Future Proof Your Next Home Move: How to Choose Where to Live

Why Future-Proof Your Next Home Move?

There is plenty of information available about how to future-proof your home so that it is ready for all the technological advances that will and may come along in the next few years.

But when you are looking for the best places to move to, how do you future-proof that decision?

I am not talking about where the best schools are, or where the highest paying jobs currently are, but how you choose an area to live in that will give you the best opportunities in a future that may be very different from the way you may perceive it to be now.

For example, if you work in a call center right now there may be little point in moving to an area with a high number of call centres.

Why? Artificial Intelligence may all but eradicate that type of job in the not-too-distant future.

As an example, when I first wrote this article in 2019 over 1.3 million people in the UK worked in call centres according to www.theguardian.com.

Just 5 years later that figure is just 51,000 according to www.ibisworld.com.

The world is changing at an incredible pace as this clearly shows.

Now consider this. Due to climate change, governments will be under increasing pressure to switch all car owners over to electric vehicles, and they will have tight time scales to do so.

So you moved to Swindon, for example, to work in the car manufacturing industry.

But those factories will be closing as petrol-driven cars are banned. It will likely be too expensive for the manufacturers to refurbish the factories to produce new electric cars.

The associated car parts suppliers will close. Petrol stations will close. Car repair garages will close.

www.smmt.co.uk reports that over 1.3 million are employed in the automotive industry in the UK.

Then what happens to all those people who previously had a wage every month, who paid taxes, who contributed to the local economy by shopping every week.

What was once a high-employment area with a booming local economy will soon become an area of high unemployment, high local debt, and shops closing by the dozen because they cannot survive.

Those who used to commute to work will be stuck out in the sticks with no way to get to any of the few stores that remain open and will be faced with an unrealistic commute to whatever employment they can find in the next city or county.

Housing prices fall because of the lack of local investment and high unemployment.

Now consider that food imports from Europe will cost far more because of Brexit or global warming.

So you have no wages coming in and prices in the shops are soaring.

However the governments cannot increase unemployment payments because income from taxes has plummeted.

And in all likelihood, there will be a worldwide collapse of most economies.

So just in our two examples, there could be a massive impact on the local economy if even 50% of those people were to become unemployed.

Then multiply that 50% across dozens of other industries, and that is before a global economic downturn is taken into consideration.

Now just take a few moments to consider the huge debts that most Western European countries are in, with some on the brink of bankruptcy already.

They will all face the same problems as technology replaces workers and the demise of fossil fuel-powered cars forces hundreds of thousands into unemployment.

Whilst wars continue to rage, the flow of people fleeing to safety will only increase, all looking for work, somewhere to live, putting more pressure on health services and costing each government even more money.

So what can you realistically do to future-proof your next home move?

You may also like to read: How to Decide Where to Live Next. In this guide, we suggest 12 things to consider when choosing where to live next.

Future-Proof Locations: How to Choose an Area to Live In

Why do we choose to live in certain areas?

One of the biggest factors in deciding where to live is the availability of work or to be nearer family.

Choosing the location of your new future-proof home is going to be more critical than ever in the coming years.

If we currently choose to move home to be nearer family, will that change in the future? Will communication such as holographic video calls fill the need to be near family, or is it a physical need?

It is likely that technology will only increase life expectancy but that may also increase the need for a family to be closer together to provide old-age care and support.

So, the option to extend a property or be near towns where there are likely to be more care homes, healthcare, and medical facilities will be important.

Will a lack of funds or fewer people living in rural areas mean that public transport will only be available in more populated areas?

If we choose to live in certain areas because of the availability of work, how do we choose an area that will be future-proof?

Moving to a rural community? Will more and more rural communities become abandoned or will they thrive?

Will more and more people turn to vegetarianism as the price of meat soars and the carbon emissions of cattle become more of a climate change issue?

If that is the case then arable farming communities will thrive, as will local processing plants.

Conversely, many aspects of the farming community may be devastated by climate control legislation or changes in mass eating habits.

Will the cessation of EU farm subsidies mean the end of farming in the UK? Or will new markets emerge for our products as more trade deals are made worldwide?

Moving to a city? How will AI and robotics change retail, banking, public service, or the manufacturing and distribution industries in the future?

Automated warehouse picking, driverless trucks, trains, taxis and buses, automated bank tellers, and self-service supermarkets, are just a few examples of jobs that robots could, and are, doing right now.

But there is plenty of work that robotics and AI are just not able to do yet.

And if you looking for a forever home then you will want to consider how you will support yourself or your family in the future.

The next section of this guide will help you to research places and careers that may just be future-proof.

You may also like to read: Where to Move to Avoid Climate Change in the UK. In this guide, we share an interactive map that shows the likely impact of climate change in the next few years on every part of the UK.

