To move up north for a big but cheap house!

[dancingmonkey]

Just that really. I l live in Hertfordshire- south east and very expensive part of Uk. Budget is around £270,000 and around here that will get me a small 2 bed/ poss 3 bed. But have looked at properties in York which I know is lovely and the will get me a 4/5 bed with massive garden, playroom, utility etc!

Has anyone on here moved far from friends and family to get more value for money on a house? did you regret? I have a 2 year old so obviously it would be hard to not see grandparents and friends but other that that not sure what I would miss! I also work from home so wouldn't need to worry about that.

the north is an acquired taste.

Yeah, you might hate having friendlier neighbours, less traffic and cheaper food.

If you look realistically at the actual area you’d want to live you might find that 270,000 isn’t as much ‘up north’ as you think it is.

My house is worth about £240k. Nice suburb of a small city. Lovely neighbours. Huge garden (I can't even see the astroturf football pitch we have at the end of it from the house). 4 bedrooms, 50m2 open plan lounge/kitchen/diner, another large lounge, utility. 3 good schools nearby. 3 parks with two play areas within a 5 min walk. Lovely countryside within a short drive.

Manchester, York, Leeds etc can be expensive and if you want specific areas you will get less for your money but certainly the big house and garden is achieveable. I'd hate to leave family but would be tempted.

So many butt hurt people 😂

I think the main thing to think about personally is do you have a support network there?

It may seem cheaper but when travelling to visit family and friends it will take more time and do you need to pay for hotel stays etc.

Also would you need to pay for additional childcare.

We didn't move north but moved to Bristol from the SE. It's a lovely place, but we never really settled, so moved back 3 years later. The people were all lovely, but we felt out of things, not being near London. Not a criticism, but not what we were used to. We were also lucky with house prices, but that isn't a given. Did we regret it? No, because it was a good experience. But we are very glad to be back.

Think carefully, and have a backout plan in case you find you don't like it.

I agree with the comments from Bikerunski - when the children are small it's no problem visiting friends and family but once they're in school with terms, playing with friends, more parties, clubs, sports events etc there will not be as much time to travel or have visitors. Holidays will be probably be taken up with going to see relatives etc. and you may want to use your leave going somewhere else. Also the support network is important - my family do not live near me but the in laws are local and would babysit & covered childcare one day a week. I'm not saying don't move but think about the practicalities - it may not seem a great distance but think about how far you would want to drive for a 'pop in for tea'/day visit/weekend visit.

@WorraLiberty

Actually I'd like to know where in Hertfordshire the OP is going to get a 2 or 3 bed house for £270,000?

Yep, my three bed, smallish, mid terrace in Beds is probably about that value, and no way can I afford even similar in Hertfordshire.

I've just looked at prices around York and a three bed semi is nearer £375k.

It is an acquired taste. Takes a while to get used to gas lighting, coal fires and outside toilets, shared by 6 other families. And dont get me started on the cloggs!
Plus side is I now have a whippet and some pigeons

Exactly. That's all I was trying to say. You need to think about the spiders in the outside lavvy on them dark winter nights. Goodness only knows why everyone is so up in arms

We live in a nice village outside York - about 8 miles I think, so 40 minutes ish commuting time. Your budget would get a 3 bed detached here - 4/5 beds are around 400k mark.

Yeah, you might hate having friendlier neighbours, less traffic and cheaper food.

I have all these things. Trust me!

In Driffield, you'd spend the summer with the main roads clogged with caravans.

@Hingeandbracket

The north/south price differences really aren't that huge anymore.

Er - yes they are.

There clearly is a significant difference but people don't compare like with like, quite often. It's not reasonable to compare Cambridge and Rotherham, or zone 1 London and the dodgiest bit of Liverpool. You can get houses for the sort of price that OP is talking about in the south east - for instance, she could easily get a four bed in Clacton or Rochester for £300k - but they're in places people don't much want to live. Comparing really desirable areas of the south with really depressed areas in the north makes the gap look much bigger than it is.

York really is lovely but it's not cheap. We recently sold our two bed terraced house - no front garden, tiny concrete yard and only a ground floor bathroom - for £235k.

I'd be a bit careful of exact areas in terms of what 270K will buy you.

The living quality in terms of safety, crime, neighbours, schools etc will vary wildly and you can have areas separated by literally half a mile where 270 would buy you a 4 bed house in a dubious area... or a one bed flat in a nice area. Or where primary schools are judged as outstanding in one area, but a mile down then road they are struggling. It's very dependant on the actual immediate area.

Also be wary of areas described as "up and coming" as a pull to buy cheaper there. There's an area I know of that's meant to have been "up and coming" for the last 20 years but it's still a dive (not in the North, but I expect things are much the same in terms of "up and coming" wherever it is).. It's improved marginally, possibly 10%, but it's still a dive.

