To think more people will want to live rurally now?

[Butterfliesandbears]

Property in cities has generally been more expensive but since covid it seems like maybe rural/village living will have the edge?

• larger houses/gardens
• can work from home
• countryside nearby for walks

-more space/less crowded generally

Or am I overstating it do people think? Will city living continue to be popular?

No, I still want to be near a GP, a post office, a hospital, some decent restaurants and cafes, sports facilities and centres, choice of schools, a cinema, and most importantly other people. Wouldn't want to live in a remote location or a village.

I definitely wouldn't want to live in a cramped new build with hardly anything for a garden, no amenities, just a massive development of housing. I guess I've got what I want already- a suburban home in a large town. I would really like a really big 120 foot+ garden, that would be nice, but you can't have it all.

Living rurally isn't all or nothing HathorX. We have a health centre and post office less than a mile away. A hospital 15 minutes away, although it could take less than that with a blue light, a pub in the village, an outstanding primary school in the village, a railway station with hourly trains in the village, an independent cinema, good secondary school, supermarket and places to eat 4 miles away and restaurants 5 miles away.

Not all villages are in the back of beyond miles away from everything you know

Ginfordinner

But you wouldn't have the same number of options, would you? Where I am, if I fancy a take away, I can have Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese, sushi, Turkish, Lebanese, Italian (proper Italian), Jamaican, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, dessert, cake, cocktails delivered to me in half an hour.

It's the choice and variety I miss when I visit rural places, as beautiful as they are.

I think you’re right to a point. But basically I think ‘rural living’ is a term that covers a massive spectrum - everything from the outer Hebrides to villages in Surrey 3 miles from a commuter station.

I won’t consider anything on the ‘very rural’ end of the spectrum as a result of this crisis. I’ll always want easy access to healthcare, shops, and a range of entertainment etc. But if the daily commute becomes a 3 day a week commute for example, then I’ll definitely consider slightly more rural options than I previously would have done.

I wouldn't move to the country. I'm happy with an average house and garden. Nobody in London is far from green spaces.

Lived in the Big Wen years ago. Everything on my doorstep (or 5 tube stops away) but I was working such long hours I rarely went out to theatres or museums. Done it a lot since moving out since I had friends I could stay with. However in the rural home counties town I moved to which was wonderful for my DC when young and good schools on doorstep and walking distance (a mile) .... had little transport for non drivers. Which meant resigning yourself to chauffeurdom when they hit their teens. My job was 40 minutes away if you went early and worked late. HOWEVER I've now moved to another county. Similar sort of minor town but brilliant transport, schools and a vibrant city 20 minutes away by car, bus and train also available.

Anyone considering moving out because they can WFH post Covid will clearly do their research but do need to future proof themselves.

As for the increased demand for rural homes - a lot of it is due to pent up demand that Covid 19 put a stop to.

@Ariela

Agreed! And places like Pewley Down in Guildford, Chantry Woods, the North Downs Way, Newlands Corner, St Martha’s Hill - I cant think of many other large towns where you can walk out pretty much directly into an AONB. The area around Shere is beautiful too.

We live rurally (not even in a village) and have Superfast broadband, internet isn't the problem it used to be.

I do agree that there does seem to be this false dichotomy between London size big city life vs outer Hebrides, when most of us live somewhere in-between. I'm a small city person. We're hoping to move within the next year, but we're not planning to leave the city we're in now.

I think recent events have further cemented that I wouldn't want to live in a city bigger/pricier than where I already am - I had to go to Nottingham yesterday and was floored by how expensive going 6 stops on the bus was and just so many people - but little I've seen from my more rural friends has tempted me that way in the slightest as it would be a drastic change of lifestyle, if only because they all rely on cars and I don't drive.

I can see why the rural life appeals, one of my friends has been posting lots of pretty photos of her walks with her kids, but I think if you set yourself up to live in a city, it will take more than the points in the OP to consider such a change. I don't need a bigger garden though a smoother one would be nice, the horror stories of dodgy internet access from those I know in the villages near my city would make my job and what the kids do much more difficult (other rural areas are likely far better but it's a well known issue around here), and there are plenty of parks, riverside and other spaces for walks near me. As long as I'm not near a shopping centre or high street, there is plenty of space. I like having the option - and safe accessible pavements - to walk to all my needs if needed, for my kids to walk to where they want to go including their schools, and regular buses closeby. Our new home search radius is pretty small because of that, but I think it will be worth the wait.

