To want to move back to London from Manchester?

[NameChangeLifeChange]

Don't know if I am just having wobble but recently I have felt a strong urge to move back to London from Manchester. We moved here 5 years ago with DC1 (age just 1 at the time) for a better quality of life. Have since upgraded to a decent size house and made rooms in a nice city suburb. Buuuut....

I miss London so much. I am a southerner and feel at home there, its an hour from my family instead of 4. My career prospects are SO much better in London and pay is 20% more. I love the feel of London, the bustle and access to all the museums etc. I would move in a heartbeat if we could afford our home in London but of course it would be way out of our price range. DH also loves London, works there sometimes and always gets pangs of homesickness when he is there. Manchester has a weird feel at the moment- so much litter around and feels scruffy (no offence- I do love the city!!)

Are we mad? Kids now 6 and 2.5. Our budget would be around 600K if we moved back, have previously lived in Wimbledon, Clapham, Crystal Palace but unlikely to afford a decent house in any of those areas but would be open to other areas if nice and family friendly.

Sorry!

YANBU- Move to London! Buy a tiny crap house but enjoy all that London has to offer and the career of your dreams!

YABU- Stay put! You have a lovely house and build a life in Manchester,!

Wimbledon and Clapham are out but Crystal Palace is still pretty affordable.

Do you still have friends in London?
You probably need to work out if you miss London and would prefer living there or if you miss what your life was at that time. Most of your time in London was childless and care free, obviously it will look different now.

Hi OP, can I ask what why you left in the first place, was it simply for a "better quality of life"? If you have no ties there, and all that is keeping you there is more space, then i would go back to London. Realistically (sadly) your budget isnt going to go very far in those areas... I guess you check out house prices etc? could you be happy in a smaller property and no outside space? I don't think you are being unreasonable at all no. I would very much feel the same and if money were no object would buy one of the £3m terraced houses no matter how ridiculous it seems!

I totally understand where you are coming from, I did the opposite 25 years ago, move from Manchester to London, and I am so glad I did. And prices were affordable back then. Now a typical 3 bedroom house in the areas you mention are nearly 1Mil. Further out areas, you are looking at £800/900K, and even further defeats the purpose of moving back to London.
With regards to your career prospects, you could always look for a job in London but WFH? I am doing this living in London for a company based in the Midlands 😊

@luxxlisbon absolutely I’m well aware our day to day would look very different nowadays! We still have lots of friends there, many with young children.

@BobbidyBibbidyBob yeah basically we were in a small flat, a job opportunity came up here for DH and we upgraded to a nicer house in a better area! Have enjoyed the last 5 years just feeling the pull back.

Areas where are considering would be more Crystal Palace/Norwood or Sutton/Carshalton (have a few friends round there). We would want a house with garden even if both a lot smaller!

and yes ideally I’d like a £3 million house overlooking Wandsworth common. Will crack on with the scratch cards

@lovelifeat40 ooh im jealous! House prices are insane these days!
Sadly my job is patient facing so can’t be done remotely!

I love the feel of London, the bustle and access to all the museums etc

Would you feel the same trying to navigate the busy streets and tube daily with two young kids?

How often do you think you would you go to the museums in London if you lived there? Are there no museums in Manchester that you can enjoy with the kids? Is it not possible to visit the museums in London whilst living in Manchester?

You have rose tinted specs going on here.

I suspect you might very occasionally go to the museum with the kids but perhaps not as often as you think, and making a trip to London to do that is very possible especially if you can stay with family nearby.

And London is 2 hrs by train from Manchester. If you book cheap tickets in advance, it can work out as cheap as petrol now...

@NameChangeLifeChange my BFFs moved up to Mancs nearly 20 years ago, when the DC were small. Mainly for what they perceived at the time to be the opportunity of “better” schools and closer to family It has taken such a long time for them to feel settled, despite having a gorgeous house and countryside on their doorstep. They still miss the buzz of London, but knew that it would be very difficult to come back - financially and to uproot the DC again.
So in the shape of things, 5 years isn’t long!

