Do you have to be a millionaire to live in the country?!?

[dreamsofacres]

There are so many reasons I want to live in the country. The main one is that I crave privacy and peace. A house with no neighbours.
Don't care about the state it's in, a fixer upper would suit me fine.
But around my area were talking millions. Any plots of land for sale come split in half so you have a direct next door neighbour.
I'm seriously looking at doing it in about 5 years when the DCs are no longer at nursery and we don't have fees. I own a house now but I don't think it would grow too much in equity.
I just can't see a way of doing it without winning the lottery.
I'm trying to get myself in the best financial position possible and have started doing prolific , but no joy on Appen or anything else.

I live in a village in the south east. It's less than half an hour into town, there's a train station within five miles (which is how far you have to drive to the nearest corner shop) and our back garden opens out into fields. We are certainly not millionaires and there are a number of council properties in our road.

You're not really talking about living in the country as such though are you? I live in the country in that my house is a minute's walk from green fields either side and my bedroom looks on to rolling hills. However my house is a tiny terrace in a village. If you want the kind of splendid isolation you describe, you'd pay about half a million here.

@Honeyroar I think it's altered my view on living rurally, house prices round here are shocking. I do wonder what people do for a living to afford such houses

@FangsForTheMemory "splendid isolation"
That's exactly it!

@JaceLancs that house is beautiful and costs less than the one I'm currently in

Do you mean live rurally or buy a massive farm somewhere very desirable? If you’re looking for loads of land, then yes, that’s more like a business. But if you’re looking for 3 plus beds, decent garden with a veg plot and a few outbuildings then you’ll achieve this in most rural areas for much less (again, unless you’re looking for a picture postcard vicarage with a view of the sea in a National park etc).

I’m a land agent so deal with rural properties. Prices have absolutely rocketed since lockdown. We saw a dilapidated small holding in Wales with a guide of £90,000 sell for nearly £400,000.

I would recommend a Facebook group called ‘Farms, Crofts, Smallholdings, Farm Lands and Forests For Sale.’ People quite often post farms for sale that aren’t advertised. Also the website UK Land and Farms is a good place to look.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90848998#/

Would you move to Northern Ireland? Look at this beauty. 5 acre plot, right next to a massive National Trust country park, handy to a decent size town.

www.johnminnis.co.uk/property/strangford/jmcjmc19024/74-castleward-road/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110303288#/

If you can move anywhere in the country, try rural Wales (Mid- or North-West probably cheapest). Prices have gone up a bit because of people doing more WFH and moving out of cities but it's still a long way from millionaire territory, particularly if you're happy with a smaller house and/or a doer-upper.

We live in Northern Ireland and for 450k got a 5 bed detached with a gate cottage, 5 acres of land included its own substantial wooded area, 20 mins outside Belfast with views of mountains and fields. We viewed one for 600k which was a stunning posh country house but this one had the best gardens and location. It's got no character but we love it.

My in laws looked at the house at strangford posted above but didn't like the house itself so bought similar across the lough.

Downsides: less diversity (we are from outside London and this was a bit of a shock), house much more expensive to run (oil fuel, loads of maintenance everywhere), lower wages (we lucked out as DH kept his GB wage during a transfer of location).

Generally though, we love it. DD gets a bus to school from round the corner. I'm currently sat outside on my patio, not overlooked by anyone, listening to a cacophony of birds and sheep bleating.

www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-110533208.html

[quote 110APiccadilly]www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-110533208.html[/quote]
Although that's possibly more of a doer-upper than you were thinking of!

I live on a semi rural 20 year old housing estate near Winchester. Surrounded by fields and farms but I do have 4 very quiet neighbours.

8 years ago we paid 355k for this house. 4 bed 4 bath. I love it

We live rurally. It was more expensive than buying a house on an estate. We have a smaller house than we would have got for the same money and it was a fixer upper but we have some land and can't see another house. Neighbours are a short walk down the lane so there are other humans but at a distance.

I wouldn't swap it for the world so do whatever it takes to make the dream happen

Dorset:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108556415#/

Lincolnshire countryside is lovely (if you can ignore the Tory bias/Brexit loopers). Lincoln itself is a fantastic city and you can get to London in just over an hour from Grantham. It is proper working countryside, so don't expect the rural idyll all the time - farm machinery is loud and farmers work well into the night at some times of the year because they have to, not just to keep everyone awake with clanking machinery. Do your research about access to schools and healthcare. We are about 45 minutes from a decent hospital with a fully functioning A&E. It's a very long way in an emergency. It is beautiful countryside though.

@dreamsofacres

There are so many reasons I want to live in the country. The main one is that I crave privacy and peace. A house with no neighbours. Don't care about the state it's in, a fixer upper would suit me fine. But around my area were talking millions. Any plots of land for sale come split in half so you have a direct next door neighbour. I'm seriously looking at doing it in about 5 years when the DCs are no longer at nursery and we don't have fees. I own a house now but I don't think it would grow too much in equity. I just can't see a way of doing it without winning the lottery. I'm trying to get myself in the best financial position possible and have started doing prolific , but no joy on Appen or anything else.

Depends where you want to be. I come from the New Forest. You really need a lot of money there for ‘country’.

I bought a house in Norfolk, truly remote. £165k for a 3 bed.

There are much cheaper areas like Wales, Lincolnshire or Scotland for example. Prices have gone up a lot since lockdown, but I think quite a lot of people who have moved to the country will want to move back in 12 months or so nice the novelty wears off. And prices may become more sensible!

Agree. I have a couple of friends who have their eye on areas in my part of north Scotland but are praying and doing the Snow Dance for a really cold, hard winter to see houses come back on the market next spring for a lot less

I'll sell you a rural house on the Cumbrian coast for 100k if you want. Save me doing it up 😁

Wales? Scotland?

Depends what part of the country.

We have a house and 20 acres with outbuildings.

It cost us 320k and we certainly ain't millionaires, not remotely close.