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Original poster

To think this house is too remote to be feasible

236 replies

HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:04

Name change. Posting in AIBU for traffic. We are considering putting an offer on this house. It's exactly the style we want with more land than we wanted but I'm worried it's too far from Winchester where we started looking. To get the train station I'll need to drive, to get to the shops I'll need to drive! Does anyone do this ? Do you end up resenting the inconvenience? For example I couldn't just pop out for a big shop, I think I would need to drive to Winchester and pay for parking etc. Would need to pay for parking at train station when using it (at least twice a week). Do these things just get more and more annoying. Currently live somewhere where car isn't even really needed.

Also value for money?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145236887

Check out this 6 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

6 bedroom detached house for sale in Shepherds Lane, Compton, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 for £2,450,000. Marketed by Savills, Winchester

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145236887

OP posts:
Deadpretty · 17/06/2024 17:42

HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:38

V helpful. Much appreciated

Show quote history

Oh, and one other thing - the cost of a tractor to mow the lawn (no gardener will bring one to you) and consider where you would dispose of the grass. That’d about 4 to 5 green wheelie bins in grass cuttings alone.

CormorantStrikesBack · 17/06/2024 17:41

It’s like half a mile off the M3, it’s the opposite of remote! Anywhere you live you need to drive to a supermarket if doing a big shop.

BIossomtoes · 17/06/2024 17:40

HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:38

Yes. I completely see its not isolated in a wilderness sense, it's just working out if I want to make every journey by car (unless going on proper walks etc). Also its a car to the train. Adds to a weekly (but not daily ) commute.

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It adds about ten minutes if you travel from Shawford station, which has free parking.

FOJN · 17/06/2024 17:40

The house is a bit further along the road than the other collection of houses but this house is really not remote at all. The neighbours all seem to have swimming pools.

Looks like the house is opposite some grain silos, be prepared for late night activity during harvest and lots of dust.

If you are accustomed to walking to all amenities and a short drive feels like it will be an "outing" then I'm not sure this is the house for you. For those of us who don't live in cities a short drive is normal.

Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:38

Deadpretty · 17/06/2024 17:36

@HungryHouseHunter I live in a similarly remote location. Have done for 10 years. Here are my thoughts:

  1. how is it heated? Oil? Consider the costs.
  2. check that you can actually get that broadband speed at the house, not nearby. My house had 1.9mbps when I first moved here. That is no Netflix,
  3. bus routes? When a parent is ill, how will the kids get about?
  4. Security. I didn’t sleep for the first 3 years until we got our massive dog - and that was with alarms.
  5. is it definitely freehold? Lots of barns are leasehold.
  6. can you actually get a supermarket delivery? Check on the supermarket websites.
  7. Check your council’s local plan - especially for waste and traveller sites.
  8. check the cost of insuring it.

Hope that helps!

V helpful. Much appreciated

OP posts:
IsabelleHuppert · 17/06/2024 17:38

The things that would concern me are proximity to the motorway, poor energy rating and lack of landscaping/trees around the house.

Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:38

SweetLathyrus · 17/06/2024 17:35

Have you actually visited the area @HungryHouseHunter ?

It's not really rural isolation - you would be very close to Winch, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, and Southampton - there isn't really a lot of space between them.

Yes. I completely see its not isolated in a wilderness sense, it's just working out if I want to make every journey by car (unless going on proper walks etc). Also its a car to the train. Adds to a weekly (but not daily ) commute.

OP posts:
Deadpretty · 17/06/2024 17:36

@HungryHouseHunter I live in a similarly remote location. Have done for 10 years. Here are my thoughts:

  1. how is it heated? Oil? Consider the costs.
  2. check that you can actually get that broadband speed at the house, not nearby. My house had 1.9mbps when I first moved here. That is no Netflix,
  3. bus routes? When a parent is ill, how will the kids get about?
  4. Security. I didn’t sleep for the first 3 years until we got our massive dog - and that was with alarms.
  5. is it definitely freehold? Lots of barns are leasehold.
  6. can you actually get a supermarket delivery? Check on the supermarket websites.
  7. Check your council’s local plan - especially for waste and traveller sites.
  8. check the cost of insuring it.

Hope that helps!

SweetLathyrus · 17/06/2024 17:35

Have you actually visited the area @HungryHouseHunter ?

It's not really rural isolation - you would be very close to Winch, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, and Southampton - there isn't really a lot of space between them.

Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:34

Words · 17/06/2024 17:28

Be very careful the surrounding fields are not likely to be developed.

Farm fields but yes , I guess they could be sold and developed

OP posts:
Mrsredlipstick · 17/06/2024 17:33

Depends on your age and that of any children. Little children will be driven to school, teens will hate you.
We lived in a large country house with no shops. We moved last year to a modern development with shops in the village we spent twenty years in the sticks
I don't think I do it again.

grinandslothit · 17/06/2024 17:33

I used to live rural and it was fine until I had a serious health scare.

My husband at the time didn't drive and I was the only one who drove.

The nearest shops and hospital were 36 km away.

That was about a decade ago and now apparently there is a shop only 10 km away

I suppose you just have to consider the total amount of time you'll be having to drive each day to each place you go and total that up and see if that is worth doing every day day and day out.

SweetLathyrus · 17/06/2024 17:32

Teamarugula · 17/06/2024 17:30

I agree with you OP, being chained to your car is no life and it’s not even remote in a good way - I bet you can still hear the M3

You can hear the M3 from EVERY part of Winchester - the Army firing range depends on the wind direction!

Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:31

Gulbekian · 17/06/2024 17:15

Do you have children? My main concern would be that they would be a bit cut off socially, especially before they got old enough to get themselves around independently.

Yes, small ones. We hope they would love the open space. Yes I'm also worried about that.

OP posts:
Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:30

BIossomtoes · 17/06/2024 17:11

It’s only three miles from Winchester. 🙄

It's the need to always drive there rather than the actual distance. I'm used to 5 cafes outside the door !

OP posts:
Teamarugula · 17/06/2024 17:30

I agree with you OP, being chained to your car is no life and it’s not even remote in a good way - I bet you can still hear the M3

Februaryfeels · 17/06/2024 17:29

I live in a council estate in an east coast town

I have to drive to Tesco and I'm not at all remote

If I walked to the shops I'd have a heavy load to carry home

Is this a stealth boast?

StripedTomatoes · 17/06/2024 17:29

You could open your own shop in the little outbuilding.

Words · 17/06/2024 17:29

And no, not remotely remote. 30 mile round trip to town is in that category

Original poster
HungryHouseHunter · 17/06/2024 17:29

Listress · 17/06/2024 17:20

You’ve had a few replies, mine being one of them.

Show quote history

Thank you v much. There were none when I posted here ! Just looking through them.

OP posts:
Words · 17/06/2024 17:28

Be very careful the surrounding fields are not likely to be developed.

catgirl1976 · 17/06/2024 17:28

That’s not remote. It’s next to a motorway and you could walk to the town and train station. Not remote at all.

Vergeofbreakdown23 · 17/06/2024 17:26

Also, if you went for it, you'll never really loose value on the property. As cities and towns get busier and busier, more people are going to want to move out into the countryside xx

KimberleyClark · 17/06/2024 17:25

It’s difficult to say. The photos don’t show much of the 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.

Vergeofbreakdown23 · 17/06/2024 17:23

We live 7 miles from the nearest town - after living in town and a two minute walk from a shop - yes it took some getting used to but honestly I'd never consider living 'in town' again!
There are times we've run out of milk/sugar/bread and someone has had to nip into town but the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience and eventually you get used to having a spare pint of milk or loaf of bread in the freezer 😉