Has anyone relocated from the South East to North of England?

Blondetotty

I moved from the south cost to Greater Manchester 4 years ago. I now work further north in Lancashire and live further west (near Preston) but making that initial move was the best thing I have done in my life. Finances wise, I work as a PA and the salaries in central Manchester were exactly comparable with what I was earning down south so I gained hugely financially by moving. Obviously the further out from the big cities you go, the lower the salary drops but I’m now working a 4 day week for what I was roughly on down south. My 2 bed flat selling down south was the equivalent of a 4 bed semi up here in the areas I liked so I upsized from the south but downsized financially. My quality of life has improved massively, I have much more free time taking the hours drop from work, and people are so much friendlier and relaxed. I’ve noticed when I head back down south to visit friends and family, people are so much more stand offish, abrupt and okay, they’re rude!

The only downsides, I guess if you could call them downsides are the traffic and the weather. The motorways are a nightmare and rush hour can be hell but an upside to the downside is there are a lot more motorways than the south so when traffic is moving you can get around much easier. The weather can also be a bit hit and miss. Because of the coast and the hills, we get a lot more rain than the south although the upside to the downside is the countryside is so much more green and lush and when you’re in the country, you really feel you’re almost in another world as it’s so beautiful. Personally a bit of rain doesn’t bother me but I know it would drive my mum crazy. She spends most of the summer telling me how many more hours of sunshine she is getting than I am. Beaches are beautiful, and some are quite remote, unlike the mob that becomes Bournemouth in the summer.

Everything seems cheaper here. Parking is half the price and free at places like the Trafford center. I’d pay £5 for a few hours down south and feel grateful it didn’t cost more. Random things like my hair cut that used to be not much change from £200 for a colour, I now get done for £45 at an amazing salon. Takeaways are cheaper. Breakfast out at a small caf! set me back a fiver at the weekend for everything. I’d pay that for a coffee and a slice of toast down south. Fresh flowers £3 for a bunch of cala lilies from my local greengrocer. I had an emergency locksmith out for a few weeks ago and got charged less than £50 for out of hours including a new key. My vet check-up for my cat costs half the price of the vet I had down south.

I’m just reluctant to sing the Norths praises usually because I don’t want the place overrun by other Southerners!

Cakeguts

I would suggest commuter area to Manchester, Leeds or Liverpool for employment. You won't earn as much but your living costs will be lower and your quality of life much better.



Do not be mislead like many London politicians into thinking that just because people don't wear the latest fashions that they are poor. The culture is different. It is very very acceptable for someone to ask you where you got your shoes from. That is a compliment. It is not rude. People are very friendly. Strangers will talk ot you anywhere. You are expected to reply and be friendly. A typical Berkshire attitude will put them off. I used to work in Berkshire and the typical how much you have in expensive items won't work in the North. People are not interested.

Albala

Good points above. especially about transport links by road and rail if you will want to visit friends in the South a lot. Look out for HS2/3 route areas- if it happens, some areas could get more expensive.
I was told by an EA recently that Manchester prices were going up a lot.
As for being friendly, I think Northerners are generally more openly friendly than in most other places I have known, but I have had friends from points south find this less so in their part of Yorkshire than I do with my 'passport' northern accent. If I may be 'wars of the roses' partisan, I think Lancastrians tend to be more openly friendly and jollier- a few 'professional Yorkshiremen' rather dine out on being dour, though again, only a few. Wherever you go, more people are fine when you get to know them, it's just some are harder work than others. I find where I live in the Midlands, like most places I have lived, people will be friendly if you make the effort first, but are generally fairly detached otherwise. Whereas in Lancs where I'm from, people tend to jump right in and be friendly, or at least meet you halfway rather more enthusiastically. Least friendly places I have found to 'outsiders' - East London and one or two specific touristy places in the West Highlands of Scotland.

If you like their countryside (which Northerners tend to be proud of) and say so, don't openly repine if things are a bit different (or a bit scruffier in the poorer areas) than you're used to, and respond when people are friendly to you, then I'd say you'd be okay.


