The big move out of London....

[Welshmum]

Has anyone moved out of London to live by the seaside - somewhere alot quieter? DH and I are contemplating just giving it all up and living in NZ or Wales (he's a Kiwi and I'm Welsh). It would mean giving up both our well paid jobs and leaving all our friends etc But a large part of me is so fed of living in the city and I really want my DD to go to a good little school like we both did. I just don't know if I can do it though -I've been in London for 20 years. Would love to hear any advice/experiences.

That's amazing that our wonderful public transport system now takes 2hrs for a commute to London from Herne Bay!! I was brought up in H Bay in the 60's/70's and the commute then was about 1.5hrs. So much for progress.

My MIL lives in Herne Bay, hence we visit the area occasionally, but I can't think of anything that would induce us to live there again.

DH & I moved out of North London to the Essex Coast, (thats right the one that Posh didn't know existed) it's a 2 hour commute back in and I miss being nearer to work but the house prices are much cheaper, people more friendly and all in all a better standard of living than north london. I would have like to have gone even further, but we couldn't afford to give up both jobs and do the off. We can't go any further East now, we would be in the water.

Oi suedonim dont try and put me off lovely H Bay maybe that is a reflection on where we live now - voted one of the most boring places in the UK on Radio 1!

IMHO its really just a question of where you will feel most at home. If neither you or your husband are from London then there's no reason you should want to live here or bring your children up here. It seems natural to want to bring up your own children somewhat similarly to how you were brought up yourself - although we all complain about our parents and upbringing
I think lots of good points have been made on this thread which you could think about but it will always be a bit of a risk to up sticks but it may prove to be one well worth taking.
Personally I LOVE living in London, I'm from here and so is my husband (although from different areas). We do live in a small community as London is, after all, a collection of villages and we see the same people all the time who are friendly and kind. Its very green and calm where we are but also exciting and vibrant if that's what we want. I too used to walk to work until I gave up to have our new baby (now 6 mos) and we also have Pound stores (lots of them)! I have no fears about using the tube, having used it since the age of 11, and actually enjoy driving around central London. I suspect I am a freak

Wicked waterwitch and tallulah, just to respond, we may live 'commuting distance' from London, but that's if we worked 10 minutes from Cannon Street station; we didn't and it would involve a 2 hour commute if we did carry on working where we ahd been in North West London , which I don't think is reasonable. Faversham house prices are nothing like those in Whitstable, and are you really suggesting that all of the incoming people are loaded city types with their 'city ways'? We moved here hoping to embrace country life, meet local people, use the local Primary School and try and add something to the community. What I love about where we live is that it isn't a dormitory town, it has established local industries - a brewery, huge joinery factory, fruit farms nad that many of our friends work in or around the area. And as for 'poor locals' being swamped by ex londoners, aren't Londoners being swamped by more and more 'poor locals' as they flood towards London in greater numbers every-year

countess dracula trago's has to be seen to be believed- especially the Newton Abbot one! It's got its own brown tourist sign now.

sorry robinw- hairdresser is now very exclusive! works part time from home.

No emmagee, I'm not suggesting that "that all of the incoming people are loaded city types with their 'city ways'", to quote you. What my long lost message said was that I do feel sorry for agricultural workers and other local people (meaning people who were born here and really don't want to move away) who can't afford to buy/rent houses or stay living in the countryside where they were brought up. Often these people are forced away from the land they work (i.e. agricultural workers) and into the nearest cities, the countryside having been priced out of their reach by incomers who think that £250k is a bargain for a second home in the country (which it is, let's face it, for plenty of people). OK, you could argue that the locals who ask the high prices and gladly take the cash are equally culpable. But I don't want to argue (don't care enough about this issue actually) and I don't know what the answers are either. More agricultural restrictions/covenants on land and housing? Subsidised housing for locals/essential workers? Maybe.

You also ask "are you really suggesting that all of the incoming people are loaded city types with their 'city ways'?" err, no, I didn't say that at all but you can tell the incomers/Londoners from the locals here (and I speak as an incomer whose mobile phone would regularly ring in the park to p* taking from local mothers and Look at Her kind of comments) - the London holiday makers are the ones screeching in the supermarket "goodness, haven't they heard of harissa paste here?" Or they're like the woman who proclaimed loudly at school one day that "we only made £350k on our house, if only we'd have waited another year, would have been half a mil..." OK, not that big a gain in London house price terms but you should have seen the dropped jaws of the £15k earning locals! She really had NO idea she was being insensitive!

It's fine for people like us who can afford to move out to the city to earn a living but lots and lots of people can't and you can't blame them for resenting 2nd home owners (who up until recently paid reduced council tax here - locals were angry about it but the irony was that most 2nd home owners couldn't care less about paying the full whack - they could afford it and meekly paid up when the rules changed!) or incomers who say "let's all pay £5 each for a non uniform day".

Oh Trago has to be seen to be believed. Think Ikea but WORSE! Very cheap though...

I agree with www. Second homers are a real problem around here (and we're fairly distant from London). Also a problem is that its easier to get planning permission to convert barns etc into holiday homes rather than cheap housing for locals.

Houses start from around 120 000 round here now. Looking through the local papers a lot of jobs are still paying about 12 grand. It just doesn't add up. Anyone earning over 30000 is considered to be earning a huge wage.

i live in herts, actually in hatfield. its a commuter town, and also a student town. the rents here are high, (round 500 a month for a bedsit and thats a basic one), tho if they rent to students property owners can make a grand a month on a 3bed house. to buy a house, well bedsits start at around 90k, anything more than that u are looking at over the 100k mark. I would never be able to afford a house here, the flat i rent off the HA is valued at around £130k. the house down the street is on the market for 250k. for londoners that may seem cheap, but a lot of people in jobs below 30k would not be able to afford a family home here. just 4 years ago 2 bed flats were around 50k. its a huge difference, and far too many people are priced out of the property market.

I understand what you are saying www but I didn't think this was about second home owners, just people trying to find a different/better quality of life for themselves and their kids

thanks for the trago mills tip - my inlaws keep enthusing about it!

Emmagee, I know it's not all about second homes -my point was that migration from London to countryside does have an effect. No answers though, just making the point that it affects locals and maybe it's good to remember that, especially when making assumptions about what people on local salaries can and can't afford. Like I said, I don't want to argue but I don't think we're particularly disagreeing and I do see why people move from London to the countryside - I did it after all!