To wander what's cheaper up north apart from house prices

[chocolover12]

Hi everyone,

You may remember my previous threads a few weeks ago, regarding moving from London to Manchester and asking advice on schools and areas ?

Well we visited Manchester and looked at all the areas, we loved davyhulme, urmston and flixton.
Now before we make the move I have a few questions, we are moving in order to afford a larger property but also for a better lifestyle, I don't want to get there and think it's not what we expected in terms of being more affordable as dh will have a pay cut too.

Apart from housing what else is cheaper up north?
Supermarkets, petrol and clothes shopping seen the same prices. And I know public transport is more As is council tax?
What things do cost less as everyone says life is cheaper life is better up north?
I know this is a tricky question but what kind of salary is a minimum to live well? I'm a sahm at the moment. I'm just wandering so we make the right choice, as we really liked the area and want to move but the areas we liked we won't be reducing our mortgage it will be the same but a bigger house but also a pay cut.
Thanks

Calic0

Snap. Born in South East. Lived in Yorkshire now for 16 years.

Apart from rents, nothing is cheaper. And you pay more for heating because it's a lot colder!

I do think things are cheaper in Mlmy experience but either way I think the cost of housing can have huge impact on your lifestyle and the money you have left over for fun/nice things. So then it's not a huge deal if things are much cheaper. For example; since moving out of London we have been able to save for a deposit and buy our first home. I have a studio (art) which is 70 pounds a month, this would be 300 or more I. London. We have a car. I work part time rather than full time and I'm building a freelance career. The London weighting on my partners salary was 4k per year. It definitely costs more per year than that to live in London.

I’ve noticed things like getting your hair / nails done is alot cheaper in my parents home town which is quite north but not sure if thats because we live in a city and theirs is a town so that may be why

I'm afraid it does, the posher areas have high crime for car theft, hence higher insurance. There's very little round here as nobody can afford posh cars.

This is bullshit.

Here is a map of vehicle crime in Greater Manchester
a.plumplot.co.uk/?tab=maps9&yr=-13&pc=15&ct=14

Click on Greater Manchester to zoom in. As you can see, most of the 'nicer' areas in the suburbs have lower vehicle crime.

Davyhulme, Urmston and Flixton all come out lower than the national average (Though there is one bit of flixton which has a slightly higher rate, but still is around the national average).

A quick scout on the net brought back this result

metro.co.uk/2019/03/19/london-manchester-among-expensive-cities-world-8936286/

Basically London is the 22nd most expensive place in the world to live it has fallen due to Brexit) whilst Manchester ranks at 51. So neither is cheap but clearly London is a fair bit more expensive. The parameters included food, clothing, transport and utility bills.

It totally depends on the lifestyle you want to lead! Prices in bars in Urmston are pretty comparable to London in all the ‘naice’ places, eating out too- it’s all artisan and all that. The train from Urmston to town is about £80 a month for a pass- I don’t know how comparable that is to elsewhere. I’m always shocked how much the cost of a day rider has gone up on the bus!

My normal hairdressers is £19 for a cut and blow but I went to one in Urmston and spent £140 for that and balayage.

Fish and chips, pies, entrance to nightclubs, car insurance

I live in a large 2 bedroom flat ran by a housing association about 3 miles out of the city centre and pay £371 PCM in rent. 2 minutes walk away from major bus routes and about 10 minutes walk to the nearest tram into the city. Heaton Park and nearest motorway less than 5mins drive with lots of supermarkets and good places to eat out.

Utilities are cheap at £90 a month.

Car insurance in Manchester is pretty astronomical though, specifically if you live in a bad post code. Home insurance is equally as bad. In fact most companies refused to even insure my home unless it had the latest alarm, CCTV and reinforced locks on the doors etc. Honestly it would be cheaper to get burgled.

Leading on from this, crime is pretty bad and there doesn't seem to be many police about to stop it.

We're also one of the worst cities in the country for smoking. Something like 21% of all adults still smoke and as a none smoker I hate having to walk past it when out and about.

Council tax is comparatively high compared to the dire state of services you receive thanks to the huge cuts to local councils thanks to government. The roads are literally riddled with pot holes so expect to buy a lot of replacement tires and repair your car more often.

As a plus though, people are very friendly and the city is incredibly rich and diverse!

