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.

Also you get a cheaper house in a Bradford postcode

Ooh more bang for the buck

I'm East Leeds born and bred and also a Civil Servant. Will you be working in QH?

I'm lucky enough to live in walking distance of this beauty - Temple Newsam

Whilst East Leeds has some lovely suburbs and villages I would agree with those saying look west and out towards Bradford and north towards Harrogate. That said there are some beautiful villages near York and out towards Selby which are easily accessible to the East Coast mainline or other train lines if you are happy to drive a short way.

Yes I agree west or north are seen as better .

One or two mentions for Harrogate as a place to commute to Leeds from. Nice though it is there, my advice would be to forget that, the commute is fairly brutal [exceedingly slow, busy, infrequent train service], almost not doable with kids for a couple who both work full time.

Aye but outer East Leeds is fab. You'll get a stonkingly marvellous house for £500k!

Possibly not so much in North Leeds. That's footballer, silly house prices land. Avoid Ling Lane...

Not silly prices like London and south east though.

Ok no to Harrogate.

Does east Leeds have easy access to great countryside?

I think £3.2 million for a house in Leeds equates to silly prices in London and the South East.

Hi siwel, this is my ds's nickname for his best friend ( Lewis ) backwards I presume?!

I am from Liverpool and went to university in Hull, lived off Beverley Road, I spent a lot of time in Leeds doing journeys back and forth.
I really like Leeds a lot and as much as I like Manchester too, Leeds seems a bit nicer to me.

The lakes are really accessible, and beautiful. You're in a pretty good place geographically to get anywhere in an hour/two hours and you will get so much more house for your money.

My dbro and his wife moved north from Essex when they had dc and he transferred to the Leeds office.
They had a small 2 bedroom semi and for the same price they have a brand new 4 bed detached with a garage/lovely garden etc and a much better quality of life.

Very best of luck whatever you decide :)

If your budget is 500k why would you not consider the home counties and commute to London,you can still get a house for that budget in a lot of commuter towns less than an hour from London.

East Leeds will get you on to A1 pretty easily and thence to N York Moors, Scarborough, Whitby etc. Some nice countryside nearer but it's Aire valley and Vale of York, so flatter. If you like your scenery 3d, then NW Leeds is better. This may be completely biased advice.

One good thing about Leeds is the amount of open space in the city. Temple Newsam and Roundhay Park are both big open spaces on the outskirts, there's Kirkstall Abbey grounds very near the centre, and the Meanwood Valley comes almost down into the centre.

Leeds centre is very compact, so if you're in Quarry Hill you can easily get out to shops etc at lunchtime. Less so if you're in Lateral S of the station.

@Zoflorabore. It is Lewis backwards, well done .
Leeds does seem good, and thanks for your best wishes.

Sorry forgot to say will most likely be Quarry Hull. I will find out depending on if I take the job.
I'm a 3d landscape lover. Like climbing hills and motorbiking so hillier the betger.

It does yes. We are close to the A1 so great access to North Yorkshire. We also have numerous train stations on the East Coast mainline again giving access to North Yorkshire and Northumberland. We're also only a ten minute train journey into Leeds where you can get the Leeds - Settle - Carlisle route going up to the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. And we have direct trains to the East Coast. And buses! The Coastliner runs several times a day - to Pickering, Scarborough and Whitby. It's a ten minute walk for me to catch it.

Also you can get the train down to Derbyshire Peak District. It's all on our doorstep.

@AMerkinInParis.
Can I ask what area of east Leeds you live?
I do like to be within a walk or max 25min drive to the countryside

Another plus for Leeds - isn’t there a high speed rail line into London? Handy for visiting friends...

@Luisa27. HS2 is being built and will be done in like 2030 . It does only take 2 hours and a bit though at the moment, so can't complain.

Of course. I live in Halton but the info I gave also applies to Colton, Whitkirk and Temple Newsam.

You could definitely get the walk at Temple Newsam - the estate is huge - and you'd definitely be in countryside within a 25 min drive.

@AMerkinInParis.
Thank you so much will have a look

Yes I heard it was pretty fast - 2 hrs isn’t bad

@Luisa27. Yeah not too shabby

What about Skipton - I’ve been there and it’s lovely

I prefer Manchester personally. Leeds isn't that big I think it would be a big shock after London. Depends how much of a change you are after - with both you could still live semi rurally within an hour away.
However aren't a lot of civil service departments relocating to Birmingham? Just make sure you don't end up having to move twice!

Leeds - easy access to glorious countryside and a choice of other cities - and its in Yorkshire!!