HELP IM STUK I WANT TO MOVE BUT I AM 50/50

[Saff25]

Hi Guys

I am new to mums net so I decided to join and start a thread in hope of some guidance and advice. I currently live in Birmingham with my partner and 4 year old son. Both me and my partner studied at university in Birmingham hence why we stayed here.

My partner family live in London obviously London is to expensive so my next option is moving to Northampton Briar Hill however I am hesitant about moving here because I have heard some bad things about Northampton however being under an hour away by train to London is ideal because this means my son can see his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and also means that more doors will open and there will be more support is there anybody on here who lives in Northampton? Or even know somebody who does?

thank you

Why have you chosen Northampton? Its a nice enough place, shopping isn't great and centre is a bit depressing. There are lots of other places closer to London...that are still affordable.....Also have you checked that your partners family actually want to be more involved, what are you hoping happens when you live closer?

It’s a council swap I’m wanting to do yeah my partners family want us closer so they can help, as I have a degree I am hoping for more career options with being quite close to London but I’m abit confused right now

Don't move to Briar Hill, it's a shit hole.

I live near-ish and that's bad enough tbh

If you are hoping to commute to london for work bear in mind that the season ticket will be thousands..

Ohh really well where I’m planning on moving to is next to Briar hill primary school? If you don’t mind me asking why is it a shit hole?

Crime rates are high, it's a pretty deprived area tbh. Run down etc.
Have you ever visited?
It makes me feel uneasy walking round there during the day

How about Bedfordshire border as train travel into London is a fair bit cheaper from there . Wymington and Sharnbrook are nice . I live in the East Midlands but know people who live that way .

Northampton is very very different from birmingham and London.

How often are you expecting help from them and in what form? As unless they are providing childcare every day I think you're better off in Birmingham, as you will have a much shorter and cheaper commute than Northampton to London

Yeah I seen that the crime rate was extremely high, I have visited the family and the place I didn’t notice anything alarming but I have researched and to be honest with you where I live in Birmingham the area is lovely it’s very quite and my son is in a very good school I’ve been here for two years and no problems whatsoever

What are both of your degrees and your current roles? Are your preferred careers things that can be followed in any location?

Moving from Birmingham to anywhere in the south east will be difficult for 2 reasons:

• if you are in council housing, London & south east councils typically have 10 yr + waiting lists. They are trying to push people out of London to places like Birmingham, not encouraging moves the other way.
• property anywhere with a manageable daily commute to London will be extremely expensive compared to Birmingham, which is relatively affordable in UK terms.
• commuter fares into London from somewhere like Northampton will be very expensive. E.g. £5000 a year, or more perhaps.

Yeah I wouldn't say it's comparible to where you're living at the moment then.

There are nicer areas of Northampton though!

Oh God, Briar Hill is really rough and Northampton itself is on it's knees (I can't wait to move out), you'd be better off in Milton Keynes (next door town), great train links to London too.

I wouldn’t base a move of house on grandparents visiting to help tbh

Birmingham is going to have better careers options and if the school is good in a decent area I would stay put

It’s 1.30 hrs on the train to Marylebone

Its not a wonderful area, but there are areas of Northampton I'd want to be less.than I would Briar hill.

I dont really think there is much to choose between all the predominately council ( and ex council) areas- at least Briar Hill is a small-ish estate, bordered by reasonable areas, where as Eastern Districts are huge

Hi guys thank you so much for all your messages I really appreciate it, I did want to move assuming that there would be better options however since I’m in two minds I’m going to put the move on pause and try better my situation here in Birmingham and see what comes of it thank you

This was a council swap I already started putting applications forms in but because I’m wary of the area and what I’ve read and heard it’s completly put me of like Chizzlemenizzle said I would be much better off in Milton Keynes as it’s much closer

The move isn’t based on grandparents but would of been a little better to be closer to family so we could get a break every so often. My degree is in media so the reason I wanted to be closer to London is because there is more job opportunity related to my degree as I have researched into it, but I’m in no rush to move at the moment I don’t want to make a rash decision and then regret it along the Line.

Will stay put for now and see how things go thank you everyone for your advice and taking the time out to reply.

There will be more jobs in or within reasonable commuting distance/cost Birmingham, or London than Northampton. Proximity to jobs and good schools are more important than proximity to extended family for weekend/holiday visits.

So would stay where you are, where you have a good school and access to Birmingham jobs, or seek somewhere in a location within a commute you can manage cost and time wise to London. Rail fares vary hugely.

Both parents commuting is v hard IME.

I just find it difficult sometimes creating opportunities for myself. Especially since living in Birmingham I have become iscolated which has not helped me one bit I need to start creating my life how I want it to be.I think moving right now is probably not the right move

I live near Northampton and although I wouldn't want to live there (I don't like big towns) there's nothing wrong with it. The shopping isn't as good as Birmingham but you have Milton Keynes not that far away and you can get most of what you want in Northampton anyway I would imagine. The villages surrounding Northampton are lovely and I've lived in a few, but not Briar Hill unfortunately so can't comment from experience x

There are more media job opportunities in London, but then there are more ‘most things’ opportunities because it is the capital. I would not move to a place a lengthy and expensive commute from London on the possibility of more media roles, but only if I’d secured a role. Better off increasing your fit for media roles in any way you can locally. “Media” is a pretty general term.

Thank you for your message that’s the bonus of living in Northampton it takes 30 minutes to get to Milton Keynes and of course under an hour in to London by train, May I ask what is Northampton like for jobs? I’ve heard briar hill isn’t such a good area I’m just abit confused at the moment so think I need time to decide x

Neither Northampton nor MK will have anywhere near as many jobs as Birmingham.

An hour from Northampton to get to the mainline station in London? Costs? There is also likely to be onward tube or walk. Tube is expensive.