If you moved out of London where did you go? And what do you do for work?

[Rhubarb4Custard]

I’ve just moved back to London after years abroad. The cost of living is lower here but housing just doesn’t seem to match up with actual salaries in London. We’re a family of 4 and buying a house in London is just never going to be possible for us. We have money for a deposit but our salaries will never be enough.

I’d love to move somewhere greener and quieter.

For those of you who moved out of London where did you move to?

If you commute into London, where do you live now?

And if you don’t commute to London, how did you secure a job in another part of the country?

When we’ve tried applying for jobs in other parts of the country we’ve had no interest or comments like “you do realise this job is nowhere near London”. Employers seem to be reluctant to employ people who don’t already live locally - anyone else experienced this?

We live in Hertfordshire - ironically I REALLY wanted to work in London after graduation, only applied for jobs in London, didn't get any and then the only job I got was in Hitchin. There are actually a lot of jobs around here - Stevenage, Welwyn, Hatfield, Luton, Cambridge, Royston. Companies like Ocado, TUI, Easyjet, GSK, MBDA, Airbus, Fujitsu, AstraZeneca, Roche, Hotel Chocolat. Lots of pharma companies in particular are based around here as they need huge sites which wouldn't work in London, but need to be in close proximity.

I commuted out of London for 9 months then realised how ridiculous that was, so now we live and work in Herts. I hope to avoid commuting into London forever if possible!

Oh, even Tesco head office is based in Welwyn.

Another vote for Hertfordshire too. Lovely green spaces, great place to raise a family.

We both worked in London initially when we moved. Where we live the overground goes into London Euston in 18 minutes. I work in finance and DH in legal services.

If you have a London address and are apply for jobs outside London, put down that you are looking to relocate to that area (research the area first).

Recruiters don't want:
You doing a horrendous commute.
Taking a job that you won't stick at.
You applying for jobs assuming all jobs are in London, not realising its 3 hours away (yes it happens lots).

I commute to London (London Bridge or Waterloo) and I live in Tonbridge. DHs family are all quite local to us. I grew up, studied and even uni all in London. I loved London. However, the desire to have a bigger house, with garden and cleaner air meant our budget couldn't stretch far enough in London.

Sevenoaks Kent, commute to LB.

Folkestone. Lived overseas and decided when we were returning that we didn’t want to go back to London, so looked all over the South East of England and fell in love with everything seaside / countryside living in Kent had to offer our family. Never looked back. DH still commutes when he needs to on the high speed and I moved to a local job so I could be around if the children needed me.

Another vote for Tonbridge. Easy commute and stunning countryside.
I do not mean Tunbridge Wells ( which is similar prices to London)
but Tonbridge which is nearby. In fact most people who say they come from TW actually live in Tonbridge. Still a 3 bed in Tonbridge would be c £350,000 Good schools I think they still have a grammar