[Closed] Moving Leeds to London, good idea?

out of the frying pan and into the fire.........no thanks. 😆

Move to London of course. If you can afford it, do it. While you're young. You can always go back.

jambourgie - Member
Move to London of course. If you can afford it, do it. While you're young. You can always go back.

That, 100%.

Better to find out you don't like it, potentially, than to always wonder what if. Trust me on that one.

My sons been in London for years now & loves it (working for TFL/Crossrail) BUT...he often wishes he was elsewhere, like North Yorkshire, when he comes back oop North.

Me, I'd NEVER live in London.

Move to London of course. If you can afford it, do it. While you're young. You can always go back.

Go for it.

is London better than Leeds,

No.

I am twice your age, but even so, no. I’d avoid London if at all possible. Where you going to ride your bike, for one thing?

Definitely not. I'm from Huddersfield and all my friends who have moved to London are keen to get home at some point. Apart from sister, but she's gone full London Management Consultant and turned into a bit of a knob.

Nobody should ever want to leave Yorkshire 😀

At 24 I'd say London is massively better than Leeds, maybe different as you get older and your priorities change but in your twenties you should definitely give it a go. If it doesn't work out you can always head back to Leeds and stay with your folks.

I don't think the increase in wages will come near to compensating your increased living costs even taking into account the free bus travel ..
Bright lights ..big city but lonely ..and less disposable income ..
The grass is always greener etc.

I moved to London for a while years back when I was just out the army, it was bab so I went to live in Brussels instead which was much better than Leeds. But I ended up back in Leeds after 12 years away but I'm glad I didn't stay in Leeds all that time if that makes sense

Go somewhere, wherever abroad even while your still footloose and fancy free 🙂 Leeds will always be there waiting, as will your parents house. Unless like mine they move to a two bed bungalow and knock through the kitchen and spare bedroom to make a huge kitchen diner so they don't have to entertain anyone for an evening visit lol

centralscrutinizer - Member
Nobody should ever want to leave Yorkshire

Just like North Korea, eh?

Give it a go, we'll let you back if you dont like it.

Not sure £5 an hour extra will get you much down there though. But theres only one way to find out...

Ya, go for it when you are still young ... 😀

Just like North Korea, eh?

Only if we can develop our own nuclear capability

I'm sure ton can drop some pretty radioactive guffs.

so is London better than Leeds,

Did the exact same move 5 years ago, haven't looked back.

Although as the big 30 is moving closer we're moving deeper south.

Salary can rapidly increase here, I've more than doubled mine in 5 years - this is because there's more jobs so you can move around a lot (on my 4th). My friends up north salaries seem to be static..

Download the drinki app too, that'l get you free drinks in loads of different pubs/clubs to force you to explore more.

P.s. West London is the best 😆 There's metroline & London United in these parts too!

If you can find somewhere reasonably priced to live then it's great. It's become very hard now though, the rents have gone up a silly amount in the last few years..

 London better than Leeds

No, but it is very different. You'd have to live here to work out if what you gain is worth what you lose! 🙂

Of course it is, life's there to experience. Someone said on here the other day: regret what you've done, not what you haven't.

Why not give it a go, Leeds is tiny compared to London so a lot more to see/do
You are not tied down so if you don't like it you can try somewhere else. Like Manchester perhaps 😕

Do it. London is a great place. It's not cheap, but you'll be a lot better off than a student. You won't save money, won't be able to buy somewhere to live, but will be able to have a social life. You are young and can try it for a few years and move again. I was a student in London for seven years. And now live on the outskirts. I never tire of going "into town".

You'll always wonder "what if" if you don't.

If Leeds is tolerable, living with parents, stick at it and go bonkers saving for a mortgage deposit through a HTB ISA or a LISA.

n0b0dy0ftheg0at -
If Leeds is [b]tolerable[/b], living with parents, stick at it and go bonkers saving for a mortgage deposit through a HTB ISA or a LISA

To get anchored down in a place he finds tolerable? Sounds exciting.

I moved from Leeds to London aged 24. I absolutely loved it. So much to do. Earned far more than I could in Leeds then. Mtbed a lot in Surrey hills. Brighton is better than Scarborough too.

I always had planned to move back, which I did 12 years later. To Ilkley.

I'd never go back now but it was perfect then

I did it at 21. I'm still here,26 years later , oh my gosh!.
As others have said ,now is the best time to try age wise. If you don't like it come back.Lots of my friends did just that and they haven't ruined their lives.Having lived all over London, N,S,E & West....I prefer the North + it saves an hour going up north for visits. I do like a visit to Sussex for some sea air though. 🙂
Bring a bike though - there's some xc fun all over the parish. 🙂

Stay in Leeds and get on the trains, £22ph I've seen for rolling stock technicians, if you're fully qualified (NVQ lv3) you should be fine getting on them.

centralscrutinizer - Member
Nobody should ever want to leave Yorkshire

If you look North you'll see Northumberland.

