AIBU to think leaving London for a new city is preferable to the suburbs?

[jumpyfrog]

I'm a born & raised Londoner (SW), husband the same (SE). We currently live in SW London & in the catchment of an outstanding school. As my mum is 10 mins walk & inlaws 10 min drive we also have a great support network & have 1 day of childcare plus babysitting provided by them.

However looking to the next few yrs we really would like a bigger property & perhaps try for DC3. 90% of our friends have moved out to either zone 5 (Sutton, Bromley, S.Croydon) or to surrounding counties (Kent, Surrey, Sussex & Essex) & this seems to be the natural step.

AIBU to hate the idea of moving to the suburbs/countryside & thinking moving to another city would be better for me?
I've always lived within 10 mins walk of the high street & the tube & cant stand the idea of driving everywhere. Obviously jobs are an issue but I run a small online business & my husband would still get a decent salary in areas such as Bristol.

Has anyone moved from London to a new city? was it a good decision? where did you go?

If you get the eldest into school near you now you might find it harder to get one you think is as good if you want to move later - as the sought after ones might be full

Tottenham Court Road to Waterloo is 4 stops on the Northern. 10 mins.

South West trains go very regularly. Max wait 10 mins.

This is my manor, I’m using these services regularly, this is not ‘on paper’.

Jumpy is your budget of £850k realistic in bristol against what you can earn? To my mind that is the biggest problem with the city - the salaries are just not here but the house prices (in a decent area) are high. State secondaries are not that great either (although improving).

If you move to Bristol, buy this and save the £ for secondary schooling -
state is pretty bad

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60505816.html

don't do it.

there really is nowhere remotely like london in the uk, and you'll be miles and miles from family.

we moved from zone 2 (where I grew up) to zone 4. it was a wrench, but I love it now (still work in central london).

public transport links are good (and I definitely don't miss the tube)

there really is nowhere remotely like london in the uk, and you'll be miles and miles from family

No, but there are better places

Um, there are some excellent secondary state schools in Bristol

there really is nowhere remotely like london in the uk,

I've grown up here and I completely disagree. It's nothing like it used to be. Gentrification has sucked the life out of it.

@jumpyfrog I hated it for the first year. I hated the flat we were in ( newbult glass box - picked without knowing the city) and was just opposed to being there in every way. Then something just clicked after about a year, I made some really good friends and we bought a beautiful flat (3 bed with more square footage than our current 4 bed house in the south... which of course cost over 3x more than the manc flat).
I just loved the city in every way.
The area we were in was incredibly central so wasn’t idea for families (but perfect for us enjoying the last bit of our 20s). 5 mins walk to work, 5 mins walk to Selfridges and Harvey Nics, surrounded by restaurants and bars. Actually I’ve just looked at schools and next to (and in catchment for) 2 outstanding primaries and an outstanding secondary.
The more I think about standing on a packed commuter train to London for an hour before work tomorrow with some person coughing on me the more I think I might just hop on train back to Manchester and never come back.

Kingston or the surrounding area has it all. If you aren’t snobbish about 30s houses there are some big 3 bedders which can be very substantially extended which would come in on budget. The schools are excellent and bus and train links fab.

There is minimal aircraft noise which is ironic in that Richmond and Barnes, which are far more expensive are much worse affected. Richmond Parkmis on the doorstep plus the amazing shops and riverside.

A house very near us which is ready for updating has just sold for a little less than your budget.

It's nothing like it used to be

Londoner born and bred, I’d say, traffic aside, it’s much better than it used to be. Much smarter, better food, better restaurants, much better transport than back in the 80s, culturally an even wider range of things to do.

Londoner born and bred, I’d say, traffic aside, it’s much better than it used to be. Much smarter, better food, better restaurants, much better transport than back in the 80s, culturally an even wider range of things to do.

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

I'll never forget the moment it clicked for me how much it had changed. I was on a train home (SE London) and it went over my local primary school playground just at pick up time. Every single child was black or Asian. Not remotely odd of course as this is Lewisham, but I live in an area chock full of white MC people with kids so I was thinking where the hell do all their children go?! I had my answer a few days later when I saw half of them coming out of the station dressed in the uniform of the private school in the next borough.