Wow thank you all for your replies ... food for thought 💭
Jamieson90 wow I didn't know that although London is probably a lot worst for crime

Cleaning in Cheshire is £16 an hour. I paid £10 in London
Train in London was £136 a month. I pay £15 a day to Manchester
Nursery was £90-130 a day in London, I pay £63 in Cheshire
Gym membership is about the same. I was shocked when the local gym charged me more than a central London luxury spa.
Kids classes e.g. ballet, gymnastics are the same.

Personally I find restaurants more expensive in Cheshire but I think that's where I live and I ate out a lot with work in London so didn't pay.

Activities with kids are a lot more expensive outside of London. So there are some free museums in Manchester but they are all just a bit crap compared to London. The other stuff (farms and zoos etc) are more expensive, as is theatre with kids. However, what is free is the outside lifestyle. You are 10-15 minutes from the Peaks, 2 hours to the Lakes. That makes for a better work life balance.

The difference for me has been work life balance with work. In London I'd be expected to stay at my desk until 8pm as standard. I leave at 5.30pm on the dot in Manchester.

So if it's about a good work life balance and a better life for the kids in terms of freedom and being out and about, North West every time.

Justmarriedbecca wow that's interesting. Thank you for that info I'm going to have a good think and work with some figures.

Not Manchester, but I moved up to Birmingham for a few years and have now moved back to south east. Public transport and taxis were cheaper in Birmingham. Drinking, well, depends on where you go - local outside of the city centre was alot cheaper. Things like food and clothes from supermarkets and high street stores are of course the same but there were plenty of baguette places, restaurants and market stalls/shops that were cheaper for clothes/food/eating out. My personal favourite was the baguette shops where you got a full size baguette, crisps and a drink for less than £2. Wouldn't find that here in the South East.

If I didn't have my baby I'd still be in the Midlands.

I visit my mum in a 'expensive' part of the midlands and it's definitely cheaper to live there than where we do in Brighton. I get my hair cut there as it's cheaper. But unlike pp I find the children's activities cheaper. We regularly go to a small theme park that costs £25 in total for two adults and two children! The equivalent in Sussex is £60. Equally, we have seen touring shows like David Walliam's Awful Auntie for about £30 cheaper than down here.

Romany, I'm south Cheshire, I drive a 17 plate car worth about £15k, my insurance is £289 a year, I honestly cant remember hearing of any car thefts or joyriders here. It's pretty peaceful (boring).

I think some things are actually cheaper down south. I'm amazed at how cheap fresh flowers are and there are some lovely garden centres and craft shops in Surrey that are cheaper than home.
Agree re haircuts though.

Dreamsofdownunder I need that baguette place in my life .

Goldenbear that's more alongnthe lines of what I was thinking.

Serin really that's a great insurance price you must have been driving for years and have a good few numbers if no claims bonuses for that?

I live in The Land Of The Prince Bishops and compared to down South everything is cheaper.

Tax is cheaper up north!!! - A consequence of the progressive tax system in this country whereby the rich may more. A virtually equivalent job may pay £35k down south and £30k up north. Net pay is £26.5k down south and £23.5k up north ie. only £3k difference.
(Actual net pay = 26503/23553 using standard allowance, NI and post-2012 student loan - use any online net pay calculator to check)

Jcyclops which tax is cheaper ? Sorry for being dim

I think she meant if you're a teacher in London you might be on 35k and 30k elsewhere for the same job, and so pay more tax in London than elsewhere too? Because London weighting is usually pre tax?

Russianspambot ah I see. Thanks

I may be wrong! But that was how I read it.

Also you have identified reasonably affluent areas as well. There is similar housing to be had in less sought after areas

If you look at your annual outgoings you might save 10% by living in Manchester as opposed to living in London. Therefore, if your husband is taking a pay cut of 10% or more you will find yourself worse off.

Also, if you family and friends and down in the South, you have to factor in the costs of travelling down South to visit them.

As for Urmston/Flixton, I live there myself. It's okay but nothing special. Travelling into the City Centre for work is a nightmare. The local MP asked a question in Parliament recently about the the Trains from Urmston as the service has become a joke.

Also, if you are used to living in London you might find Urmston/Flixton quite a parochial inward-looking place. I do and I have lived here for years.

Definitely being able to park without paying - quite a lot of manchester is not parking restricted. Also means I don't have to pay for parking at my local mainline station as there is free parking literally a 5 min walk away.