To ask if you could move anywhere in the UK, where would it be?

[mioz]

Looking to relocate from Kent and have no idea where to! We’ve looked (online) all over the UK, really love Norfolk but need good transport links and also feeling drawn to Cotswolds / specifically chipping norton area. Where would you go in the UK if you could go anywhere and why?

The Wirral in a heartbeat!

I think I currently live in my dream place ( Scotland; West Coast) but the Outer Hebrides may be a contender.

Alnwick or Warkworth

I live outside the UK at present and have property in a different country. I grew up in Devon but spent most of my adulthood in London before moving overseas to work.

On retirement, we plan to move into our property, which is currently rented out. However, I am tempted to buy a nice big house in rural Devon (near my best friend, preferably) or a swanky apartment with a sea view.

@Floralnomad

Kent , so stay put . It’s perfect close to beaches / countryside / London /France .

Kent is becoming so overcrowded sadly. You’d never get a spot on the beach unless it’s pissing down with rain and quite a few places have the javelin to london now!

For context, DH can work from home but needs to be within 2 hours of london for work. I am a SAHM (made redundant during pandemic) to a newborn and 2.5 year old. Criteria is, largeish house, lots of greenery, max 2 hours from london, high street and parks within walking distance.

For a long time I'd have moved to northern Scotland, but the atmosphere there has become much more unwelcoming to "foreigners" in recent years. These days I'd probably go to the Isles of Scilly or maybe the Isle of Man, though the latter is not UK of course.

I was at the coast for a walk the other day when it was really hot and the beach was hardly busy at all , you need to stay away from the popular main spots .

Torridon
I love it so much

I'd probably go home to Norfolk. Someone mentioned Tynemouth up thread which is near where I live now and would love to live if I could afford a nice house!

This is something I often wonder about. I can’t think of anywhere really. I absolutely love where we live and think it has spoiled going away for us!! Yet we are very far from family so that’s a draw but I don’t want to go back to where I grew up (Somerset). I love Bristol, such a nice vibe, but would miss the vast countryside we have on our literal doorstep. Very tricky.

Just got back from a few days at a seaside town and it was so run down and bleak as all English seaside towns… can anyone actually name a non tacky, thriving seaside town that is still nice in the rain? 😄 genuinely need to know of one!

To answer your question I would probably revert to Bristol as it’s a brilliant city and have family there.

Guildford/west Surrey hills/West Sussex then.

Scotland. Probably Fort William. Mountains and sea, perfect.

Cumbria or North Yorkshire Dales for me 🙂 At least we can go there for the day from where we live here in Lancs.

My dream is to live on Lake Windermere but I just have the small obstacle of not having a few million quid spare. Dammit!

Surrey I love the leafiness and it has a lovely cosy feel to it. Or Manchester but again it's the leafy villages I love like didsbury or Chorlton.

@Lemons1571 ANYWHERE in the UK and you'd suggest princes risborough? Am from that area and I find it a bit drab! Would much prefer Amersham, for example which also has better schools and tube links. Loosely Row etc is nice enough but you'd need a cool million to get a decent family home (a family friend lives there in a fairly modest character property valued at £1.2m pre-pandemic)

How often does DH need to be in London, OP, and what is your house budget? Will you need state schools or private?

Currently in Northern Ireland and work (remotely) with London colleagues. If I could life anywhere in the UK it'd be the Peak District, probably Edale where you can train to Manchester or Sheffield. Not much help to you though as a good 4 hour shlep to London!

Either a remote croft with no neighbours for miles or a pad in Central London. This one would do me.

search.savills.com/property-detail/gbmorsmbs210003

Depends what you want of course, but West Wales/South West Wales for me. Mountains and beaches all within reach, not city crowded or ridiculous costs of living. Public transport is naff so car needed, but worth it.

I'm happy where I am in Cheshire but maybe I'd retire to Whitby

I’m in the Cotswolds and it is lovely. However I dream of living in the New Forest.

I am already there. East Yorkshire coast.

I would have said the highlands, as we holiday up the very top every few years, but the amount of tourists passing through, and the hostility that this is causing i think i would choose the west coast of scotland or devon.

Love where I am in Chester right on the English/Welsh border.

@mioz may I ask which part of Kent you are in? I’m considering relocating there and have never seen the beaches packed to Brighton or Bournemouth levels!