Buy a house up north or flat in London?

[oneminuteplease]

Not really aibu, posting for traffic.

Can only afford shared ownership on our salary. (Sahm for Atleast another 3 years)

It's either buy a share in a house, in either Warrington/Prestwich/South Manchester

Or buy share/rent to buy in W London,(where we currently live) the flat would be a 3 bed aswell

Or carry on renting our house in west London until I start work again and we can get a better mortgage deal?

2 toddlers!

Which would be the best decision?

Dh thinks buying a house whereas I'd be quite happy in an apartment but he's worried about the cost here in London!

Christ people clearly think the north is a rural cultural wasteland 😂

@Coldilox

Christ people clearly think the north is a rural cultural wasteland 😂

You do know some of us who live in London previously lived in the north, right...

There's a reason why we feel so passionate about the opportunities down here!

South Manchester imo.

I'd choose the North any day. Wouldn't live anywhere else.

“You do know some of us who live in London previously lived in the north, right... wink

There's a reason why we feel so passionate about the opportunities down here!”

Of course I know that. But some people talk as if there are no jobs, theatres, galleries, public transport etc anywhere outside of London.

Some of us who live up north used to live in London too, and that’s why we’re so passionate about the opportunities up here.

@MurielSpriggs

I'm just thinking where my children would be more thankful to grow up in! That's my main priority

Depends what sort of kids they are really, but I'd hazzard a guess that there's a whole lot more interesting things going on in London for kids than in Warrington.

🤣😂🤣 You've been to Warrington then? There's loads going on for kids there and in the surrounding area. It isn't Outer Mongolia!

I'm just thinking where my children would be more thankful to grow up in! That's my main priority

But what do you want them to be thankful for? I'm a Londoner, raised my kids in London and love it with the diversity and range of opportunities. However Manchester is also a vibrant city and comes with the bonus of nearby family and being a smaller city has easier access to beautiful countryside.

Both could be good options, both will be good for kids. Which do the adults prefer?

@lavieengris

The North isn’t some homogeneous blob! They aren’t thinking about moving to rural Lincolnshire!

Manchester has the most theatres per head outside of London and if you’re talking about diversity it’s the language capital of Western Europe with the highest number of different languages spoken.

There is a widespread tram system and pre-covid it ran later than large parts of the London tube system- you could hop back to Prestwich at 1.40am.

I’m not suggesting Manchester and London are the same but tbh they probably have more similarities than differences.

House in Manchester in a hot minute.

I'm confused about the cost element too? I live in a 3 bed detached not far from Manchester and it was the same price for the whole house as I imagine a share for a flat would be in London?! So for me if you could be mortgage free young then you would be able to provide better opportunities for your children? Manchester is a brilliant city!

OP my biggest concern with the house up north suggestion is where these properties are.

I live in Prestwich like a previous poster and the value of my house has gone up 50% in three years- yes it’s still cheaper than London but South Manchester and Prestwich are really desirable and I’d wonder where the shared ownership properties actually are.
An example- the only shared ownership properties I’m aware of ‘in Prestwich’ aren’t actually in Prestwich- they are in Salford opposite the prison.
The same would go in London I suppose but you’ll be more familiar there with the area. I would enlist local family help to tackle whether these properties are actually well situated and good value.
Anecdotally I think ones near Stockport are actually in a good location with great transport links.

London for sure. My kids absolutely love it here and have far more fun than I did growing up in the north.

@lavieengris

If you could find a way of staying in London, why wouldn't you?

I know quite a few people who managed to swing internships and other useful things through being able to travel from their parents' home in London. Most young people are priced out of work experience in London unless they have a relative there.

There are also all of the museums and galleries, which are great educational experiences when they're growing up. Not to mention the theatres.

When your kids are old enough and mature enough to get around by themselves, they can jump on the tube. They won't be stuck out in the countryside with no social life unless they drive, or unless you're happy to taxi them around everywhere. They'll be able to learn independence easier.

There's also the racism point. Ethnicity is not a big deal in London. If you're non-white, it's so refreshing not to get stared at and overhear mean comments. If you are white, it's great to expose your kids to different ethnicities from a young age, so they grow up thinking it's perfectly normal (because it is) for people to look different. Raising children around people who don't all look identical to them is the best way to make sure they don't grow up to be massive racists.

People always talk about moving out of London to raise kids - well, there are plenty of schools in London. There must be kids being raised there...

Personally, I think this is a wonderful, culturally-rich city with loads of opportunities to grow and develop.

Are you sure you’ve lived in the north?

Manchester also has museums, art galleries and theatres. Plus London is 2 hours away on the train so pre-Covid we often went for day trips when I could gear myself up for feeling claustrophobic in the London versions.

None of the places OP has mentioned is countryside. Manchester is huge, south Manchester is very culturally diverse. Prestwich has the tram link. Warrington is close to the countryside I’ll give you that but it’s still not actual countryside.