Thats like a wee glimpse of how Yorkshire could be. And thats just a buffer for the real deal!

If you like the coast how about moving to Brighton instead? It's called London by the sea....Cheaper rent and a great place to be young. Even great for cycling if you do decide to get back into it when you get bored of clubbing.

Lots of buses here too.

To get anchored down in a place he finds tolerable? Sounds exciting.

On £11 per hour, OP is never going to be a better position to save for a chunky house deposit than while living with parents, probably paying some "keep," but far below the cost of renting a place and paying utility bills.

Even with the wage increase moving to London, doing the same job, the rent will be crippling... Will hardly save a bean.

With house prices having increased by ~4-5x over the last 25 years, you really cannot afford to play "Planet instant gratification," it will have massive financial consequences over a lifetime.

We've been renting the same flat for ~11.5 years, we have paid ~£75000 to the landlord over that period. Only in the last ~2.5 years, since Mrsgoat started working, have we been able to slowly save money for a deposit. At our age (38/44), many people would normally be a fair way into paying off their mortgage, yet we might be just starting next year and paying it off until the day we retire.

Moving Leeds to London, good idea?

No one can really answer that for you, it really depends on what you want

What does quality of life mean to you?

I live in London, have done all my life, love it. BUT, I'm in a good job that pays well and am able to live in a nice house (which I thankfully bought a few years ago). Housing is the biggest killer. Yes going out etc costs more but there's loads to do in London. Saving up for a deposit is a killer, property prices have gone crazy so you might be renting for the foreseeable unless you get some help.

Doesn't sound like you will be risking a huge amount by trying it, you have no house to sell or other commitments etc

I'm from near Leeds and it wouldn't be my cup of (Yorkshire) tea to move to London.

It's a fantastic place and great to visit - but living there would be a different story.

However, each to their own - sounds like you've got an itch - so scratch it. Home will always be home but there's a fantastic world to be explored...

Good luck whatever you choose.

Do it.

I lived in London for 18 months between 2005-2007. Was in my mid 20s. Loved it.

No way! Where would it fit?

It's a brilliant place to live in your 20s.

I'm from Croydon - it's a bit crap but nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Most importantly it's cheaper than central london and the trains run all night.

If you fancy cycling it's actually only 10 miles to Victoria.

I couldn't live there now, I've got kids and the traffic is insane.

Seriously, have you done the maths and worked out how much better/worse off you'll be even on the increased wage once rental costs have been taken into consideration?

Apologies if you've been through it in detail.

I worked in London when I was younger, and while it's a brilliant place to live, I'm not sure you'll be able to access what it has to offer if your disposable income is low.

As someone who loves the outdoors, would never consider a move down south nowadays.

It depends what you enjoy. For me, no interest in the big city or night life, like the outdoors, hills, it was always a non-starter.

I reckon you can probably find a decent room to rent in London for £650 incl. bills. Add on the local council tax (£65 to £120) and commuting. If that's affordable, go for it.

London is ace if you have a bit of spending money. It's crap if you're skint and have no friends or family to help out.

I'm in London, from Sheffield via a couple of places on the continent. I'm not going to stay here forever, but I'm glad to have spent a few years here. Ignore the brexiteer Yorkshiremen, they're wrong about this place. Mail in profile if you want some advice.

Tough call. At 26 a lot of people are on the brink of settling down with their life partners. Possibly about 4 years from a first baby. (I'm generalising here).

I was on the outskirts of London from age 22 to 28. That's where I moved in with my wife, but back then flat/house prices were tolerable. After child #1 was born we moved out to Scotland. I wouldn't/couldn't go back to London now. But glad I did it while I could.

In my mind, give it a go. But don't mess around if you don't get on with the place after 12 months.

It depends what [b]you[/b] like and what [b]you[/b] want from where you live.

Do the maths but make allowances for rent, etc. going up - there's no point using up 100% of your salary from day 1 just to be in a particular location because in a year or two's time you'll be in debt and just living to work to pay off the bills.

Personally I wouldn't but I'm a country boy at heart and wouldn't consider/fancy moving to any city.

Give it a try, you will never know until you do. If you don't you might regret it. It's not for everybody, it would be my idea of a living hell, but we are all different.

There are so many different places to live in the UK from near solitude to a big city like London and everything else in between. If you are not happy with where you are then try somewhere else while you can.

Do it, its one of my regrets and I live in the SW. If it goes belly up you can always go back to the north.

Having lived in London for my first 40 years, i left it 6 years ago and have only been back for funerals....

