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.

I am from Cumbria, currently live in Yorkshire and sometimes think about moving to London. The weather is always amazing and there is so much to do.

But the cost of living is so high and I think I'd really miss the open moors and high spaces of the north.

I do think London is great though and if you're from there originally it makes sense.

I would go for it. Once children are in school and make friends it is harder. Being nearer family would be a draw for me, doable in a day. You might feel more connected to Manchester when the children are at school and you are more involved in the community but you will always have the nagging doubt I think.

We're currently considering moving to London also but what's giving me pause is the way things seem to be going downhill with climate change/heatwaves and pandemics. If these get more common in future as predicted then the cooler, more spacious, less populated areas seem preferable (such as where we live now in the NW).

The weather is always amazing and there is so much to do.

I have to say the heat in London is not pleasant. With climate change part of me thinks I should move to the coast

@NameChangeLifeChange @NameChangeLifeChangewell yes, we like it!

I left London over 10 years ago to move back to Cheshire and I'd never, ever swop back. But then I'm originally a northerner and I craved being somewhere that felt like 'home'. If the SE is home to you then why not give it a go...though you should expect a significant drop in lifestyle.

@NameChangeLifeChange sorry, posted too soon. We're in Haringey, near Finsbury Park. Local postcodes are N4, N15/17, N8.
You won't get a house for 600, but young families (the ones who aren't bankers 🙄) who buy either garden flats and extend or 1st floor and go into the loft, perfectly possible with a victorian conversion. You would have to be very creative on that budget, and have wide tolerances. But something could be done.

Where was this?

I lived in London before having kids and we go back every so often. I’m always rushing to go back home after a couple of days.

You moved to get a better quality of life for your children. Will they have a better quality of life there now, compared to where you are?

Move back and get what you can afford now. In a short enough time you will have a bit of equity to allow you to move up especially if your wages are going to go up.

I am from Manchester (and live here now) but lived in London for a few years in my 20s. I would go back in a heartbeat if it was doable with my current life. Manchester has a lot of good points but it's simply not a patch on London. Add to that the fact it's your home town and for me it's a no brainier.

I brought up my kids in London and they loved it. Loved the fact they could be more independent with public transport. Loved that there was so much to do. Even in term time, we used to go to the museums on Sundays, get a coffee and mooch around.

My eldest now lives and works in a big city abroad and still says she misses London!

I spent all last night looking at houses etc and we would be taking a massive hit on house size and area compared to our current place. I think it will have to remain a pipe dream for now sadly.

I love living in London (despite wanting to move 'home' northwards) but I think what a PP said about climate change and being cooler/safer up North is a really good point. I also think that whenever anything crisis-y happens (lockdown, heat, war) Londoners take the brunt of it, the experience is more unpleasant than elsewhere, and it's much more difficult to escape than if you're up North. So if you've decided not to move back you can think of those reasons why it's a good thing in the long run.

OP if you miss London do not move to Guildford ,Woking ect. They are NOTHING like London.

I'm from London, been living in Manchester for 10 years now. The quality of life is so much better, maybe its because I didn't own my home in London and went from renting a room in a rundown house to a 2 bed flat, and life has just improved and improved from there.

I do visit London often, to take my son to see grandparents and also for work, but it just reminds me of how much better things are in Manchester. I would hate to ever go back to commuting on the tube for sure! It sometimes takes as long to get to a destination from my parents house in Zone 6 as it takes me to get there on the train from Manchester.

My son has just finished his first year in school and there is a lovely community, lots of green spaces, and plenty going on in the city center and surrounding area. There are at east 3 museums if not more!

Why don’t you just go to Liverpool? It’s nearer than you’d have to travel if you lived on the outer edges of London and had to go to a museums dotted across the metropolis.

People are happy to travel for ages from one end of London to the other but baulk at doing it here. If there are limited transport options fair enough. But if you drive, or there’s a direct train… what’s the issue?

