To want a house with walks 'from the door'?

[VanityWitch]

Not through busy roads?

DH thinks this is a wild expectation. I think it's common in lots of areas.

We are considering moving further out from London. We are in the Home Counties having moved out once already. I want proper countryside. He thinks this is some crazy and impossible dream , city boy !

Budget is £400k-ish to be comfortable. Up to £500k if we were feeling a bit more daring. Anywhere in the south half of England really.

AIBU?

We have it now and love it!

Gloucestershire sounds nice. I guess from there you could quite easily get to Bath and Bristol as well.

We walk from the door in all directions but are within half hour drive to a station with fast trains to London.
Not sure you’ll find much in your budget though.

What size of house for your budget?

I am so very lucky, but probably don't appreciate it so much.

When I open the back gate I am straight into a lovely park. Must use it more. I can't believe that people drive here to walk and I have it outside, as my (Irish) mother always said, "the nearer the Church, the further from God"

Bless her, she was right.

Yanbu. Have a look around west kent / east surrey. Billions of country walks everywhere and no need to be on a main rd. I am a 5 min walk to train station (40 min to london) and my cul de sac has woods on 3 sides.

Got it from our house in Reigate.
Lovely bridlepath, straight on to the north downs.
Lovely! Xx

We have that in Suffolk having moved from north london. Quiet residential area, lovely neighbours, near the A12 and a station to london...AND our house backs onto a SSSI which is a lovely Heath, with lots of woodland around too, and plenty more in cycling distance including rivers and the east coast. House is detached, has a big garden and cost the same as out small 3 bed semi in an edge of London suburb. Absolutely love it here. DDs are all now teens and not so convinced...

You don't say OP if you have or are planning DC. I was able to walk straight out my front door along a farm track and there were some great walks without getting into a car, and within a 15 minute walk to the town though twenty back or more with shopping. The problem was getting young DCs to school when DH and I were working in opposite directions. Got worse when they grew older and missed the school bus to nearby town (very hard to walk to catch it down lane in winter - sometimes snowed up or very muddy if carrying bookbag/sports kit etc). The local buses weren't great and no train station. I now live in a rural town, buses galore, a train station and ... can still walk down a few paths to open countryside and a river walk. Just think of either children, or whether the place you choose allows you not to have a car.

OP if I were you get on of those books with walking routes ending in pubs or villages in the county of your choice 'pub walks in the South Downs' or some such. Then look for a house in those villages/towns.

Or also look at land owned by National Trust with villages adjoining. I grew up near a famous NT property and we walked a particularly well known local route weekly. To the point when I refused to go as a teen when people visited because it was such a 'thing'. Still a lovely walk now though as an adult ☺️

So much beautiful countryside and the footpaths in this country are unsurpassed in other countries.

I live in Greenham on the edge of the common -5,000 acres of common land accessed only crossing a no thorough road. Greenham Common restoration was the biggest environmental project of the 20th Century it is an amazing place to live.
Another plus I live 5 mins walk from Tesco extra, Lidl, M&S, TK Maxx among others.

Should also add Newbury station is 7 mins in the car - fast train 52 mins to London.

Essex has this, we used to be half an hour from London and had fields and woodland on our doorstep, a pub 5 mins’ walk away and a well-equipped village a 20-min walk away. Moved for work but it was lovely and not at all isolated as many presume green locations are. Your DH is being wildly London-minded!

@DamsonInGin

OP if I were you get on of those books with walking routes ending in pubs or villages in the county of your choice 'pub walks in the South Downs' or some such. Then look for a house in those villages/towns.

Or also look at land owned by National Trust with villages adjoining. I grew up near a famous NT property and we walked a particularly well known local route weekly. To the point when I refused to go as a teen when people visited because it was such a 'thing'. Still a lovely walk now though as an adult ☺️

So much beautiful countryside and the footpaths in this country are unsurpassed in other countries.

Yes, good idea!

It wasn't the Giant's Causeway was it? I was made to go there every time we had guests to stay, so basically every summer, throughout my childhood. I refuse to go there, except under duress, now! Poor DH (English) was desperate to see it, so I did go with him a few times.

We live there. Edge of a large town so can walk to shops, station and school but right next to AONB countryside so can get out into hills. Best of both worlds.

perfectly possible - I'm currently a 5-10 min walk from both the beach and the countryside, 15 min walk to a mainline station. 1.5hrs from London. We swapped our small London terrace for a 4 bed detached with huge garden when the children were tiny.

I'm about to move to the edge of town - 30 - 40 min walk to the station (I'm now retired so that's not an issue) but straight out of the front door to the edge of fields. I won't even have to put the dogs on leads, no other houses in view.

Just remember the location location location mantra though - this house, because of the location, was about 75k more than a similarly sized house, with a smaller garden and no views, in the middle of a housing estate 15 mins away.

When the kids were little then convenience for transport, shops, schools, was a real priority over seclusion and views, so the original house was perfect during those years - and we still had access to the countryside, just not, literally, on the doorstep.

look along the south coast around Bognor - lovely beach walks around here, friends have just moved there from Crawley www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/100085012#/

YANU - easy once away from the London belt

Try Kent, so many lovely little villages in the countryside with train stations to London. Lenham and Charing for example.

Definitely exists. As my name suggests, I live in the Surrey countryside, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it’s idyllic, surrounded by woods and forests, we can walk for miles and miles from the front door and not go near a road. I drove the dogs to the beach last weekend, it took 30 minutes, so we have the best of both worlds. Train station to London is 5 mins drive. You definitely need a car though as no buses. Worth it though

That sounds so lovely. It's so relaxing to the eyes and soothing to the soul to be surrounded by greenery.

@Blondiney As someone else guessed we're in the Hazel Grove/High Lane/Marple area. Close to a train station with regular links to the city centre and the new A555 for the motorways, but right on the edge of the countryside. Lovely walks up to Lyme Park over the fields or there's the Canal and the Middlewood Way if we want a flatter ramble. We're very spoilt!

I walk past 12 houses and a pub (about 5 minutes along a not-too-busy Road) and I’m in open country where I can walk for miles through woodland, farm land etc. My dog loves it.

It I’d certainly achievable, but we’re in the East Midlands, not in a remote area at all.

We have walks from our front door, can walk for absolutely miles & I have to say it’s heaven. Especially during lockdown.

In many parts of the uk this is the norm.

I live surrounded by ancient woodland, deep river gorges and walks within 2 minutes walk of my front door.
A busy international airport is a 20 minute drive away, I am 20 minutes to unspoilt coastline, 20 minutes to mountains, 20 minutes by road or rail to a world class capital city, boasting low unemployment, vibrant biotech,finance, IT and the arts.
My 5 bedroomed house with garden in immaculate condition cost me £215K just a few year ago.

Depends how 'country' you want to go. If you're properly rural, not in a village, or a small town then you may find there aren't any proper walks nearby, just lots of fields and country roads.

We live in a new build estate, it's got excellent walks, cycle paths, woodland walks, field tracks etc right from the door. Not what you'd expect really, but it's been designed with outdoor access in mind