Please tell me where to live!

[Buggritbuggrit]

Hello! I had no idea this bit of Mumsnet existed and I’m very excited to have found you all!

We’re looking to move out of London, like everyone else. The issue is that we have no idea where. Neither of us is English, and we’ve never lived anywhere in England that wasn’t London. Please help!

We’re an interracial couple (I’m
Black and he’s white), so would ideally like somewhere with some racial diversity where neither we nor our kids were unusual.

DF loves the great outdoors and I love the hustle and bustle of Islington. We’d ideally like somewhere with both of those things, decent schools, house prices that aren’t insane and a manageable commute into London.

Apart from those criteria (and I have no idea if any of that is reasonable), we’d be happy with anywhere in the South East. Budget is about £700K. If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. Ideally, I want someone to go ‘you have exactly described where I live, don’t worry about this anymore, move here at once’. So, if that were to happen, I’d be much obliged.

I have posted this previously, at the beginning of my our search, and got lots of advice - but it was almost entirely from white MNers. They were very helpful, but obviously couldn’t really speak to the lived Black experience of the places they were recommending. Thanks, all!

I think it largely depends on your budget and what your commute would look like incoroprating the school run. The boarder of Surrey/London i.e Sutton is a nice area with good schools. I think diversity in schools need to be considered. I know of a mixed race family who needed to change schools from Effingham to Sutton because of diversity issues. The schools in Sutton are good

*backstory fgs, not 'backstop'. Autocorrect.

Not that it really matters now anyway.

Come and join us in Carshalton\wallington or sutton. 37 mins into London Bridge (if railway co’s play ball) and 43 mins into victoria. Excellent schools. Green spaces.

@NotSoNewAndShiny

Actually, never mind. I read your post as "I'm white he's black" . *@AnotherDayinPatadise*

I am black, he is white so it is very strange and sad at times to see the way he is being treated. We needed to stay in London because of work and were priced out of other areas considering the rooms we needed

Yes I agree that is strange as well. I'm really curious to know what borough that is because I've never known that to happen in any Borough (not that I know what happens everywhere. Just unusual for me to hear about).

I'm sorry about your experience.

You don't have to say but if you don't mind, you could pm me the borough. If you can't say, I understand and that's fine.

@Buggritbuggrit

Hello! I had no idea this bit of Mumsnet existed and I’m very excited to have found you all!

We’re looking to move out of London, like everyone else. The issue is that we have no idea where. Neither of us is English, and we’ve never lived anywhere in England that wasn’t London. Please help!

We’re an interracial couple (I’m
Black and he’s white), so would ideally like somewhere with some racial diversity where neither we nor our kids were unusual.

DF loves the great outdoors and I love the hustle and bustle of Islington. We’d ideally like somewhere with both of those things, decent schools, house prices that aren’t insane and a manageable commute into London.

Apart from those criteria (and I have no idea if any of that is reasonable), we’d be happy with anywhere in the South East. Budget is about £700K. If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. Ideally, I want someone to go ‘you have exactly described where I live, don’t worry about this anymore, move here at once’. So, if that were to happen, I’d be much obliged.

I have posted this previously, at the beginning of my our search, and got lots of advice - but it was almost entirely from white MNers. They were very helpful, but obviously couldn’t really speak to the lived Black experience of the places they were recommending. Thanks, all!

Scotland perhaps? You could love in a city such as Glasgow. Loch Lomond is only a half hour:s drive away, the west coast with the sea and the islands likewise. The West Highland way is s famous walk going north. The more I think about it, any city in Scotland is close to the forests and countryside which is good for hillwalking and hiking. You could come up for a week and see if you both like it.

Please avoid Lewis and East Sussex like the plague. Parts of East Sussex is like living in Millwall football club. This gradually merges into fancy Lewis.

Avoid all the areas considered deprived or poor parts. A lot of them see non white British as their problem.

Co sign with debrianna, the only part of it I liked was Brighton.

@LookieLikie

Is there a predominately black borough in London?

Southwark? Lewisham? Brent (Asian)? Hackney?

I'm not sure about black people outnumbering white people, that would be difficult in the UK, but certainly I do believe there must be some London boroughs where the next biggest group is black (African /Caribbean).

Thank you, everyone. Went to visit some friends who have just moved to Chislehurst and absolutely loved it. Looking around there, Petts Wood, etc. Sutton is looking good, as well. This is all rather exciting!

@AnotherDayInPatadise That sounds horrid! I’m so sorry.

Oh, and @LookieLikie white people are the minority in a few places in London - Brent and Newham, for example. They’re a mix of ethnicities, though, so I wouldn’t say predominantly Black. Lewisham is about 30% Black + 20% Asian. I can well imagine a white man (particularly one who is married to a Black woman) getting the cold shoulder in any of those places.

Hey @Buggritbuggrit glad you’ve been able to find an area you’re keen on. Happy house hunting.

@Orchidflower1 Thank you!

Southwark? Lewisham? Brent (Asian)? Hackney?

Lewisham is 70% black. 17% white, i believe, although these figures may have changed.

The school my kids went to definitely reflected this, the remaining 30% was mainly Polish or other european, with only about 4 in a class of 30 were white british.

Where're in a similar position as yourself OP. We're an interracial couple and looking to from from zone 1. Parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire near the M25 are the areas we're looking. We would've moved to Warwickshire but I wish to be closer to London. Beaconsfield, Wheathampstead, Harpenden, Penn, Berkhampstead and St Albans are our 1st choices. High Wycombe, Hatfield, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, How Wood Langley, Apsley are more affordable I think.
I have friends in interracial marriages who live in Maidenhead and Haywards Heath West Sussex. All very happy there but where apprehensive moving from Fulham at the time.
I think an hour and perhaps 10mins commute and not punitive fare is generally safe if looking West or North.
Feel free to DM me if you wish.

Im in colchester town centre area and id say reasonably diverse. Noone would bat an eyelid about interracial couples. 45 mins on train to london. 30 mins to the coast. Loads of commuters, nice parks and countryside nearby. Fairly good art and music scene. Lots of history. I like it here and know plenty of people from london who settled here