Possibly moving to Manchester from London

[shouldiorshouldinot]

Hi everyone,

We are possibly planning on moving to Manchester from London. I've never lived anywhere other than London so it's daunting. I have 4dc 12,10,4,1. The very main thing is excellent schools. St the moment my kids are at outstanding schools so I really hope they can continue like that.
Anybody made the move and how have you found it?
What's the best place to move to with great schools secondary and primary and maybe not too far from the city centre?
Looking for a 4 bed semi or detached
How likely is it to get into food schools and getting into same schools?

Thank you all it's all very overwhelming

Thank you everyone you've all been so helpful.

So I am also a Londoner in Manchester. After living in Salford quays we moved to Prestwich last year. We have a toddler and its been great for groups. The 'village' is full of nice shops and cafes as well as handy supermarkets. Schools are great too and we are close to lovely parks. You can get the tram into the city center really easily or it is a 15 min drive if not at rush hour. At rush hour it is a bloody nightmare and I would not wish that journey on my worst enemy lol.

Livingdeadgirluk oh I know too well about the traffic hours 🤦‍♀️. That sounds good I will check into prestwich too. How long have you lives in Manchester? Do you like it?

I think Sale comes under Trafford so yeah, its a grammar school area. South Manchester generally has a reputation for being a bit more cosmopolitan, I'm not sure whether that is a fair reputation or not but there is certainly loads of bars, restaurants, cafe's and life around Didsbury/Chorlton/Heaton Moor. I like it round here and like MoorMummy said its a 9 min train journey to commute to the city centre from H Moor or a 25 min tram journey from Didsbury area.

Sale is alright and would be closer to your budget than the areas mentioned above. The reason the house prices are so expensive in those areas is the schools, they are generally outstanding primary schools in Didsbury and H Moor and H Moor has an outstanding secondary (which is what makes the house prices rise)

Didsbury, Chorlton and H Moor are not in grammar catchment areas though.

Trafford is the only borough that has grammar schools, that includes areas like Altrincham, Hale, Bowden and the house prices in those areas are high for that reason. Generally people move there as they have aspirations for their kids, this means events ones that don't get in to grammar schools have parents who want them to do well.

I think given your budget I would be looking around the Sale/Urmston area and doing some detective work into primaries in those areas. Then you have the chance of grammar should that be an option you would like.

Realistically OP there are lovely areas but they are nestled in between terrible areas. It’s difficult to get an idea of what it’s like unless you come up to see them. I moved to Manchester 5 years ago and we’ve ended up in some really dodgy areas before moving to prestwich. You could buy a house on one street and it be lovely but move 2 streets over and it can be completely different!

@shouldiorshouldinot

I have made exactly the same move (from SW London, 4 DCs).

Love living here. I’d recommend living somewhere on the tram line. Trafford schools very good, but don’t get hung up on grammar schools.

Another vote for Sale/Urmston. All the schools are at least good and if you are selective in which catchment you buy in, you could get outstanding without to much bother. Lots of parks and outdoor spaces, kids activities etc. Urmston is a short drive from Trafford Centre and Trafford Park, there isn't much you would need to go to Manchester City Centre for if you didn't want to. There are also a nice mix of independent traders on the high streets, butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer etc. It's good quality and has a lovely vibe without being pretentious.

Readiesurereader tgank you so much, you've gone into a lot of detail which really helps.

Wordie oh that's a pity, we will definitely come up and have a look but I guess it's hard to judge that you quickly.

04FS ah someone in the same host as me. When did you move and are you happy you did? Which are are you in now?

I’m in Trafford, been here 9 years now. I really love living here. MN was amazing, and I made some cracking RL friends (in those days we had meet ups).

Not a smidgen of regret.

Although I did have a look at my old thread and it made me chuckle. Seems like a lifetime ago!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/695442-Moving-to-Manchester-and-I-have-no-idea-where-to

@shouldiorshouldinot I moved from SW too! I worked in the City and was so fed up with the commute, SW trains were the bane of my life and I was dreading going every day.

Honestly I don’t miss London at all - Manchester is so much fun! Whilst we lived in the city we had everything at our fingertips - pubs, bars, restaurants, tourism attractions, parks, the canals! Just loved it. So much to do all the time!

