Moving to East Anglia

[Moooving]

Hello I hope this is the right place to post.

Me and my family (me, husband, two kids under 4) are looking to relocate.

We currently rent in Surrey but out rent is extortionate for what we get (£1000 for a 3rd floor, 2 bed flat) and this on the cheaper end for our area as our landlord hasn't put our rent up much since we moved in, if they were to relist they would get at least £1200. So we are looking to relocate.

We would like a 3 bed room house with a garden. But would consider a two bedroom. Garden is important to us though.

We are very flexible to were we can move as husband works from home full time and I don't work. We are also planning to home educate the kids so don't need to be near good schools.

Important factors for us are

• must have a garden
• within 2 hours of surrey as our family is all here
• safe, low crime area to raise young children
• young families with walkable playgrounds to visit
• ideally under £1000 per month but could stretch to £1200

We are looking at East Anglia but we are unfamiliar with the area so don't know where to start out search. We are also open to different regions.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance :)

Your mums house sounds ideal. Do you mind me asking the name of the village?

I think we will be rethinking the travel time as we have been unrealistic.

Very encouraging about the homeschooling too

Thank you so much for taking the time to search right move. I will have a proper look this evening

Is there anywhere anyone would suggest to avoid? In terms of safety.

Looking for small town or village, don't mind either coast or inland would prefer countryside though.

Thanks for your reply

I grew up in Norfolk and live in Surrey. The drive definitely takes more than 2 hours, but Norwich is a lovely city and some of the surrounding suburbs (Trowse, Cringleford) would suit (although I am not sure what budget would be like for renting). I think it would be a great location for home-schooling too, as others have said, with like minded families around.

I’d move to Norwich in a heartbeat if I could. Lovely place. We used to live 30 mins down the road and would hang out there most weekends. I miss it so much!

Good luck. I'm in mid Essex and regularly drive to Surrey for work. On a good day with the A12 and M25 both clear and behaving it's a 90 minute drive. Rents here for a 3 bed house are £1300+ Colchester is edging towards that price bracket too. Suffolk and Norfolk are cheap because they're inaccessible (but stunningly beautiful)

My brothers live in East Anglia, as did my parents and I love it. We visit often. One brother lives in a village close to Norwich and another brother lives in a lovely market town (not sure if I should name it?). But there are several lovely market towns in that area. Also you are never far from gorgeous beaches. Great that you are doing your homework but I would go for it! Good luck.

I live in the area - either Norwich (as well as villages along the A11 corridor) & Bury St Edmunds are beautiful, historic and pretty safe.

Attleborough, Soham, Red Lodge as mentioned previously aren’t that nice. Newmarket is ok but not much there.

I love living here although will take you 2.5hrs to get to Surrey. I can drive to Stratford and park in 1hr 40 from mine - so London day trips are possible.

I moved to about half an hour away from Norwich and have seen rental prices shoot up… here we are looking at over £1000 per month..we rent out a very small one bed annexe at 750pcm… But , if you haven’t heard of East Anglia Green you might want to look it up. Basically the electric company are planning a huge corridor of pylons right through the countryside Dedham vale and through by Norwich and villages close by..There is a massive campaign to get it stopped but you need to know the possibility of it happening if you are planning to be in the area a while…

Just looking out of curiosity at areas I'm reasonably familiar with;

Felixstowe, or a bit more Walton, but not too far from the centre. Can't see the how big the garden is though.

Felixstowe, looks quite nice, but by the railway line.

Felixstowe, not a bad location near the centre, and also near the seafront.

Ipswich, a fair way from the centre.

Ipswich, a bit suburban.

And I've no idea what Glemsford is like, but it looks fairly countryside-y around there. The garden could do with some attention though...

How about something like this OP on Ely- which is pretty ok. Closer to Cambridge than some of the other areas people have mentioned- I love Norwich but it can be an almight fag if you need to get to surrey frequently.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131994947#/?channel=RES_LET

Areas near to Downham Market, or villages on the Norfolk/Cambs borders are lovely. Not fashionable but nice communities and a bit more for your money. 40 mins away from the coast, and hour max from Cambridge, Norwich and Peterborough with access to direct trains into London too.

I second Ely. Lovely city (town) with lots going on. Very family friendly.

Huntingdon and around that area is very nice

I am very fortunate to live in a very lovely village near the A11 corridor, however not sure about what you mean re Attleborough not being very nice?
I think we all can live in a Norfolk bubble and would be shocked if we lived elsewhere!!

Try Sudbury :-)

I live in Norfolk and rents here have shot up...op will struggle to get anything decent for 1k a month.

I third Ely, have family there and it's a lovely city with good train links. There is a strong home Ed community and lots of villages around which would be a bit cheaper.

Fakenham, N Norfolk, has 2 3 bed houses with gardens for under £1k.

Kings Lynn has several.

Not 2 hours from Surrey though!

I was going to suggest Sudbury too or one of the villages

@Moooving look around Long Melford, Lavenham, Sudbury and the surrounding villages. The surrounding villages are less fashionable than Long Melford and Lavenham and so cheaper (those places are expensive as they are rightly popular).

Glemsford, mentioned above, is pleasant- a little further out.

You could look at Halstead in Essex (just!) which is closer to the M11.

We live in East Anglia and love living here. We commute into Cambridge from work in just under and hour (driving) and have family in the south of England and Midlands. It takes us approx 2:45 to get to those relatives driving. We also frequently travel into London which takes about 2 hours from Diss on the train.

This is a nice looking property in a nice village just outside Bury st Edmonds.

www.belvoir.co.uk/bury-st-edmunds-estate-agents/property/bungalow-for-rent-ixworth-ip31-P418-40/

I can't believe how many people have replied offering their advice. I am very grateful to you all!

I spend to evening on rightmove last night and I am feeling very positive that we can find something suitable.

Our current tenancy isn't up until the summer but in the mean time we are going to plan a little holiday to East Anglia to visit many of the places mentioned, view some houses and to get a feel for the areas.

I may pop back on nearer the time to show you guys some properties we are interested in to get your opinions.

Thanks all again <3