OP - I'm glad to see that when you retire, you don't intend moving to a flat but enjoy your property, grow veg etc. I only hope life doesn't get in the way of your plans.
My DH and I have a mortgage on our house, a 3 bed mid terrace property in Kent. We have four DC - one at uni, one working, one at college and the youngest about to start secondary school. Prices are so high here that we have extended our house to put in a 4th bedroom/family room. It is currently worth about £330K. Neither my husband or I are high earners, we only occasionally have a holiday (in this country). Things should be ok for us.
Unfortunately, life changed for us when I injured my back and neck. I had to reduce my hours at work, so our income went down. Our mortgage was with Northern Rock and so, once our fixed rate finished, we went onto a variable rate. However, our income now does not permit us to have the mortgage we had - it is interest only too and, due to the reduction in income, we have debts.
I am currently still working, but the idea of early retirement was recently suggested by my employer. Our house, without a drive, is up a steep flight of steps and there is no possibility or creating a path rather than the steps. Although we have a toilet downstairs, our bathroom is upstairs and there is no room to add a downstairs cloakroom.
We need to move; however, with four children living at home, we ideally need a four bedroom bungalow. We enquired into part ownership part rent and, due to my disability, we are eligible. However it would seem the only properties available in this scheme are either 1 and 2 bed flats or the same size starter homes. Bungalows in the area I live sell for upwards of £500,000, way out of our budget.
My point being is that I am not alone in this situation or many others like it, being a disabled family member, unplanned inability to work, or many other reasons. It isn't really appropriate for us to move out of the area as both my husband and son are working and two of my children are still in education locally. As many before me have said, there is no chance that my son will be able to move out anytime soon and, although I haven't yet seen any properties suitable to rent, the rental cost of a 3-bed house in this area is over £400 more than what we currently pay on our mortgage (it would be considerably cheaper for us to be in a repayment mortgage than to rent).
My brother lived in Herefordshire for about 11 years until 2015. Property prices there are extremely low compared to here - but jobs are far harder to come by.
OP what I'm saying is that you can plan your life as much as you like, but life has a habit of changing plans. As for your attitude about the school in your area going downhill if social housing is built nearby, it beggars belief - how do you know that any children you have/may have will be better for and in school than those from social housing. You really are either uneducated or ignorant.