To ask you where we should move?

[Buggritbuggrit]

We’re looking to move out of London, like everyone else. The issue is that we have no idea where. Neither of us is English, and we’ve never lived anywhere in England that wasn’t London. Please help!

We’re an interracial couple, so would ideally like somewhere with some racial diversity where neither we nor our kids were unusual.

DP loves the great outdoors and I love the hustle and bustle of Islington. We’d ideally like somewhere with both of those things, decent schools, house prices that aren’t insane and a manageable commute into London.

Apart from those criteria (and I have no idea if any of that is reasonable), we’d be happy with anywhere in the South East. Budget is about £600K. If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. Ideally, I want someone to go ‘you have exactly described where I live, don’t worry about this anymore, move here at once’. So, if that were to happen, I’d be much obliged.

OP, do you actually need to leave the London area really? What is driving this?

Could you look at SW London - as in beyond Richmond? Teddington, Strawberry Hill and onwards towards Kingston and beyond? The river is there and it’s very chill, but still feels London enough.

Think about when your kids are teens. Chances are they’ll gravitate to London at some point. Think of how much a London property will be worth in 20/30 years and the options this will give you in your retirement? Once you sell up and leave, it might be hard to ever return as you’ll get priced out.

People in other parts of England still have traffic, school problems and all the other stresses people in London have. They just have it in less diverse places!

Unfortunately, much of Britain suffers from the curse of the “clone high street.” Soulless town centres with the same chain stores and vibe pretty much everywhere. Kids hanging round in the same shopping precincts every weekend. Ring roads, multi-storey car parks, same old same old everywhere. It’s dross and depressing. Particularly in winter - just imagine it. I’m not saying London is without it’s problems, but at least it’s not boring. You have to think about your mental health, ultimately because if you’re used to a certain way of life, going to the Home Counties or even Brighton, etc will be a shock. At least Bath is a beautiful city for sure, but I’ve heard the pollution is particularly bad there as it’s in a valley and the traffic is hell due to tourists. Bristol is that bit to far to be commutable. Also, people say it’s had a London-like vibe in parts, but what’s the point of “London-like” when you have the real thing?

But tbh, if you moved to Cambridge, Bath or Oxford, at least you’d be surrounded by beautiful architecture and there’s something to be said for that in distracting from the British clone high street issue!

Bristol or Cardiff

If I were you I would truly consider a London suburb before leaving London all together.

Many have mentioned the job opportunities, opportunities for children as they grow older, cultural diversity, property investment, general hub-bub, cultural opportunities (theatre, museums) etc.... and more.

If you are used to Islington, moving out of London will be a shock.

I know the suburbs get a bad name but we live in a north east London suburb that feels like a village/area of its own. A lovely community, super diverse, easy access to central but also loads of green space/forest/easy to escape London.

With your budget you could buy a house close to good schools etc. and still have the best of both.

If you're intent on leaving you should absolutely rent their first as has been suggested.

Good luck!!

@howmanyhats I was wondering about this.
I live in wlaes and there has been a huge amount move in. And part of me feels sad.
This is all that I have known but for those who are coming from life I wonder how long they will want to stay.
Its gorgeous here but opportunities are not here. H

I grew up in worthing. It’s dull and not diverse at all although is friendly. How about hove? I moved there as soon as I could and loved it!

A PP suggested Oxford but it is very expensive, 600,000 won't go far at all, even in the boring suburbs.

@Mollylikestodance

If I were you I would truly consider a London suburb before leaving London all together.

Many have mentioned the job opportunities, opportunities for children as they grow older, cultural diversity, property investment, general hub-bub, cultural opportunities (theatre, museums) etc.... and more.

If you are used to Islington, moving out of London will be a shock.

I know the suburbs get a bad name but we live in a north east London suburb that feels like a village/area of its own. A lovely community, super diverse, easy access to central but also loads of green space/forest/easy to escape London.

With your budget you could buy a house close to good schools etc. and still have the best of both.

If you're intent on leaving you should absolutely rent their first as has been suggested.

Good luck!!

Molly would you mind sharing where you live? We're in zone 2/3 north east London and looking at moving further out but no ideas where to go! Feel free to PM me instead.

[quote OldMrGruber]@Landofthefree I always think Birmingham is very segregated though. Massive Muslim population, but by and large confined to certain run down areas.

I'm in a white area (Sutton Coldfield) which has big houses and good schools and I'd say the local schools are largely white. You would get a 4 bed detached for £600k here but not with a huge amount of change!

And getting into town and then onto the London train could easily add another half hour to a journey. The public transport is woeful compared to London![/quote]
Birmingham is quite segregated, the reasons for that are bigger than one city can solve but I think the council could do more to lift up some places instead of turning their efforts into making the city centre into a sterile commercial playground. But that's a debate for another day! You would get a 4 bed detached near me for less than half that price. I'm quite attached to my 'interesting' area!

Oxford is a great place to live.

Being a city with 2 universitues, it is very multicultural and diverse. It has bustling streets you are looking for (Jericho and Cowley Road area), beautiful parks and river walks. Lots of activities for children (museums, pools, ice rink, big new shopping centre in town)
It's also small enough to walk across and children can meet friends in town easily because of great bus routes from the 'suburbs'.
If you choose wisely, you can nice houses outside of the city centre (Botley/Cumnor/West of Oxford).
I agree with a pp that a 600k budget may be a stretch in some parts of town, but in others will get you a really good house.

There are regular bus and train links to London too, both from the city centre and just out of town from Oxford Parkway Station.

