Best areas to locate to for cost of living?

[Maddie2019]

Hi all, i will try to keep this as short and simple as possible.
Me and my partner are considering relocating from Cornwall. The cost of living here is just crazy money in comparison to the low wages. We would really like to bring our son up with more opportunities and a better way of living. We would ideally like to relocate before he starts primary school tomorrow to minimise as much disruption as possible.

I’m a full time estate agent, and my partner is a housing officer. We are looking at an area which offers opportunity but with a low cost of living (rental amounts, purchasing a house amount etc) but a steady wage.

We have been looking at Burnley but this is a 7 hour drive away from our family, and I’m wondering if there may be somewhere closer which could offer the same.

The most important things to us are
1 - cost of living, (we could really like to be able to purchase, but with our rent for a 2 bed semi with no parking at £750 a month and the amount required to purchase a home in Cornwall it’s just too difficult to get on the housing ladder.
2- Somewhere which offers good education for children
3- somewhere which is close or has plenty of job opportunities
4- Good transport links is a bonus! (The bus where we live only comes twice a day! Lol)

If anyone has any suggestions that would be much appreciated. Myself and my partner have reached the stage where we would really like to make something ourselves but we are getting nowhere living somehwere with little to no job opportunities and a massive expense of living costs.

Bump

Why Burnley in particular?

I’m in Yorkshire and there’s a lot of places here that would probably fit your criteria, but it would probably be too far for you.

I would have thought there’d be somewhere to fit your needs maybe in perhaps the West Midlands?

Have you tried looking at the “where can I afford to live” calculator instead the bbc website? www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23234033

We have had friends live here that say they can’t fault it.
And the rent and to purchase is half the price with the city centre a short drive away for work. X

Yorkshire isn’t too far, any places you think would suit?:)

Lancashire, look at north manchester or Greater Manc area.
The cost of living isn't automatically better in the North, surely it's how much you spend, earn and lifestyle choices.
You could have a cheaper house and mortgage but spend your money on tat and luxuries.

Mirfield in West Yorkshire has great schools, a station, town centre and easy commuting for Leeds/Hudds/Wakefield/Bradford etc, maybe even Manchester at a push.

There are lots of nice places in the north Leeds suburbs (by Roundhay Park is lovely) but they tend to cost ££££s.

Tbh, all the other places (apart from West mids) people have suggested are equally as far as Burnley. So if the distance is ok for you, the go for that as at least you have friends there. It's also where I grew up, so feel free to pm me if you like. Yes there is some dodgy bits, like anywhere, and there's also some very affluent areas and the most beautiful countryside (that no one knows about because they just drive past to the better marketed Lakes and Dales)

But West Mids might also be a good compromise. Coventry might be worth a look if you're not too bothered about pretty? Plenty of jobs in the locality and good education opportunities. You're also close to affluent areas (Solihull, Kenilworth, Leamington, Stratford...) to be able to sell some pricey houses as an estate agent! Cov has an awful rep and some areas are grim, but the town centre is pretty decent. The uni has done loads for the area and it's much improved. There are also plenty of safe leafy enclaves in the suburbs to bring up kids.

Surely the actual ''cost of living'' is pretty much uniform across most of the UK?

What you really need to be looking at is the cost of housing.

I've just checked out schools in Burnley and I'd say they're below average.

One thing that I would say, though, that areas with very cheap rents and property purchase prices, tend to be quite deprived without great career prospects. They also tend to have poorer schools. Tbh, you'd probably have more luck in a big city, e.g. Manchester. It's a place you can have a career but it'll have some cheap (and probably undesirable) houses to rent/buy.

It's generally difficult to get on the property ladder once you have children and are renting. Affording a rented house + saving for a mortgage isn't easy/usually doesn't happen. It could be an idea on concentrating on your pensions to make sure you can keep a roof over your heads when you stop working.

Swindon? South Wales?

Ayrshire

Where do your family live? If they live in Burnley, then there are lots of places nearby you could move to.
Burnley
Blackburn
Darwen
Chorley
Preston
Leland
Bolton
Bury

All have good motorway links, employment is high, you could buy a decent 2 bed terraced house for less than £150k or rent for about £550 pcm. As with anywhere in the country, there are better and less desireable areas and schools in all the places I've mentioned.

