Please help me find a city - not an easy one

[icecreambrownrice]

I've been thinking about this for months. I'm indecisive and suffer from acute anxiety. I tend to ruminate and second guess my decisions.

I know no one can objectively say which location is 100% ideal but I'm open to suggestions and recommendations.

I have twin DDs in sixth form, am a single parent. Family in South, not close to them. Currently renting a three bedroom house in a village near Cambridge.

Have saved up a healthy deposit looking to move to a city. I love love love London but I can't afford it, at least not in the SW areas that I want.

DDs will be at different unis, I'm in my 50s, my no.1 priority is location and amenities. I just want a little house with shops and excellent transport links.

Max budget £400k for 2-3bedroom home. I'd be so happy in a cottage-style home with a patio garden.

My criteria:

I need hustle and bustle
I hate living in the suburbs
I need excellent public transport (phobia of driving)
House as close to the bustling city centre as possible

No flats due to leasehold, service fees etc
Multi-cultural - I'm mixed race
Safety is key as I'm alone most of the time.
I commute to Farringdon, London once a month.

I've thought about Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham, and Reading. I just don't know if they're right for me. Not keen on Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds. I spent most of adult life abroad so I still see these cities as foreign places.

I can't even narrow it down. Help.

Edinburgh. 4.5 hours on the train from London. Everything you could want, culture, coast, hustle and bustle, small city with great public transport.

Honestly location is worth so much more than property. Look at 1 bedrooms in the area you want or a flat etc you’ll never really settle when your heart is in London x

Nottingham is grim in my experience.

Service fees only £300 per year? That's not a typo I hope. The ones I've seen have expensive service charges and I cannot afford it.

It says it's a Warner maisonette - the Warner Estate is a well thought of housing development with a fab history but I don't know too much about it. There's quite a lot of info about it online.

I can't look at Cardiff as it's too far away from work.

Cardiff to London is less than two hours on the train, which is faster than the northern cities you're looking at. Then you're straight onto the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon. So it's a better fit than Manchester. Appreciate you might just not wanna move there but don't dismiss places on the wrong basis when they tick more boxes than your frontrunner.

I still think London with a more open mind about area and property makes best sense. Nowhere else is going to give you that big city feel you're after. I love Leeds and Manchester etc but you're out of the city centre in no time and into the burbs. Which is great for many folks and quality of life, but it's not got the bustle and scale.

What areas in London do you want? Right move has some gorgeous 2/3 beds in central London within your budget

I'd been looking at SW8 postcode with a 3 mile radius. There are flats that fall within my budget but they have short leases and/or has exorbitant service fees. I found a cottage in zone 3 yes! It was 2 bedroom. Freehold but was £50 over budget - EA said they're not negotiating. It's under offer anyway. I can't go beyond my budget, it's all I've got. No family help.

I'm looking at 2-bedroom so my dds will have a room when they pop round to visit/ stay during their term breaks.

Sorry I meant £50k over budget for the London property. This is it:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139587788

Can you do a few weekends away to visit places and get a proper feel for them? It’s what I did when I relocated 18 months ago, places I thought I’d like I didn’t and vice versa.
Also, definitley look into commuting options before ruling some places out. Sometimes places can be far away but actually with quite easy/quick commutes. In the same way as when I lived in West London/Bucks, I wasn’t far from my office in East London. But it took over an hour/hour and a half each way easily.
From the locations given I’d say Manchester would definitley be worth considering.
But really it sounds like your heart is in London and I’d maybe consider either compromising on the property type (could a 1 bed work if the lounge is big enough to double up as a guest room if needed etc) or area of London to try and make that work.
I have family in Penge, I’m not sure how that is for commuting to Farringdon but it ticks your other boxes ok I think.

I’ve lived in Hong Kong, Manchester and London, and I know Glasgow quite well. I think those are your only options for that city feel you crave, though Glasgow and Manchester don’t really have the same energy as HK or London. But a cottage in the heart of a bustling city with great transport links is a total pipe dream! (Unless you have 2 million quid to live in Hampstead).

Hundreds of thousands of people live in 2 bedrooom flats and manage to budget for service charge. Don’t forget it does actually buy things, it’s not wasted money. And a flat will have less in the way of ongoing running costs. I think you should reconsider your attitude to flats and look again at London, or accept that the gritty city is out of reach.

For 400K you're highly unlikely to find a cute cottage close to the town centre, they'll all be like this:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143093252#/?channel=RESNEW

I live in a Manchester suburb having moved from London, highly recommend. Manchester has everything London has, just less of it
Why don't you like Liverpool? Not sure when you last visited but it's got so many great independent bars and restaurants, beautiful buildings etc.

IMO Manchester City Centre is a lot like the City, especially with the skyscrapers going up everywhere. Liverpool is like Greenwich/the Barbican. More beautiful than Manchester and better museums, the cathedrals are also very beautiful. It's also a lot cheaper. I'd say Manchester is bit more multicultural but no issues in either really (I'm not white either).

FWIW of course none of these cities can match London, if you're 50 with plenty of time on your hands other places might not suit. And you might just have to get a maisonette instead of a house.

I would just keep looking and go for the location . If you like London get on all the lists for EAs to phone you . I think Manchester is rather different - I don't like it but so many people do so my fault not theirs.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134152577

How does this grab you?

Also, have you looked at shared ownership properties?

Reading is horrible, soulless.

Reconsider Glasgow. As an ex HKer I think I prefer it to London

This was my first thought too!

Yeah please don't dismiss cardiff without visiting. I5s so much nicer than Reading, Manchester, Birmingham etc and has a fast train. Canton is a good shout from a pp. Or Roath. I don't think your budget would stretch to pontcanna.

In your shoes I would compromise on having a house and just go all in for London

You don't say why you don't fancy Bristol - it's 1 hour 20 mins from London by train, close to Wales and not too far to Devon/Somerset for breaks. Got an Airport with flights to quite a lot of destinations. Buses are greatly improving after being woeful for a few years.

Reading is horrible, soulless.

Why though? How did it end up like this? Coventry was blitz and rebuilt quickly young concert similar to Plymouth - but why did Reading end up so soulless?

Hi OP, Cardiff is closer to London than some of the nothern cities you are looking at. It's only 2 hours away on train and is a really nice city. But if you heart is on London then maybe you could reconsider flats as an option.

I like Cardiff too OP - it's big and diverse, great shopping and friendly- much prefer Liverpool to Manchester too

Sorry to plug Walthamstow again, but two-bed garden flat in Walthamstow 'village' with share of freehold: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66418361/?search_identifier=a99afe340eb604b1fcd6e5a87c981a14b7e938165d1dda6e21f705c041b6d313

With your budget I'd personally just try for London - it's really what you want and you'll get that hustle and bustle that you're after. Don't underestimate the headache of a long expensive commute as well - might as well be nearer work if you can!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140007212#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media0&ref=photoCollage

Reading has the diversity you want but I think would be too small for you.

What about Southampton or Portsmouth?