to ask you where in the UK we should move to on?

[GirlInTheDirtyShirt]

I've been an expat for 10 years (all my adult life). I'm self employed as a writer so can literally live and work anywhere, but DH works in construction and where we live now (Southern Europe) there's no work for him. We're looking to move back to the UK so he can work there, plus I feel the UK education system is better than what we have here, but the question is, where?

We have a toddler, so I'd like somewhere that's nice to bring up children. I like cities rather than rural remoteness, but I want a house rather than a flat as I work from home and want some space. I like the idea of having lots to do and see and perhaps places where I could make friends through things like toddler groups or whatever. I'm not looking for naice leafy suburbs, but nor am I looking for gritty inner city living (I used to live in central Nottingham, so that's coloured my view a bit). I suppose I'm looking for vaguely middle class-ish safe-ish places with low crime.

Our household income would probably be about GBP3k a month until DH gets properly established (and having seen rental prices I'm a bit concerned this might not be enough, tbh ).

Is there anywhere you think we might be able to move to that would work?

I have no family and no ties to the UK at all, it'll be like moving to a whole new country, so I'm open to any suggestion at all to help me narrow down my search!

Harrogate is probably seen as a bit more upmarket, but York has great train links (North and South) and a larger city centre re:shopping etc

You can't buy or rent a family home in Harrogate on £3k a month

Another vote for Aberdeen the housing boom here is crazy new housing being built in every direction (apart from east as that would be in the sea ) Whole new suburbs being built and even a whole new town from scratch. Aberdeen is also in the process of being regenerated so construction is on the cards for a long time yet. We also have the highest amount of millionaires outside London not sure if that is a good thing or not.

Sorry littlemonkey but it strikes me that OP might be looking for somewhere with a little more life. Sure Worcester is perfectly nice. Although if i was trapped there I would probably saw my own arm off to escape. And everyone around there does read the Mail. It's a by law or something. < runs and hides>

IfNotNowWhenThen You don't need to apologise to me as I don't live in Worcester (am actually outside of UK).

Worcester is obviously not the most happening place, but personally I would prefer it to somewhere like Nottingham (as considered by the OP) which is notorious for its crime levels, although I'm not sure how much is hearsay.

So how do you know so much about Worcester and its people. Is it something you have heard or have you actually lived there? Genuinely interested to know.

Milton Keynes - half an hour from london by train, less than an hour from Birmingham. Thriving - loads of new jobs, lots of construction as new sections of the city under construction, easy to drive around, some great schools, loads going on, lots to do, lots of parks (big and small) within the city, main traffic kept on grid roads away from the 'grid squares' which means it's like a collection of villages but with all the benefits of a big town.

Nottingham crime levels aren't bad. At first glance they look bad because of how tight the city boundaries are. Most of the leafy suburbs aren't in Nottingham city, e.g. West Bridgford is Rushcliffe so there's nothing to balance out the inner city bits.

I think if you've got free reign I'd definitely go for something at least as far north as Nottingham if your job isn't constrained by location. Average household income is something like 28k where I live so life can be v. comfortable.

To put it into perspective my house in Nottinghamshire cost 50% of my friends house in Milton Keynes, same house style/age etc.

York is lovely.

Small city - feels like a town (you can't go anywhere without bumping into people you know) but due to its historic significance and the amount of tourists it has the facilities of a city.

Housing pretty cheap. (York is "expensive for the north" but the north bit is important here.) You can easily get a family house within walking distance of the city centre.

Some nice schools.

Lots for kids to do.

Is Bingham too rural?

It often gets voted one of the best places in the country to be.

Rent is reasonable

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-26131917.html

Cardiff has had great reviews. Best place to live in UK, apparently!!

m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29174074

Solihull's a good bet. Close to B'ham, good links to London, close to cultural Stratford (about 12 miles), good motorway network for anywhere and you have a choice of Solihull shopping or Birmingham (about 6 miles away or thereabouts). And a very, very handy airport!!! Little bit pricey but I've not lived there for a very long time so not sure what prices are doing at the moment.

Sheffield. Lovely city. Nice houses, easy to get to countryside. Also commutable to Manchester and other places

I would avoid Glasgow. The West End is nice but big flats with gardens are expensive. And there are still a lot of rough areas outside the west end (bit like inner city Nottingham which I hated too)

Knowing nothing at all about your industry, I'd live in Bristol, Brighton or somewhere in Cornwall. Cambridge and Oxford are lovely but a bit too studenty, love Durham and Edinburgh but I couldn't cope with the cold!

Newcastle, Durham or York.

Bristol is lovely,but the rental market is incredibly competitive for the kind of property you are looking for. Easton, Horfield or Upper Knowle areas might be worth considering.

Also would say Birmingham/Wolverhampton.

Stourbridge is lovely - two train stations that go straight through to Snow Hill. Even closer you could look at Harbourne but I think that might have gone too pricey.

Wolverhampton also has nice surrounding areas.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info on any of the surrounding areas of Brum/Wolves I just don't want to give away exactly where I live!

If you were saying you wanted the 'nicest' place to live in the UK then others would probably argue but for what you want it probably would suit you best. I live in the countryside but can be at a major shopping centre within 25 minutes.

wilmslow is nice - large town but v close to Manchester

ps near Manchester good for construction due to lots of building with the big train thing that is planned

Bristol is nice and I lived in totterown/knowle for 12 years, but it is kind of edgy too. Lots of break-ins (we were broken into twice, were fully alarmed the second time) and there was an utterly horrific sex attack in Bedminster a few years ago, the woman nearly died. The rapist was picked up from my neighbour's back garden in Totterdown. It's v trendy, cool, family orientated but I would say it's probably not as naice and middle class as you're looking for.

Chester. Gorgeous city, sure you could get a house on the fringes for your money, more so if you move over the border into north wales. If you like arty/quirky, old character houses are undervalued here as people seem to prefer new builds. Thriving Mums/toddler community, loads to do, city amenities but you're close to forests, mountains and the sea.

From a work perspective, it's boom time for house building, there's a lot of industry (eg Vauxhall, Shell, docks) and he's easy commuting distance from Manchester and Liverpool.

Look at totterdown southville ( near the tobacco factory ) are quite arty and good infant junior schools

Glasgow west end. Fantastic city on your doorstep plus you can get a lovely house in somewhere like kelvindale for reasonable money.
And loch lomond is just up the road.

I would say bristol too

Ooh, yeah, Cardiff is not a bad idea. Good transport links, close to the beaches, beautiful Pembrokeshire for your hols. It's a nice city. Exeter might be good too, for same sort of reasons. Not sure about construction there though.

Edinburgh, as a writer you'll fit right in. Amazing city.

If you look at Birmingham, then go for suburbs about 5 miles-ish south of the City Centre: Quinton, Harborne, Bournville, Cotteridge, Moseley, Kings Norton, Kings Heath, Hall Green, Shirley.
Also, as said previously, Solihull is naice and Stourbridge/Hagley is very nice.