Thinking about moving within UK - Please recommend

[Royaldiadem]

I currently live in Northampton and my family is considering moving out...we are a young family with three kids(7,4,1). We need ideas on affordable cities in the UK with good employment opportunities and good environment for young kids.

We moved to the UK recently and Northampton is actually the first city we have lived in. We feel like it's kind of boring and there could be a better city where we could settle. However, we are looking at nice affordable areas with good employment opportunities. Hubby is a business analyst and I currently work as an Administrative Officer.

Look at Manchester, I grew up in Northamptonshire and moved here when I was 21.

Lots of employment opportunities, the job I have simply doesn’t exist where I grew up.

Reasonable housing costs, yeah some areas are super expensive but there’s a lot of good middle ground too.

Lots happening (when things get back to normal) in terms of arts/culture, music, great restaurants, shopping in city centre/Trafford Ctr or locally, close to the Peak District and Lakes, plus big parks within the city & just on the outskirts. Good tram network, which is being expanded.

I love it here, take a look

Oh, and pressed post too quick - Northampton is a big town, not a city so it just doesn’t have everything a city offers.

Thank you so much...I have just started reading up about Manchester online and I love what I see. I appreciate your response

I second Manchester. Liverpool is also very good. Much friendlier in my opinion and the city is closer together. If you went on a trip to Liverpool you'd know in a day whether you like the informal, friendly Scouse culture and could also try our Manchester at the same time, Manchester is possibly more diverse culturally and is a bigger city than has had more investment but is much more spread out and both have some very good positives with few negatives in my opinion

The weathers crap in Manchester - it rains a lot - a huge amount actually 😂

I’d go to Liverpool - you get beach access and even better housing costs I think. Less rain and friendlier people !

Leeds/Bradford area. City life on your doorstep as well as beautiful countryside. I guess the same could be said about Manchester but it rains more

Do you have any works contacts yet? Budget? Are there any particular restrictions or desirabilities in location?

Leicester? Not too far from where you are now, so might not feel like such a wrench. It's a nice place too, loads to do.

In a similar vein, Nottingham is great and Derby is also surprisingly nice!

Manchester is great (I live here and love it) but not super cheap. It is compared to London but not compared with the rest of the region.

Liverpool, Newcastle, leeds, my DP lived in Sheffield for a while and loved it but not sure what it’s love otherwise.

The myth about rain in Manchester has been widely debunked. Can't believe people are still peddling that shit. 😂

Anyway I recommend Leeds!

Housing in the nicer parts of Liverpool has shot up in price in the past couple of years. It’s got silly. Many people just can’t get on the housing ladder because they keep getting gazumped. You have to offer over the asking price or you haven’t got a chance.

Get to Glasgow, pretty cheap and you'll never find a more welcoming bunch of folks.

I think you'll have to be a bit more specific about what you call 'affordable'. Frankly in Britain 'good employment prospects' and 'affordable' are rarely found together, certainly if you're dependent on normal wages.

Milton Keynes? Its nicer than you might think, there its lots of work and LOADS of things to do.

I just moved to Aberdeen and love it. Some excellent schools, very affordable. Lovely beaches and walks very nearby. Beautiful place to live.

It depends what you are looking for but we live in Cardiff and love it. Plenty going on, lots of green space and water. We are on the outskirts and have river, nature reserve and forest in walking distance. 45 mins in the car and you can be on lovely beaches or in the Brecon beacons. An hour and you can be in Bristol or Swansea for more choice of city stuff. Nicer areas aren't cheap though but that applies to most cities I imagine.