First time buyer - Which town/city would you recommend?

Which places do you not like from My list (no offence taken btw)?

If im honest I don't know much about Northern/Midland towns & cities.

I tend to prefer liberal, social, conservative places. Not sure which Northern cities meet that description? I also prefer the warmer weather in the southern although I guess it's probably just a few degrees colder higher up.

Which towns & cities would suit me based on all the info I wrote (also what would suit her - hopefully the same place)?!

I'm sort of in quite a niche industry for work (travel & tourism) and probably want to remain there so think options may pick itself a bit in terms of jobs & location.

OK I've spent this evening doing quite a lot of research. It seems from the northern cities the 2 that would appeal to me most are Sheffield and Leeds.

Which would you recommend for me and my gf based on our criteria out of the 2 - Sheffield or Leeds?

OK I've spent this evening doing quite a lot of research. It seems from the northern cities the 2 that would appeal to me most are Sheffield and Leeds.

Which would you recommend for me and my gf based on our criteria out of the 2 - Sheffield or Leeds?

Not sure whether it would be cheaper than Bristol or not.

Its far harder to find work in Sheffield than the South East.

Have you or her ever visited either?

My recommendation would be to have this conversation with her. Nothing else matters.

I know both well - both are great places to live. What work are you both looking for? Sometimes places are cheap for a reason. Its far harder to find work in Sheffield than the South East.

Depends how much you got to spend.

We aim to have around £30k saved up altogether between both of us when we move out (around this time next year hopefully).

If you want affordable and a lot going on then you will probably have to come up further North for the time being. My suggestions would be Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield. Bristol would be great in my opinion if you do want to stay reasonably close to London. You could probably find somewhere decently priced. Leicester could be good as well but never visited. Cardiff is also probably an alright choice but again never been. Most of the places you listed are pretty dull and I think you will outgrow them quite quickly. I think you need to make this decision with your girlfriend though and actually visit places and look for jobs. Also could be worth considering renting for a year first before you actually buy. Just in case job situations change or you realise living in your chosen city isn't quite how you imagined. Although, from the cities I've suggested I don't think you'd have much issues with any them.

By the way I responded before because I have a passion for property and different areas. Nottingham looks like the best place for you, maybe have a visit one weekend. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nottinghampost.com/news/property/heres-outlook-nottingham-property-market-733717.amp

Nottingham? I don't live there but that sounds like the perfect compromise for you both.

I would agree you should see where you can actually find jobs first and then move. I’m not sure I see the attraction of most of the places in your list, apart from that they are relatively close to London. But it’s going to take you almost as long to get to central London from Crawley as it will from, say, Leicester by train. Have you looked at cities like Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester? The housing market in the latter in particular seems to be what you are looking for. Manchester has about half a million people and tons to do, although may be on the large side for you. There’s plenty of graduate jobs. Not sure whether it would be cheaper than Bristol or not.

OP, to be honest those are very dull places to reside in. The only two I would go for is crawley and Nottingham. Ive heard bath is good too.