I need to leave London asap!

[Hails600]

Hi all,
Loved in London all my life and can't wait to leave!!! Oh it's unbearable for me and my partner. We just had a baby in Feb and starting to look for areas in Kent as it's close to London. We are Carribbean so would really appreciate it anyone knows areas of Kent that are multi cultural like London especially the schools. I have a cousin who loves in Gillingham and she said her son is the only black boy in the school 😯

Obviously when you live in London, you have tonnes of friends who do The Big Move. The ones who are least happy have children with SEN and most didn't know this when they moved. The ones who did had no idea that things would be so drastically different. I'm pretty sure someone had their child's whole IEP effectively deleted when they moved to Devon. Said they didn't meet the threshold down there so no support.

I have lived in many places but London is still the best.

Are you in inner London? Where's your mum? I feel like it could be worth searching down the Southern/Southerneastern train lines before giving up on London completely. E.g. Bromley/Penge/Clockhouse/Kent House/Crystal Palace/Shortlands/Beckenham.

Bits of Essex are dodgy OP, because the centuries-strong community of whites (mostly) were pushed out of East End social housing by immigration & council house sales in the 90s and that’s where they flounced.

Families were broken up after 120 years of living in the same Victorian estates, businesses had to close, you name it.

Even the Labour Mayor took the (mostly white) Cockneys seriously and they had to do a public enquiry about why a community died so fast.

Having lived through it, it was a bit like shutting Brixton down overnight and replacing everyone with the population from
the Falkland Islands or similar.

I was at school with the Mayor! Only Claim to fame. Anyway, OP, unfortunately that’s why a few whites went wrong, and it wasn’t that long ago, just so you know.

So OP, while 99.9 per cent of people are normal in Essex, The There’s Always One Rule applies in the towns closest to London.

Colchester is really nice. Mixed race kids never faced racism in any school through entire schooling recently to my certain knowledge.

I would avoid parts of out SE London too. Higher percentage of Brexit voters there and S Essex and N Kent. Maybe look at Crawley, Reading, Luton, Watford.

I'm white and I find the whiteness of Kent off putting.
If you want to move out of London because you drive everywhere I think an area on the edge of London an outer suburb would suit you like Bromley. However I worked in Orpington about ten years ago and there was still plenty of casual racism then and Bromley is very mixed. However a lot of young professionals have moved there so I think it's improving.
Also they voted remain in the brexit referendum, which is also a good sign.
Crime though is going to be a problem for you I think wherever you go. After reading on mumsnet how much crime there was in my city I checked and actually the statistics are wildly skewed by all the pickpockets and shoplifters in Westminster. But I'm not denying your lived experience.

@Supersimkin7 do you have any links to that enquiry please? I'm amazed I don't know about it! I did google but no luck. Thank you.

@Hails600 are you actually wanting to be rural or is it just a case of getting out of London?

Thanks for the suggestions guys been super helpful. @MrsSkylerWhite Scotland I have heard is beautiful but way too far from our family! I would love to visit for a city break though

Hope you find the perfect spot, OP 😀

@EmeraldRoulette no i don’t cos it was pretty much pre-internet.the enquiry concluded there was no racial bias in the allocation of social
housing and it was all done on housing need as it’s meant to be. It led to councils giving you 5 points on your application for having a local connection. No idea what they said about the rising shortfall in social housing cos the council sold it for pence.

These days the housing lists are closed in City of London unless you work there, you’re a descendant of an existing tenant or an asylum seeker. Being homeless won’t get you in.

I moved to Kent from London two years ago and I am originally from another country.

I have had no issues whatsoever. I live in Deal.

Places like Margate are definitely multicultural and LGBTQ friendly.

Folkestone and Canterbury seem fine too.

Canterbury has a lot of students, so a diverse population, and Folkestone has many people from London living there now.

I would say the best thing to do is visit a few of these places and then see how you feel.

When I was looking for a place to settle in I also visited a couple of places in Essex and just did not like the atmosphere.

Maybe also look at Brighton and Hastings. Diverse population there as well.

Gravesend is very multicultural. We are a mixed raced family. Can't wait until Maidstone catches up 🤞🤞

Bits of Essex are dodgy OP, because the centuries-strong community of whites (mostly) were pushed out of East End social housing by immigration & council house sales in the 90s and that’s where they flounced.
I think Hitler had rather a lot to do with Eastenders moving to Essex

I actually love living in London. Luckily I live in one of the nicer known areas but I personally know I couldn't deal with rural mentality, small village lifestyle. Unless you live in a nice affluent area outside of London many of the small towns my friends who live in seem quite dull with a really low mix of cultures and many are quite economically deprived. I do understand however that London is so varied and if you live in a not nice area then leaving must seem like the only option as the nice parts are just so expensive.

I’d look at the voting record of the area, might be a good indicator? Another vote for Watford / West Herts.

I second this area, not so much Gravesend city centre but the new build areas around. We moved from London there too and the developments around here attract 'young families' which are very multicultural.

The constant road closures causing single traffic,

I hear you, the constant roadworks are insane at the moment.