To relocate from the south east up north??

[BadgerLovesMash]

Just to start I have never moved away from where I grew up so this would be huge!! But now after having our landlord decide to sell our home again (5th time in 12 years this has happened to us!) We are seriously considering moving somewhere cheaper. But some things making me wonder whether we should.

We currently live just outside of Brighton so are very used to easy and cheap public transport which is vital as we don't drive.

Our daughters are 14 and 10, so 1 heading into GCSE years and the other just about to start secondary school.

We have a good support network of friends and family here. All the girls friends are here.

However we are both on minimum wage. DH works for a company that would let him change locations. I work in childcare so could find another job in that field (I was looking to change anyway as no longer need term time once dd2 starts secondary and theres no chance of increased hours where i am) so financially we would be significantly better off.

For reference our current rent for a 3 bed is £1500 per month and this is cheap, others in this area are closer to £1800. I was looking at Grimsby and for a similar sized 3 bed it is £515. But that is 5hrs on the train from here!

So has anyone done this and what are the pros and cons?

Oh and this is all quite outing if you know me! 🤣

The north is not artic I’m from the south and have lived in the north of England for years. Never needed to adjust to the climate.

Highly recommend Wirral btw. Specifically west and south Wirral. Liverpool is over the water and is a fantastic city and there’s loads to do in Liverpool, Wirral, Cheshire and other areas.

you can buy a 3 bed house for 100k.

Where, in which area, and what is the house like?

Yes you’ll find cheap things but anything I can think of in the city where I live at that price would not be where you’d want your children to go to school.

800K is a different matter though.

Unfortunately this is true - I was told this by former colleagues. Apparently the trainers hanging over the telephone lines is also apparently a signal

Most knife crime is in the North, of course London has knife crime hotspots but considering it's population that is not surprising. I can't imagine any 14 year old wanting to move, it is a tricky age and they would have a southern accent. I don't know I just think it is hard to be accepted at that age.

Hull is as grim as Grimsby just on a larger scale

Most knife crime is in the North ? North London more like. One of the reasons I'll happily stay up north.

She can’t afford it!

They were definitely pulling your leg about the trainers 😂

It’s most definitely not! I lived there for years and whilst it certainly has its dodgy parts there’s also some really nice parts and some great culture.

That comment was in response to the poster saying that Hull was as bad as Grimsby. Get so fed up with people slagging off Hull.

Plenty of places in Lancashire in her price range

Re the £100k, out of interest I looked at DH’s home town, in the NE. For 100k you can buy a small three bed house, and the town is served by a perfectly decent secondary. It’s not the obvious place to move to from Brighton though. It’s safe and OK to live in, and close to some more interesting places, but would drive me a bit mad to live in (which is why we don’t). So that would be a case of saying it would be a big culture change rather than it being unsafe/grim/hugely deprived.

There are towns nearby which are more deprived where you could buy more house for 100k but would see a corresponding drop in terms of facilities and infrastructure, and life outcomes.

A three bed house for £550pcm? Where?

true. My DH was stabbed on a night out in Portsmouth. About as far south as you can get! Of course, I’m sure it’s been said many times already but ‘the north’ is not a homogeneous zone (and of course neither is ‘the south’)

The north is not artic

I disagree it was bloody freezing, rainy and cold.
I never fully relaxed, I was always freezing.
Barely took my anorak off, it's depressing.

It's lovely where I live now -doors open by April.
Absolutely nothing nicer than a balmy Southern day 😎
*Waits to be told I'm wrong 😂

I live near Grimsby and I wouldn't. There are very few job opportunities unless you want to work in industrial setting or a factory.
There are lots of other places in the area that wouldn't cost much more and will offer more opportunities.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131925509#/?channel=RES_LET

£595

This is the best comment on this thread. If neither of you can drive and, tricky landlords apart, are settled where you are, then it would be madness to move to somewhere you don’t know, where you have no family support, have no jobs, a child who is halfway through important exams and where you have your friends. I have some friends who live on the Sussex coast. Would Worthing be a little cheaper for renting? It is still on the coast (nicer beach than Brighton, too) and has good transport links.

