Should we move to Peterborough, Northampton, Leeds or Manchester?

[ThatLimeEagle]

Hi everyone,
I'm feeling quite confused, so I'd really appreciate any honest and sensible advice.
Currently, we live in London, but we're looking to purchase our own house (2-3 bed semi-detached) outside London due to the high prices here. We're cash buyers with a budget of £230k-£240k, and we don’t to take out a mortgage...
My husband needs to commute to his London office two days a week, while I work for NHS and can easily find a job wherever we decide to move. However, it would be challenging for my husband to find a job outside London, given that most companies are either based here or in London outskirts.
We don't plan to stay in the UK for more than five years, as we intend to move to UAE or Australia after that.
Our question is: Should we relocate to Peterborough/Northampton, as they are more affordable and commutable from London, or to a bigger city like Leeds/Manchester? If we choose Peterborough, the potential capital gain would be lower compared to the other two cities, and the rental yield would also be less when we leave the UK. Alternatively, we could purchase a property in Leeds/Manchester and rent it out from day one, while also renting in London or commuting from Leeds/Manchester.
Apologies for the lengthy question. I'd really appreciate any advice on what you would do if you were in our situation. Thanks.

Coventry has everything you are looking for - less than an hour to London, cheap property and a massive student population to rent to after you leave.

Northampton is a dump. It's my home town and I may well move back for family ties but if you want pretty...nah, avoid. It's a former shoe factory and tannery town, it's not grown up to look nice. The local council are a bit mental, tbh. There's also not much of a rental market in N'ton for family homes. There's a lot of new builds in the outskirts of town but I think most of the people there shop in MK.

The villages around are much nicer and prettier. Again, no rental advantage but pleasant to live in.

The only advantages are the train and road links which are convenient. Housing is more expensive in MK so ppl live in N'ton but shop in MK. It's not far to drive or train down there.

I knew Peterborough years ago, it wasn't nice then I don't know about now, but the trains are horrendously busy by the time they reach P'boro, I would not move there on that basis.

Based on your criteria I would buy in Nottingham OP- way nicer than Peterborough or Northampton - look in areas such as, Carlton which are handy for station. You won't get anything decent in Manchester or Leeds and they are big cities , so it's heck of a commute by the time you add in getting to the station.

Something like this would work

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144671288

Peterborough’s not all bad https://vivacity.org/sports-venues/peterborough-lido/

https://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/

https://www.nenepark.org.uk/ferry-meadows

Thank you all so much for your helpful suggestions and advice. It seems we will need to delay our plans for a year to save up enough, aiming for £300k+ to purchase a 2/3 bedroom house in a decent area either in Manchester/Leeds/MK

What areas of Manchester are you looking in?
Even for £300k you’ll be lucky to get a semi, maybe look for a terrace? You might be able to afford Northenden, Prestwich, Heaton Mersey. Stretford is ok. Levenshulme has been ‘up and coming’ for years but it’s cheaper.

Without labouring the point (again) you do need to do some proper investigation into the reality of commuting long distances by train. Two days a week is a lot and will have a big impact on work life balance. You think you’re used to public transport in London but you have no idea what it’s like in the north. Cancellations, delays, very old rolling stock, short trains so you have to stand or can’t even get on - commonplace. And expensive. If you plan to move, do some serious test runs beforehand - at peak time.

Curveball - Banbury. I don't live there but I go there quite often, it's not perfect but has quite a nice vibe imo. 2 hrs 15 commute to London but on the Chiltern line which is unusually reliable. Decent size hospital and community NHS services to work for.

I know this is a terrace but it's very pretty and well located.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137703674#/?channel=RES_BUY

I agree with @Candleabra. I really really recommend researching the reality of a commute to London. Trains in the north are nothing like the south, it's very expensive, it's old rolling stock, they are short staffed, short trains, delayed, don't stop at all the stops if something goes amiss (often with no notice, you are on the train and it is suddenly this train is no longer stopping at x, if you need X you need to get off at y and change trains), the signalling at Peterborough and Grantham is awful and is frequently down or needing maintenance leading to cancelled trains and long delays. There are also frequent problems at Leeds.

Just because a place has a train to London, really really study the train times and add in the fact that there will be further travel needed once you get to the main terminus. It's all well and good seeing that there is a train to London, moving and then realising that despite there been a 7.30 train, it stops at every garden shed, gets into kings x at 8.55 but you then have 25 more minutes on the tube, so to be in for 9 you need to get the 5.30 that gets into kings x at 7 but then you have to either mooch about outside the office or you start the day early. Ditto for home, there may well be a train at 6 but it stops at every garden shed and so you are not at the station until 8 then have to drive home. Or you wait until the 7.30 train home and again have to hang about. In reality that London commute can lead to 14 hour days. Even 2 days a week can grate after a bit.

Really do your research, places with a train line to London are cheaper for a reason. Best of luck with your search but really do the research.

What does your husband do? It might be easier for him to find a job in a new area than consider a commute from Leeds or Manchester.

Banbury to Marylebone is an hour by train.
It's one of the rougher places in Oxfordshire but far nicer than Northampton and has good road access via M40. The surrounding villages are lovely but pricier.

@Notatthemoment I agree- however I think the OP is thinking about renting on- personally I think something like this would rent easily but suspect t OP is looking at student market and hence Leeds/Manchester etc