Relocating up north - looking for recommendations!

[Relocationlady]

This is my first time using mumsnet so hope I’m posting this in the right way but I’m after some advice please!

My husband and I think we’d like to relocate up North (currently in Sussex) for better quality of life, house prices etc but all our family and friends are local to us now so we really don’t know where to start!

We have a 1 year old and would like to continue growing our family so somewhere suburban, family friendly with good schools, parks, nearby towns as well as green space would be ideal, bonus points if it’s within a reasonable driving distance from the beach.

Has anyone got any recommendations of nice areas we could research? Or has anyone ever done a move like this with new prior connections and might be able to share their experience/some tips etc?

thank you in advance!

@Crikeyalmighty thank you so much! Funnily enough we’ve seen all of these, we’ve booked a trip for October to visit the area, not exactly north but a far more reasonably priced area so seems like a good starting point!!

You should take a look in Bradford on Avon and corsham or Frome too- as although it's very likely you might get a 3 or 4 bed semi or a 3 bed detached - they are three of the nicest places and great local facilities and communities-

Bradford and Frome on the train to Bath too(about 20 mins) and corsham on the regular bus- again about 20 mins.

Oops sorry I screwed up on the house.

North Yorkshire is lovely! I'm in County Durham but close to the NY border. The scenery is lovely! You'll get a really nice house for £400k up here!

Richmond in North Yorkshire is one of my favourite places and it's definitely better than Richmond in London!! I know both!

One of my colleagues had recently moved north from Kent and loves it up here. His mum has decided to move up too!

If you’re looking for a decent market town and coastline, have a look at Louth. It’s close enough to transport links but it’s also on the edge of rolling countryside and close to the coast. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114827417#/?channel=RES_BUY

Tynemouth/Cullercoats/Whitley Bay are all wonderful areas that will tick the majority of those boxes OP

Coastal /near coast towns cities to look at could be:

Newcastle
Hull
Carlisle
Lancaster
Chester
Liverpool
Lincoln

For schools decide if you want state or private. Then tbh I'd be looking at the lists of top performing ones then secondly looking at areas round those. Rather than house/ area then school. But it depends on your priorities...

You're able to afford a four bed detached house at £400k but you're after a 'better quality of life'???

Moving into the real world, looking around and gaining some self awareness might be better than 'up North'.

I mean come on.

I live a stone throw away from one of the houses linked above!! Whilst searching make sure you look everything in the local area. I love where we live but our town has grown so much in the last 10 years. This has it plus points as there is so much more going on but it has its downsides too. I know this is the same in a lot of places but you can’t get a GP appointment as they really struggle to retain staff - there is only 1 GP surgery so it’s not a case of going to another either. We are registered with a dentist but an emergency appointment needed last week is 2 months away. That said, I love it here. It’s just something else to think about if you have access easily to these where you are.

Try Telford, affordable house prices, good motorway access, lots of facilities for kids and good schools. Train routes to Birmingham, and easy to get to m6 for travel around the country. Lots of lovely towns nearby like Ironbridge, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth. It’s surrounded by greenbelt and lovely rural walks.

I love a bit of KLF

Sheffield? Best. City. Ever 😍

You can pick up a four bed for £400k. Admittedly it won't be in the supposedly 'better' areas of the city but hey ...... the whole place rocks so it doesn't matter 🙂