Places to Live To Find Future-Proof Work?

How do I decide where to live? We have already considered two industries that may face massive job losses so how do you choose an area to move to that would provide long-term job security?

What will still be needed in the future and where are the best places to move to for that type of work?

As an example take renewable energy and arable farming:

Renewable Energy: The UK invested nearly £8bn in renewable energy in 2018 according to www.ftadviser.com.  The independent reports that 4 new seabeds are being auctioned that will enable even more offshore wind farms to be built.  So places like Scotland and Cumbria would be ideal locations to move to if you wanted a job in that sector.

www.wikipedia.org lists all the currently operational wind farms, those under construction, and sites of proposed new wind farms, so if that was a sector you wanted to work in, that will give you a few ideas of places you might want to consider moving to.

Arable Farming: If you believe that arable farming is the future and that is an industry that you would like to work in then www.gov.uk has published an agricultural fact file on all the regions of the UK, including the employment numbers.

Business Insider has published an exclusive article listing what the job website www.indeed.co.uk believes to be 9 future-proof careers.

We have added the locations with the highest number of vacancies for each of those careers which we hope will help you in choosing a future-proof place to live in.

Chefs:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Bristol (You can top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Edinburgh (You can find top-rated removal companies in Edinburgh here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to the South East. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to the Southeast and have included guides to the most popular places to live in this region.

Marketing, Communication, and Design:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Jersey (You can find top-rated removal companies in Jersey here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)

You may also like to read: The Ultimate Guide to Moving to Jersey. From housing to jobs, the cost of living to healthcare, this guide will tell you all you need to know about moving to Jersey.

Healthcare professionals:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Leeds (You can find top-rated removal companies in Leeds here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to Yorkshire. In this guide, we share guides to all the most popular places in which to live in Yorkshire as well as the pros and cons of moving to this region.

Education and Training:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Liverpool (You can find top-rated removal companies in Liverpool here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to the East Midlands. In this guide, we share the pros and cons of moving to the East Midlands as well as take a look at some of the popular places to move to in this region.

Cyber Security Expert:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Cheltenham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Cheltenham here)
• Hampshire (You can find top-rated removal companies in Hampshire here)
• Newbury (You can find top-rated removal companies in Newbury here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to South West. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to the southwest and include guides to all the most popular places to move to in this region.

Human resources:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Kent (You can find top-rated removal companies in Kent here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to the North West. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to the northwest and also at the most popular places to live in this region.

Delivery or Logistics Management:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Birmingham (You can find top-rated removal companies in Birmingham here)
• Bristol (You can find top-rated removal companies in Bristol here)
• Leeds (You can find top-rated removal companies in Leeds here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to the West Midlands. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to the West Midlands as well as all the most popular places to live in this region.

Data Scientist:

• London (You can find top-rated removal companies in London here)
• Cambridge (You can find top-rated removal companies in Cambridge here)
• Manchester (You can find top-rated removal companies in Manchester here)
• Edinburgh (You can find top-rated removal companies in Edinburgh here)
• Oxford (You can find top-rated removal companies in Oxford here)

You may also like to read: The Pros and Cons of Moving to the North East. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to the Northeast as well as looking at all the most popular places to live in this region.

‘I want to move but don’t know where to’ is a nice problem to have as the world is your oyster. But equally too much choice can be bewildering.

So now you know the best places to move to for future-proof jobs, it is likely that the housing market in those areas will be relatively future-proof proof too.

If you are unfamiliar with the area that could be your new home, you may find the guides below useful:

• The Pros and Cons of Moving to Wales
• The Pros and Cons of Moving to Ireland
• Moving to Scotland

And if you are amongst the thousands of people who may face an uncertain future due to the implementation of robotics and AI or the collapse of the world economy for example, then maybe now is the time to be thinking of where you should move.

How do you know when it is time to move home? Before the job or housing markets collapse or before?

You cannot really be sure, but the early bird catches the worm and maybe it is better to jump than be pushed.

You may also like to read: Should I Move Abroad? In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of moving to a different country.

So we hope you have found this article thought-provoking.

There will always be things that happen locally, nationally, and globally that we have absolutely no control over.

But it may just be that spending some time to think about and research how job markets will change, and how that will affect the local communities and the people who live in those areas, may just help you choose a future-proof location for your new home.

Good luck, and let’s hope the slightly gloomy scenarios we have painted fade away with a bright future for all of us.

So just to finish on a lighter note you may like to read these couple of articles about how robotics and technology could change the UK home removal industry and make your home move more ‘interesting’.

• GrosScherz Removals EU Revolutionises the UK Home Removal Industry
• Will Moving Companies Be Extinct by 2050?

And don’t forget to visit our home moving blog which is packed with guides to make every aspect of your home move easier, cheaper, and safer.