Knutsford is definitely too far out for what you’re looking for (we both wanted more countryside and less people 😂) but absolutely worth visiting, it’s super nice here.

Unfortunately £300k won't buy a big house in a nice neighbourhood even north of Watford gap! Plenty of lower price options but you need to reduce your expectations or increase your budget. Even where I live that's cheaper nice areas are £300k+ for a 3 bed detached, for the bargains it's 3 bed ex council semis (around £120k)

Hi OP I know what it’s like moving to Manchester as a completely unknown city. I moved there from Scotland years ago and the consistent advice from work colleagues was to house-hunt south of the city centre, where the population is more fluid and you’ll meet people who’ve moved from all over which can make for a more welcoming atmosphere. Although local people are also great .. Manchester is a friendly place.
Have a look at Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme, two “villages” that blend into one another with excellent high schools and brilliant local primaries.
Bramhall has a village centre with two independent butchers, a Boots and another pharmacists, a couple of independent cafes and lots of restaurants as well as a small Sainsbury’s in the precinct where there’s a lovely tea-shop and a small children’s play area. Also a fab craft shop and a pottery painting place. Best of all Simply Books, our independent bookshop which runs book clubs, author events and activities for kids in the school holidays.
It’s a great place to bring up children. There are nurseries attached to local primary schools plus a lovely playgroup at the Methodist church.
You can drive into the CC in half an hour at quiet times, much longer in the rush hour, but I usually take the train.
The Edwardian semis near the village centre are dearer than your suggested budget but if you look at more modern houses on the Hursthead estate in Cheadle Hulme, or Australia estate in Bramhall, they’re more affordable.
And Bramhall won an award for the friendliest village in Britain a couple of years ago.
To be honest, it’s suburbia, not city centre living, but Manchester CC is less than twenty minutes away in the train.
Jeez that was a saga!
Good luck wherever you choose

Ps when we relocated we rented for a year - partly because selling and buying at the same time is a pain but it worked out brilliantly, you can shop around better once you live there.

I think its the 4 bed requirement thats a bit of a deal breaker. Any compromise in this? Maybe you could seek a 3 bed that could be adapted in some way?

I guess a major issue for many is schools.

I wouldnt discount outlying areas though. Go for square footage. Heres one in Irlam area

Now the thing i like about Irlam is that it has good transport links and is not that far from a more rural environment.

Heres an example;

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59300034.html

I live in and work in schools throughout South Manchester, particularly the Heatons and Reddish. There are great areas and even those not highly spoken of are still lovely. All schools have their ups and downs, but just be aware that even the 'best' such as Priestnall mentioned by pp have their issues and may be changing to academies (or so I hear, but don't quote me!)

Trafford LEA is excellent and lots of friends relocated to places like Urmston to take advantage of the Trafford schools.

One of the really nice areas I've worked is called Dane Bank, the schools there are always oversubscribed and rated very highly.

Marple and Marple Bridge are beautiful with a village feel, not as convenient for driving to CC, but train links are great.

Stockport schools are not as well funded compared to Manchester schools, (think Manc pupils get an extra £700 per pupil) including academies, so that may be something to think about.

Indeed,,and dont discount other schools which have good and improving records for example reddish vale school. There should be a good spread of properties within your budget and within its catchment area..

www.reddish.stockport.sch.uk

04FS I looked at your post the other day. How weird. Where did you move in the end? Do you like it? So interesting to hear feedback from you after reading your initial post.

Arnoldthecat funny I was looking at that house the other day. Pps have mentioned Irlam as not being great ?

Highlandcoo terrifying isn't it moving to
A new city? Almost like starting over. Thank you for you info, I'm going to have to check all areas on a map and work from there.

@shouldiorshouldinot I have been here 7 years and love it! Couldn't pay me to move back to London.

Livingdeadgirluk that's nice to hear.

@shouldiorshouldinot I’m from Salford and I couldn’t recommend Irlam to you, it’s cut off from the rest of Salford and the traffic is terrible, especially when you get the Trafford Centre traffic and Manchester United playing at home and a rugby match thrown in. There is a big Tesco though if that floats your boat but that’s all I can say for it!If you want any advice on Salford areas then just ask

Mightyducks oh thank you I was getting confused about Irlam. What areas in Salford would you suggest?