DH wants to move to London as soon as DC go to uni

[GoutFine]

DH is from London and we moved to the Home Counties when DC were small for schools/ quality of life. I have always loved it and he has loved it but always missed London. We met in London but I was from another area of the UK originally so don't have the same emotional ties.

Now the DC are older and youngest l due to start uni next year DH has said very strongly he is desperate to move back to central London. He wants to sell our lovely family home and buy a "lovely" flat in zone 1, with spare rooms for the children.

We have lived where we are for 18 years and built up a great network of friends and I'm so emotionally attached to this area as this is all our children have ever known. If it were up to me I'd stay here and the DC would still have their family home to return to. In all likelihood they'd be living with us for a while after uni and we are within easy commuting distance to London (25 minutes into Marylebone and we are a short walk from the station).

He says I'm being unfair as he has lived here for so long and he belongs in London and wants to live back there. I feel my life is here end don't see why he must live in London when we are so close anyway. I mainly feel sad for the children I don't want them to lose their family home and the friendships and connections they have here.

WIBU to refuse to move? He is desperate to.

I’d hate to live central London. I’m with you all the way and would not move

It's nothing to do with Central London v Gerrards Cross and the OP has said she doesn't want to make it a popularity contest.

I'm sure Gerrards Cross is lovely but I wouldn't want to move there from my lovely home in Central London because I don't know it and in middle age I don't want a big change unless there's a good reason to go for it or I am forced to.

The most important things are friends and familiarity and there is nothing wrong with saying that's what you want. That's what makes most of us happy.

I love where I live. That's because I've spent 30 years making my life here. I think 18 in the OP's case is nothing to be sniffed at either.

@GoutFine posters saying Central London is snarled with traffic, crime-ridden, noisy, unaffordable except for a shoebox with a windowbox - I have a garden - and most weirdly, doesn't have supermarkets, don't live here and miss the point, And to some extent those talking about the art galleries do too. I can't remember the last time I went to an art gallery or a West End show though they are in walking distance. I don't go to Camden Market either. I went a few times when i was a teenager and didn't like it.

It's about what you're comfortable with. I love where I live and can chew your ear off with all the things that you'd like about it. But it's not your home and yours is not mine.

I hope you sort this out.

I totally disagree with the person on who said London isn't for older people. You have free (fantastic) transport at 60, discounted tickets for entertainment, food shops within walking distance if you choose the right area, good healthcare, green spaces, the opportunity to make new friends, free museums and galleries. Having seen relatives grow old in the countryside I won't be moving out.

This thread is absolutely ridiculous.

Some people like city life, some people like rural life and others prefer a bit of suburbia. Sometimes people prefer one of these environments over others at different phases of life.

Why you're all taking it so personally, I don't know!

Maybe you are in the wrong place. A discussion board might not be for the likes of you.

🙄

LeMoo does have a point. It’s not about our own personal preference of where to live.

It’s about the dynamics and how to resolve OP’s situation. Affordability aside, where the places actually are doesn’t really come into it

Could you afford to buy two new smaller places, a country house and a city flat. Alternatively could you rent your current home out for a year and rent a flat for yourselves in London. Try before you buy?