Where would you live mortgage free for £350k

[Objectrelations]

Hi I need a two or three bedroom house, somewhere with good access to walking and running trails outdoors and a decent town with an independent cinema or film club within a half an hour drive/train ride/bus ride.

Needs to be an area where there is likely to be demand for in person private psychotherapy.

I have a son with disability so it needs to be somewhere relatively tame and manageable with regard to getting around safely at night on public transport. He loves animation and taking part in inclusive theatre.

Any ideas?

For very low earners Income Tax is actually lower. Between ~£23,500 and ~£43,600 it's 1% higher.
One difference with the NHS is all prescriptions are free.
If OP's son likes to travel independently on public transport he would have free bus travel (anywhere in Scotland) up to age 22.

It has definitely been noticeably warmer this summer, whenever I have been south though.

Frome-like Stroud a bit of a 'woo' place - on the train and wide variety of in your budget from cottages to new build-easy to pick up work in Bath and Bradford on Avon too as connected on train- beautiful countryside- farm shops coming out your ears and lovely walks- lovely independent cinema and terrific arts centre too plus an M&S simply food

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147614771#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146664056#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150998285

@AliceS1994 yep my big fear is the weather - having looked at previous threads on here and done some research there is a real difference and I'm not very hardy - I couldn't believe how cold it was in York last December I'm not sure how much cycling I'd actually do as I struggle to keep my hands warm once it goes below about 4 and that's if it isn't raining. But the SE feels pretty crowded I love the sense of space in the less densely populated areas.

I would contact the FE of where you looking to move to.

I linked to the Lancaster SEN college, the general local FE college does lots of support.

You need to check they offer the same course for a start.

I’d go further south. Winchester has all the things you are after and is in the South Downs. It would be a small house or a big flat for that money in the centre. Or a nearby small town like Romsey.

I love Chichester but the roads are bad

@RandomMess Yes I need to do my homework on the colleges and the courses they offer. Does the ofsted rating actually mean anything?

@Theredjellybean any recommendations on towns? Do you know Royston?

Coastal kent and just into the hinterland.
You could even have some left over.

You could get a 3 bed semi in Chester for that budget. Lovely walking in Cheshire, Wales and not too far from the Lakes. Two independent cinemas, Storyhouse and Picturehouse. Small enough to walk around fairly easily.

@Objectrelations hmmm Ofsted you need to read the report properly. They can be outstanding at 80% of things, get one inadequate and the whole rating is inadequate.

You can easily read about the the important things for your DC.

Another vote for this! You’ll be close to the Peak District but also Sheffield itself is surrounded by green space. There’s lovely villages on the outskirts too. Derbyshire or Yorkshire generally I think you should definitely consider!

@Objectrelations it sounds like you were in York for the freakishly cold week most of the country experienced, utterly brassic and not the norm at all!

@crazycarousel no I don't want to live in a city at all! Unless it is lovely and early small!

My son is quite vulnerable travelling round so I'd rather have everything we need in pretty close range and then I can get into the nearest city for more work if needed. Or a more manageable city/town like some of the ones mentioned here - have made a note of Whitley Bay, York, Norwich, Chichester, Saffron Walden, Worcestershire, Abergavenny/Monmouth, Clevedon, Salisbury and some of the South East Coast places mentioned.

Also come from an Island so being near enough to the coast to get there in and hour feels important which is the downside of the Welsh borders/Worcestershire/Cotswolds/Ilkley/Surrey.

Argh its hard to know what's important until you don't have it sometimes.

I need to move as I just can't take another 15 years of working three jobs to pay my mortgage.

@LoveHearts69 @RandomMess That's reassuring about the cold!. I do love York and Yorkshire and it felt like home somehow when someone actually stops and asks you if you need help with directions when I was looking lost, and people chat in shops. That's like where I am from and I love it, you feel like a person not lost in invisibility.

If you want south west try East Devon Sidmouth has nice range of things and Bicton college does a range of courses for young people. Exeter is accessible by bus.

Cardiff. Canton has an independent cinema, is near the Taff trail and next to Pontcanna, a wealthy area, so potential for clients. £350k would get you a 3 bed. Good public transport, plus beaches/Brecon Beacons within driving distance.

Lancaster is a tiny city, very friendly and milder weather than the north east. Significantly cheaper than York!

Ofsted ratings not helpful, especially for students with SEN.

FE colleges cover a very large area. You mention Royston and saffron Walden both near Cambridge. CRC (Cambridge Regional College) has a good reputation for supporting students with SEN. My DD went there AuDHD and they were good. My school also regularly sends severely autistic students there and they do well.

But it is the only FE college for literally miles around. There are students from littleport going down to CRC. (40 minute drive)

My SIL lives near Belper in Derbyshire and her kids (eldest is autistic) are going to Nottingham FE college to access the course they need.

Level 2 courses are broadly at the same levels as GCSEs so won't be offered by most sixth forms so you will be reliant on finding a fairly big FE college.

@RandomMess I've been trying to ignore Lancaster as I don't even know where it is but the votes and evidence are stacking up on this thread so impressively I am heading off to investigate google maps, FE colleges and right move as the first port of call

@Octavia64 Thanks so much that is really so helpful. I hade looked at CRC and seen it seemed quite good for SEN. I have a friend in Sheffield who is a teacher and am going to a buddhist retreat in Buxton in November so think I will hire a car and look at Belper and villages towards Sheffield when I am there.

Neither Royston nor Saffton Walden have an independent cinema. You'd need to get the train or drive into Cambridge which does.

Saffron Walden is in addition hideously expensive. The closest possible place he could go would be CRC (Cambridge Regional College) as the local sixth forms in saffron Walden do a levels etc not level 2 courses.

Royston has a complicated history with sixth forms but either way they don't offer level 2 courses. That would be CRC again which is a commute on the train (20 mins) or a drive (about an hour in rush hour)

Bury st Edmunds

Happy to answer any questions about SW Bham/Worcestershire, if you would like to PM me :)