to move to a cottage with 5 acres in the country, 8 miles to the nearest shop

[Anotheremptynester]

I am 65.

I have always lived in London and have now found a place in the country. Family say I am crazy as too old and will find it too hard once the novelty wears off, but I am seriously looking at buying it. Its a small house but surrounded by lots of land.
Has anyone done the same or AIBU?

We moved out at 65. I'm relieved we did because I'm waiting for two new hips. Husband waiting for a new knee. It's wonderful until it isn't any more

Well right now after storm floris, our wooded area will need several days of work with a chainsaw to sort out and that’s just 30 trees.

Well in winds like we've just had, realistically you have to plan for fallen trees and ensure you remove trees so you don't get a domino effect.

I have friends in a property like this and they were trapped in their own land.

Everything beyond a certain distance from the house isn't covered by insurance.

It feels quite an extreme change. If you don't need the land would you not be better with a different property?

Personally I'd like access to a village. Country lanes in the snow and dark can be limiting to social activities. I live pretty rurally but enjoy walking a couple of miles to the shop/pub etc. I would hate to live in such a beautiful place and then have to drive everywhere.

We had two chainsaws. Dry stone walling needs maintenance

Pigs do a great job of keeping woodland in check

Have you ever looked after chickens before? Grown veg?

If not you have no idea of the sheer HARD WORK involved and expense - chickens get sick and injured and will need veterinary attention.
Where there are chickens there are rats.
They smell. Really smell. Cleaning up their shit is a nasty stinky job that has to be done often and thoroughly.

Even just growing veg is real work. Endless weeding, back breaking digging over.

I think you should rent for a year to get a feel of the Reality of living rurally.

Agree about growing veg, it's a fucking pain in the arse

See now I find chickens easy. We currently have 20 and they don’t smell of you put their house and pen an acre away! They get cleaned out once a week which takes me about ten mins. Mine have never been to the vet or needed it. They are rescue chickens who live out their old age free ranging with us. We currently have chicks but my dh was raised on a poultry farm so he gives them vaccinations.
Oh and while we get field mouse, I’ve never seen a rat. Rats aren’t all that common in the countryside. They like people!

But having dogs and cats everywhere keeps on top of predators and vermin.

No chance for me.
I live in a very busy, built up, industrial area, where public transport is shit. You can't get buses past 10pm (and they only go along the main roads, so could mean an extra mile or 2 to walk). Taxis rare. Uber is what they have in those fancy places.

I'm in my 40s, but I still chose to live in an area where I can at least walk to a shop (even when injured) and I'm about 10-15 minutes from a bus stop.

I don't think you really appreciate how good transport is, until you have to find ways around it. I lived in a city during uni and it was a revelation to be able to walk almost anywhere and be able to get buses or trains, instead of having to work it all out in advance.

Friends of ours when 65 and 67 moved from our local town to a massive big Victorian house with a very big garden - 5 years later they still love it. But they do find the garden a chore at times - and are talking about getting help in to do some of the grunt work.

Part of it is wooded and that does still take upkeep - they've had to have some unsafe trees felled.

They have a bus stop 5 minutes walk away and come into town using that. One still drives and the other probably shouldn't but does sometimes. They are both very active and I can see them remaining that way (all thing being equal) for a long time.

My in laws are coming up to 80 this year and both still do all their own gardening, a lot of maintenance, drive (well and safely). Only now are they thinking of downsizing and getting a smaller garden. They buy in some help for the hedges and pruning.

I'm 68 OP and was born and bred in the countryside. I think you're being extremely unrealistic and looking through rose tinted spectacles. Surely you can find a happy medium between the big city and the Goode Life. Managing woodland and 5 acres of land is going to be impossible without paid help which will prove very expensive and potentially unreliable. It's become increasingly difficult to find "odd job" men, so you'll probably end up calling on a professional tree surgeon/landscape company. You say the pub will be your social life, but it's very hard to integrate into rural life and it's probably a gastro pub full of families from the city anyway! I honestly think this is unwise. Buy somewhere with a manageable garden and a bus stop/shops/doctors within easy reach without going to this extreme.

I think the thing is that you just don’t know.

My father was completely healthy and one day fainted; because it was unexplained he suddenly couldn’t drive for 6 months. I think he was in his early 70s at the time. (He did get back to driving after that, but those 6 months would have been difficult if he’d lived rurally)

My mother doesn’t drive, but physically would find it difficult now in her 70s even if she did.

OTOH I know people who are still competent drivers in their late 80s.

But I would say I know of more people in their 70s and 80s who have had (or should have had) temporary or permanent time off the road than who haven’t.

This!!

Thank you everyone, its been an amazing thread I have read it all and have plenty to think about. As a Londoner I had many of the same worries about distance and being ill etc but I dont think this is remote in the sense of middle of nowhere when I can get in a taxi or order food. But yes my kids arent happy as they cant stay at mine overnight when they want to visit London. That is sad in a way.

The comment about deer does explain why the current owners have 5 acres but no raised beds!!

I'm 55 and live on 3 acres and am 5 miles from a basic shop. I'm heavily reliant on DH to keep on top of the paddocks/fences/fallen trees/septic tank/leaves/ hedges/drain issues to be honest. I look after the house, horses and garden.

I'd happily move to 5 acres of woodland as long as I upskilled my chainsaw skills and learnt to drive the mini tractor BUT I love living rurally, have done for over 80% of my life and have no real need to see people each day. Don't mind being snowed or flooded in at home, and no power is ok for a few days. Happy with my dogs and ponies.

Don't underestimate how hard it is to meet people and make friends rurally in a new area. Most of my friends are horsey or the neighbouring farmers. I don't know how I'd have got on if I didn't have horses as a mutual interest.