Kids in my area of greater Manchester learn independence by walking to local shops and cafes from 10/11, have their activities they can walk independently to, get the bus or train to the local town centre, friends houses or Manchester centre since we don’t have the tram.

Racism, probably more applicable to Warrington since the other 2 areas OP mentioned are more diverse but Warrington has cultural diversity but more in pockets. For me I think that’s down to the parents though. I live in a very white area of greater Manchester purely because it’s nearest to countryside. We shop and attend events in the areas of town where the majority of residents are BAME however and discuss racism.

For me I think there’s a huge benefit from raising your children near family so unless your DP has family in London it’s an easy choice to move north. Personally I don’t like living in a city now I have children, air pollution and lack of space other than parks being the main reason. I don’t regret moving out and to my area one bit, my children have the best of both worlds. If we want a 10 mile hike from our doorstep through fields visiting country pubs we can. If we want to be in Manchester City centre within half an hour also no problem.

"There are also all of the museums and galleries, which are great educational experiences when they're growing up. Not to mention the theatres.

When your kids are old enough and mature enough to get around by themselves, they can jump on the tube. They won't be stuck out in the countryside with no social life unless they drive, or unless you're happy to taxi them around everywhere. They'll be able to learn independence easier."

Change tube to the met and you've just described Manchester

Hilarious the way people are describing London, as if Manchester is the back arse of no where 😂

Definitely the north (and I say this with specific knowledge of both that area and London). I don’t know anyone who hasn’t moved out of London or isn’t planning to before senior school. It’s a tough place for kids to grow up unless you have the money to get into the good school catchments and do all the expensive activities. I loved growing up in a more rural environment, with the fun of Manchester on my doorstep once I was a teen.

Jemimia - I was confused about the shared ownership properties too, I haven’t seen any available in Prestwich. We moved house at the back end of last year so was very aware of what was on the market.

Some friends have just made the move. They were renting in West London, have moved up to Prestwich and are renting a similar size house for £1000 less a month. They’ll do that for a year, adding to their savings, then when they have figured out where they want to buy they will have an even better deposit than they do already. Even with Prestwich prices, they houses that they’ll be looking at will cost just over a third of an equivalent house where they used to live.

I love London but if you have no family here, family in Manchester, can find equivalent jobs in both cities and can not afford to buy outright...I would go for Manchester. It's a fine city, great for kids, grammar schools etc, and very affordable.

Unless you are going back to a highly paid occupation which would completely change what you can afford to buy (in which case wait), Manchester offers you a better standard of living.

I've seen a bit of Warrington bashing recently but I actually really like living in Warrington. There's plenty to do and good transport links to Manchester, Liverpool, and further afield. We often look at rightmove and are astounded at the house prices in London. I can't imagine being satisfied in a teeny flat when I can get a decent house with a garden in a good area.

Which do you prefer?
What is the nitty gritty in terms of housing and school catchments
What is more affordable and sustainable long term?

These threads do make me laugh im from Bury now living in Bolton, im aware Prestwich is very up and coming these days and everybody always thinks if you are going to move to Manchester it should be south, but imo Bury and surrounding area, such as Greenmount, Tottington, Ramsbottom etc are lovely areas too with some good schools
Lots of Areas in Greater Manchester are ethinically diverse too, whilst i wouldnt recommend Bolton as such although there are nice areas of Bolton, i would say at least 50%of my sons high school pupils are not white British

I've lived in London for 24 years. It was cool when I was young and independent but now it's a noose around my neck. Local politics is rubbish, the Police cannot control crime, it takes bloody ages to get anywhere, and housing is ridiculously expensive. I've thought about moving up to York, or Manchester or Newcastle to still have that big city vibe but without the nonsense. (I was born in Oxfordshire ) OP, I'd buy the house in Manchester.

'I don’t know anyone who hasn’t moved out of London or isn’t planning to before senior school.'

You might not know them personally (presumably because you live in the the north and they live in London), but you do know that not everyone moves out of London before senior school don't you? There are one or two teenagers in London still!

Thanks for all the replies,

We do have family in London (dh immediate family) and any of his family from up north come down regularly, so dc have cousins their own age here.

The cousins their own age (my nieces and nephews) in Manchester, don't really have a relationship with them as my brother and sister in law have gave me silent treatment for past 5 years. (I'm hoping that would change if I lived closer but my mum doubts it)

One thing that swayed me towards Manchester was, we would always have the PIL down south to visit when we wanted. But they said if we moved up north they would shortly follow to be closer to their two children but leave the other children in London.

Obviously the flat would cost way more than the house to buy outright but when I start work I was thinking hopefully the flat would have equity and we would save up more for a huge deposit. And in the future

I had a very boring childhood in Manchester BUT I think that comes down to the fact my parents didn't do anything with us and just left us to find our own entertainment (strolling the streets)

I mean soon as I turned 18 I basically ran away.

Post cut off.

For salaries, with me working we would have a combined salary of minimum £75000

Which I know goes along way in Manchester and we would be mortgage free on a lovely home and could invest in more.

It's just hard!