You would probably want somewhere with good motorway links if you think you'll be travelling South a fair bit to see family and friends. You'll also want to check out primary school and nursery Ofsted reports and catchment areas of any areas and schools that catch your eye, as that will become something you will be considering in the not too distant future. Don't assume a house that's a mile or less from the great primary will automatically be in their catchment area. Some schools go by 'as the crow flies" but are so oversubscribed that you'd have to live within 400m to get in. Some go by a boundary which is defined by roads, so you could be out of catchment purely for living on one side of a road outside the boundary, whereas your neighbours on the opposite side are in catchment because they fall within the boundary. Do your homework. Schools will possibly be hardly on your radar with a 2yo, but I assure you it will loom large as schooldays approach!

So I live right on the edge of Hertfordshire, very close to Bedfordshire so actually when I say I can get a house for £270000.. well I can't
What I meant was if I was to buy in my area I would really be looking to buy in Bedfordshire just down the road ( literally)

I would barely get a 2 bed flat in my actual town

So I live in Herts (Letchworth) and it's one of the cheapest places in Hertfordshire so wonder if I'm near you. And I have a sibling up in Sunderland where their house cost half of ours. So I'd say if you want to move to Sunderland (6 hour drive), yes houses are cheaper. York I'd guess probably not.

There is lots to like about Hertfordshire I think. Lots of woods to visit near me at any rate. But I understand the appeal of the coast.

I'm actually from the north west myself so live far away from grandparents already and I will say that's hard. We don't have childcare. We haven't seen them since Christmas. The kids hate the drives. Not sure what I'll do when they get older and need care.

I'm not sure I'd move from Herts to somewhere further away from family unless it was a really great opportunity.

As for the north/south stuff on the thread, it's silly. I've lived in Merseyside, Bath, London, Hertfordshire, and spent a lot of time in the NE too. There's really not that many differences apart from the weather. Lots to love about all those locations (hmmm too many tourists and seagulls in Bath).

This has all made me smile! Live in lovely spot in S. East, but if I was ever going to move, it would be the Yorkshire Dales. Might have to get the caravan ready for a lovely reminder. Skipton, here we come 😀

I would move back up to my home town like a shot. It has excellent shops, schools, hospitals, theatres, public transport etc. I would be checking all of that before moving anywhere though. A big house isn't great if you don't have any of the above.

When I first saw you'd found a 4/5 bed house in York for 270K I thought that's cheap - must be in a dodgy area like Tang Hall... and then it turns out the house is in Driffield.
Driffield is in the middle of nowhere. It's quite a nice town but you'd have a bit of a commute to York.
Honestly, I wouldn't uproot myself from friends and family and move all the way to Driffield.
I went to uni in York and I had a few friends who were from Driffield. They were glad to get away. Ditto friends from Selby, Bridlington and Hornsea.

We've made major moves twice, from one side of the country to the other (sadly not the North, I'd love to live up North). We've moved from Bucks to the East (Norfolk borders) & then to the Welsh borders. Both times we've benefited from much less expensive properties. We've never lived near family (since having our own DC) and its never been a problem, always made friends easily and love the experience of moving and exploring new areas.

My dad made the move up north a few years ago, and, although he's too proud to admit it, he regrets it. He does have a bigger house and a garden, but not much extra money as he doesn't get paid the same amount he did in London. His wife hates it and misses London.
My dad misses the family. His wife has developed severe mental health problems and one of their children is severely autistic, so he could use the support. Unfortunately I don't drive and have a disabled child and my nan isn't in good health. Neither of us have room to put the other and family up and neither of us have the money to travel and stay in a hotel. The rest of the family just can't be arsed.
He has called me a few times at night when he's had a few drinks and cried about how lonely he is. Then when he's sober in the cold light of day, he goes back to saying it's the best thing he did.
Sometimes a bigger house isn't worth it.

I've just looked at your respective jobs and I think you need to factor in the reduced income. Builders will not earn as much here than down South and whilst you can post your items etc you probably would have more opportunities for face to face sales/markets etc down South as well. Or pick a 'posher' area in the North but then the price difference may not be worth the hassle.

I move up north and love it. I find the pace of life is slower, less traffic, more house for the money, people are more sociable.

Suppose you move, buy the bigger house. Then your parents get ill and you want to move closer to them, or you go through a bad patch and decide you want to be nearer family. You'll then be faced with the problem of selling your large house in York and struggling to buy a small one in Hertfordshire.

Of course, all sorts of other things could change, but it's worth bearing in mind.

Your dad is lonely because he moved far away from his family @TheSoapyFrog not because he moved to the north. It would be the same if you lived in Norfolk and he moved to Cornwall, if you lived in North Wales and he moved to South Wales.

I know that seems picky but it's just another thing which some people reading this thread will associate with 'the big bad grim north', when in reality, it's not actually a case of 'the north' being at fault.

Do it. We're not moving as such, but when we repat from outside the UK, we're going to the East Midlands. We're both from the south (me Surrey, DH Herts) but we don't need to be there for work reasons, there are some fabulous schools around and the house prices are amazing, with decent roads/train links back down south for family visits etc. We're currently renting a house in the area we'd like to be in, even renting is so much cheaper. Our rent now for a large 3 bed detached house with huge gardens, garage etc in a beautiful hamlet is half the cost of the equivalent in the areas down south that we would consider.