Upping sticks and relocating

[vtecyo]

Anyone got any tips around doing this?

For various reasons I find myself rather bored and frustrated with my current situation and fancy a bit of a change for 18 months - 2 years. I would be moving from Bristol to Leeds (various reasons behind this choice).

Rent a flat, no dependancies so it seems relatively straight forward. The only ballache would be the my place came unfornished so would need to find somewhere suitable and move it up. The only stumbling block I have at the moment is that my notice period at work is three months.

Anyone got any advice around this more useful than "just move"?

[SpeckledJim]

Go to Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, York, or Newcastle instead?

[alorotom]

Done it a couple of times ... Sunderland to to Hartlepool to Leeds to market harborough to Newcastle

Board got a place to liv in hartlepool but was dirt cheap, Leeds and Harborough were furnished let's and then bought in Newcastle

It's relatively straight forward, I had jobs sorted pre-move for assurance

Considering doing it again but permanently to the US at the moment but having the Mrs and a 2yr old complicate it a little

[vtecyo]

SpeckledJim said:

Go to Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, York, or Newcastle instead?

Appreciate that, but Leeds is supposed to be pretty decent in terms of job opportunities for me (marketing).

The only sticking point for me at the moment is the 3 months notice and how to play that in the timeline of things. Would not like to move without the security of knowing there's a job to go to, but I know employers like to look for people with relatively swift starts. Probably worth a call to a few specialist recruitment agencies for a chat...

[Pieman68]

With no ties I don't see why not. Leeds is a pretty vibrant place nowadays and there is considerable ongoing investment

Would you be looking at city centre living or in the suburbs? Do your research in this respect. Outlying areas north of the city tend to be nicer (Adel, Roundhay, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Horsforth) but the commute into the city is pretty tedious. Avoid areas south of the city centre such as Beeston, Holbeck, Middleton etc.

Plenty to do with regards to social scene either centrally or in the student Mecca (Headingley)

In short, why not? I am probably slightly biased but no reason why Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle etc. would be better options IMHO

[vtecyo]

Pieman68 said:

With no ties I don't see why not. Leeds is a pretty vibrant place nowadays and there is considerable ongoing investment

Would you be looking at city centre living or in the suburbs? Do your research in this respect. Outlying areas north of the city tend to be nicer (Adel, Roundhay, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Horsforth) but the commute into the city is pretty tedious. Avoid areas south of the city centre such as Beeston, Holbeck, Middleton etc.

Plenty to do with regards to social scene either centrally or in the student Mecca (Headingley)

In short, why not? I am probably slightly biased but no reason why Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle etc. would be better options IMHO

Thanks.

City centre or North. Not knowing the areas is a bit of a worry but it's easy to get a good feel of the place from visiting which of course I will do beforehand. I live in a top floor flat in the nice part of Bristol (Clifton) at the moment so have been fairly spoilt. However initial research suggests that rates are a bit cheaper up there so I should be able to look towards the higher end of the typical young professional scope. (can you tell I work in marketing..)

Good to know to avoid the South. I would assume most of the decent jobs will be centrally based so would prefer central with parking.

[Mark Benson]

Probably closest in feel to Clifton would be Chapel Allerton in Leeds.
Not central, but not too far out with good nightlife, restaurants etc. of it's own.

Alternatively somewhere like The Calls which is just south of Leeds centre but still in walking distance of everything.

[Shnozz]

Yep, best thing I ever did.

Moved from Southampton to Leeds (via a few years in the Midlands). 8 years on and adore the place just as much as when I arrived, if not more.

Live bang slap in the city centre. The people are great, albeit city centre you will find there are more non-Yorkshire folk than natives. A huge number of inhabitants went to uni in Leeds and fell in love with the place and stayed. A lot of others came for various jobs.

Great employment opportunities, a vibrant nightlife. Huge number of decent bars and restaurants. Social scene here is superb - I am generally out 5 - 6 nights of the week. Brunches at weekends, proper pubs if you want them or classy bars if you want that.

People are generally friendly. The women are much hotter. Cost of living I don't think is cheaper as people seem to believe, or certainly not city centre. A lot of feel to the place and ambition about the city. Amazing countryside on the doorstep if you want that.

[Shnozz]

I'd arrange a few weekends up here to test the waters and learn the geography. If you want any info, feel free to drop me a message and if you happen to be up when I am around I am happy to go for a few pints and show you about or just have a chat.

I moved up here when I was about 30 and its been an awesome time ever since. The only victim has perhaps been my liver.

[Shnozz]

Mark Benson said:

Probably closest in feel to Clifton would be Chapel Allerton in Leeds.
Not central, but not too far out with good nightlife, restaurants etc. of it's own.

Alternatively somewhere like The Calls which is just south of Leeds centre but still in walking distance of everything.

