I hate you Northerners.

space_rider

I live in good old Nottingham and houses are quite cheap. And no, crime is not as bad as they make out it is and it does largely depend on where you live! I have my eye on a 4 bedroom detached with study and dining room which offers part exchange, all for £165,000.

caveman38

My problem is not mine but my boys.
I bought in the 70's and although prices were higher down here they weren't ridiculously so.
Circumstances dictate where you live and all my family live down this way and my boys both work in and around London and wouldn't move even if it meant that they could aford to buy today.
Salaries may be 25% higher generally but if say you work in the public industries say BT, BG etc. the pay scales are national but for weighting.
It just seems unfair that the youngsters down here are still at home till their late twenties and then move out with mortgages of £150K and £1,000+ a month repayments.
Obviously I hope that the downward trend on house prices continues or even crashes. The value of my house is of no benefit to me at all.

minxtress

I dont know how people in London do survive. I have two very good friends who live there. They are 38 and have decent jobs but getting on the property ladder is nigh on impossible, because they have rents to pay which are extortionate! I totally agree everything is more expensive aswell, travel, food, alcohol.
I love in South Shields near Newcastle and they absolutely love coming to stay here, they agree the people are nicer, its not as crowded and still very much an English community. If they could be guarenteed a decent job up here they would move at the drop of a hat.
I have a 4 bed terraced victorian house, a decent size, that I paid £43000 for, which is now worth £160000 in todays market, the equivalent where they live is nearer to £400000, and my mortgage is a third of thier rent. Its awful

neverdespairgirl

It's difficult for people to move from one end of the country to another. Obviously lots of people do, and end up very happy with the move, but it's not for everyone.

I love London, and I love living here. Even if I didn't, though, my parents, sisters, brother and uncles are all in London or in the Home Counties. If I moved to, say, Newcastle, my family would be a long way away. That (for me) is a deal-breaker.

Pobby

Or maybe move down to the West country. Nice and pretty with sea and countryside BUT stupidly over valued properties without the jobs to support this.

wymondham

why not come half way and move to Norfolk - 'reasonable' house prices and better quality of life - escape the rat race!

ps: i'm biased!!

baby_boomer

caveman38 wrote: »

.All my working life the only benefit I have seen for living in the London suburbs - apart from the weather - is £4K in London Weighting.

I hope the northerners are nice because I'm probably going to retire oop there.

My inflated London pension should help take advantage of lower northern living costs - if these actually do exist.

neverdespairgirl

Barneysmom wrote: »

3 holidays a year? Who can afford that no matter where they live

Depends what type of holiday. For example, we went to stay with my parents in rural Kent for a week in August, but it didn't cost anything apart from getting there.

globalds

Try the Midlands ..
The baby bear portion of the country ..
Neither too hot nor too cold ....Just right.
Maybe not Brum ....But Sunny Shropshire is nice .

caveman38

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Depends what type of holiday. For example, we went to stay with my parents in rural Kent for a week in August, but it didn't cost anything apart from getting there.

I know that is a bit of an exageration. I worked for BT all my life and if I had to pay for the mortgage on a northern property, I would have had so much more expendable income and more holidays, social life etc.