NRTFT

We’ve moved for the exact reasons you want to op, affordability, only difference is both DH and I are northerners so we were fully aware how bloody grim it can be up here. Saying that, it was definitely the best decision we made, we have a far more comfortable life financially. We are never going to be rich but we have far less months were we struggle to make ends meet. My advice:

• Look for somewhere with a decent transport system so your not stranded and can visit home as often as you need, especially if you don’t drive. Or somewhere with an easy link to a decent transport hub.
• Really think about moving away from your support network, if your close to them think about how you will manage not seeing them regularly, especially in a northern winter, it can get really grim especially if your not use to it. I know lots of people who haven’t coped purely due to missing friends and family.
• Cheaper areas may mean rough, or not accessible, it may also mean less decent schools.
• As a Lancashire lass I far prefer it to Yorkshire, I think we get better weather too, but I could be bias.
• Make sure you compare salaries to rents, houses may be cheaper, but not necessarily wages.

I really like Liverpool as a city it just lovely. Preston has a bad rep but is having a lot of investment and on its way up. It also has a good rail link, only just over 2 hours on the train to London and 2 hours to Glasgow, so you can at least get around more than you do now. Not really a fan of Manchester, but I know lots who are. There are some nice surrounding towns to the big cities but only you can decide if they meet your particular needs.

I think the most important thing to consider is keeping your DDs involved in decisions. The last time we moved we made sure our DDs knew that if they weren’t happy we’d look at moving back but they had to give it a whole year first.

Accrington? I suggest OP visits the “shit towns” website before making any move.

There are nice and nasty places in both north and south - personally I would never live in Brighton, to me it’s the Blackpool of the south. The days of buying cheap houses in great areas of the north are a thing of the very distant past which some southerners seem oblivious to. Good areas in the north command the same prices as good areas in the south. Rental properties in Manchester and the surrounds are like gold dust at the moment and it’s only going to get worse.

OP, if you care about being in a decent area with good schools for your dcs I would really consider staying where you are if you’re happy enough there. I think you are being incredibly naïve in your expectations of attaining some “better life” in the north with a budget of £500-600pcm. Seriously, you’re delusional.

@MissDollyMix What!! Jesus, that's horrific. I hope he's ok now. Don't think I'd ever go out again.

I have taken on board everyone's comments and thoughts. We will have a proper discussion but I think our impulsive dream of a better life will just stay that way. I think part of it may be me getting itchy feet and wanting change, but I would never do it at at the expensive of our girls mental health and happiness. We will stay put (in a cheaper part of the outskirts of brighton) so thank you everyone for your thoughts.

But honestly was this necessary? You don't know me or my DC. Me and DH may be low earners but we are happy in our jobs, and our girls have never gone without anything they need. We have always given them everything they need and they have had far more life experiences than people I know on double our income. We live cheaply day to day and are hugely appreciative of the little things. All i ever encourage my DC is to aim towards happiness and doing a job they love. We have discussed money when thinking of future careers but both love a bargain too so I'm sure if they do earn less they will be able to stretch every penny! Why would I discourage my dds dream of zoo keeping as its not much above minimum wage? If it makes her happy I will be supporting her every step of the way.

Not managed to RTFT, but agree with the statement about the north not being one big homogeneous area. Also, Grimsby is hardly the north. Try Inverness or Aberdeen. That’s proper north. Although, given the age of your eldest, I suspect you don’t want to move them education systems, understandably.

On a more helpful note, I enjoyed living in Birmingham (Edgebaston) and Manchester (city centre, and Salford). They are definitely north of Brighton, although I’m not up to speed with house prices, as have been back in Scotland for about 12 years. I’d go for somewhere with good transport links, given none of you drive - and you’ll find that other places also have good nightlife, culture, etc. Maybe think of places which have, or are nearby, universities? They bring a certain multiculturalism with them.

And finally - it’s not the arctic, nor the bottom of the Atlantic, when you get north of Watford. We have good and bad weather, but given the unpredictable nature of the environment these days, anything seems possible, anywhere. It’s currently 5 degrees here (Edinburgh), and I see central London is 4 degrees. So, go figure. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also, to add to the weather debate, it tends to be drier, colder and windier in the east than the west but often a little warmer in the summer. I grew up in Norfolk (so neither north nor south, geographically) and can well remember walking to primary school and feeling as if I were being blown there. It is often extremely windy. Cromer, on the north Norfolk coast, can be either the coldest or hottest place in the country, but very frequently it is cold as the wind blows straight down from the North Pole with no land in between. I can remember standing on the beach with my friends at the south coast one summer afternoon when a stiff breeze came from the sea. We were standing there quite happily in short sleeves and did not feel cold. Had it been the east coast, we would have needed to put a few layers on as the wind is so much colder.

You are wrong the North is a big place maybe you were in some tiny little arctic bubble but I can assure you we have spring and summer just like the South .