Everything is relative isn't it? Some of the places that people are describing as rural, I would probably consider suburban even though they might technically meet the rural definition. But that's because I am comparing them to where I live. Compared to a big city even the towns in our area probably seem isolated.
There are pros and cons of every lifestyle. Whenever I go to London I find myself looking at all the ads on the walls by the escalators in the underground and thinking how interesting all the shows and exhibitions look, and how wonderful it would be to be able to do those things whenever I felt like it. But by the time I've been there for a few days I can't wait to get home.
It is just as well that we don't all want to live in the same places of course, as most of us would end up disappointed if we did, and society needs a wide variety of lifestyles to function. I lived in urban areas for the first 30 odd years of my life and still have lots of friends and family in my original home. They seem to fall broadly into 2 groups - those who have very rose tinted views of living in a rural idyll and those who are horrified and imagine that we live in completely primitive conditions. Reality is of course somewhere in between.
You can't have everything. There is stuff I miss from city life, but there were good reasons why we moved and those still stand. All I would say is that anyone moving from an urban to rural home (or vice versa I guess) should look very thoroughly at where they are planning to live and ideally rent at first. If possible, don't burn your bridges til you are sure it is for you. I've lost track of the number of people who have moved near to us over the last 20 years but not stayed. They've either gone back to the city or moved to somewhere in between, having found that the difference between what they were used to and what is on offer here was too great for them. No harm done if you can go back, but a potential disaster if you have sold up and sunk everything into a new life that is hard to reverse. The grass isn't always greener, and whilst it is understandable that current events are making people reappraise their lives, it might not be the best time to be making major changes.

Have to say, living in in the country as I do now, the broadband is faster than we had in London!
Muck spreading can be a bit whiffy but depends on the direction of the wind - also, our neighbours were very welcoming towards us when we arrived.

I think the outer London suburbs will be popular areas to move to.

@AlphaDalpha

We live rurally (not even in a village) and have Superfast broadband, internet isn't the problem it used to be.

My friend lives in the suburbs of Reading, about 3 miles out. No fibre (as not in an area designated to get it via government funding - some bod at the council decided the haves and have nots somewhat arbitrarily). No broadband , no 4G. And no bus.

Depends if remote working becomes more permissible. DP and I would love to live rurally but can't because we work in The City .

And I was raised in the countryside before everyone tells us not to bother

I think they will, but in few years most will go back to the cities/ suburban areas. My experience with people coming from cities to smaller, rural, areas have come in two wide bands. Those that fit with the lifestyle are great people, friendly, don't want to change everything around them, and understand the area and those that don't. Those that don't are the ones that make life more unpleasant as they often complain about cows, tractors, mud on the road, no takeaway near by, having to drive everywhere, how awful rural schools are, how limited the experiences are, how dare horses use the roads etc, which then leads to people staying please stay in the city, making them seem closed minded, although this reaction most likely has been based on previous experiences. Although I have to say I have also met some pretty awful rural natives who are firmly in the "Not In My Back Yard" group too so it's not always the case.

In the longer term there will be a massive impact of urban people moving out of their rural homes, as they will have driven the price of properties up.

I hear there is another swine flu that has the potential to become a pandemic 😫
Living in a more evenly spaced out way had to be the next trend

A lot of people who live in small urban or suburban homes would kill to live in a large rural property, and that has always been the case. It’s lack of money that forces them to live in urban areas. City living will continue to be popular because it’s cheap.

City living will continue to be popular because it’s cheap.

Yep London is sooo cheap

City living will continue to be popular because it’s cheap

Really? Tell that to my new neighbour in her 5 bed detached house, bought with the proceeds of a two bed London flat with money left over.

It's lack of money that forces them to live in urban areas
It's often more the length of the commute to work if they lived rurally.

I put my house on the market 21 months ago, and due to normal buying/selling heaches plus the delay caused by COVID, I'm finally moving in 3 weeks.

I wanted to to move was to be semi-rural. For easy walks (two dogs) and I wanted a view, too. All boxes ticked.

I lived in a suburb of a major city, which, for us, didn't offer anything. We don't need good schools, bars, restaurants, transport links.

*the reasons I wanted to move

@Davodia

A lot of people who live in small urban or suburban homes would kill to live in a large rural property, and that has always been the case. It’s lack of money that forces them to live in urban areas. City living will continue to be popular because it’s cheap.

@Davodia Seems you've lived a sheltered life assuming city living is cheap and that everyone wants to move to rural areas.

My overall take is that rural areas are pleasant and people are welcoming IF your face fits and you fall in line with 'how things are'. There's no room for diversity or broadening horizons.

Tell that to my new neighbour in her 5 bed detached house, bought with the proceeds of a two bed London flat with money left over.
But ALL of the country houses will be expensive. Whereas in the city there’s a mix of housing - expensive flats like your friend’s but also cheap options. There are no cheap properties in the countryside.