Leaving London

[siwel123]

Hi all, don't shoot I know there's life outside of London .
Me, my wife and 2 kids currently live in London and the wife has finally agreed to start looking at other places to live but as were both civil servants we have a limited range of places to choose from.

The options we've been given are Leeds or Manchester. AIBU to ask which would you choose and Why? And also what areas would you live in. We would have a 500k budget for the house so any suggestions appreciated.

Leeds. As a Londoner, I find it easier to live a calm family life up north than in London. Manchester does seem a bit rougher. Watch out for school catchments, they can sting you.

Thanks @Dontwantanicknamethanks.
I do want a bit more calm for the kids not rushing on the tube with me to nursery

I think for anyone getting on the ladder now in London it’s a very different lifestyle as opposed to those who got on the ladder years ago & have had lots of equity. I have friends who have moved to other cities simply because they want to enjoy their lives and have more disposable income as opposed to spending 1.5-2k on a mortgage every month.

Oh & they are the “lucky ones” on the ladder.

I think the thing that some are saying is that you’ll never get back. It’s not as though you can change your mind in a couple of years and get back on the London housing ladder.

We rented out to give it a try and thank goodness didn’t sell the London place. We’re now moving back!

We missed the friendliness, missed the plenty of things to do. We moved to Home Counties though. Out of town people get in their cars and go home after nursery/school pick up. In town we all walked to the park or went for tea. That may be the same in Leeds or Manchester (going to cake shop after school or whatever.) I dont know Leeds but have friends who went to Manchester uni who say that football is rather in your face there!

Hello @siwel123

Have you considered the villages around Harrogate? Friends of ours moved to a village called Ripley - something about a ’golden triangle’ between Harrogate, York and Ripon?? I think it’s around a 40 min commute into Leeds by car - don’t quote me though
Anyhow, Ripley is gorgeous - has a good farm shop and post office, florist, lovely little nursery and I’m told a good primary school - also lots of excellent secondaries in the area too.
Are you set on being ‘up North’ to be closer to family? We live in the Cotswolds...about 20 mins NW of Oxford and the train links into London are good - most of our friends work in the City - but it’s not much less expensive property wise than London - so I suppose north would be better in that respect? One big drawback though - the weather - seriously it’s so cold up there.
And wet.

@Luisa27. Hello again .
I can either stay in London or work in Manchester or leeds. Trust me I know it's cold oop north I ran away from there . The golden triangle is the most expensive area I hear after London .

@fraiser. Thanks for your opinion. The I think wherever we are we will meet friends and like for like people. And with 2 kids under 5 I don't think it is worth paying the premium to live in London to rarely access the world class facilities as we tend to stay local tbh.

We're looking at cheaper housing Yes, we pay the earth in a mortgage and if we sell, we would have a smaller mortgage and more disposable income. Moving closer to both our families is also important, were around 4 hours plus drive from both our parents, and we rarely see them, so it will be nice to be closer to them.

....ah ok. I’m Italian so I suppose I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold and rain. I swear the sky changes from quite a respectable blue to a steely grey as soon as we pass somewhere around Stoke on Trent

And yes I understand completely your need to be nearer both sets of parents.
I guess with little ones, I’d look for the schools I like first of all, and then work out which of those areas appeal and whether or not we could afford to buy there. Schools, and community spirit would be my priority...not that I’m a ‘knit your own underpants’, let’s have a community allotment type of person - but a decent pub and likeminded people with similar values are essential to me. I couldn’t bear to live in a village full of brexshitters for example....

@Luisa27 this is why i love you . Yes good schools, pubs and a few shops are definitley keyfor me, as well as great links to the city centre.

Yes - MN has scared me 😥

Milton Keynes
Bedford
Dunstable
Watford
Leighton Buzzard
45 minutes from London

@Metoodear. Are they meant to mean anything only jesting

Leeds - the constant rain Manchester would kill me. But keep going North and get to Scotland - even nicer!

@ocelet41. If there was my job there, i so would , but then that would defeat the point of being nerer family.

Hi - I used to live in Leeds and now live in Manchester - both are great cities and I would happily live in Leeds again.

It really depends what you and your family want - Leeds is smaller and more compact so not as much going on in the city centre - but there are nice areas North Leeds - I lived Chapel Allerton and Roundhay. Manchester has more cultural activities in the centre but is bigger - so you would probably need to live a bit further out to get the nicer areas - I live south manchester and there are lots of nice areas - Didsbury, Cheadle, Bramhall etc.

I left London 8 years ago for Manchester. Love it. Get the tram into town for the theatre, an hour to Formby for a day out, less than two hours to Anglesey. The trams are great for my children who can now travel independently. On occasion I’ll go into Leeds for a gig at the arena, or go over to Liverpool. Love living here. Great theatre, great restaurants.

I once got lost in the mist in Anglesey

On Anglesey

I would go for Leeds but then I'm married to a Yorkshireman, he is not fond of Manchester.

I don't think there's a wrong answer, they are both top 10 cities with all the shops schools and facilities you would expect and good transport connections. Manchester is bigger. I would look at both and the workplace options and see which you get the better feeling about. The only thing I'd say is if you are into your mountain sports Manchester is closer to Wales /lakes/ Scotland but there's not much in it.

thanks both. That's my only thought is that learning to travel independently is more likely going to be easir with trams in manchester, however there's trains in leeds so i'm just being silly

I'm a mountain man, and a motorbike man, so being near both is great .

I agree both fab cities, jut looking for opinions.

Just seen Hull connection. Leeds. Cross pennine connections not the best.

The thing with moving out of London is you are probably leaving behind a horrendous tube/train/bus commute and half an hour of relaxing motorway driving seems mild in comparison. But you could probably be in a position to be under an hour from your family and maybe even cycle to work. Give yourselves the gift of time.

@NotMeNoNo. thank you so much, i do think leeds is a front runner at the moment. and yes a nicer more relaxed commute would be nice haha.