Lots of places with a bad name nationally, like Burnley, are actually in superb countryside, and have a lot going on culturally. Burnley is actually a good example- it's the same size as the Midlands town I am doomed to live in (work) but has far more 'culture'- it has its own stately home owned by the town, more and bigger parks, a far bigger and rather decent art collection, lots of choirs and theatre groups etc., commercial art galleries, good public services, lovely old Carnegie library, and a nicer town centre, because though it is far poorer financially, it works harder to look after its residents. If you like the arty culture, there's places like Hebden Bridge, but that's getting pricey now, I remember it when it was cheap and that's why artists lived there! Kendal, close to Lakes, therefore expensive. Yorkshire Dales- as a Southerner you'd be surprised how cheap the houses are in some lovely villages, but hospitals and public services generally are a long way away. Skipton is a compromise, but correspondingly expensive. Harrogate, posh, but, of course, very expensive.
A little further south, there are places like Buxton and Leek. Buxton is interesting to be in, especially at festival time, but hard to get out of, especially in winter.:D

M_Python

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

' The North ' is a big area.

As Oldmusicguy says, as far as us Southerners are concerned, ooop North is anywhere north of the Watford Gap :rotfl:

agrinnall

I'm going to suggest Cottingham, outside Hull. I was there at the weekend for the first time since graduating from Hull Uni in 1981 and it's a great place where I'm sure your money would get you something very nice. The friend I was with expressed her surprise at how pleasant the centre of Hull was, not at all what she was expecting, and commented that it looked quite prosperous, so hopefully you could find jobs to suit you in the city, even if there's nothing suitable in Cottingham itself.

K80_Black

I moved from London to York and absolutely hated it. I was too far from my friends and family, had nothing in common with anyone I worked with and found that almost everyone was on drugs as there was little else to do.

Now living in Belfast and very happy - the cost of living is very affordable and there's still plenty to do. Travelling to see friends and family takes about as long as living up north, and it's often cheaper to get a flight than pay extortionate train fares.

pinkteapot

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

' The North ' is a big area.

This! We relocated from Essex to north Cumbria in December and it's now a 3 hour drive south to Sheffield. :rotfl:

My feeling is it's easier to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of moving a long way from everything you know if you really want to move TO somewhere, rather than wanting to move FROM somewhere. We moved here because we love the countryside and hill walking. We'd been visiting 3-4 times a year for ten years and it seemed daft to spend that much time on the A1. The fact houses are cheaper here was a massive bonus, but not the reason for doing it. And this far north salaries are lower, though with our equity from our southern house we're looking at places we can buy mortgage-free (we've rented to start off with).

As others have said, leaving family is hard. Are yours currently nearby? The pain of missing people is offset in some way for us by how deeply we love this place, but it can't make up for it. It's hard when the people you love and the place you love don't coincide geographically. It's really hard to put into words how I felt, so I'm going to sound totally 'woo', but down south I was soul-sick. Up here, I'm calm.

TripleH

I'm a Southerner who moved North (Yorkshire), back down South, then Further South and now will be moving to the North West.

If you could give an idea where you would like to live (rural, town, big town or city) am sure you could get lots of recommendations. Yes your money will go further (possibly be mortgage free) and looking at your salaries, you might not see too much of a drop in salary but I suspect the big difference is that you could move to a similar sized house but in what is deemed a 'much nicer area'.

The issue here is that you might end up living with people who could have their heads stuck up their own donkeys, whilst if you are more down to earth, you could find yourself in a much bigger property or with a nice surplus left over, but it all depends upon what exactly you are wanting?

Do you have any children as I suspect it could influence people's thoughts.

chelseablue

Thank you all!

We have a 5 year old son who is in Reception, so wouldn't want to wait years before making a decision

Currently live in a 3 bed semi, if I'm moving I want a 3-4 bed detached with all the mod cons!

My parents and mother in law still live in Berkshire, although not the same town as we do they're about 12 miles away.
Possibly when my Dad is no longer here my Mum may move in with us

My Brother moved to Sutton Coldfield last year

Rest of my family live further south in Sussex

Would like a nice area (don't we all) with good schools
Somewhere good for young families, Not in the middle of nowhere, as my Son is in primary school don't want a long commute
Not coastal

My husband mentioned Wrea Green near Preston but not actually been there yet!

Davesnave

I'm suspicious of anyone who writes off whole swathes of the country, as in this post: "I’ve noticed when I head back down south to visit friends and family, people are so much more stand offish, abrupt and okay, they’re rude!"


There isn't one place called "The South" In my experience, there isn't even one place called 'Devon,' or 'Wiltshire.' Counties and areas are conglomerations of environments with quite distinct characters, even today.

The vast bulk of people visiting my part of Britain never come close to seeing the part where I am, so how would they know what it's like here?

I suspect when they're fighting their way through a traffic jam near Newton Abbot, clawing out a bank holiday space on the beach at Torquay, or paying for some overpriced croissants and coffee in Totnes (more jams!) they think its all like that.

Well, that's fine, let them!