I grew up in a dirt poor part of East London but my family were relatively MC (though not wealthy) and I went to the local school. I think the divide has become enormous now thanks to gentrification and ridiculous house prices. I don't like it at all. It's not what I want for my DS.

I'd buy this 7 bedder in the Heatons and have loads of savings and a happy life up north.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61106647.html
It's 2 min walk from the train which is 5 mins from Picc station and near-ish Priestnall school or whatever it is called now which people fight to get their kids into.

I'm Bristolian, I love it here and it can give you all you are looking for. Post code wise, look at BS 6,7,8 and perhaps some areas of BS3. Be careful though - most of those would enable you to walk to work if working in the centre of town but, if working on the outskirts e.g. Aztec west, the commute is horrible and you'd need to drive because public transport getting to the outskirts of the city isn't great.

Wages are lower for some of the professions unfortunately - I commute to London regularly because of that but it doesn't apply for all sectors, banking, insurance and telcos are less impacted imo.

£850k should buy you a really nice property - less in BS8 and areas of BS6 sq. footage wise than other areas perhaps but prices are negotiable as the property market isn't as strong now as it was a year ago.

Come and join us, it's a lovely part of the world to live in.

I’m in zone 5 in one of the places you mentioned and we don’t drive everywhere. Lots of walking, public transport is great and we are minutes’ drive from the countryside whilst still being in central London wilthin 35 mins on the train with a pretty good choice of direct mainline stations in London. We are close enough that on occasion we can still have an evening out in London and get a cab home for less than £50. I love it! Schools are great, lots of nice towns in surrounding areas etc - it feels like the best of both worlds to me.

burntup yes we have a fair bit of equity in our property so wouldn't need a large mortgage which would allow for some wage reduction. Ideally we would do as puglife suggested and get a beautiful property under budget.

Every single child was black or Asian

As I find African and Asian cultures very interesting I don’t consider this as London in some way getting worse. It’s simply that the demographics have shifted around a bit.

I live in Sutton, 10 mins from the High Street. Like you Zi couldn't handle the whole living in the country thing. The schools are great as are the transport links. There is also lots to do and you are near to lots of prices. House prices are high, but not compared to Central London. About yo go on the market cause we need a larger third bedroom, will go on for about £430,000, hoping to find Rhys we want for £500 or under if possible

You would be mad to leave childcare and babysitting especially if you are used to having that back up.

tatiana

Did you read my post

My issue was the fact that white MC parents in London are not sending their DC to the local school.

I was obviously not complaining about too many black or Asian kids as that would make me a vile racist.

Thanks for the feedback kitten, hope I'm not making you too nostalgic!

tbf I think London has changed, in someways its safer, other ways less so. Plus the area I live in is predominately white & because of the tiny catchment areas these days children definitely mix less. I went to good schools but the demographic was defo more mixed both in finances & race plus all the kids on my road used to play with each other. My mum never even sees the new families.

Well people who can afford it move into the catchment for good schools don't they.

Hence prices being pushed up and locals getting pushed out.

It's a disgrace.

Anyone know anything about Thanet, completely contradicts my OP but read an article on it today & have fallen in love with some houses plus always loved the idea of the sea.

Brighton/Hove a no-brainer, surely? A stone's throw from South London, a city, nice properties, the sea.

If not Brighton, I'd stick to a more affordable suburb. We moved from Zone1/2 borders (North London) to Zone 4 and no regrets.

I don't like Thanet. When I used to get the ferry to Ramsgate from Ostend I was embarrassed that it was foreigners' first view of the UK.

I'd live in Canterbury though. But if you have family help in SW London it's probably best to stay relatively close by - Guildford?

Winchester and Salisbury are also nice and a £850K budget would go a long way especially in Salisbury but it depends where you work.

I was looking at Cardiff the other day and was trying to persuade DH we should move there. Nice capital city, lots to do, low house prices, comparatively speaking.

I like York, too, but that would be a long way from family for you as well.

DH says Cardiff is too rainy and York is too cold. I like Exeter as well but house prices there have started to go through the roof recently - I don't think we'd do much better than what we've got now .