I’m planning to move to Leeds early 2013 and looking for any advice on areas to avoid / best areas to move to etc.

I don’t have much knowledge of the areas outside of my commute to work (M621 through City to Shadwell out Wetherby Road)

I’ve been told to avoid areas like Beeston and most places on the south side of the city centre – which is fine as I’d ideally like to live on the North of the city centre due to work location.

But are there any other areas that I should avoid? (I drive through Harehills for work for example and it looks pretty dodgy in places)

And are places like Beeston as bad as people have told me? High crime, anti-scical behaviour etc

A quick search on rightmove has given me results in all corners of the city within my budget so any sound advice welcome.

Without wanting to sound obtuse, it really depends on what you are used to, what you would consider to be “bad” and how much you have to spend on a house.

Places like Beeston, Harehills, Chapeltown and Seacroft will feature on most people’s “places to avoid” list, but others such as Armley will attract divided views.

North leeds in general is a pretty safe bet. I lived in Roundhay for years and loved it. But £250k in Roundhay will get you a lot less than £250k on the outskirts of Armley for example (I actually don’t mind Armley, but some won’t go near the place).

It might be easier if you list the areas you’ve found houses which fit your requirements and we can let you know any pros/cons that you wouldn’t be aware of unless you lived in or near the area.

Rounday / Oakwood, Chapel Allerton, Horsforth and Headingley are probably the places to start looking. But you’ll still get burgled or mugged in any of those really.

Personally, I’ve just moved back to the area and am in Ilkley, 21 mins to Leeds on the train and access to the moors, but most people are families or older round here. I wouldn’t choose to live IN leeds again

+1 for Ilkley.

Great location for biking/climbing/beer 🙂

I lived in Armley for a couple of years (99-01), it’s a bit rough around the edges but so was I 🙂 I had mates over in Burley which was nicer, although very studentville (overspill from Headingley)

I don’t know the city at all now but if I went back, based on how it was then, I’d probably look in Roundhay or thereabouts.

If you don’t mind a bit of history and 70s decor, Jimmy Saville’s old flat is up for sale!

imagine Leeds as a dart board.
the bull being the city centre is nice.
the next 5 mile deep section is the outer, and it is a utter shytehole…i know cos i live in that section. 😀

Peter – I’ve seen places in Roundhay, Meanwood, Chappel Allerton areas that seem decent and fits my budget (£150k-ish)

But as you say, the same £ in Beeston etc buys a bigger bang so to speak.

Crossgates / Seacroft comes up with a lot of results and seems ok from what little I have driven through – area to avoid or not?

diglover – Ilkley’s a great place but a little too far away from the city for me.

haha nice ton – what part do you live in and why’s it that bad?

depends on budget, ammenaties and what sort of house you want.

We live in Armley, I like it as its a bit rough (but we did move from inner city bradford!) so its cheap and meant we could buy a big house with a big garden rather than a small 3 bed semi with small patch of grass in, say, Kirkstall or Pudsey.

Anything with an LS6 postcode is premium rate due to letting value for students (although the market is changing as student stake up cheaper city centre rents in all those riverside flats)

I’ve always thought of meanwood as being quite nice in a Guardian reading, ex student kind of way… Its got a nice bar (east of arcadia) and access to maenwood valley trail gives you singletrack out of the city. More pretensious and expensive is chapel allerton, which has lots of bars and restaurants and BMW’s and wannabes. Some lovely houses there and its a nice community but expensive as its “trendy” and a lot of what is sold as Chapel A, is an fact Chapeltown (which is a different issue.) Chapeltown is full of gorgeous old victorian houses, huge 12 bed properties, nice flats and an attractive park. Its not as bad as people make out, but it is the centre of the west indian community and those large houses are mostly flats and it is a very multinational place (similar to bits of Beeston). Personally I love chapeltown, had some great nights out and liek the “vibe” but it is a bit shabby and run down.

Harehills is similar to chapeltown but more south east asian and Eastern European. Mostly back to back terraces.

Seacroft, gipton, cheap for a reason, mostly ex council house, everyone knows everyone else and everyones kids are related somehow..

I could go on and describe my biased view on every leeds suburb, but my pizza is ready. Feel free to highlight any specifi areas and I’ll rip them apart or build them up as appropriate!

meehaja – cheers for that. What makes you call Armley rough?
And Kirkstall is one that I know nothing about – any thoughts?

i live in rothwell……….. 😥
i work in armley, and i am glad i dont live there.