But, @ 24 why [i]not[/i] give it a go? If its not for you, just move back to your parents.

Have you actually looked into house/flat share prices?

If you make the move my advice would be: live as centrally as possible (rent will be higher) as that's where you'll want to spend most of your social time out, it has some great spots & the suburbs and commute into central London are shite.

So, go for broke, aim to work & live as centrally as you can, immerse yourself in it & if its pants head back home.

Sounds like a good idea. But if you enjoy london it will drain all your money and you wont be able to save so you need to be thinking of moving up the career ladder while there.

That way when you move back to yorkshire you can move back on a higher wage.

I have no idea how to move up the career ladder as a bus technician, but there are alot of jobs in london at the moment, I would just start applying for anything you think you might be vaguely qualified for.

And then do the same in 2 years times. And then again in another 2 years time.

Do it. At 24 I went (from London via Southampton uni) to Egypt for two years. Don't regret it in the slightest even if I didn't end up there permanently.

The main shopping/business/entertainment bit would comfortably fit inside Hyde park. Less than a million people live in Leeds so it's more a large town than a city.

London is great in your 20’s, if it doesn’t work out it’s better to regret what you’ve done than regretting what you didn’t do..

Don’t limit your self to London there are lots of other great places to live (outside of the UK)

London is great in your 20’s,

And in your 30'', 40's and 50's in my experience. It's not Logan's run where they hunt old people down!

 

I moved to London last year at 26/27.

It's great, my salary almost doubled in that one year and social life is fantastic. (If you ignore that I left all my friends at home lol)

You can easily get a semi-alright to alright double bedroom in a shared house in a nice part of north London (Harringey, for example) for £600 - 650 a month.

If you go down South (Clapham and beyond) you'll get a nicer bedroom for your money at the risk of being less connected (Some parts of South are just unreachable still)

If you don't mind living further out or in a less-desirable area you can get more for your money, of course. A lot of people are starting to move into Canada Water area which is mainly business parks and shopping outlets but it seems it's becoming more residential - it's cheap, but only one tube line into town.

If you want a one-bed to yourself, you're looking at £1200 and upwards for anywhere reasonable, £1400 and up for a nice standard of living.

Rightmove is the best website we found
Spareroom.co.uk for finding a spare room 🙂

London is expensive, but public transport is reasonable. Find the nearest Weatherspoons ASAP - you'll be spending a lot of time in there.

It's warmer and drier down here. And the streets are paved with gold

Greggs is still available too

You can easily get a semi-alright to alright double bedroom in a shared house in a nice part of north London (Harringey, for example) for £600 - 650 a month.

Back on topic:
Quick bit of guesstimate maths based on the above rental and a 37hr week suggests you'll be making ~£7.5k/yr more(after tax), but ~£7.5k will be eaten up in rent.
So more or less cost neutral, maybe a little worse off in London due to generally higher prices. So I guess not really anything to lose by trying it.

It's warmer and drier down here

n0b0dy0ftheg0at -
On £11 per hour, OP is never going to be a better position to save for a chunky house deposit than while living with parents, probably paying some "keep," but far below the cost of renting a place and paying utility bills.

Even with the wage increase moving to London, doing the same job, the rent will be crippling... Will hardly save a bean.

With house prices having increased by ~4-5x over the last 25 years, you really cannot afford to play "Planet instant gratification," it will have massive financial consequences over a lifetime.

We've been renting the same flat for ~11.5 years, we have paid ~£75000 to the landlord over that period. Only in the last ~2.5 years, since Mrsgoat started working, have we been able to slowly save money for a deposit. At our age (38/44), many people would normally be a fair way into paying off their mortgage, yet we might be just starting next year and paying it off until the day we retire.

Re read his first post, he’s going to be getting £16-18 per hour down here. So circa 30k a year and the probable second largest outgoing, travel, is free for him.

+ If he finds a partner, suddenly prices crash as rent is shared.

Yeah he won’t be able to buy here, but there’s no reference to buying a home in the OP?

You can easily get a semi-alright to alright double bedroom in a shared house in a nice part of north London (Harringey, for example) for £600 - 650 a month.
.
.
.If you want a one-bed to yourself, you're looking at £1200 and upwards for anywhere reasonable, £1400 and up for a nice standard of living.

That is serious cash for a room - more than my mortgage in sunny ayrshire.

What are you trying to experience here through moving to London ? More cash or living in a different city ? Wouldn't somewhere like Manchester or Bristol be an option ?

I've never lived in London (it never appealed) - but have moved from the North down to the South West, then to the M4 Corridor, now up in Scotland. I get the idea of seeing some more of the world, but more cost effective places than London could be an option here...?

