r/brum • u/LordEpilson • 19d ago
Moving from London to Birmingham city centre to live alone, while still getting back to London weekly. Realistic?
I (single 30M) born and raised Londoner, am tired of shared houses. I end up spending £20-30 a day eating out because I can't stand being in the kitchen with strangers. I'd like my own place, but a decent one in London is around £1,600. Birmingham city centre has flats at ~£1,050 that look great value, and it's right by the trains. The thing I like about Birmingham is its close enough to London that I can’t get into London but big enough as its own city that I could really it enjoy it itself.
Context: I work remotely (so I can work on the train) and take home about £3.6k/month. I don’t have to go into the office at all. I want to be in London about twice a week, usually a weekend day, plus the occasional weekday evening at the pub with mates watching the football etc, leaving around 10:30pm to get back. The reason I can’t move somewhere quiet like luton etc, is because they’re not bustling so would be quite hard to join communities, go on dates etc.
Questions:
- Would regular trips to London eat most of the rent saving and make this move pointless?
- Is the time on travel manageable or does it become too much over time? (Particularly if I’m doing it multiple times a week)
- Is it easy to find communities to join in Birmingham as a newcomer?
- bit random, but are those “built for renters” buildings actually good for socialising?
- If I miss the last train back, how screwed am I?
- Is the coach realistic as a cheaper fallback?
feel free to add on any comments or me any questions about things I haven’t considered. Nice one 👍
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u/Prestwick-Pioneer 16d ago
I go to London twice a week for gigs. I use trains, FlixBus and National Express. It depends on your priorities but usually i spend £6-9 on a single fare on the train or bus. If you use the trainpal app and buy tickets in advance if you can plan well ahead then it is never expensive. Closer to the time the fares get ridiculous on Avanti.
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u/Late_Share310 18d ago
I am a Brummie, but I lived in London for 15 years (aged 25-40) I moved back to Brum at 40 to buy a house and be closer to family. I commuted to London once a week for a while (for work) but now I don’t need to go down there unless I choose to - and honestly, I never do. I much prefer life up here - maybe it’s my age maybe it’s because I live in a leafy suburb. However what I will say is it is a lot less spontaneous here. In London people do after work drinks on a Tuesday no issue. Up here it’s not the same. Also not as many places to go late at night. I personally don’t like bham city centre it isn’t what it used to be. If you are considering the move consider a suburb that has a train into Bham new st x good luck
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u/saf3ty_first 18d ago
Mate, I earn the same as you, done the exact move last June. I’m moving back to London in a few weeks as I now need to be in the office 3x a week, it’s too expensive.
Honestly, I’d say do it. Just do your best to make friends and/or have a social life. There’s a lot to do here. I’d recommend staying in Jewellery Quarter, it’s trendy, loads of bars, food spots and close to the station!
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u/Affectionate_Pin_391 18d ago
I moved up to Birmingham from London and thought I’d go back way more than I do. Running for the last train - which is not that late - makes socialising a drag and then a long journey home. I settled in Moseley and met someone up here. If you look at areas like kings Heath, Moseley, stirchley as well as the city centre you might find the community you’re looking for. Everyone loves football up here so if you join a five aside or something I’m sure you would make some footy loving mates too!
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u/OSRS-HugePorker 18d ago
Holy shit we are watching Londoners leave London in real time due to being priced out. Brums next
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u/Acceptable_Catch2550 18d ago edited 18d ago
I relocated from London to Birmingham for work purposes. Living costs it’s more manageable than London as you worked out.
Transport - for me locally this was lacking in Brum, the tram is only around the city centre, train and busses are constant delays and not 24 hours. it is not as convenient as Londons tube network and busses I realised how spoilt I was in London. I used my own vehicle so that made it abit easier.
Brum to London - cheapest £20-£30 on the LNW trains depends on the app. But commuting to and from there was fine for me. However missing the last train is not ideal unless you want 5 hour stop over service and coach is just too long and uncomfortable.
Food - eating out plenty of places in fact for me it’s the best part about this city it they have so much options and Everything else pretty good for socialising too.
I lived in Edgbaston in a built to rent studio apartment with concierge, secured mail room, and other bookable amenities etc for around £1K a month exc bills and yes they did socials every now and then but my place was more family and kids oriented although it has a coworking space and pet friendly too, running club, occasional movie and quiz nights etc it was ok but I preferred going to the 24hr commercial gym most of the time as it was connected to the apartment block which was convenient and nice parks around too.
