To move out of London

[OurMiracle1106]

I have no remaining family. But I do have a job I love and good friends around me. However. I’m living in a flatshare which will come to an end in about 6months time so I spoke to council and they have said “no priority need” as I’m a single person but have referred me for homefinder UK which means a council/housing association tenancy but it would be far out of London- somewhere like hull Liverpool or Newcastle! So pretty much other end of country. I don’t earn enough to rent privately on my own and due to past trauma I can’t face flatsharing with strangers.

WIBU to give up my job in London and move somewhere completely new where I’d know absolutely no one and probably be on benefits for a short time before finding work?

YABU. Find a job in the new city first then move there. Why would you need to go on benefits?

I couldnt leave london but its up to you. my council would not consider you a priority for housing at all thats just the way it is.

mrtrebus because it’s almost impossible to go to interviews 100s of miles away! And with social housing I cannot guarantee when I will be housed.

The longest I’ve been on JSA is 15 days between jobs so I’m confident I would quickly find work.

Depends on your work
Also depends what type of person you are - some are more socialble thn others
I don't live in Liverpool but it's a great city with lots going on and lots of opportunities and the people are least friendly!

Look for jobs - do skype interviews - anything is possible

Hull! Liverpool! Newcastle! How incredibly awful for you that must be to even contemplate! Could you try to be more entitled if you really tried?

If you move out of London you might find you can afford to private rent. If you came up my way you could probably rent a 4 bed house for less than a London flat share. I know what I would choose

I work for a school doing admin and finance. I’m good at my job. I was originally a temp and they paid a substantial release fee to keep me.

I have looked at jobs. And I have started to apply. I will also sign up with temp agencies and will happily do that to make a living but most of those require you sign on to their books (which means going into their office).

I’m not looking to move until after xmas.

I think ywbu to stay in london. You can't afford to live there and realistically won't be able to suddenly buy a house there. The three cities you have mentioned are great places to start on the property ladder and they are cities too so will be vibrat and full of things for you to do, at a much more affordable price. Go for it!

Iltavilli i don't read it like that at all if you grew up somewhere and it's the only place you know its incredibly daunting to leave for a new random city with no say in where! It's nothing to do with the specifics of the places.

iltavilli I was actually listing these places for some kind of reference to how far out of London. I would be happy to be comfortable somewhere secure. I’m just very mindful that London is my home. I grew up here, left and came back (only place to come back to safe due to abusive ex)

I haven’t said Oh god no I would never move there! I’m saying it’s a very long way from everything I know

OurMiracle1106 if the UK really is your oyster why not research some cities and then make a visit to view some private rentals and at the same time sign up to a few temping agencies. Once you have a let agreed you can apply online for permanent jobs. One or two visits with a bit of forward planning can't be that expensive.

Do not underestimate the value of job you love, and good friends around you.

I would definitely consider moving to any of those cities although I get that they feel pretty far away. I also get where you are coming from in terms of the logistics.

Could you move to a city where you would have a fighting chance of being able to buy a property? (From memory, Liverpool was one that I considered for this reason).

I think the grumble here is the manner in which those places were mentioned (with horror). I live in a northern city and work in another - one of the most ones mentioned in the OP’s post. By and large we are bored shitless of people moving here for cost reasons then complaining about it. Each or the places mentioned are incredibly proud of their histories, identities and communities. If OP chooses to move there then they are BU to discuss them in such terms.

itavilli it’s the fear of JUST how FAR away they are!

I’m also epileptic so if anything was to happen no one would get to me for a number of hours at best.

Plenty of people from regional cities are expected to move TO London for work opportunities (esp graduates) but god forbid a Londoner would have to face the trauma of Newcastle etc.
For ref, most of my friends have lived in a number of cities (I lived in London for a few years). By the sounds of it, you don’t deserve the fantastic cities.

Well, I've lived in all of those places, and I'd pick Newcastle, with Liverpool a close second. Not sure I'd consider either hull or London again. But I think you have to go where you can get work and pay, you can't expect to live somewhere you always have just because. I never quite understand that attitude.

I moved out of London for 5 years but due to my marriage breakdown (ex was abusive) I came home to London because it was always my safe place.

When people leave their routes at first they tend to have at least someone they can go back to if they need to. I don’t so I suppose for me it’s a little more scary. Coupled with the fear of my epilepsy resurfacing (stress is a known cause).

I think its reasonable to be scared.

Wow of course its readonable to be scared.
Moving away from all you know is scary.
It really depends on your ability to put yourself out there snd speak to people.

