It's why I'm contemplating moving from the South West to the North East. I work remotely, so it doesn't matter much where I am. Rental costs in the North East are dramatically lower than where I am now (a location that attracts Londoners wanting a place in the country, significantly increasing house prices).
I did exactly that this year - went from £1050/mo for a 2-bedroom flat in the south to £375/mo for a 2-bedroom house with a back yard, in the North East.
You can get anything you need delivered these days, including groceries, and I’m within walking distance of a train station if I need to head to an airport or go anywhere bigger.
I was looking at rental prices in County Durham and Northumberland, largely because that's where I lived when I was a young kid. My partner was initially convinced they were some sort of scam because houses are so much cheaper than we are paying down south. We could rent a three-bedroom detached with a decent chunk of land for less than we pay now for a two-bedroom end terrace with no garden.
Oh the house prices. I’ve gone from looking at £250+K houses and thinking I’ll never be able to afford one on my own to “I’m buying a house in the next 12 months”. £5K deposit (not even joking), a 3 year mortgage (which will end up costing about the same as my rent down south) and I’ll be set.
I looked at Durham as well, and when it comes to buying, if I spot a good one there, that’s where I’ll go for sure.
The town I live in is nice, quiet, the people are super friendly, there’s literally no downside if you’re a remote worker.
These places aren’t a scam, they just don’t have high paying jobs available, but that isn’t a problem if you come with your own job.
Even if your next job requires you to move somewhere else, you’ll still have had 12-24 months (or however long) of cheap living, and you get to save all that money.
For me at least, between rent, bills, and not having access to the same expensive habits as in a big city (Uber Eats and ease of going out), means that this year I stand to save about £20K compared to the previous year. Even if it was just rent+council tax I’d still be saving about £10K.
That makes a huge difference, especially when the move itself was only about £2K (moving company and a few other bits). Even if I had to move again next year I’d still be coming out ahead.
Obviously it’s not for everyone but the savings are too big to dismiss something like this, in my opinion.