On top of my work commute, I did the regular back and forth commute every week as my family and friends were in London too. It was ok at first but became more draining for me after a while. As for me I decided to move back to London because Brum as affordable and convenient as it can be, compared to London it just wasn’t the same. If i was a student brum is a perfect experience but not at this stage in my life I prefer familiarity and convenience so paying a a-bit more for it is worth it - around the outskirts lol.
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u/AsparagusBeginning67 19d ago
Would regular trips to London eat most of the rent saving and make this move pointless?
- No. as you get used to booking trains you’ll look for cheaper tickets also agree with the rail card hack into the use of it now before you lose your age! And also you will make new social life here in Birmingham and before you know it you’d probably spend more time in Birmingham then going back to London over the long run
• Is the time on travel manageable or does it become too much over time? (Particularly if I’m doing it multiple times a week)
- not sure how far into London city you’ll be venturing trains from Birmingham only land in London Euston and London Marleybone.. and the two train services are Avanti (run time 1.19 gd day!) it has a pick mix use of good and bad train service and the West Midlands service ( run time 2.24 hours)
• Is it easy to find communities to join in Birmingham as a newcomer?
- absolutely yes. Depending on hobbies you can find almost anything here in Birmingham we are really not that disconnected from London!
• bit random, but are those “built for renters” buildings actually good for socialising?
- Pass. Born and bread homeowner in Birmingham.
• If I miss the last train back, how screwed am I?
- I would always secure a backup or friends place to stay if you really think you would miss the train
• Is the coach realistic as a cheaper fallback?
If time is your currency, don’t bother with this as coaches are super long
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u/turiya-sings 19d ago
I'm a Brummie who moved to London. Just wanted to highlight that whilst you're still young enough to have a 26-30 railcard, you'll save a lot of money on train tickets to London. However, once you age out, unless you qualify for another railcard like the Disabled Persons Railcard or a Gold Card (if you buy an annual season ticket), then you will have to pay full price. The Network Railcard area doesn't extend to Birmingham, so whilst it's a good option in London and the South, it doesn't give you any savings for trips to/from Birmingham. So make sure you factor in train prices without a Railcard to ensure Birmingham to London commutes are affordable long term, especially if you plan on using the faster, more expensive Avanti trains. Either that or look up the Lichfield Gold Card hack to see if the savings are worth the outlay.
Chiltern and London Northwestern trains are more affordable, but they are slower, shorter and only have unreserved seating. During busy periods such as bank holidays, weekends, events or when there's disruption on other rail lines, you might end up standing for most of the two hour journey, if you can fit on the train at all. You'll often see stampedes of people rushing to the platform at Euston and Marylebone to try and get on a train, it's quite stressful!
On the plus side, having two separate train lines (West Coast and Chiltern) does dramatically decrease the likelihood of you becoming stranded overnight in London, and if all else fails you can connect via other stations (e.g. Reading) to get home.
Leaving trains aside for a moment, I personally wouldn't want to live in Birmingham City Centre because it doesn't have enough green space. We're spoiled in London having the Royal Parks and the river right in the middle of the city, and for me it makes living in a flat without a garden easier to bear. Birmingham is a very green city, but only in the suburbs. If you want to go to a proper park (e.g. Canon Hill Park, Sutton Park) then you'll need to drive, cycle, or take public transport (which is much less frequent and reliable than in London). Just worth keeping in mind if green spaces on your doorstep are important for you.
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u/Arivenus1011 19d ago
My brother did this when we moved before he found something in brum. It’s doable but it might get tough sometimes- trains cancelling and all of that so leave spare time for emergencies
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u/Splatz_Maru 19d ago
it won't happen. I moved from Reading to Brum, with my social life largely in London- I can go from Reading to Paddington in under half an hour, but from my branch station here, it's about 2.5 hours on a good day. Avanti trains are also some of the most unreliable, expensive and inadequate trains you will use. The last train back to new st is shockingly early and it's full of drunk brummie playing music on their phones, eating obnoxious food and making loud phone calls.
Don't get me wrong, I love it up here, I adore the people up here, and the countryside is gorgeous. I have no regrets, but if you do move here, don't kid yourself you'll just be popping down on the weekend. And also don't kid yourself that your Londoner friends will set foot outside of London either. I manage to get down about 4 times a year tops taking into account the cost, lining up diaries, and my other responsibilities up here. It's a tiring and unpleasant journey, and it's been made just as bad via car due to all the ulez costs and 20mph roads and road cameras in London.
