Never been to the North really but pls tell me where to live

[TheFirmLurker]

Technically I am lying. I have been to random Northern cities but mostly for night outs with friends who happened to be there for whatever reason.

Dh and I have decided to leave London. It’s too expensive and we are killing ourselves for an expensive mortgage which sucks the living life out of us. We were hoping to find a cheaper house in a home county but once rail cards and commute times get factored in I’m not sure we’ll be much better off.

So I’m just curious if you have any recommendations. Dh has to be in the office 3 times a week (I luckily don’t). He has the option to work out of Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool.

I would love a village location where we aren’t on top of neighbours but can easily commute to a large town/city.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

What's your budget? Do you want to be by the sea or inland?

@alrightluv budget is £750-850k. Have no thoughts on sea - would be nice if we ended up close to the sea but have no real preference

Come to the Wirral! Where I live we have great schools, 20 mins on the train into Liverpool, can see the sea from our house. Nice areas in reach of Liverpool are much cheaper than equivalently nice areas in reach of Manchester (I am not familiar with Birmingham so no comment on that area or surrounds).

All of those cities have a lot to offer. I don't know it well, but have visited Birmingham several times and it's a very diverse, cultural and interesting place. DH grew up nearby. Lots of nice places to live which aren't cheap but are cheaper than London.
Manchester and Liverpool are proper northern cities.
Manchester is really well connected, busy town centre, lots going on. Nice countryside nearby. Again, nicer suburbs aren't cheap anymore but the overall lower cost of commuting etc is a factor. Lots of lovely Pennine villages to live in with easy commute to centre..

Somewhere in Cheshire might suit you? I live in south cheshire and it is 40mins on the train to both Liverpool and Manchester. Your budget is pretty good and you'll get some areas that have a village/rural feel if that's what you're after.

If I were you I'd move to Marsden and commute to Manchester.

I looked at a house there, but it was just a bit too far from Leeds, where we would be commuting to. Loved the area though!

Northumberland is absolutely stunning and you could buy several lovely houses outright for that amount lol.

It's rural, safe, great schools and some towns are consistently voted the best places to live/best beaches in the country. Newcastle is on the doorstep too plus its an easy commute to Leeds on the train.

I love heswall in Wirral - we have friends there -small town/big village vibe - with train station into Liverpool - lots of cafes and bars but also nice coastline . Very friendly people too - you would get a whopping house at that budget- and a very nice house even at 450k upwards

West coast mainliner trains are notorious for being cancelled or delayed

The Manchester mayor Andy burnham is current running a campaign about it to try to get it improved,

Manchester and Liverpool would both be west coast mainline into London.

No knowledge of Birmingham.

East coast mainline is a lot more reliable but that is not saying much. It regularly goes down between Peterborough-Lincoln.

Northumberland. Commute to Edinburgh or Newcastle (or Leeds for an infrequent commute). For that budget you could get something fabulous.

@TheFirmLurker I also like Liverpool best of those 3 city's. Would also look at somewhere like Uppermill in Saddleworth using Manchester as base - lovely countryside, villagey and again you would get a good house- have friends there too - drive to greenfield and use train from there

I used to live in newton le willows and Stockton heath.
newton is on the main rail line for both Liverpool and Manchester - 20 mins ish to each, right on the motorway too. Your budget would do really well there or surrounding villages.

Stockton heath is nicer but more pricey.

we now live in a village near Preston (Preston itself is grim) and my husband gets the train to Manchester or London a couple of times a week

Chester. Fantastic place.

Saddleworth. Lots of pretty villages and an easy commute to Manchester.

The Wirral is stunning. Visited last year and could not believe how beautiful it was.

Housing wise you will get less for your money in Manchester at the moment, it's becoming very expensive. I'd go for Liverpool.

Sheffield area might be good for you. You have got a healthy budget, Birmingham and Manchester are both an hour ISH on the train Liverpool is 2, beautiful area, fairly cosmopolitan. You could do worse!

Ah sorry I answered assuming your dh needed to go down to london.

If not then Manchester is a lot of expensive than it used to be. Manchester and Liverpool are both on the rainy side of the country as well (I grew up near there and left to get away from the rain).

I would choose Manchester for work and live in a Cheshire village.

Cheshire , Derbyshire and the Peak District. You’d get a lovely property for that budget. Villages near Macclesfield are also an option.

If you want countryside look at the Trough of Bowland - AONB. Simply beautiful. If I was moving to the north west, this is where I would search.

You can get trains from Clitheroe or Burnley to Manchester

Alderley Edge? Cheadle?

I know it's semi detached but 10 minutes from the beach and a short walk to the station. In Liverpool in 20 minutes.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86495181#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150975272#/?channel=RES_BUY

Osmotherley is lovely. Close enough to the A19. Has a shop and 3 pubs. Well within your budget.

People saying Wirral…it’s lovely(or rural parts are). But it adds time to journeys if you still want to go south or north to see friends etc

one of best connected areas is around the Chester, Warrington areas.. Close to M6, on west coast route to get to anywhere in country very easily. You can get to 4 (yes 4) national parks within 1.5 hours (dales, Peak District, snowdownia, lakes). You have Liverpool and Manchester in commutable distance. You can get to coasts in less than an hour, and even lovely beaches on Anglesey are doable on along day trip. I was stunned when first came up this way 20 years ago just how bloody well positioned it is. Your budget would get nice location and nice house.

if you have kids or intend to have kids think about schools. Wirral is part of Merseyside and is still 11plus and grammar schools. Cheshire state schools is no 11plus, and tend to be a bit better all round, so not dependant on one massively oversubscribed school. West lancs school tend to be more variable, with some not great schools in some of nicer rural areas. So do your homework on secondary ed if you need it. I now live in Lancashire, but we lived in Cheshire while kids at school for that reason. Things may hav3 changed since mine were at school, but do check it.

so good places imho would be around grappenhall, Frodsham, Chester itself, Lymm areas