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?

The difference in weather is marked - and it gets darker so much quicker in the winter too.

I think parts of Nottingham are LOVELY - it has a bad reputation sure, but I need to be somewhere with great restaurants, shops, cafes, bars.. I couldn't be in the middle of nowhere. I used to live in Birmingham and it was awful - wouldn't go back, even to the 'posh' parts.

Just outside the Lake District (as £250k wouldn't be enough inside the national park).

Scotland is definitely cooler and often windier... but lots of sunshine too, just it comes and goes a lot! One advantage of being that bit further north is the amazing amount of daylight in the summer.

Snowdonia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

New Forest or the Sussex Countryside 😍

Yes, the weather does vary a lot, but it’s not as simple as south = warm and sunny and north = cold and wet. This Met office website has maps and you can play around with different variables like average temperature, rainfall etc to see the variation across the country.
www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/

@ScarletAnemone fantastic link, thanks for that

East Lothian, Scotland. All the benefits of being in Scotland mentioned by PPs. Great area rural, costal and easy to commute to cities. If you go for Dunbar (Sunny Dunny!) 30 minutes into Edinburgh, 4.5 hours to London.

Great schools too. £250k would buy you a decent house.

By train. My time above were by train!

I came on to say Brighton but £250000 wouldn't get you a studio.

I came on to say Brighton but £250000 wouldn't get you a studio

Maybe a beach hut?!

Arran...lived there as a child.. (island off coast of Scotland) bit rainy though but beautiful and has a High school as well as village schools. Need to get a ferry to mainland though, but would be Katie Morag like...

either sandbay west country or borth wales

Scotland is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

It's also wet, cold and windy most of the time. If you like warmth, don't move here.

I'd move to Northumberland. It's a bit drier there.

Another vote for Northumberland. Yes it's a bit isolated but huge skies, lovely countryside, beaches, sense of community and Newcastle is a cracking town.

Have you said whether you are a city/country/compromise type person? Do you have any family and friends you would like to take into account? Any work constraints? It matters rather a lot!

I can't cope with this complete lack of constraints on the problem!

South Coast - Brighton/East Sussex area. Beautiful countryside, seaside, cool cities, close to London... Perfect!

@irregularegular

Exactly! That's the issue - no constraints at all.

No family to consider, friends are all over Europe, I work from home, very easy whether it's rural or city - as long as there's good WiFi and shops within 20 minutes, and walks around, then I'm happy!

Manchester

Exactly where I am now!

Ok no constraints on work/friends/family I get.

Shops within 20 mins (drive not walk?) rules out extreme rural. Walks around rules out very urban I would think...

But surely you have some sense of whether your dream lifestyle involves rural peace, city buzz, or the community feel if a small town/large village??

If not, maybe first choose the best in each category. Best city. Best countryside. Best seaside. Best market town. Best large village...

Then go from there..

I agree that Brighton would be good but I think it is expensive. Same for Bath. And my South Oxfordshire village.

I'm in Scotland, live in a small town, 20 mins from town centre, lovely beach, museum's, good health care, nice pubs and restaurant's, 10 minute drive to countryside, an hour and a half from Glasgow, an hour from Edinburgh, wouldn't want to live anywhere else, weather not really as bad as people think.

If it was just you...in your situation I would maybe buy a small city flat somewhere and a tiny cottage in the countryside...could rent the one out or do holiday lets and live in the other....might be an option? I saw little log cabins in Scotland very cheap...

In SW England seems too hot at times! I kind of miss the fresher weather in Scotland sometimes. Especially in town or city.