if we lived in a cheaper location we could afford a car payment.

He lives in Bristol now and although work pays for his travel its a long journey back and forth each day, when we were together hed not get home until sometimes 8 pm...have to leave by 7 am.

Thats why we were planning to live in Bath, it would be much more convenient, we wont have a car right away etc. Might just have to bite the bullet. I have seen the cost of flats on rightmove.co.uk, so at least we wont have sticker shock.

We knew it would be expensive, I guess what Im saying is a flat thats not going to take 1/2 the money we make

It depends on what your salaries are and on what you consider affordable. It's certainly not impossible to live in Bath. My cousin and her husband live in a gorgeous Georgian house right on the river in central Bath.

We too will be house-hunting in Bath in a few months. Yes, the prices are just a might depressing, especially since house prices here where we are selling are reflecting a flailing economy. We're figuring on buying a house half the size as our current one. We keep repeating to ourselves, "Yes, but when we walk out our door..." When we were there before we used to hear that areas around Odd Down and Combe Down were cheaper (relatively speaking), and also that some towns between Bath and Bristol were more affordable. Do you want to live close to the center of Bath? (We do, but we'll see what we actually settle for when we get there!)  When will you start looking? I'd love to hear anything you find out.

Forgot to mention, if you can manage to be carless by staying close to the center, think of the money you'll save on fuel, upkeep, insurance and all that car stuff. Might help when you're weighing costs.

I think we will start casually looking right away, I know flats dont stay on the market long there. I agree with the 'when we walk out our front door'..its gorgeous

my fiance makes a reasonable salary, I think anyway hehe I dont know whats good for the UK but the immigration people think hed make an excellent sponsor

Im hoping to make a decent salary but I dont know what to expect.

My fiance and his boss found a flat in very close proximity to his work for £650, two bedrooms, aparently nice place, but available now...we dont need it now!  

If only wed get that lucky when we are actually looking     have seen some in city centre that were within our budget, but nothing huge or fancy..that can come later though. The only thing that makes me wonder was the seeming ceiling height, in one of the places I saw it was perfect except the ceilings seemed VERY low...

Between bristol and bath I saw very nice places for less than that, and df is debating if hed mind the drive

For me I am having a hard time debating if a country girl can be happy smack in the middle of a city. I think bath is gorgeous, we'll see if I can do w/o my own yard...

My husband and I are here on his work permit for a year, and he is working in Warminster! We looked at flats in Bath when we first went searching, but a few things put us off that you should think about.  Bath is an AMAZING city, and I often hop the train to go there for the day, but living there is a bit different. Mainly, the traffic is really really horrible...I would say your fiance would have at least an hour drive to Warminster from there during traffic times! Add to that the annoyances of finding a parking spot....not fun! 

After realizing that and seeing what you can get for the $ in terms of space to $ ratio, we decided to look at other towns on the way to Warminster, but close to Bath.

We are living in Bradford on Avon, about 30min. drive for DH to get to Warminster. It is a really cute stone village. Trowbridge is a bigger town nearby and closer to Warminster, but not much character, good to go to for a Tesco, but kinda run down in our opinion. Higher cost of flats starts to get cheaper there, but it's not the most ideal place to live.

*just realized you said you won't have a car, so nevermind the traffic comments =) In that case, the train station is a good size and easy to use in Bath!

PM me if you have any specific questions about this area!! It'd be fun to meet up with you once you get here, too!

Also, Bath as a city is smack in the middle of country, about 1-2 miles out of the city and all you see is rolling hills, sheep and farmland  So don't worry, you can have the best of both worlds...city and country!

Oh I realized I said warminster and not warminster road Was quite interesting using sat nav to get there, we ended up actuallly in warminster

We will be looking at both options, although I think df would really prefer in bath, he doesnt drive anyway

Ive experienced the traffic there, definitely not fun, esp during rush-hour..bleh

Im glad its got both city/country then, I was too busy not getting lost to realize that hehe

And thank you for the offer of meeting up, I would love to sometime

don't forget to factor in council tax.  it is not included in the rent and can run anywhere from about £100-£200+/month. 

You can get a 3 bedroom house in Bromley Heath (north Bristol) for £650!!  And that's WITH a garden and garage.  Also about 12 miles from Bath.

Bristol has the X39 bus - a straight route between Bristol (city centre) and Bath every 10 minutes.

Bath may be lovely to visit - but it's VERY expensive....rent-council tax-groceries-dining out, etc.

Not trying to burst your bubble - but even with the cost of living there - rents are at a premium and get snapped up even before they get advertised!

My flat was rented before it even got into the paper and it's not even in Bath.

We have the problem of my fiances co-workers and others he knows saying 'this areas no good' 'dont live there' etc...

I honestly wouldnt mind a 12 mile drive each day. When the time comes we will weigh all the options and see whats best for us. Although I like the idea of a garden and a garage for £650

What other areas are on the outside of Bath?