My girlfriend lives near the Calls - great location but the only issue is its probably the most car unfriendly part of town, both traffic wise, route wise and parking wise.

[milfordkong]

I have a good friend who owns a beautiful riverside 2 bed second floor flat with an underground parking space right in the centre of Leeds - For professional reasons he will be moving to London within the next 6 months and will probably look to rent his flat out - Could put you in touch if you get any further down the line (It really is a bloody nice flat in a great location and might save you both a few quid).

[GreatGranny]

Lots of choice for accommodation on or near the river.

Not sure what prices are like in Clifton but a 1 bed furnished flat near or overlooking the river is about £600-800pcm.

My niece was a student there and lived in Headingley and loved it.

We have an office in central Leeds (Brewery Wharf) and a lot of the graduates live within walking distance.

[inonthis]

I did the "just move" from Birmingham to Manchester without a job lined up. I know this doesn't help you but everything worked out well here.

[vtecyo]

milfordkong said:

I have a good friend who owns a beautiful riverside 2 bed second floor flat with an underground parking space right in the centre of Leeds - For professional reasons he will be moving to London within the next 6 months and will probably look to rent his flat out - Could put you in touch if you get any further down the line (It really is a bloody nice flat in a great location and might save you both a few quid).

That's interesting to know, thanks for the tip. Will they be in London for the forseeable?

Other option is go for the premium end of spareroom.co.uk which will certainly kick start the social scene a bit - it's what I did for my current place and worked out great.

[milfordkong]

vtecyo said:

That's interesting to know, thanks for the tip. Will they be in London for the forseeable?

Other option is go for the premium end of spareroom.co.uk which will certainly kick start the social scene a bit - it's what I did for my current place and worked out great.

Yep - He loves his job and they're moving his whole department there permanently so i'd say it'll be for the forseeable future - Just read the thread and had the thought so don't hesitate to drop me an email in the future even if you're interested in just having a chat with him about it.

[TEKNOPUG]

Marketing you say? Leeds you say?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqms_E4u3g

[Shnozz]

GreatGranny said:

Lots of choice for accommodation on or near the river.

Not sure what prices are like in Clifton but a 1 bed furnished flat near or overlooking the river is about £600-800pcm.

I haven't even had a cursory look on rightmove to support this but the lower end of that budget sounds optimistic. The g/f pays £750 PCM for a 1 bedder near the Calls and that is with minimal furniture and no parking. Add £100 - £150PCM depending on area for a parking space. That is a sought after area to be fair but I would say cheapest will be £700 - £750 for a 1 bed, especially with a parking space. If the OP wants unfurnished then you may see a slight saving but you will find it a struggle to find many places offered unfurnished.

[vtecyo]

Shnozz said:

I haven't even had a cursory look on rightmove to support this but the lower end of that budget sounds optimistic. The g/f pays £750 PCM for a 1 bedder near the Calls and that is with minimal furniture and no parking. Add £100 - £150PCM depending on area for a parking space. That is a sought after area to be fair but I would say cheapest will be £700 - £750 for a 1 bed, especially with a parking space. If the OP wants unfurnished then you may see a slight saving but you will find it a struggle to find many places offered unfurnished.

Hmm.. interesting. Certainly cheaper than here but still pricey. Could be one for Spareroom for a bit then. 6 month -> rolling to get settled and then see what happens. Happy to pay 600pcm as part of a premium flatshare, 8-900 solo seems a bit excessive when I could have a significantly better mortgage than that.

[FredClogs]

Two things to bare (bear - I never know) in mind is that the grass is invariably not greener - although the rain fall in Leeds might make it appear so. Where ever you go you'll always be there and depending on how your family/social life is set up at the moment you will miss people - especially family and long distant relationships invariably don't work - even with close family and friends things suffer. That said your family and friends might be dicks and the reason you want to move.

I moved so many times I'm like the littlest Hobo... cue theme tune...

[vtecyo]

FredClogs said:

Two things to bare (bear - I never know) in mind is that the grass is invariably not greener - although the rain fall in Leeds might make it appear so. Where ever you go you'll always be there and depending on how your family/social life is set up at the moment you will miss people - especially family and long distant relationships invariably don't work - even with close family and friends things suffer. That said your family and friends might be dicks and the reason you want to move.

I moved so many times I'm like the littlest Hobo... cue theme tune...

Well most of my close friends have moved away from Bristol anyway. I have a good number of friends in Bristol but most of them are relatively "new" and although I will miss them it is not like saying goodbye to a lifelong friend if that makes sense.

Part of the reason for moving is because my girlfriend will be based up there for a while for the final part of her doctor training (excuse me for not knowing the correct terminology) and I don't fancy doing LD because it would be st. Just seems like the right time to do something about it with people moving away / her going up / general boredom and stagnant living.