Did you quit london? If so, was it because you were priced out or just done with city life?

[Daytripping7]

Torn about leaving London. Can just about afford to stay and live somewhere not-massive but in a nice, family area. But have been craving space lately! And less edge.

Why did all you London leavers go? Did any of you regret it?

We lived in zone 1/2 for a long time. I wouldn’t have wanted to have DC in a flat where space was such a premium and going outside would have turned into a mission of preparation/supervision. No regrets moving to commuter land. We’ve got a lot of space (detached, so neighbour noise) and a very large garden (within 30 min commute to Waterloo) for not much more than my best friend recently paid for a terraced house in Clapham with a very small yard. I have no idea why she chose that option.

No answers but am also curious, we flit between staying and going, have considered Norfolk due to family connection but worried it would feel unbearably provincial not sure we can afford London though

I was zone 4 and worked in the city. I moved to rural Essex with DH 10 years ago and wouldn't move back for the world. We have 2 dc now and my eldest (7) days he's never want to live there. My family still do so it's handy for visits and trips into town. We're not completely cut off from the bright lights.

We left because we were priced out. We’re just under an hour from London on the train and absolutely love it. Big house and garden for the kids, lovely place and parks and yet can still get to the city. Wouldn’t change a thing

We were looking at properties out of London just prior to lockdown. We'd love our own garden (currently shared terrace), quieter and maybe near the sea. No kids and wouldn't want to need to commute back into London.

Do you have kids OP? Can you both get work in your new area? Anyone else you know in the vicinity of the new area?

Priced out, because we wanted a house with a garden and good schools (but without crazy criteria to get in).

Moved out seven years ago when expecting our first. I still find it hard sometimes as I've not really made any new friends, but with three tinies and a full time job it would have been hard anyway. We have a 5 bed house with a huge garden and endless kiddie activities so it's worth it from that point of view. Zone 6 just seemed like bollocks, the fast trains here take half an hour to Euston.

I used to live in zone 2 and moved abroad when pregnant (now in Switzerland). I love to go back for holidays but I wouldn't want to live in London again. It is a wonderful town but it takes forever to travel anywhere and it there is a lot of pollution.

A bit of both. Lived in zone 2/3 in a flat, could definitely not afford a house in the same area. Could probably have managed a larger flat somewhere a bit further out like Stratford, but also wanted a nice garden. Moved to Essex/ Suffolk border, no regrets, especially now during lockdown - near the sea, near the country, near family, good schools (I know there are in London too, but primary school has massive fields etc).

I want to leave London. Fed up of it big time. It's crowded, noisy and filthy.
I can't explain all my feelings but I am annoyed/upset that my daughter struggled with moving to secondary school because the nature of the school system is a class of 30 Year 6s end up separated into 14 or 15 different schools. It's really messed up her mental health.
I worry so much for her safety now she is getting older. I live in a area with quite a lot of stabbings.
Public transport is frequent and reasonably priced but it seems to take forever to get anywhere and people's behaviour on buses (in non Covid times) is just so anti social.
I am definitely 'done'.

We left because we were priced out (or more accurately, wanted more than we could afford). We live in a very naice town 40 minutes from Euston. It's very expensive here (our terrace with no parking cost an eye-watering amount), but we have a large garden, are 5 mins' walk from the station, schools, parks and shops. The town is full of restaurants, pubs and independent shops and there is so, so much to do for our small children. I'm also very near to my family (DH's live overseas). I do get pangs of longing for London, but we couldn't have afforded the quality of life we love here. (I also long for the sea - you can't have everything!!) We are very happy here, but I do worry about the lack of (any kind of) diversity. DH isn't British (but he is white, and we are boringly middle-class like the rest of our town), and he's genuinely the only deviation from the 'norm' for miles!! We make a concerted effort to take the DC elsewhere and introduce them to the world outside our bubble.

We stayed. We are in a two bed house with small garden and brought up three children, now teens/20s. We have no regrets. Only now are we thinking of leaving London.

Looking at leaving as priced out. I'm a teacher in inner city but my rent keeps going up. If I move further out my commute will be impossible as a single mum as my day is already 6.30-6.30 so dc may as well not have a mum. Can't save a penny and on teacher's salary in my late 40s can't get a mortgage. Dont know where I will go, been here 30 years and have nowhere to go really. Love where I work. Am very sad.

Move to Winchester.

We lived in Zone 3/4, moved out to Essex when we were expecting our first baby. DH still commutes in. It’s been about 17 years. No regrets. It’s still close enough if we want to go.

Interesting!

We live in a very urban, central part now. Can afford to live in a family-centric part of North London - and have a garden - but not a huge place.

Don’t want my kids to grow up around drug deals etc, but also don’t want them to grow up somewhere without any diversity. I suppose you can’t have it all!

I never thought I’d want to leave London. But lately it’s been looking a bit tatty and smelly (thanks, lockdown!).

Work would be tricky. DH and I would both be commuting back into London part time (I work PT and DH works from home 2 days a week - although he works from home 5 days a week now and for the foreseeable!).

Moved to Bristol after a few years working in London as I preferred it, great city, great access to countryside, better commute, better work life balance, still near London so nothing to stop me going to visit family and friends whenever. And yes more reasonable property prices too.

In same boat as you OP, so following with interest!

(FWIW, the Covid situation has definitely made me more keen on the whole “move to the Home Counties” thing than I was!)

Priced out. I still miss it. But we could never have had a house and a baby in London, and she has a better life here than she would have had there.

We went z2/3 to z5. It's a very different way of life (and it's a borough people sneer at) but we have loads of space, woodland within walking distance, a decent high street and plenty of diversity at the DC's school. I think it's the happy medium.

That sounds great LBOCS2!

Currently wishing I had a crystal ball to work it all out!

We’ve lived in London for 20 years and are now moving out with our two young primary age kids. Both of us will prob be working from home for the majority of the time now, so we can buy a five bed house in a village, with a big garden and lovely village school, and be in London in 50 mins on the train if need be.
I’ll miss the people we’ve met here but we could never afford the kind of house we want in the city, schools at secondary level are a bunfight, and I’d just had enough, really. I want a slower pace.
We’re in an outer borough already but it still takes forever to get out and it’s on the grimy side....will I regret it? Maybe!

We moved to the outskirts of south east London/Kent border. We're still in a travel zone so have fast and varied transport options and travel costs are still reasonable(ish) but we've also got countryside on our doorstep, clean air, low crime and London feels a million miles away.

For what we paid for a 4 semi detached bedroom house with huge garden here, we'd only be able to get a 2 bedroom flat in the area of zone 2 that we lived in previously.

We stayed (suburban zone 3). But I'm now wondering whether it was the right decision as the lockdown has snatched away everything I valued about living in London - music, theatre, restaurants, decent education or pretty much anything else for children. Most of that stuff will take years to recover, if it ever does. Perhaps we would have been better off with a bigger house.