To agree that colleagues moving out of London are doing the right thing

[disorganisedsecretsquirrel]

'Base office' is in South London. I have WFH for years so this is not about me...

Colleagues have been WFH since lockdown.. most had done at least one day a week at home for years ( because we have a sane boss ) .. then Covid happened and it became apparent to all that we had never 'needed' to be there..

Now our department (Civil Service) has closed our office. to us - to make room for those who have to see the public/ need to be in the office. So my colleagues have started to make moves.. we are a team of 16. So far, 2 have made offers on properties in Devon and Cornwall, 2 in Norfolk /Suffolk , 1 in the lakes (lucky bugger) and one to Sussex. (All previously in South London.

Our contracts have been changed to WFH (if we chose this) ..

AIBU to say that the government push to get 'everyone back in the office' does not reflect the reality of what people want.. mostly to do with the commute.. (cost of) and quality of life.. my lovely colleague going to Wales is swapping a 1 bed in Streatham for a 3 bed small holding for half the cost of her current mortgage . She has 2 kids that share a room and her and DH sleep on a sofa bed !

OK it's all very well and good moving to a remote area in the country and you get to work remotely but what if the worst happens and you're let go/the company goes bust? You'll have to find another job that lets you work remotely which will make the job search harder. I'd still like to live within a commutable distance of a big city

And well the London property market is due a massive crash anyway

People move from flats in zone 1/2 to zone 3/4 all the time anyway. It’s an easy way to get more space for a family.

@MarshaBradyo

People move from flats in zone 1/2 to zone 3/4 all the time anyway. It’s an easy way to get more space for a family.

Yes, I agree. I don’t think that’s unusual. But many people live in zone 3, 4, 5 flats. Those people are moving much further out to other towns and small cities. At the moment they have the worst of both worlds - a cramped flat and a long commute.

It is a big move but if you are bursting at the seams and the usual central to outside move isn’t possible I guess people will go quickly. Seems a risk but some jobs will be better for it than others.

Daisy yes I agree it’s not always the situation that the flat is central

Also these people who can just quickly up and move hundreds of miles away, do they have partners with bullet proof jobs with employers who’ve also promised they can WFH full time forever too? Or do they have SAH partners?

@Tellmetruth4

Also these people who can just quickly up and move hundreds of miles away, do they have partners with bullet proof jobs with employers who’ve also promised they can WFH full time forever too? Or do they have SAH partners?

The ones I know, both partners have been told they can WFH forever, have been given new contracts, and both jobs are relatively bulletproof, even if the company loses the contract. The others don’t have partners, they’re single. I don’t know anyone who is or has a SAH partner.

I hope anyone moving to Devon or Cornwall to wfh will make very sure that there’s good internet provision! Friends in rural N Devon often had problems, and even when it was working it was always slow.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

I hope anyone moving to Devon or Cornwall to wfh will make very sure that there’s good internet provision! Friends in rural N Devon often had problems, and even when it was working it was always slow.

Similar in north York’s village of 5000 with only Bt basic internet, no way could 2 people work from home