If you move up here, London is about as accessible as Glasgow. Which has its benefits because you're bang in the middle of the UK, but it also means you're cut off from real civilisation in London (JOKE! DON'T COME FOR ME BRUMMIES!!)
On the plus side, life up here is cheaper, you can get to loads of places from here that are tricky from London (like Liverpool and Manchester), there's loads of history, stunning countryside and the people are truly lovely. I'll always be a dyed in the wool southerner, and London will always be my first love, but I don't think I'd move back now.
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u/Redditor3092 19d ago
I did it when i lived in london but came back to Brum almost every weekend for family things and driving lessons. Its tiring sure but definitely doable
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u/Splatz_Maru 5d ago
it sounds utterly exhausting, but then I'm 50 not 20 and my tolerance for this kind of thing has waned immensely
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u/Expensive-Hunt-2061 19d ago
Sutton Coldfield is 30 mins away from bham and 10 mins away from lichfield trent valley. If you drive you can park up there and a train into london Euston is less than 90 mins (sometimes 1 hr 10) and much faster than going to london from newstreet :) would only work if youre up for driving into bham city centre though for the social scene as its a bit quiet round the north bham end :)
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u/stressedoutmum 19d ago
I live in Sutton Coldfield and I agree. Best of both worlds.
Also gives OP another route home if trains to LTV are shot - New St then connector to Sutton.
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u/BritishGuy84 19d ago
Definitely doable on that salary. I live in the centre of Birmingham. Pay a little less in rent (long standing tenant) and earn a little more these days, but it’s a very comfortable life. When I earned a bit less it was still very manageable.
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u/Intelligent-Welder-2 19d ago
The thing you lose is spontaneity. London is its own thing. Birmingham has a lot less going on however there is still enough and in some respects, better. Don’t expect to be out and about with hundreds of people at 11pm. we moved to Bham from Milton Keynes, I worked between Bham, MK and London a lot. We expected to be here for 2 years max. That was 11 years ago. Lived in Stirchley, great indie hospitality scene, and now Moseley, great leafy suburb, and don’t go to London as much for pleasure or work. It does leave a gap for things like galleries and art but we don’t usually have to book tables, can almost always get gig tickets, don’t queue for shit, can shop on weekdays without the rest of the world knocking about. Then we get a London fix once or twice a month. For us, late 30’s, where London is inspiring, Birmingham is comfortable. I’d say it’s worth it and then if not, just move back. I took up golf recently too, genuinely great golf to keep me entertained for years within 15 mins of my door. Driving range is 10 mins away and cost £8 for 100 balls for as long as I want. I was in London and fancied hitting some balls. Only range was is effing Greenwich and it cost £45 for an hour or something stupid. Same with golf sims, £20 an hour in JQ, £40 for half an hour in Farringdon and the equipment was shit.
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u/Intelligent-Welder-2 19d ago
And for those saying move to Leamington, Coventry, Rugby etc. I grew up around there. I’d think very hard about how you live. They are becoming commuter towns and lack identity. As a 30 year old, I think you’d get very very bored.
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u/gutsgutsgut 19d ago
Move to Leamington. It’s lovely, you’ll find affordable rent and you’ll have better connections to London. And Birmingham is 30 minutes away by train too.
I just moved her from London recently and it’s tha best.
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u/Interesting_Bid_5218 19d ago
That’s a retirement haven. He’s still too young to live in Leamington
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u/lovelight 19d ago
Get in now before hs2 pushes prices up. Long term you might even like living here. You wouldn’t be the first!
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u/Madog-Hellgeese 19d ago
You can get the Moor Street train to Marylebone for about £30 off peak return. Not sure when the last one back is. There's also one to new street that stops everywhere en route that you can get for like £25 off peak
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u/bionicbob321 15d ago
the train isn't too expensive if you travel outside of peak times. I just checked trainline, and I could get the fast train in a few minutes and then come back late tonight for £60, which is only 1hr20 each way. If you book ahead, or if you get the slow trains (around 2 hours each way), you can make it a decent bit cheaper. The coach is a lot cheaper, and there are coaches going back to Brum all through the night from Victoria coach station, so if you miss the last train, or want to stay longer, you aren't completely screwed. The coach is around 3-4 hours though.
You should also factor in that not only would you save £550 on rent, but everything else will be significantly cheaper as well.