Moving out of London

I moved to Romford with my gf* in January, having lived in London for 8ish years. Reasons for moving here were that we could afford a 3bed house with a nice garden for the same price as a 1-2 bed flat in Sydenham where we lived (very happily!) previously and that her parents are 10mins away in Upminster. We plan to start a famalam in the next couple of years so wanted to buy somewhere with space now, rather than having to move again...
I cycle to Borough daily for work - no drama whatsoever, although the road surface could definitely be improved between Ilford and Stratford.
It definitely not the cultural capital of the south east but we are relatively happy here. We definitely crave the cosmopolitan-ness of London and do most of our socialising in London too.
We haven't really explored the area that much yet (although my gf knows it pretty well, having grown up in Goodmayes) as we have been head down on DIY. I am really keen for recommendations of nice, less chainy places to go for a drink/food if anyone has any.
Also keen to expand my social circle locally if anyone lives in the area and fancies a pint? I'm confident that it's an area that's on the up - I wouldn't have bought here otherwise.

*(For reference I'm 31, ,male and white and my gf is 28 and mixed race).

anyone moved out and rented their london abode out?

me

are you still doing it? did you just move out and treat it as a buy to let?

my wife may have a job in the SW (typically, after i formally teransferred back to london - 1st april). we really don't want to sell right now, so it we move, we are considering renting it out and renting somewhere down there.

we have the option of renting it to an acquaintance who wants a london flat mid-week. we could then use a room if sarah/i need a pad in london (which would be likely).

yeah. basically we needed to move to manchester with fairly short notice (3mo). So we're renting in Manchester and rent out our London flat and have done since last May. We needed to get the mortgage changed to a buy-to-let one (I think? Might have a different name. And needed to let the flat management company know it was inhabited by tenants).

I lived in Cardiff (canton) for about six years. Brilliant city. Was only really cycling in the city to get around at the time. It’s ok drivers are a bit erratic, same as anywhere really

It’s a fantastic place though, hard to beat very friendly.

that was the vibe we were getting when we went out in an around canton the other day after looking at the place. Had quite a few conversations to some "locals" about the area. Looking forward to it - three month notice period is mad long!

Cowbridge road

Sounds about right, depending on which side of the area you're in it could be worth cutting across to Pontcanna Fields if you wanted to avoid traffic. I hear you, I've gone from about 3hrs commuting a day to about 5 minutes. /smugface

I think I have started a few people at work thinking about leaving london too. I'm not taking a pay cut, rent is substantially cheaper, save about £315 per month on train fares and the city is really good. Most importantly for me though is that my brother and partner's sister is down that way.

Congrats, sounds like a great move!

Rented our flat while travelling for 6 months, looking to move in 18 months/2 yrs time and rent the flat out. Would be a small fee to change the mortgage. One learning - DO NOT USE PURPLE BRICKS to manage the letting/home.

1yr in NYC. Rented through a local agent who were a bit hapless sometimes but old school and honest. After fees and tax we were left out of pocket, but not too bad. Tonnes of snags came up while we were away which was a pain.

We notified out lender, nationwide, ("consent to let") who have a good system where the 1st 6m remain the same, then thereafter its +1%. Although if;

renting it to an acquaintance

You could probably avoid all of that faff.

Not to endorse tax dodging, but if you're using it regularly could you not just classify them as a lodger and keep it as your main residence? If you plan to use it in some capacity I assume you can't really charge full rent for the whole place anyway.

thanks for the replies.

i think we will just keep a room and rent it to my pal. i think we would get a fair chunk (probably twice the mortgage) by moving out totally, but the option for somewhere to stay is handy

the thought of dealing with estate agents makes my balls sting

the thought of dealing with estate agents makes my balls sting

You don't have to. Possible to DIY it.

If you have anyone local who you trust who can keep an eye on it, it shouldn’t be that hard to do without an estate agent. Would mean you’d have to put a bit of time in when you were back in london dealing with any issues they couldn’t..

Well volunteered!

doesn't look like it is going to happen right now, unforch.

my six car garage will have to wait.

So a while back we had plan our escape from London and Worthing was looking likely, we spent many weekends looking around found an area and been waiting for house to come up and literally in 6 months nothing of any worth has materialized. In the meantime we have been spending a lot more time down at the mother-laws in Devon, and we now think this would suit us much more, so we have been looking at areas and Teignmouth seems to fit the bill, 30 minutes from Exeter, an hour and a half to Bristol by train where my company has an office. Planning a trip down there next weekend. Does anyone have any thoughts on Teignmouth?

I live the other side of Exeter, so know the area to some degree, although don't visit the Teignmouth area that much. Exeter is great, lots of regeneration in the last 10 years or so, plenty of things to do and places to eat.

My one thing to check (which is pretty hard now) is to visit on a bleak winters day, summers days on the south coast are great, and I personally love the seaside when there is driving rain and wind, but it isn't for everyone!

To be honest I prefer bleak/wet wind days by the sea, to blazing hot days

You should be fine then! As I said I don't know Teignmouth that well, would also want to check how much is open through the winter months as well.

The first thing the wife checked was that Ocado deliver (which they do) so should be all good.

Finally got out, for the first time in my life, I've actually got a garden!

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Congratulations!

Is it permanent, and if so, where are you?