Where to move to in the UK?

Hi!

I'm Filipina and my husband is British. We're planning to move to the UK in a couple of months. We're looking for a place where there's a good community, not much crime, good internet service, near a train station (we would like to travel around Europe a lot via train so we need to be around Kent) and 1-2 hours away from London since we'd like to visit London a lot.

We want some advice, (Pro's and Cons) about the places we're considering moving to in the UK.

1. Sevenoaks, Kent
2. Ebbsfleet, Kent (heard a lot of bad things about this place though)
3. Ashford, Kent
4. Brighton, East Sussex
5. Ewell, Surrey

Thank you so much.

My brother lives in Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. A very nice place, which would seem to satisfy your requirements.

A quick summary:
Sevenoaks ......... very nice, easy transport links to London, great schools, Knole House, expensive
Ebbsfleet ....... ...apart from being a regular stop on the Eurostar service, nothing to recommend it
Ashford........ pleasant town, affordable housing (by SE standards) altho' the fringe estates seem a bit lifeless, great commuter links to various London terminus, limited access to EuroStar, Designer Outlet, great for exploring Kent
Brighton ...... very nice, great shopping, and eating (check out The Lanes), good train services to London & Gatwick (if Southern Railways are not on strike !), reasonably expensive (check out Hove & Shoreham, might be cheaper)
Ewell ....... don't know it well..... but suburban London, so don't expect cheap housing/rent.

Ive never been to the places you mentioned


We live in a peaceful town called Sutton Coldfield and our house is next to the train station. And it'scouple of hours away from London. Sounds like what you're looking for.

But if i were you, i'd suggest the husband to live nearby the friends or family.

Canturbury is nice if you are looking in Kent. I worked there for a couple of weeks and enjoyed walking round the city.

I went to Brighton, expecting a cool fashionable place, as this is how it is often portrayed, but thought it was a bit of a dive. Drunk people shouting in the streets. Homeless living on the beach. Not so cool after all.

thank you!

thank you!

Thank you

Thank you

I echo this, the top rated city in the UK on lonely planet is Manchester.

Is it really?

I must say that Manchester has fantastic transport links with the surrounding towns, we know that residing in Bury and Altrincham.

The city has come on leaps and bounds over the last 20 years, I quite like the place nowadays, pleasant place with everything you need to meet the tastes of most people.

Give me Sheffield over Manchester any day. I worked there for 10 years and had a flat there. I loved the place - despite meeting my first wife there!!

I lived in south sheffield for five years, great place

Used to do some great clubbing there back in the late 90s when I still had the energy.

The Leadmill ever?

Loads of times! I used to go to Rise on a Friday. Brilliant.

Ah, Beat club on a Thursday

THere was a drum and bass night on a Tuesday which I went to a couple of times, although it affected my capacity to work.

After Rise closed down I started going to The Arches, which was proper dirtry underground stuff with sticky floors. Fantastic.

Where you live depends very much on your income. In the past I've lived in Folkestone Kent, relatively cheap but not much work. Climate is quite good but healthcare in Kent is not so good in some places. Climate isn't bad because it's on the South Coast.

I also lived in Swansea where it rains nine months of the year.

It's not easy starting again.

Train service in Kent is not so good.

To give you an idea of where you might like to live, you can look at http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ rental and type in the area.