AIBU - Relocating to Lancashire

[Rmivuxg]

Hello, my DP and I have an almost one year old and we currently live in the South East. We are renting a one bedroom grotty flat and dreams of ever owning our own home in the SE seem pretty far away. We've been thinking that we'd be better off relocating to Lancashire as it's cheaper and seems nice. However, we don't really know Lancashire that well and so thought
I'd ask which areas of Lancashire are nice and which areas to avoid. We are currently looking at the Chorley/Preston/Wigan area but are open to some nice, family-friendly areas. We both work in healthcare so we think that it wouldn't be too difficult to find jobs in the area. We have saved up a good chunk of money and are planning to rent somewhere for 6 months or so and get a feel for the area and then buy somewhere after that.

So my AIBU is AIBU to want to relocate to Lancashire in the hopes of owning our own house?

Cheaper standard of living, beautiful countryside, friendly people - what's not to like ? I'm Lancs born and bred and from one of the areas you've mentioned. PM me if you want any info.

Not at all.
I live in the rough area you're looking at and I love it. Wasn't born here but this is where DH is from and we settled.
I live in a village right on the edge Lancashire/Greater Manchester about 15 mins outside of Wigan. We can get into Manchester or Liverpool in an hour. Edge of countryside and love it. Houses are very reasonably priced especially when you consider its prime commuter band into Manchester
Won't say where here but feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Surely your first decision is where you will find work? Do yo work in hospitals?
Lancashire is a very big place. There's a lot of new housing being built all over the county, particularly around the M 61 corridor. You might want to think about relocating nearer Manchester, along the Metrolink routes.

Look at
South Ribble (Penwortham, Hutton, Longton)
Brinscall
Croston/Mawdesley
Lytham

All have good local schools and nice places. Not cheapest but they're good areas. Know them all well.

I'd move back home in a heartbeat if we could find jobs....

Lancashire = God's own country.

Also from the area you mention. Lancashire is lovely (Although big, so there's a variety of living costs and work availability)

I loved growing up there; lots of beautiful countryside, not far from the lake district, Yorkshire dales, Trough of Bowland etc. In the particular set of villages I grew up in, most people had parents employed in two big companies, farming and then other jobs were more varied as they would normally be.

I think if you can definitely find work that pays a suitable amount then it's a good place to live. I wish we could move back there, but if we did we would take a huge pay cut. Lower living costs but also lower wages, and very big differences in industry.

Lancashire is beautiful. We are 40 mins direct train to Manchester and you can buy a decent 3 bed semi for about 100,000. Born and bred and love it here

I relocated to Lancashire 20 years ago and love it here.
I personally like East Lancashire. Although there are deprived areas, there are some lovely villages and towns about.

Preston is an absolute nightmare for traffic, we left for that reason. An accident on the m6 gridlocks the whole of Preston and you can be at a standstill for hours. Sadly, it isn't a rare event.

Which town / city would you be working in? I would recommend that as a major consideration. Preston, Wigan & Bolton suffer an awful service From northern (rail) so if you’re going to be commuting into Manchester I’d definitely recommend close proximity to a metro link station (Radcliffe & Bury) in the north of Manchester. If you’re driving elsewhere it will be fine.
Apart from that it’s fab, 30 mins into the city centre to the south and 5 mins to rolling countryside too. There’s a great heritage and cultural side too.

ShallWeJustForgetBrexit
You are confusing Lancashire with Yorkshire
However there are very nice parts of Lancashire, some of which used to be in Yorkshire. And, because it is Lancashire, much more affordable
Look at Barnoldswick. Earby if you want cheaper. Within E. Lancs avoid Nelson
Chorley area ok but choose carefully

We moved to the ribble valley east of Preston and love it, personally I dont like Preston itself it's certainly not a pretty city xx

Oooops ignore unmumsnetty kisses its habit

I would avoid Lytham, St Annes and Blackpool because they are somewhat cut off from everywhere else. Southport might be worth a look...I like it there. Villages... Hesketh Bank, Much Hoole, Longton are all nice. Fulwood has great motorway links

We currently work in a nursing home as care assistants (that's where we met) for minimum wage and we just about manage down here. We were thinking if the cost of living is cheaper and we can only get jobs that are still minimum wage then we'd still be better off. We tag team childcare at the moment and will probably continue to do so

As a previous poster mentioned. Where ever you decide just make sure you don't need to commute on the M6.

Lancaster is a nice city and lots of lovely villages nearby. Not far from the Lakes.

Thanks for all your replies by the way!

You could live anywhere then. Plenty of care jobs about. I would happily live in Lancaster, Barnoldswick, Clitheroe

I live in a small beautiful village just outside of chorley. Lovely, rural but Just a few minutes to the motorway junction for easy commuting if you need to. I'm a care home manager and there is lots of work for care staff in the area. What is your budget for renting?

Southport is retirement central and has lots of care/nursing homes. It is Merseyside though but on the border with Lancs. Both Hesketh bank and Tarleton have a lovely feel to them.

Just go and visit - it's like everywhere I suppose, some lovely parts and some pretty grim areas. I lived for a while in the very centre of Chorley and it was pretty awful, but the surrounding villages are quite nice.

If you have children, you need to look at the schools very carefully, particularly secondary schools close to where you're looking to live - some were really struggling.

I'm from Carnforth originally, you are right next to the M6 there, there's a railway station and regular bus service to Lancaster. You aren't all that far from Preston and practically on the Cumbria border there 😊

Southport might be a good starting point for care type work. If you have good eyesight you might even see the sea if you live there long enough.
Go up and 'mooch around' all the places PP have mentioned, it has so many possibilities.
God's own is 'over the border' to the East however.

You should be able to find work in that sector for sure.

I live just north of Preston, it's fine... Preston isn't as bad as some people make out, it's got lots of parks, and is on the main west coast train line, and on the M6 so easy to travel. Manchester is a good big city with loads going on. Masses of countryside of various sorts easily accessible. The coast is good for beaches but useless for swimming.

As PP have said, you should look carefully at schools if you have or are planning to have children - last time I checked near here all the schools seemed to be oversubscribed including the poorer ones (maybe due to the glut of new building?)

Have you looked at Carlisle.....north Cumbrias so lovely......just a thought

Have you considered areas of Yorkshire instead of Lancashire?
I've lived in both and found standards of living to generally be much nicer in Yorkshire.