My salary is quite high for a C++ programmer though but that is because I also have responsibility for a lot of things that would normally fall into the technical project or programme manager role. I help with pre-sales, technical support, architecture design and deployment, operational performance tuning, etc.

Also I live in West London where salaries are generally a bit higher anyway. I mostly work from home with a trip to the office in Vauxhall every two weeks during normal operations. The office is only a 30-40 minute train ride for me though and when we have a lot going on I will be in the office a couple of times a week if needed.

My previous experience and specialisation also help me command a higher salary, I have worked for a few large and high profile companies which does give me an edge as such.

Where are you moving to in the UK? What will you be doing?