Peter – I’ve seen places in Roundhay, Meanwood, Chappel Allerton areas that seem decent and fits my budget (£150k-ish)

I’ve lived in all of those and I like them in the order you have listed, although all are fine. Chapel Allerton is nice, but has a bit of a dark side. I’ve had more hassle in Chapel A at the weekend than anywhere else i’ve ever lived.

Crossgates / Seacroft comes up with a lot of results and seems ok from what little I have driven through – area to avoid or not?

I used to work in crossgates. It’s not exactly nice, but prefectly OK if you want a bigger house in a decent area. It’s a bit rough around the edges and has an odd small town mentality to it at times, but on the whole its OK.

I’m not a fan of Seacroft, I can’t really think of anyone I know who lives there though, so maybe i’m just being unreasonable.

Chapeltown is full of gorgeous old victorian houses, huge 12 bed properties, nice flats and an attractive park. Its not as bad as people make out

Chapeltown could either be the best bargain in the world or your worst nightmare. I’ve got mates who bought huge 5 bed houses for £200k and live with their family in a lovely community atmosphere. I’ve also got friends who live just a few streets away and absolutely hate the place.

I like Chapeltown for a few drinks and street parties, but not sure I’d want to live there. it’s a bit wild at the weekend.

It really all comes down to personal experience. I lived in both Headingley and Hyde Park. most people would choose Headingley and avoid Hyde Park if given the chance, but my experience was the opposite. If you get a good street/area it can turn even the worst of areas into a great place to live.

And Kirkstall is one that I know nothing about – any thoughts?

Kirstall is ok, a bit like hyde park but without the soul. More and more students moving there. I would look at Burley area before kirkstall, or even some bits of Hyde Park. You’ll need to tolerate large numbers of students in any of those areas.

Wetherby and Tadcaster are also great places to live.
Tadcaster is quite a bit cheaper than Wetherby and only 20 – 30 mins from north leeds.

See I’d avoid armley like the plague, but live in swarcliffe next to seacroft, and its fine.

With your budget and given the route you take to work I’d be looking at whinmoor first then swarcliffe, maybe crossgates but traffic is busy on morning and eve. The parts of roundhay in your budget won’t be very nice bits

On the plus side if you move to that area I’ll put you some smoke alarms in for free 😉

i work in armley, and i am glad i dont live there.

how long you worked in armley for ton? I used to work part time on town st from 2005 to about 2008

Armley town street is like any small high street, its mostly charity shops and betting shops and frequented by old people and alcoholics and women with 50 kids. It has a nice library and pubs I wouldn’t go in without a stab vest. Chip shop is nice. Armley moor park has a free outdoor gym thing. Further down is Gotts park which has a kids area, sports pitches, golf club, magic mushrooms, skate park and a rose garden. Its quite nice.

Housing is mostly back to back terrace, through terrace or small semi. Around the prison is a bit rough and shabby, further up (towards whingate/ little scotland) is nice with big terraces for not much money. Gardens are rare but not unheard of, nice 5 bed semi next door but one to me with rear garden and driveway for £150k. Some cheeky singletrack from Armley over to Wortley then along ring road to post hill which’ll give you trails all the way to Bradford and back which is nice

tc3 – will have a look at them cheers, Wetherby though has looked expensive.

firestarter – Whinmoor has come up in a few searches but guy at work said it was like a load of old council estates?? (Will take you up on the offer if it comes off..)

imagine Leeds as a dart board.

And for god’s sake, don’t aim for double 11 cos you’ll get Bradford 🙂

Moortown, Roundhay, possibly Meanwood, Adel for North Leeds.

I’ve spent the last 16 years in North Leeds in Headingley, Meanwood and Chapel Allerton.

Leeds will divide opinions amongst those there, much in the same way as North and South London do, but where we are in the Wensleys is nice and quiet and 1/2 a mile from the single track of Meanwood Valley Trail.

Personally, I’d go North Leeds as the East and South were historically the industrial areas and the housing etc reflects that, certainly within the ring road.

However, the LS7 postcode where I live also includes Chapeltown which doesn’t have the great reputation.

Like any large city you’re never more than half a mile from a dodgy area but in the North of the city the socio-economics generally mean there is less trouble (in my experience).

You could look out towards Wortley, Rawdon, Guisley or the poormans Ilkley that is Otley (great place in my opinion).

Edit- Tadcaster is actually a reasonable commute by bike on good roads through Bramham and Shadwell, about 15 miles to the city centre

Whinmoor has a mix of ex council and private depending on which bit. Worth a look in especially as your by the shell garage on way to wetherby in two mins so would reduce your drive time 😉

Kippax is nice, as is Garforth..

Not that far out of Leeds, and nice enough IMHO..

