Yeah, I've lived in London for two years now and I'm planning to move to Birmingham with the end of my current lease. ~£600-700/mo for a nice 1 bedroom flat:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?search...

It will cut my rent in half which would allow me to travel a lot more and save up for a deposit as well - with an average price of £175k for a 1 bed flat in the city centre.

Birmingham Airport is just 10mins by train from the centre and costs like £2.50! Lots of airlines and destinations. Cheap flights within Europe with the budget airlines or even to Asia via hubs like Dubai with Emirates.

I'm self employed, work from home and I don't have a child yet - which makes it a lot easier to move.

Parts of London are lovely but like you said, unless you own a property or your household income is a few times the average UK salary - it doesn't make much financial sense to live there.