Moving out of London, looking for suggestions

[MidnightCity]

Hello,

I am a mum and am new here. I have 2 daughters and I am looking to move out of London to somewhere more quiet, with good schools, respectful school children, lots of job opportunities, large social housing, green areas, good transport, nice community feel and multiracial this would be a bonus. Also a low crime rate.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance 😁

What is your budget for housing ?

Bristol?
I've never been there but DD is wanting to move there.

How close to London would you like to be?

Please can people stop suggesting Bristol to everyone leaving London. It doesn't meet any of the criteria on OPs list at all and housing is in very short supply.

I've lived in Bristol and it really did not live up to my expectations.
I have no wish to live there again

What is your budget? Do you have a particular part of the country in mind?

Sheffield? Leeds? Depending on area they could fit your criteria

I was also going to say Sheffield.

I would suggest Norwich. Good job opportunities, low costs, reasonable social housing, and mostly on 2/3 stories. Increasingly multicultural and good community spirit.

I hear Wigan is charming

@TheYearOfSmallThings

I hear Wigan is charming

What is your budget?

Slough. Multi-racial and has grammar schools. Nice parks, good transport links, huge industrial estate with lots of offices.

South West Sheffield. Very mixed and diverse. Great schools. Not cheap but still affordable houses. Vibrant interesting and thr Peak District on your door step. I’d move back in an instant

But Bristol does tick some of the boxes. Housing is pricey but there are lots of green spaces, decent job opportunities, a strong sense of pride in the city generally, multiracial… plus if the OP is moving from London, Bristol has loads going on, it’s not a cultural desert.

When you say 'large social housing', what do you mean?
Council properties? Houses rather than flats

Available social housing is obviously quite hard to find. There are some areas not too far out of London with shorter waiting lists than popular cities further afield.

Milton Keynes ticks all those boxes,lots of work around there and also a lot of shared ownership houses and social housing as it's a new city. You'd most likely not be eligible for rented social housing for a while wherever you move to though as you usually would need a local connection or have got one due to living/working there for a period of time then there's usually a waiting list whilst you bid and depending on your priority need. Shared ownership doesn't have that but you would need a deposit and enough income to get a mortgage.

To get meaningful replies you'll need to say what your budget is, and whether you need to commute to London or anywhere else for work.

Or are you wanting to move straight into social housing? Are you in social housing in London and wanting to swap?

Hi everyone
Sorry I forgot to add these details

We are currently in social housing and looking to do a home swap

Thanks for all the responses 😁

Another comment about Bristol. It's really not what people think it is. I wouldn't recommend it as a place to bring up a family unless you have bucket loads of money and love traffic.

Another vote for Sheffield, lovely place to grow up. We recently moved to the east coast of Scotland and really love it here, but perhaps too far from your current life!