AIBU to want to move to a coastal area?

[Coffeeandtats]

We recently had a fantastic holiday on the Norfolk coast, stayed in an amazing house (bigger and more spacious than our own home) in a lovely village. Could walk to the beach and do coastal walks with the dog, few little shops in the village, pub and a Chinese - was amazing.

Husband is due to start a fully WFH job so in theory we could move anywhere in the UK we could possibly think of.

I would love to move from our home in the SE to the Norfolk coast, but DH won’t have any of it as he’s worried about coastal erosion and the rising sea levels with global warming etc etc. Flood risks and the possibility of our new home being worth bugger all.

My argument is surely if that happens, everyone in that area is in the same boat so the powers that be will have to do something? Insurance will have to do something? I don’t know but I feel he has a valid point but if you start looking at future flood risks and projections for sea levels in 50years time, surely half the UK will have this problem, so why not move somewhere we really want to be in the meantime?

AIBU to think we should plough our savings and then some into the coastal home of my dreams? Does DH have a point that long term we’d be storing up future problems?

I grew up by the sea in Dublin and now live in a coastal town in NI. I can just about see the sea from my house and walk along the coast as often as I can. I would never move inland.

However, moving to somewhere you have no ties based on a holiday would be a big call approaching madness. Living by the coast doesn't have to mean tourist town and it doesn't have to mean remote or rural either.

Your DH is absolutely right about the terrible coastal erosion in Norfolk OP.

If you can even get insurance on threatened property it will be eye wateringly expensive and you'd need to read and understand every word of the small print.

There are lots of Norfolk coastal properties up for sale at really low prices...........

I live in a small coastal/fishing town and wouldn't live anywhere else. Easy commuting distance for London and close to other large towns too.

it's a thriving and affluent town so we don't suffer from an off season lull. It can be just as busy here on a sunny February weekend as it is in the summer. We have lots of lovely independent shops and restaurants and our high street Is always full of life whatever the weather.

I love hearing the fog horns in the distance as I find them atmospheric in the same way I think church bells are. Even our seagulls are well behaved.

Being able to always go for a walk by the sea is really important to me and lockdown here was so much easier because we could spend our daily hour of exercise walking along the beach.

This sounds so lovely!

There are loads of places on the Norfolk coast where you can live within a v short stroll to the beach but avoid the risk of flooding or falling over an eroded cliff.

However.

Spend 2 weeks there in February. Consider the distance to the (not good) N&N or Kings Lynn hospitals. The lack of public transport. Even a lack of taxis. If schools are important to you, think very carefully.

I would look at other places too. Coastal erosion is a big thing - if you don't get it visit Dunwich - in the 1400 this place was the size of London.
Even if you can get insurance/compensation do you have any idea of the emotional cost of seeing your home disappear into the sea?
If you want to live near the sea then look on coasts less prone to erosion. Also weigh up whether living a few miles in land is just as good. And visit at lots of different times of year.

Agree with the above comments, plus, if people were actually going to do anything about coastal erosion...erm, we would have reduced carbon emissions drastically some decades ago and wouldn't be in this situation now! So no, realistically, not much is going to be done about it. It might be lovely living by the sea for a while, but the property might lose it's value if coastal erosion and flooding are issues, so it wouldn't be so good in terms of future prospects and leaving something for your children.

I think your dh is right to be concerned. Nothing to suggest the government and insurance will bale you out either. Google Hapisburgh and see how sad it is for residents there. If you really want coastal pick west coast with harder rocks

I live on a village a mile inland from the coast. Its the best of both worlds in my opinion, as we don't suffer so much with the dreaded sea fret that clings to the NE coast of England here so much in the summer, but I'm only a 5 minute drive away from the beaches.

Like a PP, I also love hearing the foghorns. I find them strangely comforting on a dark, misty winters night. All the boats also blare their horns on the quayside at midnight on NYE.

All the boats in the docks at Liverpool do this on NYE as well - it's a great thing to hear!

We moved to East Suffolk 18 months ago and haven't regretted it at all. Although we had stayed there lots of times in summer, when we started looking at houses we visited lots of places in January to make sure that we knew what they were like in winter. Some places we ruled out immediately becayse they were just dead in winter.

We're now in a small market town with lots going on, a few miles from the coast but on a tidal estuary, which is great for river walks. We've got a railway station, cinema, pubs cafes and restaurants. A secndary school thats rated Outstanding.

No regrets whatsoever. But do visit in the winter!!!

Curious, where do you live?

Hmm some good points
In reality it is something that’s unlikely to happen. Although I have thought about it a fair bit, I don’t work myself as I’m a carer for our disabled son so moving away from the little family support we do have probably isn’t a good idea. On the other hand, caring for him in a beautiful coastal environment would be much nicer than caring for him in town!
A decent special needs school would be a must however and although I did find one near Norwich, it’s a big gamble to move from our local authority where we have some support in place with no idea if the new local authority would deem it worthwhile to continue the same level of support.

Perhaps the AIBU should have been more along the lines of “why aren’t more people worried about flood risk / coastal erosion when they’re buying or living in coastal areas” and to that end, would us moving there be considered that much of a risk…

Thanks for all the comments however as it’s given me some good things to look into if we did decide to relocate elsewhere in the UK

Come and have a look around East Suffolk, maybe move a little inland to avoid sea levels rising and/or erosion worries... but still an easy drive to the sea... it's beautiful!

Hello @bethepeace , sounds like you're in my neck of the woods!

OP, if you have a child with additional needs, I would think long and hard before moving away from support networks.

In terms of coastal erosion, we've moved to a small town on an estuary, not the coast. We're very close to the river but had no problem getting insurance.

I can comment well having lived all over London and Brighton too. Can confirm Worthing is a great place if you want:
-A lovely quiet beach-
Beautiful countryside and walking nearby-
Friendly community, quite diverse and queer friendly
-Very good cafes restaurants pubs and bars (both traditional and also natural wines bars and small plates etc, craft breweries for a bit of pizazz)
-Two great cinemas and theatres
-Good schools
-Leafy parks
-Decent town centre with walkable shops
-Three train stations(!) and an easy enough commute straight to Victoria/East Croydon/Clapham
-Decent parking (especially compared to Brighton)
-And affordable homes! I bought my three bedroom house in a good area for only 30k more than my one bedroom flat in Brighton-For us it's been a no brainer and we love it, we're in our 30s and lots of our friends are following suit.
-Best areas: Check it out in person. Personally we're near the station on a leafy nice street, Tarring (West) is also desirable. But the best way to ascertain is to go and walk around

From experience, coastal areas are very different in winter to how they are in summer.

They are bleak and a lot of places won’t be open.

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