If you could move absolutely anywhere in the UK

[shrubgreen]

...where would you choose?

Due to return to the UK after almost a decade of living overseas and wondering where we could consider moving to.

Used to live in East London and have a property there which we let out, but with the hike in mortgage rates I don't think we could afford to cover it if we lived in it ourselves. I'm also a bit over London now at this point (late 30s, 2 kids, tired...) and feel that it's madness to spend so much money on hardly any space.

I'm a northern country girl at heart but DH is a city southerner so think a good sized city/smaller town close enough to a city would suit us well. What are people's thoughts about Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield etc? Any hidden gems to know about?

A lot of our friends are headed to Scotland but honestly the weather puts off DH. I could be persuaded though...

We'd like a lively, diverse place with proximity to countryside and be able to afford a garden/3 bedrooms - but some of the prices I've seen in nice parts of Manchester rival those in our current area in London, so I'm a bit worried.

Please share your wisdom, MNetters! 😁

Hi all,
We are planning to move to Sheffield from London and rent a 3 bedroom house. We have 3 children and one will be needing secondary school and the others primary and nursery.

A good school catchment area is what we want.
We work from home so job is not a problem.

which areas would you recommend that are diverse as we have a black heritage.

Please share school names too

Thank you!

Tynemouth. Beautiful coastline, good schools, near to the stunning Northumberland countryside and a stone’s throw from Newcastle .

Thanks for the recommendation! I can see its a bit far from the proximity we like away from London.

@LeapAndGo you’ll have more responses by starting your own thread. I’d suggest posting under Property/DIY or the Black Mumsnetters board. Good luck!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/create-thread

Its my first time using this platform. Thank you for the redirection

Hi @LeapAndGo I'm going to guess you're new to Mumsnet, so, welcome!

You will get much better responses if you start your own thread, rather than adding a question to someone else's thread.

Most people opening this thread will answer the OP's post, not yours, as this is her thread.

To start a new thread, click on "chat" and then "start new thread".

Sheffield is a great city, good luck with your search!

Oops, it took me so long to write that someone else got there first!

Must type faster 😂

I would love to move to either North Yorkshire or Northumberland but would have to be somewhere that is friendly towards incomers.

shrubgreen Sheffield is great.

Have you considered towns near Manchester? I'd love Hebden Bridge.

Are you able to share your approximate budget?

Yes, I’m new here and thanks for taking your time to redirect me.

Our budget is £1000pcm but we saw that many estate agents charge £1200pcm for 3 bedroom house in Sheffield

Personally, if I could live anywhere I'd choose York because it's my favourite place in the UK.

But you said diverse, which York isn't really, although it's more diverse than it used to be and at least you can get a decent curry there now. As well as top notch Syrian.

With your criteria I'd go for Leeds. Well placed for getting to York, but also easily accessible to other major cities - Harrogate, Manchester, Sheffield, London even. Leeds City centre doesn't look deprived, there's loads of shops, museums, restaurants, nightlife. You've got theatre's, large and small music venues, and of course the best football team in the country.

Your family would be welcomed to Yorkshire and I'm sure you would all easily make friends as people are generally really chatty in Leeds. I can just be stood in a queue in a shop and guaranteed someone will just start talking to me about the price of olive oil, or how nice the daffodils are, or the weather.

I haven't been much around the UK and am a Londoner. I am happy staying here if I can afford to as I have about 4 hospitals very near me, a great transport system and some friends. If I could afford to I would have a bolt hole in the New Forest where my Hampshire friends live (with an appalling bus service and you cannot get taxis in the early morning because of the school run!

Tricky one. Diverse usually means cities and cities are expensive. If WFH make sure you check you can get decent internet. There are still some pockets where you can’t.
How old are DC? Are you after a garden and space for little ones or good bus routes for tweens and teens?

Following with interest :)

We're currently living down south but considering a move, most likely to the North. Have heard great things about Yorkshire being friendly, but the diversity also concerns me. If you're looking for more affordable than London but still lots going on and very diverse I'd recommend Bristol.

Harrogate, Ripon or York.

If I could afford it then a garden flat in Zone 1 or 2 in London.

But in reality we have started thinking about Lakes or near the Lakes/ Eden valley or around Kirkby Lonsdale. We love walking, and would also like the relative proximity to Liverpool and Manchester.

Don't bother looking at Bristol as rents a far more than your budget. I'd look at Cardiff though.

Do you know of any new build projects near S10 and S11?

Tynemouth / Whitley Bay. Or Northumberland - Hexham or Morpeth for the best schools.

If its not London then the west end of Glasgow. The vibe, diversity,people, culture,schools all make up for the slightly cooler weather but I can guarantee you that its no worse than the North of England.

Dowanhill, Hyndland, for beautiful period properties.

My parents moved from Leess to london many years ago - yes, there was a massive price difference re properties even then. I love london as people from all over the world come here and this is where the jobs were hence parents move to safeguard our future and theirs. If you have kids. GC etc, london is the place or close by as there is plenty of work if you are willing to work

A friend moved recently from the London area to Formby, north of Liverpool. I know the area well and am tempted. Good public transport into Liverpool, beautiful coast and countryside, reasonable house prices.

I live in Greater Manchester - about 20' car drive/40' bus ride to the city centre, and I love it.

But (whispering) if I had money and absolutely had to move then I'd like to go over to Yorkshire...

I live in Northumberland. Diverse it is not. Our village is 100% white.