If you were in 2 minds leaving London… and did… did you regret it?

[lking679]

Just that.

If you lived in London and weren’t sure about leaving… then made the move and did…
did you end up regretting it?

We moved to the bloody Home Counties, and I missed London a lot to begin with.

The buzz, not having to drive, all the diversity, the buzz, the amazing choice of food, the brilliant parks, all the galleries and museums. Did I mention the buzz?

Now, I am settled in and find a lot of long-term underlying benefits, and I do love it. If I was given a chance to magically move back to London, I wouldn’t take it! But it was a tough period getting settled.

We sold up and moved to the home counties to rent for a while to see if we liked it. It wasn't for me (v bored even though I made friends locally). We moved back, luckily this was 8 years ago when house prices were more or less static so we weren't priced out of London.

I'm a city girl, I love all that there is for me to do in London and now with teens I find they're so independent and there's so much for them to do too!

I was sure, absolutely sure, and definitely thought leaving was the right thing.
Hated it.
Came home a decade later. Huge relief.

We moved property out of London (not home counties which seem like London surburbia) and didn't regret it one bit. I wasn't born in London though.

We always said London would be great if you had money to take advantage of everything and afford to live close in. But on a lowish income we were sacrificing everything just to afford to be there whi h wasn't worth it.

I almost did. During lockdown I lived back in my hometown. I was looking to buy, viewed some lovely houses…then found a one bed London flat for the same price and about a tenth of the size. I bought the flat and moved back to London and I’m really glad I did. I think lockdown did something funny to people’s brains, the benefits they might’ve had by leaving cities in the midst of covid don’t really apply anymore now everything’s pretty much normal again.

Grew up in London. Spent teens and early 20s diving on and off buses and trains and buggering about in Oxford St, Kensington, Chelsea every weekend.

Had my older 3, and when they were still little i sold the maisonette, bought an old cottage in a little village in the middle of the countryside and left London for good. Even though it was my idea to go I sobbed and sobbed the whole way following the removal van 🙄😂 My chest hurt and I could hardly breathe by the time i got there!

It was the best move i ever made. The peace, the clean air, the lack of crime, the freedom my kids have, the beauty of the seasons, the horses. I'd never go back.

Cons:
The mud.
The lack of public transport.
The fact that you have to REALLY want a take away 'cos no one delivers out here, and it's a 15/20 min drive to the nearest one.

Moved out to the Home Counties 10 years ago. Hated it. Made peace reluctantly. 6 years later moved back to zone 3. Zero hesitation, no regrets. We are urban people, it wasn't for us.

No! Best thing we ever did just gutted we didn't leave earlier

I am late 40s though. Still commute in for work 3 days per week

Was delighted to leave London, and can now only stand it for a night.

Ha thanks Good replies!
If we moved we’d be looking at shrewsbury so still a big town and about an hour to Birmingham and Chester by train.

I can’t tell if I’m Londonified though! Been here 15 years and 8 in my house.
Sometimes when I leave London I realise the ‘buzz’ also comes with stress.
Would I go to Hyde park winter wonderland for example? No, I imagine it’s rammed and can’t be bothered with it all. Everything’s rammed unless you go early morning.

If I’m moving will need to do it soon ish, dd1 in reception and dd2 primary place to be applied for Jan 2025.

I moved north after 4 years in London and never once regretted it. In London I was only ever going to be able to afford a house share and I really wanted a house with a garden. I now live in an amazing community, can walk to see friends and yes have the house with a beautiful garden. If I want city buzz I've got Manchester or Birmingham within an hour's drive.

If I could afford to live where I lived as child/ teen would do Richmond.
Riding in the park was actually better than a lot of riding in some rural areas. - Apart from dotty no galloping/ jumping archaic park rule.

Not London but moved from a really brilliant city to a smaller one and, honestly, I really regret it. I just miss the buzz, the variety, the diversity of people, just the volume and variety of stuff you can do and the fact that there are more people at everything you go to.

We loved after 12+ yrs and whilst it was an adjustment, we don't regret it.

We loved to close to a small but vibrant city so I don't miss the buzz too much. And when I feel the need I just go back to London for a trip.

The pluses, for us, far outweigh the negatives (there are some of course)

Pretty much exactly this. It took a while, but I'm very happy and settled and wouldn't leave.

What do you mean by buzz, anyone who has said that? Genuine question

I don’t mean this to sound unkind but I had a wry laugh at Shrewsbury being a big town and therefore comparible.

I’m from Shropshire and it is very rural. Shrewsbury has some shops and some pubs, but it’s not the buzz of a city.

When I lived there I never got the train to Bham or Chester, as it’s not just the train journey, it’s the drive to station, pay for parking/find a spot, get longish train, etc etc

If you need to commute back to London at all, bear in mind that Avanti trains are an absolutely shit show at the moment and have been for about a year. Hopefully it’ll end, but worth knowing.

We always said London would be great if you had money to take advantage of everything

I got halfway to selling up in London and buying a house to retire to. And then realised that life would be so much cheaper in London once the mortgage was paid off. Free travel. So many free galleries, museums, events. Theatres with cheap previews. Cinemas ditto. I think there is more in London to take advantage of it you haven't got money.

Supermarkets are cheaper than the small chains that my market town and rural relatives shop in (Budgens etc) , or don't have to be driven to.

Moved over 10 years ago, Londoner by birth.
I don't like it and will move back to a city as soon my children are finished in education.

Not at all. We have loved living in rural Essex, and I feel that the children have had a much better childhood out here. DH, who lived in Zone 1/2 since childhood (and Paris, Milan and New York) loved the moved to the country, and is very happy surrounded by dogs, footpaths and mud. We have always visited London often as a family (at least a couple of times a month), so the children know it well. And we have both worked in London over the years. Now the children are getting older we are spending a bit more time there and are looking at getting a pied a terre, which I think we will all get good use from in the next few years. I'd eventually like to retire back to Central London, but I'm not sure I'd convince DH to return full time.

So, no we don't regret leaving, but we still visit often and plan to spend more time in London now the children are older, and as they become young adults.

I’m from a village in the north west, any town with its own cinema is pretty big to me!

Born in London and moved out 30+ years ago. London is not the same as it was then. So glad we made the move, our kids have had a great education and have good jobs and now grandchildren following in their footsteps. Would never, ever move back but am proud to call myself a Londoner. Am lucky enough to live within a couple of hours travel so love going up for the day, but always so glad to get 'home'. Best thing we ever did moving out.

Yes apart from the cost of upgrading our house we find the actual cost of living much cheaper. My Mum spent a small fortune sending us to secondary school on the bus, it’s free for my DD’s!

Nope.

Been gone a year. Mortgage-free living and a severe shortage of wrong-'uns honking on crack pipes outside our house and using our front yard as a toilet (in a naice, gentrified street) soon suppresses any temporary pangs of longing for London.

I still adore the place as a visitor, though. It was home for a long time.