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’ll also add OP, that outside of towns like Brighton that have a huge popularity with wealthier people, it’s hard to find good public transport outside of cities.
some cities are well served with public transport either underground/metro ( liverpool, london , Newcastle ) or tram services (manchester, Edinburgh etc or other even Sheffields bendy busses- do they have those still?) which have separate routings to cars and busses and therefore more reliable and faster generally ( where being run properly 🙄😉). But outside of those big conurbations public transport is generally poor service and expensive

you’d unfortunately be opening up more options if you learnt to drive and got a car. It’s sad to say that in this day and age, but the reality

Come to Yorkshire OP! We are super friendly and there’s a whole range of places to live, from dirt cheap to high-end towns like Harrogate. There’s nowhere I dislike in Yorkshire.

And FWIW there’s plenty of evidence to show the North/South divide and how the North experiences inequalities. And there’s also lots of people on the North working very hard to close that gap.

Not being dim just laughing at the change with every thread.
Cant have it both ways !

I am finding the generalisations of the north being some dark, wet, semi frozen wasteland that's 'cheap for a reason' absolutely hilarious. I didn't notice that I lived in the tundra! How unobservant of me!

It's nice up north! Just bring your big coat! Honestly you'll be fine. 😂

That said, in your position OP I probably wouldn't do it. Moving away from your home, your family and your support network is a huge thing to do, particularly if you've never done it before. You have a 14 year old about to start GCSES and another about to start high school, a move so far away from everything they know, from everything you know might be too much upheaval.

These threads are always hilarious. People really have a warped perception of the weather anywhere north of London.

I moved from London to Edinburgh and got the same comments from Londoners about the weather. The average high temperature in January in London 7 degrees. It’s 6 in Edinburgh. It’s hardly different is it? It’s not like Londoners or South Easterners are out sunbathing in January in their warmer temperatures 😂 Brighton is rainier than Edinburgh…..

Anyway @BadgerLovesMash I’d look at how much your salary might change if you increase your hours locally once your kids are both in secondary. That might mean you have enough spare every month compared to now to help.

There are many places in the that’ll be cheaper than Brighton. But you don’t just want somewhere cheap - surely? I’d look at what your priorities are - what sort of place you want to live and spend time researching - so you can find somewhere that’s not just cheaper but you also enjoying living in.

What utter bullshit

Yeah, I don’t disagree with dark in winter . When I was in Edinburgh it was pretty yuck managing even 8am and later in dark. Even in lancashire it smed pretty dark and gloomy this year - but that may have been weather and my mood of despondency at state of the country😉

but too much light in summer ? 🤣🤣🤣when is being able to sit outside in sumner till bed time at 10:30pm a problem? And there’s always these things called blackout linings
🤦‍♀️

TBH if the OP finds Brighton expensive then moving to Edinburgh won't help.

Norwich?

OP my son moved from Midlands where he could never afford to buy his own home to Hull where has bought a nice 2 bedrooms terraced house for £75k 2 years ago. When he moved he took a £8k pa pay cut. He lives well in Hull. Still a large city so lots to do. Met his now gf there and he could not be happier. He has made lots of good friends there too. Before moving he was very nervous about was he making a good decision. Being brave has been the making of him. I am very proud of him. You might find you can buy a 3 bedroom house for £85k that's about £550 a month mortgage if you can just save a deposit.

A bonus is that Hull is only about 30 mins from coast if you like beaches.

Hull has white telephone boxes too! (Not really relevant but I was delighted to learn this fact from a Guardian article last week)

And the nice parts of yorkshire are bloody expensive compared to cheap area of Brighton. 🤦‍♀️
even places like Hebden bridge and Halifax which was pretty run down in the 70-80s is now upmarket and desirable . Even Leeds since Harvey nice rocked up years ago.

sure bradfords still cheap, but that has become a bit so likeable place to live and pretty deprived compared to 70s when it was seen as still rather genteel compared with Leeds. How things have changed!

im from Yorkshire ( childhood home) …agree a very splendid place to live. But it ain’t different to anywhere else in terms of housing, including counties I’ve lived in ( kent, northumbria, sussex, Hampshire, cheshire, Berkshire and now wrong side o’ Pennines in Lancashire). They all have there nice places that are frankly unaffordable and their shit places that will always be only affordable places for low income (based on going wage rate in that area) families.

Do a search on Rightmove for Hull OP. See what you could rent or buy up there for £550 per month.

Definitely not grimsby! We live in South Yorkshire near the Peaks and it's lovely, but a little cold for me! Nonetheless, we couldn't afford a house further south and our area is lovely and friendly, so we're happy. I would move north in your position, but not to grimsby.

I think you have several options:
North but not cultural desert - people speak highly of Sheffield, for example.
South-east but not cultural desert - Hastings, Folkestone
Find a way to earn more

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127846508

This house is for sale £75k

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132219368

This one is for rent £525 pcm.

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl have you been to Hull? 😜

I wouldn't move to
Grimsby!!!

Newcastle or the north east coast is nice-north shields is cheap and there's a lot of redevelopment going on!

Or Leeds? Not near the sea but busy and close to york and Manchester on the train?

We moved to North Staffs from East Kent 18 years ago now. Much bigger house for less money. Don't mind it here. Miss the seaside still though. We moved when my youngest was 3 though, would not do it with older teens, unless they are fully up for it.

I've had an emotional couple of weeks, we've moved a year ago into a promised long term let and our landlord is selling again. We have got to try and find the money to move again in 2 months. so I thought why not move somewhere cheaper where we might have a chance to save enough to own one day.

Grimsby was random as I saw a family member who lives in Yorkshire so I just put that in rightmove.

I realise now it was a half thought out dream of maybe having a better life.

I can earn more but whatever I earn will be taken from universal credit so we won't necessarily be better off.

I've looked at cheaper areas near home but that would still mean changing schools. And really wouldn't be that much cheaper to make a huge difference financially.

Hey ho lots of thinking, research and decisions to be made. Thanks everyone for the input and thoughts.

Anywhere with £515 rent is NOT good.

I'm a northerner and to love where I do, is £1200 per month for the cheapest 3 bed. There's also only 5 3+ bed rentals in my area. You could move 3 miles east of us and rent goes down to £1050 for the cheapest 3 bed, but secondary schools in the area are dreadful - lots commute to our area for school, but chances of getting in are slim.

Bit of a coincidence that it's BRIGHTon and GRIMsby