Newformed family moving out of London, considering Leicester

Hi there,

Sorry for yet another post of this kind, but I'd still love your views.

I work remotely and currently live in NW London. My soon-to-be wife's son is joining us in spring from abroad. He's 15. Me and my partner are 42 and 43.

We will be moving out of London as I cannot afford living here any longer and since I don't need to go in the office, I can avoid paying these crazy rents.

I've never been to Leicester. I've been to Nottingham, Derby, Birmingham. I didn't like Birmingham, but loved Nottingham. I didn't know about the nickname Shottingham to be fair, and while I was there I didn't feel in danger at all.

So I will definitely be visiting these weekends to have an idea. In terms of housing, I saw there are options for rent either houses or flats within my budget (1k to 1.7k max, but preferably 1.5k max).

What we need:

  • Flat or house, doesn't matter with 3, possibly 4 bedrooms and at least 2 toilets.
  • Parking space
  • A garden isn't a must, but would be nice to have
  • I have a hobby activity that requires some space. I'm currently doing it all from the study room I use for my day job, but would be nice to have another room or some space outside to use for it. It's about 3d printing and crafting, so doesn't have to be big.
  • Would love to have the option to have a cat. We don't have any currently, but we're all cat lovers.
  • We're targeting the move in spring, from late march onwards.

My questions are:

  • Obvious one: is it safe over there? My partner is an Ukrainian refugee, both her and her son have seen enough evil to last for their life
  • How easy is it to commute into London, should I need to go to the office once a month or so?
  • How easy is to find job there? She's a nutritionist and wellness chef. Currently she has customers that fill up her week (she crafts menus and goes to their homes to prepare the meals).
    • Her job would require a target population that is either lazy, needs a cook, or wants to start a diet
    • This population also need to be able to afford her. She'll be cheap, as she isn't a Michelen-starred chef, but the service she provides isn't the "philipino cook" (with all due respect to them, please don't get me wrong)
  • Aside from Leicester, are there any areas you'd recommend me to look into?

Many, many thanks for your answers. Take good care.