DH and I have a 1-year-old and currently live in London zone 2. We're in a small, not very pretty 2-bed house and would like to move in a couple of years when we'll (with any luck) be gearing up for baby number 2.
At that point our budget will stretch to a slightly bigger house slightly further out of London or something quite a lot better, much further away.
We both work in central London and at least one of us will need to keep doing that in order to pay the mortgage etc. I am exploring whether I could go freelance or find a job where I can work from home a couple of times a week.
We're not really sure what to do - tired of living in a shoebox but scared of leaving a neighbourhood we've loved for 5+ years.
Moving to a completely different part of the country is not practical as my husband's business (which he founded) is based in London and tied to Westminster. Also our families live in the South East. So we can't just up sticks to Manchester or Edinburgh or wherever. Personally I would love to do that but our parents would never forgive us.
Acknowledging this is an evergreen topic on MN, I am just curious to know what other people's experiences have been leaving London and whether you have any regrets? Where did you move to and what were the things you gained - or what did you miss?