To ask where you'd live?

[EscapeAnywhere]

If you could move anywhere (in the UK)?
You don't have DC (yet) or any family commitments, work from home, and have about £250k in savings to buy a house. Where would you settle?

[Jenniferyellowcat]

I agree Orange. We are v lucky with schools in Hampshire and I would also avoid any grammar counties! My friends are happy with their kids’ primaries in southampton but it is true that lots of kids seem to bus/train out to Hampshire CC for secondary.

[Daenerys77]

Shropshire-for low population density, beautiful countryside, attractive small towns and affordable house prices. But the public transport network is not very well developed, so you would probably need a car.

[AnnaFiveTowns]

Cambridge

[AnnaFiveTowns]

Or Pembrokeshire

[cookiemon666]

I already live in North Devon, 10 minutes from the sea. I would change my house tho, as my house is shite

[Zhx3]

Have you considered the Wirral? You can get a decent house for £250k there, even in the posher parts like Heswall. Close to a Liverpool and Chester, good schools if you need them in the future. An easy drive to the Welsh border and only a couple of hours from the Lake District.

You can also get a decent house in Liverpool or Chester for 250k if you want to be closer to a city.

[SpiritedLondon]

Well I live in Surrey and wouldn’t particularly recommend it on house prices alone. Having relations in Cornwall means I spend a lot of holidays down there and although it’s beautiful is also absolutely mobbed by tourists ( like us) in the summer. It’s hours to get to for most people and winter can be a bit bleak. The Lake District is gorgeous but also mobbed by tourists and has a lot of rain. Northumberland is gorgeous too but I’ve only been to Alnwick really and I’m not sure as a town it would offer me enough facilities / interest. My favourite suggestion so far is Shropshire - reasonably central so accessible, within reasonable reach of Birmingham for the airport. Lots of beautiful villages with great restaurants and Shrewsbury is lovely. When I was there a few years ago it seemed to offer a good range of shops and restaurants. I suppose you need to consider schools, accessibility to Drs and NHS dentists ( waiting times), supermarkets ( or farmers markets if that’s what you like) Leisure facilities ( cinema, bookshops, swimming pools etc) council tax rates, road / train network, broadband speeds??? Of course you’ll be won over by some gorgeous house somewhere and will head off regardless.

[AgeingDurannie]

@speakout where you live sounds fab... once my kids are finished school my aim is to sell up and move to somewhere exactly as you describe....I love where I am for now (West coast) but my heart has always been in Edinburgh or thereabouts, but budget won't stretch to city centre unless I have a lottery win....which is made all the more unlikely by the fact that I never buy a ticket!

[MillyMollyMandie]

As previously mentioned - Abergavenny, Crickhowell.

Or if in Scotland - Blairgowrie and roundabout.

[Acis]

North Cornwall, preferably near St Ives.

[IceBearRocks]

Suffolk is beautiful ....I moved here from a big city and I'd never move again !

[Toddlerteaplease]

Liverpool or York.

[EscapeAnywhere]

I'm going to have to book a trip up to Edinburgh

[SpannerD]

Scottish island

[tinytemper66]

I would only live my the coast. I can see the sea 🌊 from my house x

[azulmariposa]

Well £250k rules out a lot of places.
But I'd like somewhere on the North Yorkshire moors.

[TheWernethWife]

I always fancied living in Northumberland. Went to Seahouses on holiday and realised that it was miles away from anything, nearest town was Alnwick or further up, Berwick on Tweed. If you wanted the cinema it was a trip down to Newcastle, older children were picked up by school bus and taken to Alnwick, shops and hospitals were a drive away. Glad I've got Manchester/Bury on the doorstep. Happy to be proved wrong but my bubble was well and truly burst.

[Skyejuly]

Suffolk or Isle of Mull.

[Serin]

North Shropshire or South Cheshire.

[catgirl1976]

York. Went to uni there and desperate to move back. It’s the plan in a few years

[oldowlgirl]

Henley upon Thames although not sure your budget is enough. Otherwise Midlands towns / villages that are nice are - Solihull, Sutton Coldfieks, Knowle, Dorridge, Lapworth, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Warwick (last few are Warwickshire rather than the Midlands).

[oldowlgirl]

*Sutton Coldfield

[myidentitymycrisis]

by the sea, within an hour (max) of a mainline station

[Wonnacott35]

Which area @speakout?

[happymummy12345]

Where we live now, just a nicer house and in a different area