Where to live other than London?

[SadTomorrow]

Hello,

I live in London and I hate it. DH has 18 months left of his current job contract and then we want to move.

Where can we go? We have no restrictions - literally anywhere in the world. DH wants to train as a teacher when he finishes the 18 months and I work in PR. Probably best to stay in the UK whilst he trains.

We want somewhere where buying a house (with stairs and maybe even some outside space) is possible and we can get a cat. Somewhere affordable but where we will get jobs.

We're late 20s, we've not got kids yet and we'd like to make some new friends wherever we do end up. Our quality of life is very poor at the moment and we'd like to make a big change.

Has anybody else done this? Where did you move to?

Why do you hate London?

Easier to get jobs if you stay in the SE, could you stomach a short commute and say live in say Essex, Hertfordshire, or Surrey.

Because the flat we can afford is tiny and the commutes are too long. Because work is too intense and 8am-8pm hours daily are killing me. I don't think the quality of life is good enough for the amount of money we pay to live here.

I'm looking for a slower pace of life. I grew up with parents working 9-5, being home at half 5 and having a life outside of work. I want my life back, rather than the endless cycle of tube, work, tube, sleep, tube, work, tube, sleep.

I want to feel calm and more balanced.

What sort of jobs are you qualified for? Do you want a city, tiny village, near the beach or airports? Do you mind living somewhere cold and wet? Where do your families live?

Within the U.K., I’ve lived in Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh and have loved each. Way more chilled out and have a great balance.

In terms of abroad, Singapore has a lot to offer but the working culture was crazy. Same with Hong Kong. Australia’s working culture is also similar despite what people think.

DHs family live in Woodbridge in Suffolk which is semi rural and lovely and is commutable tooted urban areas where the jobs are.

DH has a PhD in maths and is fed up of academic life and now wants to teach secondary. I have a masters in economics and work in public relations.

In the suburbs of a city would make us most happy, I think. Wet is fine, I am Mancunian. We just want to live somewhere with a more chilled out lifestyle but options for jobs.

My family are in Manchester and DH's are in London. I moved to be with him down south after university and have been here ever since.

you cant actually live anywhere in the world, there are visa issues. plenty of great places in the uk with your portable jobs.

consider weather ( dont move to Cornwall or the wrong side of hills and then complain about rain), transport, traffic, amenities and what you like doing.

It sounds like it the jobs that are the problem - wherever you move PR will probably be quite intense no? Unfortunately this is the outcome of our ‘always-on’ society. There aren’t really jobs like your parents had that are actually a career and just 9-5. Certainly not in teaching!

I live on the outskirts of Cardiff and it’s great. You have the city with all the amenities nearby, as well as lovely beaches and coastline with the Brecon Beacons only a relatively short drive away.

Well, vast majority of the UK is FAR cheaper than London.
You need to narrow it down a bit.....

Near either family ?
Or 'travel-able' to both families ?
In a City / very remote or rural / village or small town / bigger town or City?
How important is it to have things like public transport... wif fi... hospitals.... shops .... leisure facilities... within an hour ?
Do you like being near the sea / mountains / country walks ? Or is it more important you can go to the theatre / ice skating / pictures / football matches / museums etc ?
You say dh is thinking of teacher training - has he looked in to where he would be accepted to train? Does he know what sort of school he might like ?
How restrictive is 'PR' in terms of location ? (I don't know but am guessing that might need a City location ??)

If you narrow if down people can offer more helpful suggestions.

I'm not actually set on PR, but I don't know what else to try. I've had enough of agency life and in-house is notoriously less work, thank goodness. I'd like to give that a go, just to see. My mental health isn't keeping up with 'always-on' very well at the moment.

DH is less concerned about long hours - he knows what teaching is like. He'd do the Researchers in Schools programme or similar. He's lucky it's maths tbh. There are some good provisions for maths PhDs looking to teach.

If I'm really honest I just want to go home to Manchester.

Well do that then?

There are many cities outside London where where are jobs that allow you to buy houses, with stairs and everything, that allow a really good quality of life. And if you have a connection with Manchester, that's a good start.

Otherwise Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle or Sheffield and probably loads of others would also suit.

Let's start with Manchester. Did you enjoy living there?

I'd be a little wary with moving from academia to secondary teaching. I made the move the opposite direction and I have found pressure much worse in secondary schools than at uni. Your husband will be working much longer hours than he currently does and chances are he won't get that much satisfaction out of it.

Be careful with the whole grass is greener perspective. It may not be so green after all.

I love Manchester. Living back closer to my family is a very appealing idea.

We also like the idea of Edinburgh. We lived in Durham as students but couldn't imagine being somewhere so university dominated as adults.

Sheffield is near Manchester. Easy access to the countryside; cheap housing. Maths teachers are always needed.

Maybe Reading or Oxford too? DH are sat together brainstorming atm.

I’d go where the jobs are tbh. Manchester is probably pretty good for in-house PR roles m, I’d have thought ? Can you maybe talk to a couple of headhunters / employment agencies which specialise in your field, to get an idea of what other geographies would have plenty of opportunities ? I’d have thought Edinburgh would be absolutely swimming in in-house PR jobs given the number of corporate HQs there.

I was actually going to suggest Manchester before you mentioned you were from there. It’s absolutely lovely and I miss living there. Is there any reason you can’t?

Headhunter idea is an excellent one, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give her a ring in the week. Thank you.

Are you hoping to have children in the future? I would suggest going within reach of your family. Identify a nice suburb with a decent commute into the city and lots to do with young kids.

I know that ^^ is hell for lots of people on MN

Pretty much anywhere in the UK is cheaper than London. If your DH wants to teach he can train anywhere and get work anywhere as a Maths teacher. Scholorships and bursaries are available for maths trainees. In fact he might even get a place to start in September if he wanted.
If you choose an area with very cheap housing then you could have a much higher standard of living.

Edinburgh would be my first choice if I were moving. But it's surprisingly expensive.

Have you considered Glasgow? It's quite like Manchester but slightly cheaper. 50 minutes from Edinburgh by train. Easy access to beautiful Loch Lomond. Plenty of nice suburbs eg Pollokshields, Giffnock, Clarkston, Bearsden, Milngavie. Relatively diverse population. Three universities in Glasgow.

DH actually has family in Glasgow so that's not a bad shout.

We're both really nervous about leaving our social lives behind here. All of our people (other than family) are in London so we'd have to start from scratch with friends.