Please tell me about Suffolk!

[happytobemrsg]

We currently live in Essex (London suburb) but want to move further out into the country in the next few years. Where should I be looking?

Our long list of wants:

Location: as far south as possible so we can travel back to see family, would love a village feel, good primary/secondary schools. Doesn't need to be near a station as both DH and I work from home

House:4+ bedrooms, a bit of space around us to build a couple of outbuildings, my absolute dream would be a barn conversion but not sure if my budget goes far enough...

Budget: c. £750k - if this is totally unrealistic please tell me how much I need to sell my soul for

You could buy most of Suffolk for £750k

I moved to a very small village in Suffolk from in the mid 2000s. I stayed 5 years before I moving back to London again.

It was awful to be honest. The village was very unfriendly. They didn’t like outsiders too much and to be honest, they didn’t like the colour of my skin.

Things may have been better if we had Moved to a town though, but it really was like stepping back in time 50 years. The village pub was silenced as I walked in, that sort of thing.

I’ve heard similar experiences from other people.

I’d say do your research.

The schools tend to be very small in the villages. The one in the village I lived in had 30 students from 4-11 and had them split into two mixed aged classes. Sounds great, but actually, it wasn’t.

Bury St Edmunds a good feel. Yes to avoid all village schools. Hell if children don’t gell, there’s no where else to go.

Bury St Edmunds is lovely - if it wasn’t for childcare from DM we’d move there (45 mins away from us now).

Miss Suffolk. It's beautiful.

Bury St Edmunds is nice, Framingham was nice too as lots of ‘outsiders’ move there.

I don’t mean to sound so negative - just my experience, I hope other people have had better! But it was a horrible 5 years.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90265403.html

This is on my daily dog walk, if you buy it can we be best friends ?
Local high school isn't great but my kids have all done great, but there are better schools in close towns /villages that are all serviced by buses.
Easy train links to the capital, 25 mins drive from Colchester.

Bury, Woodbridge, especially lovely but equally it’s just a nice county! But I may be biased having always lived here 😅

We moved from London to east suffolk, near woodbridge, a few years ago. Love Suffolk and this area particularly...good facilities, less than an hour to lots of lovely places like Southwold, Aldeburgh. 3 rivers and estuaries to explore, lots of sailing and watersports, 20mins into Ipswich and the station so can have day trips to London. Near the A12 so easy access to London....

I cannot believe the experience you had @Connie222 That’s awful.

Perhaps a town with a village feel? If such a thing exists...

I’ll check out Bury & Woodbridge

That is in a beautiful setting @Subeccoo the views are amazing. It gives me hope

Avoid Lowestoft though that's a bit too far north from what you say. I grew up in Ipswich which is just a typical medium sized town. A friend of mine lives in Manningtree and he likes it, though it is just in Essex. There is a train link to London.

You could buy most of Suffolk for £750k

You can't buy much in Southwold for that! Let alone Walberswick. Both of which are lovely.
I mean, you can buy a house with that, but nothing like the op wants.
My parent's four bed in Southwold is probably worth about £600k, but no outbuildings and on a main road.

But it is a realistic budget for what the OP is looking for. Just not in the very sought after areas.

The dream is to buy land & build our dream house but I think I’d need quite a bit more than £750k all in & I really don’t want a mortgage.

Have a look at BSE, Sudbury, Lawshall, Kersey, Long Melford and Lavenham but the last 2 are pricey. Mind you, a Barn conversion might be a bit of a stretch, this one is on the Essex Suffolk border.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66780051.html
As far as schools go- some of the tiny village schools are not great- in our village so many parents opted out of the school with 2 classes, that it was closed when the number stablised at 11, including 5 bused in from elsewhere. A lot of kids are bused to senior schools from villages, which can make a long day.
If you are in London you will find public transport a bit of a shock. We are supposed to have a good service- 1 per hour in each direction from 7.15am to 6.15pm, not Sunday or Bank Holiday. Some villages are 2 hourly or sometimes only a couple or 3 times per week, corresponding with market days or the service is term time only.
Remember things can change- we had 2 pubs, a shop and post office and a school when we moved here, we've lost the shop, the school and a pub. We get a post office for 2 hours on 2 days a week now, and the shop and PO in the nearest village have also closed.
I still love it though!!

avoid: Leiston, Lowestoft, most of the middle.

Woodbridge is beautiful but pricy. Ufford, Melton, Bawdsey, Framlingham, Orford and other towns along the coast are gorgeous.

i moved to suffolk from essex in 1996. never looked back...

Woodbridge is lovely. Framlingham is nice as well. Debenham is a village but everyone knows everyone's business. All have good secondaries.

Lots of nice places on the coast are in the catchment for poor schools so be careful.

Small schools can be okay, but I think you want at least 3 classes in a primary school, two is just too few.

Book a B and B when they're back up and running and stay for a few days. You'll be able to find something big enough and lovely for that money.

Oh @SpringFan that is my dream house!!! We have a lovely house now, it’s just (1) I want to live somewhere pretty & (2) those barn conversions... 🥰🥰🥰

I grew up in London @Nacreous so the thought of a whole school of only a couple of classes is mind blowing

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77911189.html

This is interesting, its a shell with huge potential- was a pumping station. I went walking past here a while ago, beautiful views but its in Essex (just) !
www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-58633527.html

I grew up in Bury St Edmunds and it really is lovely - very welcoming but not too small either.

Very interesting @SpringFan. I love the brickwork. I love a good search on rightmove! DH is in love with the £1.3m one you linked to

Try the Essex/Suffolk border - Manningtree, Wivenhoe, Elmstead Market, Alresford - varying amounts of villagey feel but great links to London and down south, close to the coast and would definitely fit your budget.

I'm in this area and I love that in one direction is London and city life and the other is the rolling Suffolk fields 😍

My first ever teaching post was in Suffolk. In a wee village called Bacton, not far from Stowmarket. Does anyone know it??
I absolutely loved that school and the children there. The commute from Colchester was a bugger though, as I didn't drive!