To move or not to Move???............ Out of London

Anon113

I currently live in West London, close to borders of Harrow, Greenford and Sudbury. I am 38 years old and have lived in this part of London my whole life, and don’t mind moving as far away as possible. We moved into our current home back in 2001 for £160,000, with a mortgage of £140,000. I have 3 children, 2 are at high school in yrs 12, 9 and youngest is in yr 6. I have been a SAHM for the most part. Husband was main earner and pays the mortgage. I recently went back to college, after I separated from my husband and completed a short course to qualify as an ESOL teacher for Adults. I work freelance at a private college for £10 an hour part time.

We still have a mortgage debt of £95,000, with about 12 years left as we remortgaged 5 yrs ago. I feel after being separated from husband for some time now, its time now to make a fresh start for the kids and I. I have spoken to kids and they don’t mind moving out of London as long as its not the countryside.
Have also spoken to ex about sorting out what happens to the house amicably, at the mo he says he wants to give his share of the house to the kids. I cant afford to pay the mortgage on my wages.

Which is why I have been looking into selling up and moving as house prices have rocketed. Currently propertuy is valued around 350-360k, it’s a 3 bed end terrace, with a big garden but no off-street parking, which can be a right pain at times. If house sells for around that much after paying mortgage off we will be left with about 250-260k cash, (if ex sticks to his word). I do have some savings put away as well for a rainy day.

I have been researching online as to what we could afford close to where we are at the moment and also by moving out of London. I would be looking at buying outright without taking on a mortgage.
I would like a 3/ 4 bed semi-detached or maybe space to convert a downstairs room into a 4th bedroom, off-street parking, good size garden, on a nice quiet road in a decent safe area, and it must be multicultural.

I have looked into High-Wycombe, Reading, Hertfordhsire, Luton and even as far afield as Oxfordshire. I have also considered Birmingham (Harborne, Hall Green) which is a lot further and probably not commutable distance but it’s a city so maybe the prospects of kids finding good jobs locally will be better, and less chance of them getting bored.

I am confused as to whether I should sacrifice on the type of house and street in order to stay within reasonable commuting distance of Central London just in case the kids at some point in the future need to work there, due to lack of decent jobs locally. Or should I up sticks and move as far as Birmingham into a nice big house in a decent area, which is also very multi-cultural and with no mortgage to pay.

Would it be possible to move out of London, live mortgage free and then in the future, sell up, take out a mortgage and then move back to London if we need to? Or is that it, once we’re gone, we’re gone?

Am I crazy for even considering moving out of London?
I am planning on spending time in some of the areas I have mentioned above at some point to get a feel of what they are like and would appreciate anyone who knows them well to share their experiences/ views of what they are like?
Has anyone moved out of London? Where did you go? Whats it like? Please share…
I appreciate other Moneysavers pointing out the pros and cons as they see them as its all very muddled up for me, the more I think about it the more confusing it gets.

Is there some sort of agreement that can be drawn up to say that ex agrees to not taking proceeds of sale of house and that he wishes to give it to the kids?

Thanks for reading and apologies if this has already been asked. I have searched for previous threads but not come across many.

DomRavioli

I think you need to see an independent financial adviser with regards to some of this.

If you want your ex to put his share in a trust fund (for the kids) then 1. he would have to agree to it, 2. usually a solicitor draws it up for you so there will be costs - you'll need a private client/family law solicitor.

People move out of London because it is so expensive - I'd be hard pressed to see why you would move there unless you had a specific role that paid enough to get you back in there - I lived in Tonbridge for a year, and it was so expensive! I live in Manchester now, and you can earn decent money north of the Watford Gap, it depends on your career and lifestyle.

IF you wanted to move back, that would be your choice; noone could make that decision for you, nor can they predict the future - it may be unaffordable to move back in 10 years, but thats something we just don't know.

I would suggest going for a weekend up north (we don't bite, in fact we're pretty friendly!) somewhere you would like to live, and see how it feels. No point upping sticks to find out you hate it.

claire16c

I was born in Harrow but my parents moved to Berkshire a few miles away from Reading, when I was a baby.