I’m not sure some of the people on this thread have been to West Sussex OP! I live near Worthing and although it’s improving it’s pretty dull... I agree Brighton/Hove (Hove if it’s the middle-class vibe you’re after, v naice in parts) sound more like you’re after and the train links to London are super quick/direct and no faffing about changing. Hopefully you can enjoy some mini breaks soon and check out the vibes yourself... good luck!

Bristol would be a good choice, friends nuts sold their house for just over £600k. 4 bed with the loft converted. Kitchen diner and separate sitting room. Walking distance to a good primary. Tiny back garden and on street parking. Walking distance to the city centre.

It’s great- but they moved from London to Bristol and now are heading to Devon. Proper county. All in about the space of 3 years.

[quote Buggritbuggrit]@Delectable I made a similar joke about proximity to people who will sell me pepper soup spices and braid my hair. Someone needs to regularly threaten my fro into submission and it’s certainly not going to be me.

Will check out Berkhamsted and Beaconsfield, thank you. Maidenhead I know and don’t think is very nice. It’s near lots of REALLY nice places, though, so there’s that.[/quote]
I know what you mean @Buggritbuggrit.
Depending on where you work and if you still wish to be within striking distance to Islington on the train or via the A10 you cad simply head north as far as you're comfy with. It'll land you in the eastern part of Hertfordshire or the western bit of Essex. Potters bar, Cuffley, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne are quiet but just on the M25. For schools, most go private. Waltham Abbey has salons for braiding and African groceries; ofcourse it's not like Dalston market.

St Albans, might've been mentioned already, Apsley, The Missendens I felt might feel isolated. Chalfont St Giles, Marlow are not too far from London; they're not ethnically diverse but I don't think you'll find a high degree of ethnic diversity on the outside of the M25 as you will inside of it.

One of my best friends moved from Fulham to Maidenhead a few years ago, screaming and kicking cos she was traumatised she'll feel culturally and socially isolated. Now, they're settled in and their 3 boys love it. Lots of space to run around in the massive garden (more like a mini theme park) with an indoor pool in a small private estate in Bray. A small village with some super talented restaurants. However, it still takes a whole mission to get her hair braided as it cost's more in taxi fares to get the braiders there than for the braids itself.

I say this to urge you not to write off areas if they can tick other boxes. Maidenhead is on the "forever under construction" Crossrail so you should get additional uplift in property value when it opens.

On the periphery of London career opportunities tend to be more abundant in the west than other areas. You can head towards Reading and environs or London. For ethnic markets there's Hayes and Southall.

@redavocado Areas bordering Epping Forest are villagey. Buckhurst Hill, Woodford, have a village feel too.

Canterbury! In terms of its diversity that predominantly comes from the many university students however, this is improving amongst the people actually settled here. 55 mins to St P, near beaches, beautiful (small) city and 600k would get you a lovely house. Secondary schools are selective in Kent though.

The rest of East Kent has a way to go in terms of cultural diversity though so I’d avoid Thanet. Maybe Folkestone too?

@redavocado

Sure! My recommendations:

Highams park
Walthamstow
Wanstead

The above have a 'younger' feel and you feel more connected to London, close to town but close to Epping Forest/escaping the city.

Chingford
Woodford
South Woodford
Buckhurst Hill

These are more suburban and leafy, great for bringing up a family.

Hope this helps!
x

Hastings and st Leonards , lots of folk from London , Surrey plus lots moving across from Brighton as it's cheaper than Brighton but up and coming , lovely mix of housing stock, relaxed friendly vibe . About 1 hr 20 commute by train to London

@Cactuslockdown

I’m not sure some of the people on this thread have been to West Sussex OP! I live near Worthing and although it’s improving it’s pretty dull... I agree Brighton/Hove (Hove if it’s the middle-class vibe you’re after, v naice in parts) sound more like you’re after and the train links to London are super quick/direct and no faffing about changing. Hopefully you can enjoy some mini breaks soon and check out the vibes yourself... good luck!

I was going to say the same.

Worthing- not very nice and not very diverse

Southampton & Portsmouth - both not nice cities. And not very diverse at all.

Chichester- nice but not diverse. Small quaint city but not much happening.

The benefit of south east is the weather though!

Brighton/Hove/ Hastings may be worth a holiday visit to suss out.
Brighton is a great city. If I had the money I'd live there!!

Hitchin is a good shout. Lovely little town with so much going on (in normal times). Rail links are excellent, direct to Kings Cross in around 30 mins. Miles and miles of stunning Hertfordshire countryside. Lovely properties. Good schools. Five mins from the A1M. I wish I lived there (I live in the next town)

Thanks Molly and Delectable! Those are areas on the long list, I think we need to start exploring a bit now things are opening up.

I also think you should consider Beckenham/Bromley. Then you can still access Central London but benefit from more green space and easy access to Kent etc. The schools used to be bursting at the seams here but the situation has eased somewhat in the last few years. We have direct trains to places like Peckham and Brixton where there is the kind of specialist retail you mention.

Herne Hill could also be worth a look.

Houses aren't cheap though, but better value than further in.

My sister lives in Hitchin and while it's a super little town, I'd hardly describe it as "diverse" and their train service was cut back a couple of years ago.

I've just moved to Bristol from London. I LOVE it!!!! Quite pricey in terms of houses in Clifton you'd get a decent size flat for 600K but a little further out will get you a lot more. I'm a 10 min drive into town in a 3 bed semi detached with a big garden and kitchen. Deff recommended Bristol it's a brilliant city

Meant to say for 525K