The north/south divide

Legacy_user

I live in Liverpool where the average 3 bed semi in my area is £120,000 you can move to a pretty decent area and go detached for anything from £200,000+

I am a registered nurse earning roundabout £30k after enhancements. We are not sure what we want to do yet in the next few years. But one option was move down south nearer MIL where the weather is better and lifestyle is more outdoors.

The average 3 bed semi in a sussex council estate (not dissimilar to mine in Liverpool worth 75k) is £230,000+

If i were to relocate then the job prospects are still the same. The pay is still the same. Where do people down south get the money from to own a property? Do they just make the same amount of income stretch more?

Thrugelmir

tessiesmummy wrote: »

If i were to relocate then the job prospects are still the same. The pay is still the same. Where do people down south get the money from to own a property? Do they just make the same amount of income stretch more?

You enjoy a better quality of life.

zagubov

By spending a much bigger fraction of our income on housing, which is not usually as spacious and modern as we could get outside the south. By not being single, as we need two incomes in many areas.
By following as much advice from this site as possible. Goodbye, Waitrose; hello Lidl/Aldi. Re-mortgaging and switching utility providers as often as needed, and sticking to a strict budget. And so on.

System

Yeah zagubov thats what I was thinking... I much prefer having more disposable income to enjoy than working just to pay for a house!! As dp is self employed and earns very little I'd never get a mortgage down south. When I rented down there 10 years ago I used to pay £600 a month for a tiny 1 room studio/ bedsit (it was more like a landing with a toilet and shower).

Thrugelmir- possibly but from what I recall from my time there that better quality ran from may to september and as a scouser I wasnt very welcome!!!

maybe plan c/d could be a static caravan that way id have the best of both worlds!!!

Thrugelmir

tessiesmummy wrote: »

Y

Thrugelmir- possibly but from what I recall from my time there that better quality ran from may to september and as a scouser I wasnt very welcome!!!

I was referring to your good self. More to life than spending money on a space. Where a third of a day is spent in one room, most of it asleep.

System

oops i understand now!!! I am too quick to respond without actually reading it.

I do think south has better lifestyle opportunities but the financial cost seems to seriously outweigh the benefits. Its cheaper to holiday on MIL's couch

zagubov

As Thrug says, you won't be able to replicate your current quality of life up north when you move down south.

I'm a teacher in London and we get lots of people from the rest of the UK coming here to get experience and maybe get promotions (the high staff turnovers make that easier here) before they head back north to get better houses within their budgets.

They don't stay to start and raise families here; they know better.

We don't have so many of the budget chains like B&M or HomeBargains, and London weighting doesn't compensate for the inflated prices of all needs, goods and necessities, large and small, that need to be paid for.

The grass isn't any greener despite its higher monetary price.

kinger101

You seem to have a vague notion of why life will be better "down south". If you want better weather, moving east would do the job. And there's outdoors life to be had in every county of the UK. You'd be moving nearer your MIL, but away from friends in Liverpool.

ukcarper

If you are on a national pay scale and employment is not a problem I wouldnt move to an area where property is expensive, unless you need to be near MIL I wouldnt move to sussex there are cheaper areas where weather is warmer. But if you are happy in Liverpool I would of though extra disposable income would easily compensate for slightly worse weather.

Im surprised to say you didnt feel welcome.

michaels

tessiesmummy wrote: »

I live in Liverpool where the average 3 bed semi in my area is £120,000 you can move to a pretty decent area and go detached for anything from £200,000+

I am a registered nurse earning roundabout £30k after enhancements. We are not sure what we want to do yet in the next few years. But one option was move down south nearer MIL where the weather is better and lifestyle is more outdoors.

The average 3 bed semi in a sussex council estate (not dissimilar to mine in Liverpool worth 75k) is £230,000+

If i were to relocate then the job prospects are still the same. The pay is still the same. Where do people down south get the money from to own a property? Do they just make the same amount of income stretch more?

Most of us in the SE would feel 230k for a ex la 3 bed semi is less than half price

I would note that 70k is below build cost which suggests a pretty depressed, non-sustaining, local economy.

vivatifosi

If it is important to live near MIL, would she move close to you? Or possibly move somewhere cheaper with better weather?

National pay bargaining certainly does not help in the South East, and as a nurse you may find yourself moving from a hospital with a good contingent of nursing staff, to one where nurses are run ragged and leaving in droves. That certainly sums up my local hospital.