Many have decided to move north to find a better quality of life, as well as better value property. One of them is IT specialist Roz Lock who fell in love with the city when she visited for the Commonwealth Games.
She and fellow property investor Helen Constantinou signed up for two Country and Metropolitan apartments - one in Jackson's Warehouse in Manchester's Piccadilly Basin and the second at Blue, a new scheme in Leeds, when they visited last year's Home Buyers Show in London.
Now Roz has transferred her job with a major bank, moved into her new home and is finding Manchester life a huge contrast to the London scene."It's really a case of falling out of love with London and in love with Manchester," she said.
"I have been living at Jackson's Warehouse for several weeks now and can't believe that I'm right in the heart of such an exciting and friendly city.
"For the first time in my life I can walk to restaurants and the cinema, and the daily nightmare commute is a thing of the past too."
She believes Manchester property represents good value for money and is a sound investment for the future.
And she predicts a growing number of southern-based investors will soon follow her lead and relocate to northern cities away from the capital.
Matt Fairman, managing director of London-based 3-D graphics company Smoothe agrees.
A year ago he set up an office in Manchester simply to accommodate the talents of graphic designer Ben Davies, a northerner who was desperate to move back here. Matt, who comes from Cheadle Hulme, said: "I sympathise with Ben because I too want to move back north. I have a two-year-old son and Brixton is not the place I want to bring him up in. "Property may not be a bargain any more in the north but you definitely get better value for money, more choice and a much better lifestyle.
" I would jump as the chance to move back and I am sure that there are many others like me who will keep fuelling the market in places like Manchester."
During the past 20 years Roz and Helen, both aged 44, have built up a substantial property portfolio that includes a house in London (currently on the market), a house in Brighton overlooking the marina and a weekend flat in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria.
Roz said: "We liked the fact that Country & Metropolitan understood what we were trying to do in terms of property investment and we loved the properties they had on offer.
"The finish is to a very high standard and now we have a contrast between the industrial feel of Jackson's Warehouse and the contemporary styling of Blue."
Roz believes other southern-based investors should be taking a look at what the north's old industrial towns have to offer.
They won't necessarily find a bargain, she said, but they will find excellent properties and realistic prices with huge potential for growth.
For Roz, living in Manchester will also mean that she will get more out of her weekend flat in Grange, being able to spend two full days there rather than spending hours on the M6.
She said: "Living in the north makes you realise just how much beautiful countryside there is within an hour's drive. We can easily get to the Lakes, the Dales and the Peak District."
Roz and Helen have been buying homes together for two decades.
Roz said: "We tend to like similar things and neither of us feels that to compromise is to lose. We have a buying philosophy we call `the three Hs'. The first is Head - does it represent a wise investment; next is Heart - will someone really want to live there and it also needs a Hook - something that makes it different to everything else on the market.
Jackson's Warehouse and Blue fulfill all three criteria. "Our trip to the Home Buyers Show has really transformed our lives.
"In little over a year we have acquired two fantastic properties in two amazing cities and haven't looked back."
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