Moving out of London

Todmorden

That's it but you say it Tud-mur-den really freaked my partner out, the whole no sunlight thing. I remember someone actually said to us 'are you local?' in Hebden Bridge although tbf I think that was over a parking space.

Honestly I don't know where we will end up. We can get Canadian citizenship and every now and then throw that around as an idea, I reckon I'll be able to find work in Toronto but apparently the housing market there is as fucked as London.

Did you do a mad commute for a while or was it fully remote?

there are loads of digital jobs in Leeds and Manchester, but it's just as easy to work remotely these days.

when we moved up to manchester, it was because my wife got a new (retail) job and so i went freelance. in the end, our priorities shifted a bit so we found we didn't need to be earning as much money as our london jobs gave us. my wife found she actually didn't like working in retail so she too about a 40% pay cut to start a new career in the NHS.

and COVID has meant i have to look after my son 2 days a week. i've realised how much i can squeeze into a three-day working week, so once my sone goes to school next year, i'll be trying to start a new business myself. these are risks we couldn't have afforded to take in london.

We moved about 3 months ago, both our companies went fully flexible in lockdown v1 back in March which was the last time either of us went into the office. I can't see that changing in the next 3 to 6 months too. I'm in fintech so pretty flexible attitude to location and remote working. Not a boast post but as we were on London salaries does mean our disposable income is much higher, our flat is now a house with a big garden and more importantly for me a garage I can aim to fill with 2 wheel toys. One thing I've noticed is tradesmen are soz so much more responsive and friendlier than London too

I expect to get the train down maybe twice a month tops and I can do an overnighter if required but if we can manage a year I can't see too much of a need. Office interaction is nice, if I was a junior or earlier in the career then it would totally suck and huge disadvantages

Twice a month sounds doable. I'm aiming at something I can do twice a week in the office but I guess we'll see, when the dogs older she won't need as much attention during the day anyway. As much as fully remote sounds nice and flexible I think I'll be relying on the new job for friends and socialising so would need some office time.

Salary wise the ones up in Leeds look almost comparable, less total amount of them but there are still ones hiring for what I currently earn. Taking home the same pay while spending less for a better quality of life sounds too good to be true. I guess it's not Barcelona though, that's still my backup plan in case my life goes to shit.

The biggest concern in my situation is if I get fired/redundant getting a new role might be harder.
Maybe I'll be lucky and become a kept man....

I moved to rural South Yorkshire about 4 years ago. I'm from here originally and often wanted to return. I did spend 30 years in London. It's quiet here and most people are decent enough. I like the fact that within 5 minutes I'm in lovely countryside. Roads are quiet and cafes/pubs welcoming(pre covid!).
If I need an urban fix Sheffield/Leeds are not too far away.
I like it here.

4 months after my last post we have finally accepted an offer on our flat, and the first step to leaving is done.

Offer accepted, it begins.

Awesome news @6pt and @mustardbeak

Hadn't realised you were living together....

Jokes obviously

Where are you moving to?

Lolz

I'm making the obvious move for someone now in their 40's living in London - Hastings.

It's been on the cards for a long time, but the past year has given us the kick we needed to make it happen. I've agreed flexible working, so I can carry on in my job for as long as I need to, it will mean more commuting but ultimately reduced outgoings and more space and my Wife can change career.

The last few years we've felt a bit stuck, needing to earn the same or more to basically tread water, we'd both like to do other things but in order to maintain ourselves can't afford to lose income.

Eventually the plan is to work for myself, once we've got some savings together, something it's impossible to see how we can make work if we stay in London any longer.

Off to Somerset 🤞small town, country-adjacent vibes. Not much further from Bath than we are from central London now, but hopefully with fewer street corner mattresses and a bit more mud and far-reaching views. It’s looking like we might get a garage and a sensible home office in the deal too.

Nice area.

Country bumkin.

Good choice, we’ve been here 3.5 years now and are very happy with the decision. I know of at least 3 other households close to coming here from London too!

Ah nice one, we've been kicking it down the road a bit for a few years tbh, but it became increasingly obvious it's where we want to be and we should just go for it.

I love the place, and it's reassuring to hear you've settled there after the move.

I grew up here so it wasn’t entirely unknown but a lot has changed and it turns out meeting people and making friends is a slow process in your 30s/40s. Took us around a year (a brilliant year tbf) to get really settled but 100% worth it.
I hope things calm down and open up COVID wise if you are here for the summer.

I have a few connections down there already friends of friends etc which should help, my Wife doesn't but she's massively community minded so if she throws herself into that I'm sure she will meet like minded people.

We are aiming to get down asap, but now we are under offer need to find a house so it might take some time yet. We keep having slight jitters as we've both been in London for more than half of our lives now, but I know we can make it work in Hastings and be very happy there.

And have actual stairs in a house, I haven't actually lived in a house since I moved out of my parents 20 years ago

:waves

I'm also another FILTH - well, close enough to Hastings to count. 3 years here, DFL.

We're heading to North Suffolk. Had a nightmare getting the house we're buying through some probate related stuff and are still not 100% we can buy it despite having the offer accepted in September... BUT we are fast approaching completion on selling in London and are looking to do a short term rent until our purchase clears up. Risky I guess... but we're doing it! Probable move in early March.

What are you doing for work? I'm edging closer to a more up north but not quite sure how to juggle selling the current flat, buying a new house and moving will also trying to get new employment

We're taking all the risks.

Mrs W's job is Freelance and we can hit London as and when she needs it. I lecture 99 days a year in London but have lobbied for relaxed hours to avoid the expensive trains (when commuting starts again). That'll be a pain but the lifestyle change will hopefully be worth it.

The main thing is that between us we have a storage space and a studio which we rent in London and we're trying to get planning permission to have it all on one location in Suffolk. If we pull that off we'll be working mostly from home and saving some monthly outgoings.

Fingers crossed we get the keys for our first house in Lincoln next week.

My role should stay remote with a few weeks a year I need to be in London and work will pay for travel etc if they want me back. My wife has just got a new national role so she's sorted too. This wasn't the case with my wife for a while, she was facing the long commute a few days a week. We rolled the dice and she managed to secure the new role just before Xmas.

I lived in Lincoln from the age of 12-19 and couldn't wait to escape to London for uni, that was 16 years ago so I've changed and so has Lincoln!

My parents and brother are around and we're close to my wife's family too although still a few hours away. Potential for meets half way in the Peak district though which will be great.

Covid pushed us to make a change as my role becoming remote allowed us to explore moving outside of London daily commuting distance. 1hr48 from Lincoln to Kings Cross means I could get in if I had to and get back in the same day.

I never thought I'd leave London and I never thought I'd move to Lincoln but the 4 bed detached house with a double garage compared to the one-bed boxes in Hackney was a compelling argument.

Don’t break that whisky bottle when you move.

We can only hope.