Moving from London to the countryside

[Savelli]

I am originally from the countryside near Leeds and DH is from London. I have lived here for 10 years (I moved here for work and met DH here) and now we are approaching 40 and live in a small one bedroom flat in London.

We have a nice lifestyle but need more space, I feel for my own mental health and wellbeing. If we sell our flat we can buy a three bedroom house with a garden in a lovely area near my family and not have a mortgage. We would also not be able to work in the industry we do now as it doesn't really exist there.

DH is open to the idea and I'm trying to weigh up pros and cons. I would love to hear from anyone in a similar boat.

Pros to London
We love the theatre, restaurants, friends here
Fun and lively lifestyle
Fulfilling relatively lucrative careers
All DHs friends are here

Pros to leaving
No mortgage
Beautiful house and garden
Close to my family and some friends too
Relaxed lifestyle, not driven by the need to work all the time
Green space and countryside

Can anyone offer any advice?

If you can't continue with your current careers what would you plan to do if you made the move?

From your pros and cons list, it's pretty clear. Moving to the country side would be better for you and your family in the long run, especially since you would be nearer to your family and friends.

Tissunny

My career is rewarding but also very draining and the hours are long. I never planned to continue in it beyond 40 if I could afford to. I would have to try and find employment, at least part time employment, in the new area but I wouldn't have anywhere near the earning capacity I have now. I earn around £55k a year now but that would drop dramatically. I was hoping that without a mortgage to pay I wouldn't feel the shift in lifestyle as much but we would have less money coming in.

Can you train for something in a different field? Something else your passionate about and can really enjoy without the stress of a mortgage and the hustle and bustle.
You may appreciate London even more when you go back for occasions to visit friends and theatre. Best of both worlds.

Do you have children and schools to consider?

Do it OP. All the pros you have listed can be fulfilled with a weekend visit a couple of times a year if necessary.

I moved to London 12 years ago when I was 22. Met my now DH a year later and we moved up north 6 months after that.

We feel we have the perfect balance now- 20 minute drive from Manchester city centre but live in a lovely town with a large garden and plenty of countryside around us. The biggest shock for me personally was having to drive pretty much everywhere again and realising public transport isn't as frequent as it is in capital but we love it.

DHs salary did drop considerably (nearly 30%) but it was worth paying the price. We were paying nearly 3k a month in rent combined in London and brought a house with a mortgage payment of less than half that so we didn't really feel much of a pinch. Travel didn't really increase due to what we were paying on monthly oyster cards etc- instead we just paid car insurance, tax and fuel.

We visit London once or twice a year for long weekends to visit friends, go see a show etc. I do love it there and do feel a little sad when I leave but I know if I was there for a week or more it would probably drive me cuckoo.

What would your DH do? Could he also work part-time on a lower salary?

I went from city to country basically & i went from £40k to £8k part time & dh went from £26k to £23k now with £1.5k travelling coats per annum. We've no mortgage but have an extremely sedate lifestyle with few holidays & much family support.

If you could work remotely earning decent money it's a great option. I miss the money of having a career but still it's the best thing for our family & 2 dc. Great quality of time here

Born and bred in London, I left it over 10 years ago to live rurally in a couple of other countries and don't regret it. I've now settled into a small village outside of the UK. I never felt like an individual living and working in London and won't be returning to live there. You'll be able to pop into Leeds for days and nights out, but maybe you won't feel the need for the city after a while.

Any chance you could do current jobs remotely? Then you'd get a few expensed trips to London. That's what I did.

I'm from London. Dp is not. We could move to the area he grew up in and have a tiny mortgage. We've decided to stay in London. We love the buzz and diversity of London. We love not needing a car. We're pleased with the career opportunities.

I did it!

Hence the name!

Best thing iv ever done.

I do go back to London around every 10 days to see family...

Love the country.

Bottom of garden is a open horse field. In our garden we get Hares, hedgehogs, deers, and the most unusual birds.

I always thought i was a London girl, but i changed my mind....

We moved from London to the country to be able to afford to buy a house and have children. I miss London desperately, every day. But it was still the right decision. If I had all the money in the world I'd live in London in a heartbeat, but when you don't you end up sacrificing so much to live near a lot of amazing things you can't actually afford to do!

Thanks everyone- we need to look into potential work more seriously. I could retrain in something and DH could potentially work from home in his field but with some travel to London. It would all need to be properly explored. It's good to hear that people who have made the move generally don't regret it. We don't have children to consider but are trying to change that if we are lucky enough to have children then being close to my family would be even more of a positive.