Lancs75

Hi, i am hoping to get some advice from fellow expats who are moving or moved back home, as well as those who have any advice to offer.

After 15 years living in New Zealand my husband and i are moving back to the North West in 6 weeks. Im originally from preston which is where all my family is and my husband is from South cheshire, where most of his family is. We have 2 very young children and are moving back as we have no family support here, plus we also want our children to grow up knowing their grandparents, cousins etc...

Neither of us have jobs to go back to. We have been applying but no one is interested in talking to us until we are back in the UK. Ideally we would have like my husband to have a job lined up for numerous reasons but mainly as it would help us solve the problem of where to live, which is one of my main concerns.

There are so may things to take into account, where the work is, distance from our parents, a good area to raise small children, daycare facilities, the list goes on....

We have thought we would look somewhere in between our parents, Wigan, Bury and Horwich are areas we have thought about, however, neither of us know these areas at all. Coming from Preston my only knowledge of Wigan is that is has a rival football team, thats all. Ive also been thinking about Chorly.

Another concern i have is that if we do move to an area thats in between our parents is that we are just going to be in the same situation as we are here, stuck in a place with no close family support, although they will be a lot closer that half a world away, they wont be local.

We will be staying with my in-laws when we arrive, but with a toddler and a baby, both who like to throw food and touch everything with sticky fingers, add toilet training to the mix and i am realy not comfortable staying there too long. Im sure they wont mind, but i would be stressing every time my children touched anything. So i want to get our own place asap. I also think it will feel more real and help us settle better once we have found our own place to live. Catch 22 though, we cant find somewhere to live until my husband finds work, although i want to get work straight away, i cant until we find somewhere to live and sort daycare out, we also need to see if its worth my while working after we pay childcare... So many decisions, buts, and what ifs...

Realistically we think he will more than likely end up working in and around Manchester so we need to look at areas that are easy to commute from that dont involve him spending hours travelling to and from work all day. At the moment he rides a motor bike to and from work, but he is only on a learners licence so i dont think he can ride in english motorways on a learners, i may be wrong there, i also dont think he can transfer the licence. Anyway, we realistically are probably looking at public transport.

Ok, i think i have waffled long enough.

Does anyone know these areas and have any advice, i would greatly appreciate any advice people have.

By the way we are looking at renting for the first year. Another problem as we dont have credit ratings in the UK and references...

Thanks

Jerseygirl

Hi...welcome to BE.

I have moved your thread over to the MBTTUK forum. It will get seen by more people who are in a position to help you in this forum.

Good luck.

Lancs75

Thank you!

Sparkleydiva

Hi there

You don't mention where your in-laws are based as this may help your decision.

As for location it depends on what kind of lifestyle you are looking for. I am somewhat familiar with Bury, Chorley etc but lived in Sale/Altrincham for about 35 years and so am more familiar with these areas which have excellent schools and pre-schools as well as being easily commutable into the city without having to drive. The tram (met) service is excellent and is equally accessible from both Bury and Altrincham, but think is cheaper from Sale (last time I was there).

It also depends on budget with regard to renting/buying. North Manchester is generally less expensive, but Wigan for example is well out of the city and so commuting will be more expensive - swings and roundabouts.

Good luck on your move - can't wait until we head back, hopefully mid next year.

sallysimmons

One thing we did was to print out our full US credit reports and bring them back with us. We also got our mortgage lender to write a letter saying we were in good standing with them. We showed them to the landlord when we found a place and he was fine with that.

The last and best thing we did was to open an HSBC account in the US before we left. Once you have an account with them, you can open a UK account from over there and get UK credit and debit cards before you even arrive. I learned about this from this forum and it was invaluable advice.

Vadio

I lived in Leyland for a number of years and loved it. Now live in Congleton (pretty far south in Cheshire East) and love it here as well.

For commuting into Manchester, think about which side of Manchester; personally I would rather drive on the A34 than the M6 or the M61, but that's just me. If he will be working on the south side, then Cheshire is a better bet. Schools in Cheshire are somewhat better from what I've been told.

cityboys1911

sallysimmons I read your thread with regards to your credit report and bank accounts, we still have a bank account in the UK will it work for renting buying a car etc would be interested to know

Spacecake799

Sorry no advice on the area but when we moved from NZ two years ago after six years there we had no problem renting a house. We rented it before we left, we had never bought a house in NZ due to lack of finance so the credit check was on husbands employer there and our landlord.
The alternative is to pay six months up front and that avoids the credit check.

Good luck

fulwood

I can't offer much help but Preston is my home town. Left in 1984 but go back there when I can. I plan on moving back to UK but not interested in living near Preston.. Good luck..

not2old

Suggestion....

Move to a commuter (train) line to Manchester from within 10 miles, somewhere in Cheshire. I'm sure that you OH knows the area well.

Renting is good, begin with searching rightmove.co.uk for an area, I suggest ...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION^61293&insId=1& displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType= houses&sortType=1&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=10

As mentioned above, bring back any credit report history, car insurance claims record, maybe banking with HSBC, as well, HSBC or Amex credit cards which are transferable into UK ones

and go from there

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-driving-licence

Good luck

holly_1948

Age UK is good for insurance for unusual situations - in case you get a run around from other vendors. You don't have to be elderly (or even over 50 years of age) to use Age UK.
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/products/insurance/

Lancs75

Thanks fulwood, my whole family, with the exception of one brother, live there, otherwise i would happily live somewhere far away. Not that i think its a terrible place to live.

Not2old - i had thought about the commuter train thing to, just not sure which are good areas. My husband knows some areas but hasnt lived in cheshire for about 18 years now.

I have checked with HSBC and we need to be banking with them for 6 months before they will give you an account we can transfer.

Got onto the credit rating and insurance this afternoon. Thanks for that advice guys.

Vadio

I prefer Cheshire East to Cheshire West for ease of getting into Manchester. A train from Macclesfield takes 22 minutes to Piccadilly, with one stop (Salford).

As you would expect, the closer to Manchester, the higher the house prices. Some areas (Prestbury/Wilmslow/Alderley Edge) are part of the footballer/WAGs belt, but my area is relatively affordable, has decent schools, is close to open countryside, and very accessible. I would definitely recommend looking around Cheshire.

brits1

Hi,

Does your husband need to work in Manchester? I know the pull of family can be hard if you have young children but you also both need to be happy where you will actually live as well. If you would not live in your family's area if they were not there then I would not consider living there as you can always commute to see them and visa versa and I think you also realise that after being away from family for a period that you tend to be more self sufficient than what you realise. Most parts of south Cheshire are nice......look at options that will help you to visit your family (should you decide on Cheshire) that will help you to see them quicker (travel wise) Areas like Frodhsam and Helsby are nice/good areas and near to Chester/Liverpool and Manchester should you need a City nearby and schools are good and homes are a bit cheaper than the Wilmslows/Bramhall's etc. Would you locate nearer to your husbands family? if so (and not being nosey) but which part of Cheshire are they from, I might be able to help you a bit further. Good luck

Jerseygirl

I lived in Bramhall and Macclesfield (I worked in Wilmslow) before moving to Chester. I much prefer the Chester area of Cheshire to South Manchester. Also look to the west of Manchester. My sister lives in a village outside Warrington...very easy commute into Manchester either by rail or car. Property is much cheaper than South Manchester (Bramhall/Wilmslow/Alderley Edge/Prestbury/Hale Barns etc).

If we move back my husband would like to live in Tarporley.