Your life here would be very different to pre-DC and if you were in a smaller place, in a not as nice as you would like area, might turn out not to be as fabulous as you imagine.

@RedToothBrush I completely agree and know it would be very different to strolling around at ease with two kids!

I can’t explain it very well, I just feel at home in London whereas I feel like a guest in Manchester? They both have pros and cons and from the kids perspective moving from a nice house to a much smaller one would be a bit rubbish. I just don’t want to live in regret and especially with the difference it would make to my career!

MM hates London, might get a bit one sided

MM 😂😂 I didn't mean Meghan M, o meant MUMSNET. I think 😂

I downsized from a detached four bed four reception house with in and out driveway and pool to a three bed terrace to move back to London. Don't regret it one bit.

I can well understand why you want to move back. Bear in mind that interest rates are going up so can you afford to do it and how quickly could you sell your Manchester home?

This website shows houses in Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham,
www.goandco.co.uk/properties-for-sale/properties-for-sale-in-london-under-600000
I checked in Putney (where I live) for 2 -3 bedrooms between £550K and £650K
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E85244&insId=1&radius=0.0&minPrice=550000&maxPrice=650000&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=3&displayPropertyType=houses&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false

Good luck.

If your dcs are same sex I'd move back and buy a 2 bed flat.

Go on Right Move. Search for the type of property you need (is it 3 bed house) in SE19 + 3 mile radius and £625,000 max. That might give you some idea of whether it's realistic or not.

In answer to a PPs comment about how often would you take kids to museums in London.....er all the time?! For this summer alone I have the natural history museum, postal museum and Horniman already booked in. They're amazing!

I thought Manchester was where it's at now as all the young people are not leaving there or heading there.

Tbh I don't love CP for family life, good for young professionals. Same with Clapham unless you can afford the multi million pound areas. Wimbledon is great but comparable house will be 1m.

If it makes you feel better I'm in London & so many friends have left that we are moving further out to Kingston. I want my dc to have friends on their doorstep like I did. I grew up in London but it's changed quite a bit & further out gives a more similar childhood to the one I had in z3.

You may get somewhere in Sutton in budget & there are excellent schools.

Things are changing in terms of career opportunities in Manchester. The number of industries that have moved and continue to move north is significant.

And yes it pays less in Manchester but you get more for your money.

Maybe your industry is against trend, but I am not convinced the argument stands up either.

I’m from Manchester (and live here) but I love London and my job is London based (wfh contract) so I’ve seriously debated moving.

Ultimately I haven’t, because I just can’t justify the downgrade in house. The other thing I dislike about London is the travel time - yes London has loads and loads of good stuff, but it takes flipping ages to get anywhere! (My BIL is in Wimbledon and I find the commute from there to central a complete slog).

The point of the above is I get where you’re coming from as I also love London, but we’ve made the decision to live in a nicer house day to day, and use the money saved to visit London 3/4 times a year, stay super central and enjoy it without the long commutes.

Have you made many friends in Manchester? whereabouts are you? Parts of South Manchester feel much more London than say, Glossop or Oldham.

I was just coming on to day the same. Our children had a wonderful upbringing in London.
Moved back from Manchester when our first-born was just one year old and never regretted it.

You could get a house for £600k a little further out in South East London. Not CP but Penge or Hither Green. I love living in London with kids! Do it!

And good point about the bustle, I grew to hate the busyness & tube cram so work locally now. I make more effort to go into town on the weekends as I'm less jaded.

We do a museums about every 2 months, as your dc get older they have more stuff going on, on the weekend.

I wonder how much of this is about the pandemic experience? You've been very unfortunate with the timing there, especially with DC age. The whole second child experience and eldest starting school have been so abnormal for you.

In answer to a PPs comment about how often would you take kids to museums in London.....er all the time?! For this summer alone I have the natural history museum, postal museum and Horniman already booked in. They're amazing!

But how often in term time? Lots of people who don't live in London will visit 3 museums over the summer holidays.