Only lived in Leeds 18 months. I live over in Meanwood at present in a new build estate where we rent as we are also looking to buy.

I imagine the terrace rows near Meanwood Park (which links into MVT for riding) and near to the little Asda, Waitrose, Alfred (smashing little bar) and East of Arcadia (more decent beverages) are good value for money. It’s also a 15-20 minute walk into Headingley or 25-30 minute walk to Chapel Allerton. Both of which have more to offer in regards to drinking and eating.

Another location to consider is the Methleys which is a collection of streets (terraced houses) that sit inbetween Chapel A and Chapeltown. 3 to 4 bed back-to-back terraces here will be good value for money and it’s the only area in Chapel A that’s not reached it’s potential yet.

When we moved to Leeds everyone said live north. And then we found out for 1/2 the price we could live south. I worked in the centre.

We eventually bought in Morley, new house just off the Morley-Leeds road. Never had a problem.

But I’d avoid Gipton – I use to pay the son of a friends neighbour whenever I was there, to watch my car 😯

And watch the traffic, as you can spend a lotta time commuting/parkingif you get it wrong.

East Leeds aint too bad,good value.close enough to city centre ,lived in Croggy(x gates),Halton,Whitkirk for a lot of years.just down the ring road from Shadwell.Leeds is no different to most large uk cities.good and bad rubbing shoulders

if work is in Shadwell, then I’d strongly recommend somewhere north of the city centre, and preferably near, like Shadwell (dur), Moortown, Meanwood, Alwoodley, Adel, probably as far west as Cookridge or at a pinch Bramhope or Horsforth; eastwards probably Scarcroft, Cross Gates, Colton, Garforth. All very nice areas and very nice prices to go with them.

You probably already know this but commuting through Leeds in rush hour is a biatch so it is to be avoided at all costs

And for god’s sake, don’t aim for double 11 cos you’ll get Bradford

nowt wrong with Bradford. as long as you avoid postcodes BD1-9, and especially BD3. BD10+ all good. mostly.

I lived in Leeds for ten years. LS6 is great for the nightlife, but your chances of getting burgled increase rapidly. I eventually bought a place in Morley which I still own; lovely area, great links for transport, and more bang for your buck by far.

Up for sale soon if your interested…

+1 for Chapel Allerton.

Good area with restaurants and bars a plenty.

Easy access to town and north

Mountain bike (all be it Urban style) pretty much on your door step

Leeds born and bred, know the place inside out.
Ton’s analogy is too simple. Leeds is a real patchwork quilt, with areas going from lovely to dire in. few 100 metres. Personally I like this. There are few truly horrid areas, and few truly proper posh areas.
East leeds is my home area (Seacroft and Crossgates), now live between Rothwell and Garforth and find it perfect for a working family.
Great motorway links, good schools, no real rough area….just a few rougher streets!

Can you confirm that you are working in Shadwell?
Also what family and social life considerations are important to you?

Lots to choose from, but each area is different.

Poshest bit: Allwoodley and Adel
Worst bits: Gipton, Halton Moor, some bits of seacroft (dufton approach), beeston, harehills, armley

Sensible bits: roundhay, crossgates, thorner, garforth, woodlesford, cookridge etc etc

Lovely city….good choice!

Buy a house in the bit furthest away from Bradford.

Some of north west Bradford is nice!

that would be Colton/Garforth then.
But Garforth is really an outlying town, like Morley.
I grew up in Morley & Wakefield. Moved to Bradford for uni, never really left. Lived near the uni for 8 years, Thornbury (true sh&thole, makes Gipton seem nice) for another 8 years, Baildon since ’98.

Grew up in a posh bit of Roundhay. We left when we have 4 cars stolen and the house burgled 14 times in 18 months.

My mate who lived in the boil on the arse of Chapeltown never experienced any crime. It was all happening in the posh bits as thats where the money was.

Personally I’d look around Rawdon as well as Alwoodley, Adel, Guiseley etc. One of my friends has just sold up in Adel though for the same reason we left Roundhay – pikeys driving over to nick stuff. I had the opportunity to move back to Leeds recently – blew my brains out and bought a house in Harrogate. – 20 minute B road drive to Yeadon for work and it’s a MUCH nice place to live 🙂

Kippax is nice, as is Garforth.

Don’t think ‘nice’ is the word I’d use for either of those two, but compared to Harehills & Gipton….I suppose it’s acceptable.
I’d invite you to Boroughbridge but It’s a fair walk from Leeds. 😉

Only a couple of mentions so far of Horsforth and Otley – both have a wide range of properties and have their own sense of community which might be important to you. The former has good access by the ring road or rail, the latter is a bit further out and lacks a train service.