Moving out of London

I'm just well aged and I gave up trying to "play the game" a few years ago.

Because the game we all end up playing is a version of monopoly, and if you don't get lucky early on you are just wasting your time.

My annual turnover of money is now (and has been for a couple of decades) in the single thousands, I'm so poor in financial terms I don't even qualify to pay tax, which keeps life nice and simple, too.

Most people see me as an idiot or loser to be honest, but I'm happier than I was..

You are a wise fellow.

I found myself needing to find a place to live when I was in my fifties and the landscape had changed considerably, all sorts of hurdles.

I offered to pay 6 months up front in cash plus my deposit, in lieu of references. I got a four bed flat over a shop for 450 a month, when everyone else was paying 550 for less space...

CASH IS KING.

Try saving as a substitute for "treating yourself". I live from boom to bust, so I put my savings into precious metals which makes it much harder to eat into them when I'm short pf the price of a packet of fags, plus I like the "privacy & Control over my own hard won and honestly come by money) aspects. Buy in the dip and the conversion fee gets lost pretty quick.. If I have a short term loan requirement say £1000 I can always back it with gold, which makes obtaining it at zero interests from someone I know a distinct possibility. MY pot of gold allowed me to float two £3K loans three years ago at zero interest which allowed me to BUY my own plot of land, which means I can grow my own food, or make myself a workshop, or even at a pinch not be homeless, etc.. (although it'd be a terrible quality of life, it's MY LAND) 

I do think it's important to keep in mind issues of safety when evaluating a location and the people who are part of it. There are places in the US I won't ever go even though I resemble others -on the surface it might be safe. It doesn't take much for someone to get angry at us, assert their cognitive bias and expectations. I don't think it has much to do with where they come from. But a group as a collective may have accumulated in an area and attract others who are similar. Likewise, I've been places where I didn't look like others and did need to think about safety. 

yep i feel the same, iv joined some of the local area facebook news/selling groups and see wat sort of people post, ask some questions on fb homeswapper groups etc get a feel for teh local people and see where my son would likely fit in. are you private or council? im council and iv found it impossible to find a move since lockdown and now no ones got removal money for an exchange, frustrating.

Hi , 

Thanks for your opinion, but after 20 years in London, Croydon wouldn’t be the place to relocate , doesn’t tick  ‘feeling safe’ box . Mind you there maybe people who live there and feel safe. 

iv been trying to move out of london for years for the same reason, last time i looked, just before lockdown, the places that others rated were exeter and croydon, croydon was rated for homeschool support too.  

Suffolk is lovely and the people are very friendly (I know you can’t generalise in some ways but I’m always struck by how friendly people seem there. I always find it to be really calm and quiet and peaceful. I’ve no idea about what job opportunities there are there though - but it is a beautiful place. 

I've a friend who has a house in Manchester but a MOORING in London, thus allowing her to work in London when the work is available or live up north where it's cheaper. (But no better, in my opinion)

If you are going to live in the north Merseyside seems to have way friendlier people than Manchester. I worked all over the U.K. as a service engineer and interacted with people either in a work situation (petrol stations, banks and shops) or when asking them for directions, some areas stand out as having nicer friendlier more helpful people which I guess is what I look for...

Of course, evaluating people as a group based on where they live (or come from) is pretty illegal these days, or at the least will attract harsh criticism, and to be fair even in London or Manchester you will eventually find someone who will tell you where that area is, or offer you a cup of tea whilst you fix their thing, so it's more of a guideline rather than a rule, but it's still discrimininating between people based on their social environment which for some reason an AWFUL lot of social engineering effort has been expended to stop us from doing...

The Midlands where I live has some truly nice spots as well, but if I had my free choice I'd probably choose somewhere in Sussex or towards Cornwall myself, even though Cornwall people don't take easily to strangers.

I like warmth and the sea and areas of nature (mainly to look at but occasionally to traverse). I've found that the majority of people I meet in real life wear a mask to conceal their basic predatory dog-like nature and very few wear a mask to conceal their giving and kind nature. whenever I find myself in a new environment sorting them out will take a long time, and so it's nice to not have to deal with a harsh environment or concrete jungle whilst doing that. 

Thanks for sharing your experience!

It’s really useful to hear what other people think  before making decisions. 
l know Bracknell as my uni friend used to live there and we considered this area to move  before Covid, but later my friend decided to move to Southampton due to good job offers and the fact that she could cycle to work rather than over an hour car journey. Nevertheless, she always thinks of Bracknell as her ideal place to live. 
You’ve  actually hit the nail on the head , we are tired of busy life style , which became so overwhelming for my daughter , she doesn’t want to go out anymore. The friends that we made over the years moved to different parts of UK or abroad and it’s becoming increasingly isolated for her. She loves nature , we use  our National Trust membership to get away from London at weekends and always feel the pressure on the way back. 
I used to love London when l came to UK 22 years ago, and it’s still a city of opportunities , but  my priorities have changed now and it’s time to move. 

Hmm, good question. My first response would be anywhere but Slough but maybe I'm biased having to spend nearly 30 years in that horrible place as an autistic person. 

I know Bracknell used to have a fantastic special needs school called Kennel Lane school. I worked there and I can honestly say it was the most caring, supportive school I have ever seen. I have to say this was 7 years ago so I cant vouch for what it is like now

Oxfordshire is a good idea as it is quite a quiet area and not too overstimulating for an autistic person, I find most of it very peaceful

I live in a country village in Buckinghamshire and I can honestly say it has helped me feel more peaceful, less busy and overwhelming. Does your daughter like nature or animals at all? If she does I would recommend living in the country but having said that teenagers often want to be around towns. 

There are lots of nice areas in Bucks and Oxfordshire

I would avoid Reading if you can, full of gangs. Earley is near there though and that is quite peaceful I think

Thanks for your opinion. 
I do benefit from high cost area added to my salary at the moment, but living  in London absorbs it very well and the stress of getting around the city and migration of friends that we managed to make over the years - makes us take the decision to be out of London. 
We won’t be looking for a cheap area houses , but not a millionaire areas either. Something in the middle that we can live  comfortably after selling our  London house. 
l actually found an interesting area , so l have to research more to tick our boxes . 

if it was me id move close enough to still have a high paid london job, but yet outside enough to have a cheap cost of living and housing. im not sure where that would be though and it would likely be a horrible area to have cheap housing.

id likely still want the coast but the coast would be expensive. but if expense wasnt a issue probably kent as i hear good things about kent, but good things probably mean its a millionaires area.