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

lisyloo

As someone in their 50s whos paid off the mortgage and looking forward to early retirement, I'd say that owning a home is a really important element of financial stability, freedom and security.


Sure, other things are important too, but I'm sure no-one is suggesting that the north is devoid of countryside, friendliness, music or food (reminds me of a joke about a motorway sign going north "WARNING: Last chance to eat Muesli")



I agree it's worth knowing an area before making a big financial committment.
I'm currently in London and even before renting we had a few months of serviced appartments in different areas. We decided we didn't like Finsbury park.

chelseablue

sgun wrote: »

Is a house like that really the most important thing in life you aspire to? It does seem you are looking for a bit of a status house, or as I would call them "all fur coat and no knickers houses".

What else do you want from an area? Countryside, vibrant music scene, friendly neighbours, food scene? Moving half way across the country away from friends and family, getting new jobs etc just for a house seems a bit odd to me. Surely there is more to life? What if the new area just doesn't do it for you so you decide you don't like "the north" and want to move back? Can you cover the depreciation?

Don't be fooled into thinking that a new build means no DIY either.

No it doesn't have to be a new build house, those were just examples of the price difference

There is a possibility that my mum may move in with us one day and our current house doesn't have the space

I don't think there would be enough room to do an extension and I'm not keen on them anyway, plus would need to increase the mortgage amount and possibly term. As it is now I'll be 65 when its paid off if we don't overpay

I'd say the things that are important to me are living in a nice area, I was born and raised in Slough so think I deserve it :rotfl:

Financial security is important too, I remember my dad being made redundant a few times in the 90s recession it wasn't fun. So if I can have the opportunity to be mortgage free in my 40's then that would be great

Plus thinking of my sons future

chelseablue

lisyloo wrote: »

As someone in their 50s whos paid off the mortgage and looking forward to early retirement, I'd say that owning a home is a really important element of financial stability, freedom and security.


Sure, other things are important too, but I'm sure no-one is suggesting that the north is devoid of countryside, friendliness, music or food (reminds me of a joke about a motorway sign going north "WARNING: Last chance to eat Muesli")



I agree it's worth knowing an area before making a big financial committment.
I'm currently in London and even before renting we had a few months of serviced appartments in different areas. We decided we didn't like Finsbury park.

Exactly this. At the moment I'll be at work until Im dead

Starbrite

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

There you go, corrected that for you......;)

Sorry, as an extreme Southerner I couldn't resist :rotfl:

But you make very valid points. There are plenty of nice areas outside the SE where property prices are more reasonable and they are close to large conurbations. But not everywhere is cheap.

:rotfl::T
I thought that as I was reading that post... south London here, north is the Thames and the highlands is Watford!

inzellhsw

We moved to Ribble Valley last April and we love it!
Lots of green space and most important thing for us is good schools! My daughter is going to Clitheroe Royal Grammar this September.
Some villages are very expensive, like Sawley, Wiswell. Based on your budget, Whalley is a good choice - detached starts from 325K.
I won't recommend to live inside Clitheroe due to the bad traffic, though house prices are a lot cheaper.
Lots of new house building at the moment, eg.
https://www.redrow.co.uk/developments/oak-leigh-gardens-barrow-112540
Good luck!

inzellhsw

Oh forgot to mention, it's SAFE here!
We forgot to close the front bay window twice, and forgot to lock the garage once, nothing happened.
Quiet and peaceful, and you hear the birds singing all the time.

chelseablue

inzellhsw wrote: »

Oh forgot to mention, it's SAFE here!
We forgot to close the front bay window twice, and forgot to lock the garage once, nothing happened.
Quiet and peaceful, and you hear the birds singing all the time.

Sounds lovely, where did you move from?

eamon

If keeping your income levels close to what your earn now is important then I would think that you need to be within an hours commute of the larger conurbations. Also I consider the North to be above Birmingham and below Scotland. That give you a large chunk of England to play with. So get an old paper map of England and start playing around with the internet.


This property is about 5 miles from where I live. To drive about 40mins to Leeds city centre, 45 mins to Manchester and 5 mins to Halifax.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60536439.html


We have no ideas as to your current lifestyle, ambitions, things that you used to do but don't anymore, will your family grow, are you and or partner sporty/active types. Guess what I'm saying, is don't make the decision to move away based soley on a desire to own a bigger house and perhaps be mortgage free sooner. You will be leaving all the familiar things behind and having to start again and that is easier said than done. Lastly I've been to Slough ........... enough said.

inzellhsw

Birmingham -> Rochdale (6m) -> Bury (8y) -> Helmshore (18m) -> Ribble Valley

I think you need to decide what type of life you like. We like countryside so RV is perfect for us, however some people may not like it due to lack of facility - only small Sainsbury and Tesco, no Asda or Morrison, we need to go to near town like Blackburn, Burnley, or Preston for bigger shopping; no general hospital, need to go to Blackburn or Burnley. But we don't mind these at all.

If you prefer city life, I would suggest Trafford in Greater Manchester which has 6 grammar schools.

Owain_Moneysaver

inzellhsw wrote: »

Quiet and peaceful, and you hear the birds singing all the time.

I hate bloody birds every morning.

Used to live two streets from a motorway and that drowned the noise out.

Either that or the carbon monoxide fumes got them.