Personally I'd go back to Wiltshire/Oxfordshire given the opportunity

I lived in London for two years in my early 20s. Hated it. But it was a great experience to look back on and I had more noteworthy things happen in a week than in a year in most parts of the country.

No money would tempt me to live there these days but unfortunately I'm working there at least once or twice a month.

The sensible answer would seem to be stay where you are and save up for a mortgage but the reality is that having a steady job and mortgage is not always the route to eternal happiness. Personally at your age I would jump at the chance of moving to London. I did it in my mid twenties and absolutely loved my time there. I wasn’t earning mega bucks but still had enough to live quite well. You might even get back into cycling as it by far the best way to get around the city. Met loads of people from different countries/cultures......Mrs Stern too which is how I have ended up in Germany. Most of my friends have since moved out of the city to have families and the only ones who have remained work in the media Industry and earn shed loads but couldn’t really do it anywhere else in the UK.

May sound totally daft, but it's not the money or the social life that could potentially draw me south, but an extra 2-300hrs of sunlight a year

I would have guessed that overall it would have been the same - you'd have less in winter but more in summer...?

Although it might be sunlight that you actually want, i.e. when you're awake

I would have guessed that overall it would have been the same - you'd have less in winter but more in summer...?

Although it might be sunlight that you actually want, i.e. when you're awake

jambourgie - Member
Move to London of course. If you can afford it, do it. While you're young. You can always go back.

this

its a brilliant place to be when youre young

but expensive, cycle everywhere and you can save a lot of money though!

I cycled to work 99% of the time, reckon I saved 10-15 grand over the 10 years I lived there by not getting a travel card

I personally can't think of anywhere I'd less rather live in the UK than London. I know it well - my Aunt lived there and I sometimes stayed for a few weeks at a time.

That said she and her family loved it and my brother in law made the move and hasn't looked back. I have friends too who would now not live anywhere else and others who have tried it and run screaming.

It is one of those places - either it'll click and you'll have the time of your life or it won't and it will be hateful.

The thing is you'll only know which once you've tried it.

So on the one hand you have a brilliant modern, cosmopolitan city that attracts people from across the Europe and world to its clubs, shops and world class universities etc, and with thriving cultural and alternative scenes. And on the other hand you have London.

Nah. From Leeds, lived in London from ages 25 to 39. Regret leaving if I'm honest. Well, regret selling the house when we did anyway...

scaled - Member
It's a brilliant place to live in your 20s.

I'm from Croydon - it's a bit crap but nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Most importantly it's cheaper than central london and the trains run all night.

If you fancy cycling it's actually only 10 miles to Victoria.

I couldn't live there now, I've got kids and the traffic is insane.

The thing is, if you're born/raised in Croydon (as I am also) it's acceptable to to hop on the train to go in to town as that's what you've always known.

However, I think if I was moving from somewhere much further away I'd want to be further in to town - do it properly so to speak (Clapham/Balham maybe). While I resent the reputation that Croydon seems to have I can't disagree with the idea that it has lots of the negatives of London without a lot of the positives.

That may change though.

ANYWAY, OP - do it, 100%.

It is a fantastic place to be for someone of your age.

Whilst you're young enough and free enough, do it. My son is going to Kings next year, and honestly i'm very jealous (not to mention i'm going to bloody poor for a few years). I wish i'd done it 20 years ago, even if only for a few years just to enjoy it before mortgages and grown up stuff came along. I'd have probably come back to North Yorkshire eventually anyway, as its unbeatable for a well rounded lifestyle, but for being young and carefree, hell, i suspect London is pretty unbeatable.

I'd go, if nothing else, just for the experience of living in one of the worlds great cities. What have got to loose?

Lived in Brixton for 6 months when I was younger. Loved it. Totally broke but that was fine at the time. I'd say if you fancy doing it give it a go. I'm also out on the lash in Scarborough on Saturday for first time in 20 years.

Try it if you dont like it just move back.

I studied and lived in london, for my line of work i pretty much had no choice. Now i spend a few weeks a year there, really like it but gosh you can burn through some cash not even trying. 4 quid for a coffee at bar italia, soho last time...i d love a cake but that would push 10 quid. I just cant justify it, here in spain thats a nice lunch with bottle of wine.

Rents are expensive too but i m a landlord, the flats over 10 years have never been empty and the rents have always increased. Tenants have ranged from students at first to people mid 40s now.

Good luck, no regrets for me whatsoever

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20171201-about-bc-news-Phase-one-of-Leeds-Urban-Bike-Park-opens-0

I love London and its one of my few regrets that I didn’t live there for a while whilst in my 20’s

+1

check out lfgss for a london centric bike scene. its probably younger than this lot, so probably a better place to ask.