Relocating from London - Manchester or Leeds?

[HarrietM87]

We live in London at the moment with our 1.5yr old DS and DH has the opportunity to move his job to Manchester. His parents are in Leeds and we’d thought of possibly moving there some day. The thought of a better work life balance is appealing (I’m a city lawyer) but I have a short commute (25 mins door to door) and love all the cultural opportunities in London.

Questions are:
Has anyone done this? Is it a good move? Is it feasible to commute from somewhere near Leeds to Manchester or do we really need to live in Manchester? What are good areas for a young family? Are we going to miss London terribly or never look back?

I would hope to be able to get a job in either city.

My suggestion would be also to rent for 6 months just to see if the commute is good or could be better plus how long the trips are across the Pennines to Leeds from where you decide. We have relocated in the past and wished we had rented first to get a feel and talk to lots of people about places to live.

You have to prioritise your day to day (Manchester job) over the Leeds bit. The issue with the M62 is as it crosses the moors there aren't many exits or easier routes should there be an accident you get stuck. My parents lived 50 mile away door to door from where I live (West Yorkshire) to where they lived (Manchester area) and on a normal run, not rush hour, on the M62 it would take just under 1 hour. The worst was 4 hours due to a massive accident. Not fun with young children in the car.

Manchester has some amazing places as listed above, my FIL is always seeing something at Bridgewater Hall.

It won't be London, you have to get your head round that, but you will probably have a much, much cheaper house, Northerners are friendlier as a general rule, your work/life balance might be better. What have you got to lose?

Whereabouts in Manchester will he be working, as commuting across the city is a nightmare. If city centre then good links from all directions. Very much budget dependent, but best schools are generally in the Trafford area to the west of the city.

He’ll be working near Manchester Oxford Rd station which I think is central?

Just had a look at Altrincham on Rightmove - prices are insane! Doesn’t seem like we would actually have cheaper housing costs there (budget c£800k)...any cheaper areas that still have good schools?

Lawyer here too. Moved from London to Leeds, then to North Manchester and then South Manchester. Stayed in the same job in Leeds so commuted from North/South Manchester for about 12 years.

Public transport isn't great for that route so I drove. As pps have said, the M62 is incredibly busy. My journies were about 55-60 miles each way and it was about 1.5 hours if I left no later than 6.15am. Leeds to Manchester would be the same. You'd need to add on at least 30 mins for rush hour traffic.

I prefer Manchester to Leeds - feels more diverse, more going on culturally and more work opportunities for lawyers. Its generally more expensive particularly South Manchester (not too different from London prices) but Trafford especially is probably the best area for schools in the country and prices reflect that.

My own experience is that the people we met in North Manchester tended to have a connection as to why they'd moved back there - family / grew up there, whereas in South Manchester, people have tended to move here for work / schools / just liked the area so didn't know anyone (like us!) so eager to make friends & establish a network.

I second the suggestion to rent for 6 months whichever area you choose, ready to make a decision and buy before the deadline for school applications.

I think if youll miss the city vibe then edgworth is a very odd suggestion! However, there was a ceilidh in the Barlow last week...

@HarrietM87

With an £800k budget you must be looking at Hale/Bowden (very posh bit within Altrincham).

What is your required spec for that budget? No of beds, semi/detached etc?

You could try South Mcr, Cheadle Hulme has good schools, both public and private, or Bramhall. Both have stations with direct lines to city centre, although busy and crowded at rush hour (but you'll get that everywhere round Mcr, as you'll need to contend with Northern Rail, or Northern Fail as we call it). Altrincham, Sale, Didsbury all good areas and have tram links into the city centre.

Just looking at some of the houses on sale in Hale. Some of the rich people sure have awful interesting taste when it comes to interior design!! Look past the furniture OP!! 😂😂

Saddleworth and mossley (tameside, only really know the side closer to saddleworth though) are nice easy to commute to manchester as there is a station in mossley Greenfield and Staley bridge, saddleworth is probably only 45 minutes to an hour from Leeds to, saddleworth villages include dobcross (my favourite) diggle, uppermill, greenfield, denshaw, grasscroft, lydgate and grotton, lots more for your money in the north so I would take the move either way.

@ritzbiscuits we’d like a 4 bed semi (or detached) ideally. c.£800k is what our London 4 bed is worth and I was hoping to either spend lots less or get more for our money, but actually the things coming up on Rightmove are comparable in size/price to our (gritty) bit of London. Appreciate it’s a much nicer area than where we are now though.

Will have a look at the other places mentioned!

