To not want to move to Wales?

[dgarcia85]

My OH and I live in SE London and we are about to start TTC. We both agree we need to decide where we want to live as we want our kids to have a stable home and not move around. I work at a council and earn £35K. It’s a great place to work and I don’t want to leave. I also will be starting a second consulting job soon earning an additional £10K. My OH is studying p/t and earns £20K. I want to move closer to work most likely Purley renting first and then buying when we can afford too. OH doesn’t think we will ever be able to buy anything in Croydon/London and he wants to move to Wales where his parents are as it’s cheaper and they can help out with any kids. I’m from the Caribbean originally and I’ve been living in London for 15 years and made it my home and I don’t really want to start over in another new plus. Hi Plus I feel like our mixed race kids would fit in better in London and I love my job. I know Wales makes more sense financially but I can’t bring myself to agree to it and its now causing arguments....

^@oliversmumsarmy fair enough point regarding the previous properties posted but this house is listed for £250k and is a three bed detached, fully renovated, house with a garden in llanishen which is a lovely area of Cardiff, close by to rhiwbina which is one of the most sought after areas in the city, and for that price you could get what, an average two bed flat in the Croydon area??

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80704997.html^

If you look carefully it's near a small brook so there would be a risk of flooding. Also the adjoining street is called 'Heol Hir' which sounds like 'heil Hitler' and will also confuse non-Welsh visitors because it's not really a street name.

You don't get this kind of thing around Croydon.

www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/67829772 This house is practically on the M4 so 20 minutes to Cardiff with no traffic and 5 minutes in to Newport centre and train station.
www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/90250076 This house is 2 minutes from a brand new critical care hospital employing thousands of people next year.

Not all houses in Wales are run down with 70s decor, just like I imagine most of the houses in England aren't. Realistically the OP's mortgage payments on houses with space around here would be about £600-650 (mine is £500 and I have a 3 bed semi with a garden pretty much on a dual carriageway to Cardiff). Which means they would manage perfectly fine on a reduced income and not have to renovate their bathroom or kitchen

For the sake of balance, wtfdidwedo, you can get this lovely double-fronted property in South Norwood (just up the road from Croydon) for about the same price:

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/53006886?search_identifier=4120b53722733b31c494fa1d5221feed

Obviously it needs work doing.

"There are bits of Cardiff I'd avoid (Ely, Butetown)"

There are nice bits of Butetown e.g. by the Wharf and the canal. Even the area around Loudon square isn't that bad with proximity to the Bay and the train station and is also a majority black area.
I probably wouldn't choose Ely either though.

@thedancingbear

OP, I made the move from London to Cardiff a few years ago, and have not regretted it. But I am in my 50s and was ready for a slower pace of life. Cardiff is lovely, but as a pp said it is not London. I still miss the London "buzz" and if I won the lottery I would consider going back! Also, to be honest. I would worry about moving out of London at this point in time as we don't yet know the after economic after effects of COVID-19 on our towns and cities. I worry for Cardiff and wonder what will happen to all the restaurants and pubs, all the lovely arcade shops etc. London might be a better bet for a few years.

It won't make any difference to parking anyway. Most people in wales still ride donkeys.

Only if you're posh.

If Cardiff or Bristol seem like a good compromise, then I’d definitely advise the OP to be IN Cardiff or Bristol - not in Cwmbran or Newport or anywhere else because it’s near-ish. You lose a lot of the advantages, buzz and convenience of being in a city if you go too far out.

Also, not Cwmbran full stop. (Although I hear the parking’s great... )

My house suggestions were merely a response to the weird conversation about houses in Wales needing new bathrooms and kitchens. I wasn't suggesting someone who enjoys city living should live in Cwmbran. Although the shopping centre...

Just so you're aware OP and anyone else reading, oliversmumsarmy has mentioned on here before that she buys, does up and sometimes just flips London property, and thus she has a vested interest in people continuing to pay vast prices for pokey flats there rather than looking elsewhere

And if you are going to state things about me at least get up to date information.

I haven’t done anything for years as Dp was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I have been caring for him for the last 4 years.

Any money I made has been taken up by having to go private for his care as the NHS refused to treat him and buy him the extra years.
Also with him being off sick for some time we have had no income.

I didn’t ever just flip London properties. In fact I probably did more properties outside London and whichever ones I did do, where ever they were they weren’t exactly ftb ready or even mortgageable.

PubsClubsMinistryOfSound That's not cool. Hate the game, not the player, yeah?

Very much disagree. The poster concerned was encouraging OP to take out a substantial mortgage to buy a London flat now. If she's giving this advice as a property developer, that's something OP would deserve to know about. If she'd just made daft comments about parking, I wouldn't have gone there, but this crossed the line. It's not hate either, property development is legal and people are entitled to do it if they want to and can.

A substantial mortgage which would cost the op similar to what she is paying in rent

And would, unlike her rent, be a multi-decade commitment.

Well this took a turn. Is it too late to go back to talking about the amazing free parking in Cwmbran?

@thedancingbear Of course Heol Hir is a proper street name, it's Welsh and it's a street in Wales!

It translates as Long Road, which anyone with a small amount of Welsh (i.e all schoolchildren here) should understand.

Wales isn't frigging England with more mountains and rain, there is a much older and distinct culture. The language is part of that and I doubt you'd make such an ignorant remark about e.g a French a street name in France.

^@thedancingbear Of course Heol Hir is a proper street name, it's Welsh and it's a street in Wales!

It translates as Long Road, which anyone with a small amount of Welsh (i.e all schoolchildren here) should understand.

Wales isn't frigging England with more mountains and rain, there is a much older and distinct culture. The language is part of that and I doubt you'd make such an ignorant remark about e.g a French a street name in France.^

You've misunderstood me YogiNut. I grew up in cardiff, love the place, and my mum and dad are still there (and live on a 'Heol'). I was taking the piss out of Oliversmumsarmy finding ridiculous reasons for pooh-poohing any place or any property in wales.

Have a read of the rest of my posts on the thread if you want evidence.

tbh theDancingBear was being heavily ironic.

Cwmbran has an old and distinct culture of free parking. 3000 spaces are just waiting for you to come and park in them. FOR FREE. (I mean, M&S and most other decent shops have closed, but does that really matter when you didn’t have to pay for parking?). It translates as Road To Nowhere.

Heol Hir does not sound like Heil Hitler, @thedancingbear.

will also confuse non-Welsh visitors because it's not really a street name
As pp, it is a perfectly fine road name.

^It won't make any difference to parking anyway. Most people in wales still ride donkeys.

Only if you're posh^

I don't think that's fair. Most people have a donkey now and some have carts they can attach to them as well. There's even talk of an 'omnibus' service starting.

I've a clear recollection of my aunty and uncle riding round Caerphilly on dogs back in the 80's. You'd never see that now, things have moved on.

PubsClubsMinistryOfSound

Yes I do renovate and flip properties. Just not done it for a few years.

Friend says she is an Auditor. If she goes back to work (been at home for 15 years) then that is what she will do.

Another is a personal trainer it isn’t the job she is doing atm. Another describes herself as a manager. Atm she works stacking shelves

Just because you do other things or life gets in the way doesn’t mean you aren’t what you trained as or qualified in or good at.

If we are being pedantic then I am an unpaid carer and have taken up worrying as a f/t occupation whilst sat here on UC hoping the lockdown eases.
Dp booked a scan in November (as things didn’t feel right) and got a February appointment. That was cancelled and he got a March appointment Then that was cancelled and won’t be rebooked till this is over by which time it could be too late.

@thedancingbear Thank heavens for that .
I've been dipping in and out of the thread...