[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.