At the age your DC are I would move back to London as once they are older and you have entered secondary school age you become trapped! I am a Londoner and wanted to return to south west London when my eldest was 2, we looked at buying a flat above a shop but it was in Kew an a boutique shop, it was a lovely area annd I wish we had done it. My DH wasn't keen to live above a shop soo we stayed put in Brighton. I regret it as I would have been able to return to my very good job in Central London without being so far from my toddler at the time. We live very near to a Brighton station now and in fairness my 15 year old has an amazing life here and my youngest has loads o friends. There is lots going on and loads of your social life revolves around the parents who go to your child's primary school, many of which have interesting jobs in TV and creative work but I really miss London. When the DC were little we would visit the museums in London loads. There is so much choice compared to other cities. I think if you are a southerner you can feel a bit of an imposter as well. My Mum lives in Shropshire and as a student I would stay in the holidays and visit Manchester for the shops and nightlife but it is a completely different vibe. I mean London has tons to see fir free with little DC especially, the Diana memorial park, the Royal parks, the buildings, the river. If it is on your door step you definitely visit frequently. My eldest will go up from Brighton to shop for clothes and records as just cooler!

@NameChangeLifeChange I totally get what you are saying-

I think this ultimately comes down to where you feel happy and comfortable. I would live in London if money were no object, but it is and I couldn’t accept the downgrade in lifestyle that I’d have to take to move there. I don’t want to swap a house with off-road parking for a maisonette or flat if I don’t need to. And 20% more salary wouldn’t touch that problem. However, I do like Manchester and find there is plenty to keep me entertained here so I’m happy with that choice. Whereas, I don’t hear much love for Manchester from op. This would be the big decider for me as it’s really not worth having a bigger house if you’re fundamentally discontent.

I will say, though, that I don’t really get the repeated references to museums and other attractions and events to take kids to as a distinguishing factor. Obviously London has more of that, but there is still so much going on in Manchester that I certainly can’t get through a fraction of the things I’d like to do. Classes, clubs, festivals, arts, etc. Liverpool has loads going on too culturally, and takes about as long to get to from Manchester as crossing London. It’s not like there is a dearth of stuff to do here.

Personally I hate Manchester. I know it's touted as the place to be now, but as someone who has lived in both Leeds and Liverpool, Manchester, or at least the centre and surrounding areas have never felt safe to me. More homeless people than I've ever seen anywhere, including Hull!
I would find London exhausting but I can totally see the appeal. If you could financially swing it, I would

I'm sorry if this is going to upset Mancunians, but I've never liked Manc, and I come from the North West. It's not just a dumb anti-North prejudice - I do like Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and others.

I've been going to Manchester all my life but always got sinister vibes (not to mention a bad impression of the grumpy locals).

If it's making you so unhappy, I would try to move even if you can't afford the same size of house. It's a case of location, location, location.

I get you-I moved back up north 20 years ago and still pine for my London life. London was where I felt ‘at home’ even though I didn’t grow up there. However, we’re totally priced out. In leafy west London where I used to live, we could get a one bed flat instead of our lovely old 4 bed house. So when we go and visit our friends there, we know we couldn’t step back into that life. I miss the feeling of being around interesting people, the variety of London, the lovely cafes and the warmer, drier climate-and kids have great opportunities.
We are happy here though. We have access easily to 3 great cities but the main pull is the wonderful countryside and beaches which you can reach in an hour. No more sitting on the A23 to Brighton for hours. It’s easy to get everywhere-and tbh Manchester does have an energy which reminds me of living in London when London was affordable.
I used to work in Manchester and feel there are suburbs which feel a bit west London. Didsbury, Chorlton are a couple. I would investigate the possibilities of moving back and see if you could live with the compromises in your house and living costs in order to be closer to your family and the buzz. Or investigate elsewhere in the north. Good luck!

I have lived in greater manchester all my life ,I rarely go to the city centre these days ,but used to go regularly in the 90,sand 00,s I never felt it was sinister then ,but i used to frequent places like the Ritz, and Rock world etc ,I can, t get used to all this Northern Quarter bollocks 🤣,I'm sure there are some grumpy locals ,but you will get that everywhere.

Lots of people saying they don't like Manchester as don't feel safe etc. When I was growing up in London many parts were nothing like today.

Sorry, just seen you live in Chorlton-if you’re not happy there, there isn’t anywhere else in Manc which would compare to the Big Smoke.