Help! To leave london or not? £900k budget (ideally)

[Sellorwait6]

We live in london now, a very expensive part of SE london. Our mortgage is a bit crippling and we want to reduce it. Plus I want a bit more greenery (maybe sea?). But I’m a bit worried about leaving London.

With a £900k budget, would you leave London or stay? I really want to live somewhere arty and cultured. We’re a mixed race family, so possible racism in the rest of the uk does worry me...

We have young children also, so schools are a concern.

What would you do? And where would you go?!

For family, north london makes more sense. But if we’re not moving near family, then anywhere in the UK works because DH and I work from home (most of the week).

Yes moving back into London is never easy. When we left I didn't think I'd want to move back, but your life stages change and so do your requirements, so you never know.
I think if you move when your children are small or in primary you are more likely to settle where you move to.

Woolwich is also great, and investment by the council is giving it new facets of interest, arts hubs, and historic buildings opened up. (Think of the arts community of Warspite Road).Such a friendly and warm community to live in, too. Some of those house and flat conversions in the old army buildings in Red Lion Road are just beautiful. But such a range of prices in Woolwich/ Plumstead and up towards Shooters Hill. More greenery than you could ever wish for.

You could get a very nice house in Ealing for 900k. Lots of parks, green space, good schools and in normal times lots of festivals etc... Plus it's on 3 tube lines.

We have a similar budget and currently looking at houses in Ealing, Richmond and Twickenham. The location is also closer to the seaside when you want and has plenty of green. I personally sometimes hate London but wouldn't want to leave for good unless I have a second home by the seaside and can switch when I want to without renting my property in London (I wish).

Chislehurst is slightly further out than Bromley but still in zone 4. Otherwise what about the Surrey commuter belt- Guildford, Haslemere, Farnham? We're a mixed race family and have lived in all these places, I love them all but especially like to be a bit further out. Haslemere especially is full of ex Londoners.

High Barnet is very green: right on Green Belt. 10 min drive to pick your own farm. Great transport links. Schools good. Not that handy for sea though. You should get a fab house up in High Barnet for that price (may not have off street parking though).
I personally like East Barnet Village as a local skiing centre which is closer to Oakleigh Park rail station that goes into Finsbury Park/Moorgate rather than the Northern Line

*shopping

With a £900k budget, would you leave London or stay? I really want to live somewhere arty and cultured. We’re a mixed race family, so possible racism in the rest of the uk does worry me...

Wow.

How narrow minded and ignorant.

The irony.

Bristol, Hove?

Thank you for these suggestions! I am making lists!

redtoothbrush I am not suggesting everywhere but London is xenophobic / racist, but it certainly was where I grew up (not London) and would never go back there as a result. I doubt people who I grew up with would see themselves that way, but a lot of micro-aggressions (smelly food, chinky, etc) happened absolutely all the time.

I don’t know the rest of the UK well, so am choosing my area carefully.

OP is right to ask about racially diverse areas and white people can’t really know the full experience.

That’s a discussion for a whole other thread! Have fun home hunting OP.

Epping forest? Wanstead/woodford? Vast expanses of forest, good transport connections, central london in half an hour.

Totally agree with OP re racial diversity and acceptance in predominantly white areas of the UK.

Deal in Kent is lovely! Fast train to London (1h 15), very 'grown up boho' and an amazing beach that is never full and has been an absolute joy all summer. Pros - nice house with garden well within your budget, villages and local areas also lovely (for eg, Bishopsbourne or Bridge, near new Pig hotel), small enough to feel cosy but big enough to have good restaurants, bars, stuff for kids. Diverse in a good way - lots of gay couples, more and more mixed race etc. Cons - grammar schools here, so you need to be lined up to get your kids through Kent test at the start of Year 6, which means a slog in Year 5. Otherwise lots of lovely privates and other local schools are on the up (though not up yet).

@Sellorwait6
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72503061.html

Probably can bargain a bit and get them down to 900k.

I live in the same area as this house and regularly walk to muswell hill for synagogue, weekly shop, planet organic and restaurants. This is within archer catchment and 3 outstanding primary schools within 0.5 miles.

I love the tone on these threads, the Idea that anywhere or anyone outside of London lacks cultural diversity, high art or anything of interest!

People suggest that they want to move to something else (sea, countryside, bigger house, green space) but want it to be just the same as where they have moved from.

@Sellorwait6

Its a bit of a conundrum. BAME communities/ minorities tend to congregate around cities as this was where the work is and most British BAME are descended from economic migrants/refugees. DH's father is descended from East End Jews (hence it is no surprise that his grandfather still lives in London, despite hating it), and his mother came here to join an orthodox jewish community in golders green.

So yes there are other diverse parts in the UK i.e. birmingham, manchester, Leicester, Wycombe, Reading, Bristol. they are usually either faraway or not stereotypically middle class naice surrounded by beautiful countryside. Meanwhile, there are affluent middle-class suburbs in London that are culturally diverse. Therefore it can seem that there isn't an out of town option that is better than London for BAME Brits.

I mean yes, the countryside and the beach would be beautiful but no one really likes being the odd one out. i mean, I have been refused entry to a pub in amersham (while they happily welcomed lots of white people). I am not saying that all of amersham is racist, but I wouldn't really like to live there after that. If restaurants in any diverse city refused entry to non white patrons, i think they would probably go out of business within the week!