Housing here is very expensive but with your budget you could just about get a 3 bed semi or terrace that needed some work, or something a bit better if you had a small mortgage.

The schools where I live are excellent. And Reading and surrounding areas with all the train stations mean you can work in London easily or still go in for the theatre, shopping etc if you want. Low unemployment, parks, plenty of stuff to do. Its not the countryside but you can go somewhere quiet if you like like Henley for the day and go for a walk by the river for somewhere quiet!

However, if your child is in year 12, I presume you wouldnt move until they had finished year 13 or it could really mess up their A levels?

But at the same time youd need to time it so that the one in yr 9 hadnt started their GCSEs yet.

Prothet_of_Doom

Another person that has realised that life is better out of The South East. Try Derby !

neon_dannii

Milton Keynes? Easy commute to London if there ever needs be and affordable housing.

cheeswright

There is a thriving community of English second language schools in Bournemouth - which should provide you with potential employment
and the surfeit of students needing accommodation provides a good second income for many in the area. families kids often bunking in together to make room for students when money is a bit tight.

Also house prices are very varied in the area so you can perhaps choose something close to London prices if you want to keep up - in case you choose to move back - or lower if you want to free up some income (or even higher in some areas !!!!!!) whilst its not as multicultural as London where is ?
just a thought as "countryside" isn’t popular perhaps beach might be...
or was it city living you were fond of ?

Anon113

Thank you So much everyone for your replies. Its been really helpful.....:)

DomRavioli I have read a tiny bit about trusts, and from what I got the cost could run into the thousands. Not sure if he'd be prepared to part with that sort of cash. But if he did, does that mean that I am not ale to sell the house and move out?
I have made trips up to Manchester over the years, as i have family up there, but haven't managed to actually explore the area as we tend to just stay indoors mostly with the family. (One of the reasons, I want to avoid relocating to Manchester )

Claire16c that's been really helpful, will look into it thanks.

Neon_danni one of the ladies in my class lived in Milton Keynes and would travel down just for the class. She said it was cheaper than London but not very multicultural, sadly.

Cheeswright personally I Love the sea, countryside is a no-no as it would be too much of a culture shock which is why I would prefer to stick to being close enough to a busy area whilst being able to come back to the tranquillity of a peaceful home.
The place has to be multicultural, so the kids can fit right in..,.

Person_one

Are you avoiding Manchester because you want to avoid the family members you have up here?

Do you have family anywhere else? Where does your ex live? You need to consider how easy it would be for your children to see their dad, trains are expensive!

Alikay

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Another person that has realised that life is better out of The South East. Try Derby !

I'm in Derby too and love it - we've got a much nicer house and better quality of life in general than we had in Kent (left 25 years ago). However it's not for everyone: DS1 pays silly rent for a room in tatty shared flat in London, but isn't likely to move back to the Midlands as he's in a creative industry that mainly operates out of London, and wouldn't stand much chance of finding a job within commutable distance of our home.

tea_lover

Anon113 wrote: »

I am confused as to whether I should sacrifice on the type of house and street in order to stay within reasonable commuting distance of Central London just in case the kids at some point in the future need to work there, due to lack of decent jobs locally.

Surely if your children want to work in London (or anywhere else) in the future it will be their responsibilty to find themselves accommodation.

antw23uk

We moved to a village outside Aylesbury nearly four years ago (has it really been that long!) and I commute to Heathrow Mon-Fri for work, my OH commutes to North London to work.

We could have afforded to buy in West London but most likley a flat which wasnt an option as we already lived in a flat and were desperate to have out own house so we had friends in Aylesbury, like the place enough to know our money could stretch much further so took the plunge and brought ourselves a 3 bed detached house and to be honest if it wasnt for me working at Heathrow it wouldnt cross my mind to ever go/ come to London again I hate the place that much

We have a beautiful house, lovely garden (award winning doncha know, lol) and I own my own horse which is kept fifteen minutes from home so every spare minute I get to ride out in the beautiful Chilterns countryside.

Our next move will be even further out into the country, lol :T

Aylesbury is nice and its commutable to London with trains going straight into Marylebone which takes an hour.

I just need to find a job in Aylesbury now and it will be perfect