There are pockets of Altrincham that you will get good houses for your money & be in a great location. Try timperley, also oldfield brow which is within Altrincham has some gorgeous houses on the main road (houses are set back & have decent driveways). You should get something decent for £800k. I think stock on right move is quite low atm probably because of time of year but don’t be put off. Also hale barns is nice, bit cheaper than hale but just as good

Maybe try Worsley/Swinton in Salford too. I’m not sure about house prices but that would be a good commute to Manchester & is a good location for the m62

Investigate some of the other north Manchester possibilities. South Manchester areas mentioned are comparable with London price-wise. Some of the areas like Saddleworth and Mossley are lovely, but not easy to travel to. Investigate areas like Bury (Ramsbottom, Holcombe Brook, Greenmount), Bolton (Smithills, Bromley Cross areas are nice) and Rossendale might also be a possibility for you (Helmshore and Rawtenstall). There are some beautiful areas around Leeds but think the commute would rule it out. Trafford has great schools but there are good schools everywhere I wouldn’t let be the primary driver.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82850300.html

This is a great location by Altrincham centre but a quiet road. I love a right move stalk!

Hi OP, if you're broadly going to spend the same amount on a house aren't you going to be paying a similar size mortgage (unless you don't have one!) off a much smaller salary. The very experienced Manchester lawyers seem to earn less than the London NQs at the same type of firms.

£800k should be enough for a large 4 bed semi in Hale or Bowdon. In relation to other areas, personally I'd avoid Oldfield Brow and look very carefully at Hale Barns. If HS2 ever happens, its going through / very close to Hale Barns. Timperley and Urmston are cheaper.

@HarrietM87 remember looking at Altrincham is absolute top end area. It's very pricey there, you're paying for some of the best state schools in the country. Period obviously goes for a premium too.

In places like Sale and Urmston in Trafford, you'd get more for your money. Both have their own state grammar schools and excellent primaries. Period semis on our street must go for about £400k and it's a lovely area.

South Manchester wise, you could also look at Cheadle (train stations are Cheadle Hulme or Gatley).

Then as others have mentioned places like Poynton/Bramhall, though those are a bit Cheshire/sleepy for me.

@Africa2go good call about the location of HS2, definitely something to consider. Also Urmston is another good option & easy to get the train to Manchester.

Another vote for South Manchester and Hale/Bowdon/Altrincham. Timperley is cheaper and Sale is cheaper still but do you need to be careful which part of Sale.

House prices are high here because of the Trafford Grammar schools.

I second Timperley. It's in the Altrincham área so in catchment for the Altrincham Grammars and Sale (mixed) Grammar.

What about this?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83123672.html

4 beds for £550k and close to Wellington school which is sought after if DC don't pass the entrance exams.

I'm a lawyer working in Manchester and Leeds. I live in beautiful Saddleworth - dry stone walls, sheep and hills, great people, gastropubs and easy commute to both cities - best of all worlds. I would highly recommend this area.

I live in Huddersfield and it’s a 20-30 minute train ride to Leeds and 35 minute train ride to Manchester. I work in the city centre in Manchester and whilst it’s not a cheap commute by any stretch of the imagination, the trains are mostly pretty reliable. I’ve been doing it for about 6 years now. If your DH is near Oxford Road, I’d definitely recommend train rather than driving into the city centre.

You would get A LOT for your money over here in terms of housing as well.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52971134?search_identifier=e210d5ae2b43f128ff634495b4ebe8e8

North Manchester has great areas, great schools and is cheaper than south. From the house above it would take about 40 minutes to drive to Leeds, and isntntoo far from a train line taking younto Oxford Road in the city.

We just bought a really beautiful 4 bed in a gorgeous, very central part of Altrincham for a lot less than £800k. I commute to Leeds a few times a week from here by train and I wouldn't want to do it any more often, but it's a small price to pay.

You asked if you would miss London. That would depend on how much you use London itself.

I lived in Leytonstone then Battersea and finally St Margaret's near Twickenham. I found that I tended to go to restaurants, cinema and bars locally and very rarely went into central London. Too much faff. So I was paying a premium to live near London for no reason. I also knew that I didn't want to raise DC there so it was a no brainer for me to move out.

As others have said, Manchester has several orchestras and theatres plus it gets touring productions. There are comedy places cinemas etc. Pretty much all you need. It's enough for us. But it doesn't have the sheer numbers of theatres and culture that London does. London has more of everything.

Have a look at what is on offer at the Halle, BBC Philharmonic and RNCM. Look at the seasons for the Royal Exchange, Home and the Palace and Opera House theatres. Would that be enough for you?

We chose Hale / Altrincham for the schools. I think the feel is similar to Richmond and Twickenham, posh suburbs. I'd compare Didsbury to Battersea / Wandsworth - a bit more urban and then Chorlton to the more right-on Hackney type areas. What sort of feel do you prefer?

North Manchester is a bit cheaper and a shorter drive to Leeds. I grew up in Whitefield and Prestwich and it was just over an hour to uni in Leeds. I also wouldn't recommend the commute from Leeds to Manchester. The M62 is awful in rush hour.

Do your homework before you commit as financially going back to London would be hard. My old cute 1.5 bedroomed maisonette in St Margaret's would sell for more than my 4 bedroomed house in Hale.