I don't think op is being unpleasant about other cities at all- she is pointing out that they are far away from her friends and family. Of course it's reasonable to be scared. I would try to stay in the vicinity of London if this is where your support network is and you enjoy your job. These things are very very valuable.
Can you look st a cheaper suburb like Dartford or maybe Bromley? Or parts of Essex are cheaper. You may be able to commute then, or find a new job but not he so far from your established life

I think it sounds great.
I’d go for it as there is not much to stay for from what you have written and quality of life is better/cost of living is so much cheaper than London!

The only way to solve this is with a mind map and some serious thinking.

Two circles, 'stay' and 'move', and then your thoughts on each, radiating out. From that, you can move onto 2 columns, 'stay' and 'move', with arguments for and against listed.

Basically, your big issue is 'secure accommodation' versus location. Which matters more to you?

Secure accommodation probably means moving. It might not but it probably does. It also comes with a very unsettling degree of loss of choice and autonomy. You don't have much control over your secure accommodation (it's not that secure).

In order to get secure accommodation, you have to be prepared to give up a job where you are comfortable (OK people to work with, OK school to work in) and hope you can later find similar.

You have to give up some control about choosing where you live (to the extent that you may not only not be able to choose your area, you may have to live in a completely different part of the country - losing networks of support).

So there is a big issue about loss of autonomy and lack of choice. Along with losing job and networks.

Those are big things to lose, frankly.

On the positive side, secure accommodation is great, if you can get it.

But ... in this situation, is it secure? It's not secure if you find that the factors that you gave up in order to secure it can't be replicated (job you're happy in; support networks;feeling at home in your location).

They might be - but you have no certainty.

Private renting can be hellish and expensive but it does have the advantage of returning some choices to you.

You have to include it as an option in your thinking in order to gain clarity.

For example, although it can be insecure, it permits the possibility of moving somewhere cheaper and keeping your existing job and networks.

It also permits a choice about which places you might consider moving if you were to move out of London.

(People who are reading this as you dissing other cities as a choice are really, really missing the point. The point is that you lose an ability to choose if you go for the secure accommodation. And humans get quite anxious when they are faced with uncertainty and lack of choice.)

It's a gamble and a risk.

From the outside, all I can say is that you are being too either/or about the wrong issues and need to break your thinking down a bit.

Secure accommodation is not secure if it can't be a home.

Honestly, posters on MN seem to go completely mad about any thread with 'London' in the title. You'd have had more thoughtful replies - which had actually read your OP) if you'd posted for advice about choosing between two pairs of shoes.

(And apologies there to the posters who did reply thoughtfully. I know you did. It's the loons who go completely la la on any London thread ... I'm past the point of finding them endearing.)

Iltavilli you're a moron. She never said the places were horrible, just that they are far away and she'd struggle to get organised with a job etc before moving. You're just making a bad name for these places with your attitude. Got nothing to do with the OP.

Anyway OP it would be risky to move without a job. The job market in any of those cities will be different from London remember. London is quite fast paced and it's easy to pick up a new job. The further north you go, the harder that can be. It may not be the 15 days maximum you've had before, although it might be as well.

I would still apply for some jobs closer to the time of moving, maybe even now, and explain that a face to face interview would be difficult given where you currently are, but you could do a Skype meeting instead. There are a lot of places that do this now.

It sounds in theory a great idea but I think you should be cautious about what property you take. I've looked at the Homefinder UK site as I work with people who are at risk of homelessness - based in the South East where 5-10 year wait on the Housing Register is normal..
Whilst the cities you mention would be fantastic places to move to as with all places there are less than desirable areas.
Given that the housing crisis is nationwide there surely must be a reason why these properties are not being taken by local people - I'm not sure if landlords are given an incentive to house through this scheme though so maybe I'm wrong. Happy to be corrected and to hear people's success stories from this scheme.

You are absolutely right mumstaxi, social landlords use Homefinder as a last chance to let a property which has failed to attract tenants through other routes. They will be the hardest of the hard to let's, usually with good reason.

Hmmm I don’t know, but ime jobs in school admin are very competetive. Especially outside London where the salary for an admin job goes a lot further and there aren’t as many commercial opportunities for admins. But if you’re experienced then maybe you will just walk into a job. I’d definitely test the water first though. You don’t want to end up somewhere you aren’t happy and unable to find work.

You're just making a bad name for these places with your attitude

Oh come on, that’s just as crackers as the posts you’re responding too.

OP you are of course not being unreasonable to be concerned. I see you work in a school - are you able to make a couple of trips during half term?

You say your current accommodation is over in 6 months so around April next year? Does that coincide with Easter holidays giving you a little wiggle room?