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! 🤣

I grew up in Grimsby and my advice would be to avoid it. The town is dying and there is nothing there anymore. Lots of violence and crime. Worse than that is the close mindedness of the majority of people. Travel wise it's difficult to get to/get out of by public transport. Some nice villages on the outskirts but you still need to go into the town. For teenagers/young adults there is nothing.

Plenty of nicer places further north! Good luck

Maybe think about north west? Some good transport links ( or were till Avanti) to rest of uk, Manchester airport, m6 etc. lovely places with 4 national parks within 1.5 hours in some places.
yep, it’s wetter

warrington, Wigan, St Helens areas

BUT, to get cheap housing you’re always going to be looking at old industrial towns anywhere in England. They’re where no one has money, no one would live if they could afford more or didn’t have family roots there. Unless you go completely rural with crap transport you’ll not get “something for nothing” ( eg rural mid and south wales?) .

Cheap housing is available in some areas for a reason, and whilst There are exceptions of course, it’s generally down to market forces

I lived in London and then outside Manchester, and although we were on the metro link up there the public transport system was not sufficient enough to get our kids to their friends or activities. I think your biggest challenge will be to find a place in the north that has good enough public transport and cheap housing. I didn't know anyone up there who didn't have a car but when I lived in London hardly any of my friends had a car.

Jesus OP don't do it ! I live not a million miles from you and work all over the SE in Children's services. You cannot uproot a Brighton 14yo and put then in Grimbsy ! It's really difficult to imagine a starker contrast. How about moving along the coast to Eastbourne or Hastings where things are a bit cheaper but the culture shock will be less. But TBH I wouldn't move a child at the end of year 10 unles there was literally no other option.

Oh yes forgot about all the fury at how unfair the south gets same energy rebate as the north!! 😂

Grimsby is pretty cut off. How about Sheffield or closer to the SE Leicester. Both cheaper than Brighton but not cheap like Grimsby I should add. Cheap for a reason. It's just over an hour to central London from Leicester on the train or frequent coaches, my DD's always use the megabus

Good grief, no you don’t just put a pin in the map and go. Have you not heard any of the complaints about how rundown the country is outside London?

There is nowhere else outside London that’s got the easy public transport that you want for a start.

What you need to do is accept that this will take longer term planning. Use your holidays to have a few trips around the U.K. to see what it’s like, and I dont mean into the tourist areas. Have a few city breaks. I would suggest visiting the big centres: Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield. See what the place is like, what the crime is like, what the satellite towns are like.

Have you got jobs that can transfer outside of London?

Places that are very cheap are cheap for a reason. There are few jobs, low paying jobs, high crime, no transport links, few other services, poor healthcare. The rest of the country has fallen apart.

Op you’re children haven’t just grown up anywherr

They have grown up in… Brighton. One of the greenest, most vibrant, most open minded cities on the planet.

oh yes… with a superb coast line, brilliant links to London and some of the best independent cafes, bars and shops in the land

Leicester has a very poor reputation now.

Vegrocks · Today 09:42
MrWhippersnapper · Today 09:41
And it’s not the bloody arctic ffs

“Feels like it to us southerners! “
😂

We’re re southerners. Moved to NW coast from SW coast 14 years ago. Generally have better weather here than we did in SW.
Moving even further north when we retire. Wouldn’t return to the south again.

There’s also Cardiff - but check schools as many in WAles only teach in Welsh now, maybe you can afford the Cambridge, Norwich and East Anglia areas…

So much Northern bashing by small minded people with limited experience outside their little bubble. Get a grip!

This. Have you actually even looked closer to home OP? I find it hard to believe someone would pluck Grimsby out of the bag before looking at cheaper areas closer by.

Yep it was seen as very unfair as its FREEZING and now its not again 😂

The only thing I would say is pretty much everywhere people are suggesting a car is close to essential for quality of life. I live close to Bristol, and whilst the city has decent buses they start late, finish early, take ages and are only hourly to our small town evenings/Sundays so shift workers struggle. Our town is not much cheaper than your rent but look down the coast eg weston super mare perhaps, apparently up and coming

The North is a huge place it's not always bitterly cold in fact it's often quite pleasant and we have so.warm weather ,based on my one experience of going to Brighton in January in 1994 when it was lashing down with rain and frankly quite miserable shall.I conclude it's always like that 🙄

South East Kent and mid Kent have good transport links.

Yes I'm beginning to wonder if this was the whole reason for the thread. Seems very odd to just ask whether to move to Grimsby from Brighton with no knowledge of the place.

The North for me would be too dark in the winter and too light in the summer

oh dear, 🤦‍♀️ Once again, that’s because “ up north” is not a homogeneous area with the same weather. The jet stream and Pennines make a whopping difference. I live roughly level to york but on the west. My brother lives in york. He will pretty much always be colder, and I’ll pretty much always be wetter but warmer.

and if I go up north further I’ll be colder…

….and guess what? In the north we have these things called hills ( don’t get many high hills in south other than the puddly little hillocks called downs) . If you live at altitude of even a few hundred feet you’ll be colder than your neighbour at sea level.

So stop being dim with your “ ah ha, but”. Of course, they’ll be more people up north with higher fuel bills than the south. But it does not negate the debate here which is simply the shit being spouted about cold weather applied to all areas apparently north of “ the south” as a reason not to move north of Brighton.

its not the arctic circle

Why don't you move further out from Brighton? You could rent a 3 bed in Uckfield for £1350. Still has a train station. Also buses to Brighton for visiting friends and family.

All this “bashing” seems to boil down to posters not liking other posters say that it’s bloomin colder up north than south.

can’t see anything else aside from consensus that Grimsby is to be avoided

It’s like we can only be soft southerners when it suits you.

So comment on the weather being warmer and milder down south…. Nope

And energy subsidies…. Is soft southerners should have less because we get milder winters!

😂

I wouldn't do it right now, purely because of your child's GCSEs. That's a huge upheaval.

My brother and his wife moved to South Yorkshire about a year or so ago because the rent is far cheaper than our area (I'm not too far from you @BadgerLovesMash) but apart from his wife and a family member of hers, he didn't know anyone and his mental health really suffered.

With regards to the weather, it obviously depends whereabouts you live! My DS went to university Leicester way and he said it was noticeably colder in winter there. Brighton/Eastbourne way are also somewhat sheltered by the South Downs, so that will make a difference.
Anyway, I can't imagine the weather will be much of a factor for you OP!

Could you look towards Peacehaven/Newhaven or further along to Hastings?
I wouldn't want to leave your support network.

Having said that, rentals are pretty hard to find where I live right now.