You will have to learn to get deliveries and plan shopping extremely well as otherwise that's half the day gone each time you leave home. The rest of the time will be spent on maintenance. If you have animals you'll struggle to get housesitters and not be able to get away much. You'll watch the weather forecast all the time, especially for wind. Flies live in woods, so don't think you'll be sitting on a tree stump in the evenings as you'll be bitten to bits.

I think some of the responses you have had are a bit over the top OP. I can never understand the near hysteria which the mere mention of a septic tank can provoke on here for instance. And 8 miles from the nearest supermarket is hardly isolated.I doubt that it's 8 miles of uninhabited tundra. From some of the replies you'd think you were suggesting moving to a shack in deepest Siberia.
However, I do think that you are probably underestimating the work that the land will require. Some friends of ours who are a similar age to you have just sold their small holding. They're super fit run a half marathon before breakfast types who have lived there for over 30 years, growing their own fruit and veg and rearing a small number of animals but they feel they're getting a bit old for it now. Or rather they're ok now but know the writing is on the wall and they want to downsize in a controlled manner rather than get into the situation where they actually can't cope. They do have more land than you're thinking of getting but a)there's 2 of them and b)they are very experienced. I think 5 acres of land could turn out to be something of an albatross round your neck given your lack of experience.
I suspect that you've seen a house that you have fallen in love with and are trying to convince yourself that the downsides aren't significant- something that many of us have done at some point I'm sure! But there will be other houses. Don't let your heart rule your head and rush into something that you may well later regret. Moving to the country isn't necessarily a bad idea but jumping into purchasing this particular property probably is. Find an area that appeals and rent for a while. If you like it, start house hunting with the advantage of some local knowledge and find somewhere that you're likely to be able to manage in at least the medium term. If you don't like it it will be relatively easy to move on.

😂Proper made me laugh!

It’s a bit like these property shows where people go mad over the views and the big plots of land and the lovely big rooms without seeing that this means more maintenance and cleaning and relatives and friends may not want to visit you when it’s a long drive or your not close to public transport etc. May not be an issue for you op, but I don’t think people sometimes see the bigger picture especially if they are not used to that environment and used to having amenities around them. Although I can see the appeal of not having neighbours close by !

Maybe you could sell the land on if it gets too much ( thinking ahead ) but not sure how practical that is or doable.

My parents did this in their early 60s and it’s been great for 15 years. They are now 78 and 75 and it is now an utter pain in the arse, they are starting to have health problems. Both will be losing their driving licences in the next couple of years, so they will have to move.

Rural bus services disappear overnight, do not depend on them being there in a years time, let alone when you’re 80.

Where is your nearest A&E/Major hospital? Budget for cabs to and from if you can’t drive. Mums is about an hour away and it’s between £90-100 return. if you are having lots of a appointments or treatments it gets expensive very fast if you have no one to take you.

Mobile Phone Signal- is there one?

Broadband - are you in the network or are you looking at Satellite Broadband?

Are there any neighbours? Honestly it really doesn’t hurt to have some in an emergency.

Does the local pharmacy deliver? At least online ones exist now so not such a problem but handy in an emergency.

Land - who is maintaining it?

So just be prepared that you might have to move again at some point. But I do get the attraction to doing it :)

@Anotheremptynester snow snow snow!!!! snow tends to lie longer in rural areas!!! difficult to walk in deep snow. dont rely on the buses either!! I was able to catch 2 buses, one being 2 fields away and the other being right across the road from the house! that was 2 buses per day!! there was only one bus back from town though and the time spent in town was only 30 minutes so it wasnt worth it!! I couldnt drive!

Lord both me and my husband are trying to convince both sides parents to move from rurally to closer to town for all the reasons people have listed above for you. I live rurally but am in my mid 40's we have 30 acres here with land for stock to graze aswell as parts of it woodland. You ask how much hard work is it - believe me it is. The last storm in winter caused us to loose about 10 trees and a month of constant cutting up trees and pulling them out etc. MIL lives on 6 acres, mid 80's and not able to do much, husband spends at least one days a week maintaining her land and she also pays people to do bits aswell. Even we walked around with the dogs yesterday on our pwn land and have spotted 5 trees that are dead that we need to cut down - two are near electric poles so need to do before winter in case we have another storm, or else they can fall and cause electric faults. We have to drive everywhere, we do have shopping delivers, but no buses, what little busses we had have been culled. Lucky MIL still drives but wouldn't it be great if she lived somewhere she could walk to ? Old neighbours of ours are in their 70's and have just moved from rural to outside town, went to see them recently and they said to me they wish they did it sooner, live in a bungalow, very small garden but its manageable, bus stop outside door, doctors 10 mins down road, Hospital 20 mins away. Tesco deliveries plus takeaways. House is a bungalow, only three bed but living area big enough to take all families when they are there. Land is a tie and full on matainence - think long and hard about it

How are your reversing skills-we did a lot to allow hay lorries/tractors to go past.

um terrible, I drive around the block to avoid parallel parking!

Our local authority has granted permission to build a new swimming pool slap bang opposite our flat on what is currently an ugly car park.
We can’t wait! It’s due to be completed in 2027. We’ll be able to go to and fro in our dressing gowns if we’re so inclined 😁

Keeping 5 acres looking nice is a lot of work. If it's mosly treed that's probably not as bad but you would still need to look for invasive weeds, clear up downed trees, maintain fences if fenced. How big is the yard? Will you hire someone? If it's big will you get a ride on mower?

I grew up on farms and people underestimate up keep of land. You can do minimal up keep but it will look run down in a few years.

How are you feeling about things now OP, after consideration?