We have been looking at Burnley

Noooo. I used to live in Burnley, there are nicer areas with more amenities around Preston for similar money e.g. Leyland, Farington, Lostock Hall, parts of Chorley are all cheap, pleasent and close to the M6.

However, for closeness to home I'd have thought Wales would be a better bet.

I was brought up in Burnley, I wouldn't recommend it, just for the accent. Strangely my brother lives in Cornwall.

Just over the border in to Yorkshire would be my preference.

OK Burnley, my dad still lives there. At the moment there are quite a lot of jobs, you will be able to buy a house and there is a lot of rental property. If you are OK in a terraced house with no garden you can get somewhere for £25 000.

Schools are OK, and you can apply to grammar school in Bacup.

The shopping centre has improved since I lived there and it is easy to get to Manchester, Preston and Leeds if you want more shopping.

I used to live in Burnley and work in Preston, my cousin worked for a while in Manchester, not ideal but commutable.

You also have access to the lakes, forest of Bowland and the ribble valley.

The curry is fantastic and you have a lot of choice.

Things I don't like.

Accent - I have already said.

It is a 'divided' place, some areas are white, some are asian and generally people don't mix. Although my dad does attend an RC church with a significant Pakistani element to the congregation who do mix. There have been riots although not in recent years.

How much family do you have in Cornwall? When my mum was about to die my brother found it a treck to get to see her, he drove up but investigated the train and it wasn't much cheaper, although that was for one person. The bit he found difficult was from exeter in to Cornwall due to lack of motorway.

It might not matter now but it might in the future.

Surely the actual ''cost of living'' is pretty much uniform across most of the UK?

No it isn't, I was living in London, visiting friends in Preston and handed over a note to pay for a round, I expected to be asked for more money, instead I got change.

Things like take aways are much cheaper, the price on the menu is the same but your curry will come with rice or naan or chapatis at no extra cost.

If you consider the Midlands you can fly between Birmingham and Newquay which would make visiting easier (although I suppose you would have to rent a car).

BTW I now live in Wolverhampton if you are considering the midlands, oh and I lived in Mirfield for a few years as a child.

I keep pressing post and then thinking of something else.

One of the reasons some houses are so cheap in Burnley is because there used to be a mines, records were not kept, or not accurately kept so you may find a house is cheap because of subsidence and you can't get a mortgage.

Wales! Monmouthshire has a three bed semis for about £750 . House prices still going up thanks to the toll bridge going so work for Estate Agents and plenty of housing officer jobs. Its also really beautiful and 50 mins from both Bristol and Cardiff for opportunities.

Also, the schools are excellent with lots of choice

When you say “make something of yourselves” do you have any idea what line of work you’re interested in? You sound like you’ve both got decent jobs at the moment, are there cheaper areas of Cornwall you could look at?

I’d question whether moving to a cheap 2 bed terrace in a North West town really offers you a better way of living.

Also take into account the temperature shock in winter. Cornwall is much warmer on the hole and is rarely affected by freezing temperatures. There’s a lot to be said for that!

Devon? There are some small towns and developments around Exeter that are cheaper which can be easily commuted into the city for jobs. Have a look at Cranbrook for help to buy schemes.

The Staffordshire moorlands have some beautiful houses for not a lot of money and the schools are good.

The rain, I just remembered the rain, it rains a LOT in Burnley. The reason Lancashire had cotton mills nad Yorkshire had woolen mills is the rain, a wet atmosphere is better for cotton.

Christ dont move to burnley. Burnley villages are lovely, and have for years benefitted from being classed as ribble valley for schooling, but thats changed / changing. I wouldnt send my child to any burnley secondary school. If you see a house you like really check the schools.

And yes the rain. If you are not lancashire born and bred, the rain will get you down. I lived in yorkshire for five years (would recommend). The lancashire rain gets me down now. We went to london and somerset in summer. Then came back to rain. I even said to my parents, you know it really is grim up north.