To ask where is the best place to buy a cheap rural house?

[hibbledobble]

Looking for somewhere within 3-4 hours of London, 3+ bedrooms, character house, ideally with a decent size garden, under £200k. Is this doable?

Doable in loads of places. Try Derbyshire

This one just sold Green Acres Lane, Mudford, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78307918.html

4 hrs from London by train and another wee bit by road

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76816264.html

Shropshire or Herefordshire are both gorgeous if you can face the drive from London.

There's this one in Devon:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77769631.html

www.ruralscene.co.uk/properties/ar5599/

What about this? Very rural - not much round there though.

Why rural, specifically? Do you have horses, do you want a cottage, do you want to grow your own food, do you want plenty of space for children? How important is being close to a nearby city (that may not be London)? Do you want a village with a shop, or are you happy to be literally out in the sticks with no neighbour for a mile either way?

The Morchard Bishop house has wonderful views!

Do you need access to schooling? Jobs?
I think you need to give a little more detail.

Lots of great suggestions, thank you. Rural yearning is because after too long living in London I think it would be nice for the children. I'm excited that it is doable.

My dad used to live there! It's a great little place, with a pub, nice cafe, shop etc. Almost no public transport (bus once a day). For any kind of shopping Crediton is about 20 mins away. It's lovely round there but actually quite isolated in reality. Depends what you're after.

How old are the children, when they are teenagers you will need to drive them everywhere for everything

My quotes aren't working. I meant Morchard Bishop.

Derbyshire is lovely as PPs have said, but you'd struggle on that budget in the nicer towns and villages. You could get something in Chesterfield or Ilkeston but they aren't brilliant areas.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81659452.html
I just picked this one at random, but there is still a lot of cheap property in the Forest of Dean.

I wouldn’t ever buy a terraced thatched house. Wouldn’t buy a thatched house full stop. Seen too many catch fire.

www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/fire-safety-thatched-buildings

I really don’t like the Lincolnshire, Grantham or Newark area. Chesterfield in Derbyshire is hardly rural.

Devon can drive you nuts at times and I live near a city and beaches. Morchard Bishop is miles from anywhere. These places are often cheap for a reason.

I reckon the realities of that journey would make it longer than 4 hours too.

@PolPotNoodle

Yes (YABU, that is. No idea about the house)

Agreed, this should be /endthread

Ceredigion Wales. Make sure you drive though.

Oh and by the way ...'would be nice for the children' ...would think v hard about that one esp if they are used to London.

How rural are you wanting? Have you lived rurally before? It’s great when the kids are little, less so when they’re teenagers and you’re having to drive them everywhere (I was that teenager).

Also...to you what does ' rural' really mean?
Does it mean a five mile walk to the local shop with no pavements? The last bus at 6 pm? Sometimes no buses at all?
Does it mean teens sitting in the village bus stop because there is nothing else to do?

The trouble with moving to a rural area is that locals are very protective of their county. I come from Somerset but now live in Dorset 30+years and our small village is full of retirees from London particularly Surrey pushing the house prices up very few locals left. But good luck in your search I can see why you'd want to move 😊

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93435386.html

Village location
Just over 60 minutes by train from nearest town station

Parts of S Yorks. Less than 2 hours by train to LKX from Doncaster.