Moving Away from the Southeast... What am I missing?

fiisch

We've been playing with the idea of moving up North* and wanted to hear thoughts/criticisms/opinions who have considered or done similar.

About Us
We are a married couple (31 & 29) with a one year old daughter, currently living in a four-bedroom house in West Sussex, purchased on the 80%/20% Help To Buy Scheme. Recently valued at £425k, which gives us around £100k of equity (we bought for £350k as a new build in March 2015).

I work full time in insurance/IT, so job opportunities are heavily based around Southeast/London, although increasingly remote working is becoming more popular in my industry.

My wife works in the healthcare industry, so location is less important.

The Plan
Considering moving to Grantham area, Lincolnshire. Primarily due to the availability of grammar schools (I have considered private school but the fees are eye-watering - even considering a bursary), and the schools in our local area are fairly poor.

Also, similarly-priced properties offer a lot more for the money - bigger garden, more rooms etc., and we think living a more rural location would be better for raising a family. Virgin trains take approximately 1 hour 10 minutes to London Kings Cross, then four stops on the tube to Bank.

Why Not?
Part of me worries about moving away from friends (our families already live in Berkshire and Herefordshire respectively, so minimal change there), but then we are reaching an age where we see less of our friends, or we make plans where living away would simply mean a road trip/Air BnB if we wanted to come down.

There's also the factor that if it doesn't work out, house prices may well have increased at a higher rate, putting us down the ladder if we ever wanted to move back.

I am intending to return to working contract roles, therefore my job will change fairly frequently and there is the possibility of negotiating two/three days per week from home to take the edge off the added commute.

Has anyone thought of/done something similar to get a bigger house/get a better life for their family?


*Edit: I appreciate to some Grantham is not "up north"! I suppose Lincolnshire would class more as East Midlands, but for us currently between London and Brighton, it is some 150 miles northwards!

victoriavictorious

Are you familiar with Grantham at all, or was it a matter of sticking a pin in a map 'north of wherever?'
I ask because imo Grantham isn't that great.
Have you considered Market Harborough, Leicestershire, a very much nicer town closer to London, with good property prices, every amenity and direct trains into Kings X (in about an hour.)

fiisch

Market Harborough is lovely, but being over the county border I don't think it'd have the advantage of grammar schools.

We've considered three corners(!) of England -

Kent (localish and grammar schools)
Wiltshire (near other half's family and where I'm from originally)
Lincolnshire (grammar schools, cheap house prices yet still commutable - at least on initial research)

Grantham area because of the train line, but wherever our next move we are thinking of a village, so wouldn't be considering Grantham itself, but more the surrounding villages within short driving reach of the station.

Red-Squirrel_2

If you move somewhere for the grammar schools, there is always the possibility that your daughter won!!!8217;t get in, so make sure the other schools are ok too!

If schools are your main motivator you!!!8217;d be better off moving to the catchment area of a really excellent inclusive state school, although you!!!8217;re a bit early for that, 10 years is a long time in education!

Davesnave

It's a dangerous supposition that your child will do best in a grammar school.


Unlucky pupils may have gifts that aren't recognised in the exams. They may feel they've failed, because their parents put great store in a narrow range of aptitudes and skills.


Naturally enough, no parent ever admits to being 'Very disappointed of Tunbridge Wells,' but I've been around parents and their children long enough to know that some are very bad actors, even when it's 'just the SATS.'

AnotherJoe

What's with the obsession with grammar schools ? Your kids may not get in, after all the majority don't, that's the point ! When it comes to the entrance exams, yours will be competing with children whose parents paid for private education at primary and junior school and private tuition geared solely at getting kids past the exam.

Better as said to move to the catchment area of an excellent school that doesn't rely on creaming off the children best able to pass an exam.

If you want to combine that excellent school with living in the country, and that entails a move, that's a different matter. Or if your current child turns out to be in the top 10% academically then move in about 8 years time, though what happens if your next children aren't ? Do they just get dumped in whatever sink school happens to be near the grammar ?

knightstyle

Both us, retired, and our neighbours, early 40s with 3 young children, are looking to move to Grantham. We are currently in NW Lincolnshire.
We have both spent time in and around Grantham and think it will be a good move.
We know people who live there and a friend who grew up there and all say they would go back if circumstances were right.

Drawingaline

We move from Brighton to Hampshire back to my home own. We had no chance of moving up from our two bed flat in bright and already had two children. We were incredibly lucky as we sold in Jan 07 rented for 18 months and bought in 09! But we knew at the time there would be absolutely no going back. We also moved without jobs, but that worked out.

My mil moved down from Burnley to just outside Boston lincs. This was as far south as they could afford, and its certainly nicer than Burnley for them. She has a huge garden, and has fitted in, making friends easily. Tey are also enjoying the better weather! Downsides, however are the lack of public transport links in the surrounding area, (she cannot drive) and she misses being close to a large city. Previously she would travel to Manchester regularly for shopping etc. She feels that London is just a bit too far away and a little awkward to get to.

Before they moves they spent up to 2 years researching and made quite a few trips to the area to see which parts would be the best for them. I can only suggest that I you haven't visited yet to do so and not just in summer, do a few research trips. Include a rush hour commute to London to give you an idea as to wether it is something you can do every day.

Your child is young yet, you have a bit of time to decide, research and visits are key.

ProDave

Well the question was what are the pitfalls of moving away from he South East.

Well none that I can see. You get away from over crowded roads, over priced houses, grumpy southerners. NONE of that was getting any better when I was there, everything was getting steadily worse and even more over crowded and over priced.

We did move a little further than you are planning, to the Highlands. We sold out 3 1/2 bed semi and ended up in a 5 bedroom detached with no mortgage and money to spare for 2 buy 2 let properties. And since the move I have only needed to work part time.

People "warned" me moving "up north" would be a 1 way ticket and you would never be able to move back. Well I have not found a single reason why I would want to. Each time we visit, 2 or 3 days and I am itching to get away from the over crowding.

Davesnave

Moving westwards into the part of Devon where I live would bag you an outstanding primary school and a comprehensive with some of the best exam results in the county. It's also a cheap area, relative to many parts of the West Country.

However, it would be inconsistent for me to recommend you come here. As with children, we have different attributes and interests, so what pleases me and many others who live here, might not appeal to you at all.

Like exams which test certain skills, the low crime figures, clean air and beautiful scenery tell only a part of the complex story.

bouicca21

Surely the main drawbacks to moving to Grantham would be the loss of family support, the need to make a new social network and the swingeing £9k season ticket.