What things about a rural property do I need to consider?

[Jinglebellsarenearlyhere]

So after 30 years of city life we are moving to the country. I am househunting this weekend and want to think of all the questions I need to ask / invesitage that are specific to rural life.

So far I have - time of last bus, location of taxi firm, check type of farmland that surrounds property, what type of heating / sewage / power, what is the mobile phone signal like / what are the internet facilities.

Can you think of any others?

What type of farmland that surrounds the house is kind of by-the-by OP. If it's arable then most farmers grow crops on a rotation so it will change every year (usually between 3-5 crops), if it's currently pasture land you can't guarantee it will remain so.
Is there something in particular about the type of farmland that concerns you? My DH is a farmer and I'm pretty au fait so I can prob answer any queries.

People/delivery drivers/tradespeople beig able to find our house is the main issue we have here as the postcode covers such a wide area and most end up at the opposite end of our farm drive which is a mile away! I regularly have phone calls from lost delivery fri era and have to direct them!

I grew up in a village which was very rural. Broadband signal is rubbish and my parents have oil fired heating so find out about heating and costs. They only have buses once or twice a week or have to walk a few miles to the main bus stop. You'll drive everywhere so if you have DC expect to drive them everywhere too.

Don't be fooled into thinking that because BT have put high speed through the whole village, passing within 100 metres of your front door, that you will necessarily get it too...

Check out your neighbours very carefully. Speak to other people in the nearest village to find out all you can. Farming folk can be a little strange

No offence meant to the lovely Clarefraser and her lovely dh.

Oooh, I forgot about badgers. Nasty bastards.

Everyone knows each other's business and no one forgets anything!

Look out or should say listen out for bird bangers or gas guns, as they're known.

Them frickin things can drive you insane! From 6am til late, every day, for months at a time.

Childcare.
If there is a local hunt or shoot causing mayhem on the lanes on certain days.
Social life -taxi costsAbility to get to dr's.
Emergency services attendance times.

I agree you need a power cut supplies box and good water carriers -when the water is off its tricky to get water back along bumpy tracks when the standpipe is two miles away.You will,in a sparsely populated area,be the last to be re connected.

Outdoor lighting.

Joy riders -are there lots of car burn outs left blocking access.Or fly tipping for that matter.

Mud.Be prepared for mud.

If the garden of your dream house is surrounded by arable fields, beware that several times a year the farmer will be spraying all kinds of scary chemicals over those crops which will inevitably drift into your garden.

Get a big freezer so that you can keep stocked up on milk, bread etc, as you will no longer be able to quickly nip to the shop if you run out.

Agree with vetting your neighbours very carefully!

Also check on power outages. For the first 5 or 6 years we lived here we used to get power cuts really frequently. Not usually of very long duration, just long enough to kill your computer, lose all the work that you were doing, and knock out all the timers etc everywhere in the house.

If you have children, accept that you will be driving them EVERYWHERE.

And don't forget the mud. For about 9 months of the year.

If you have a very large garden you may need a ride on mower.
Check any trees surrounding the property.

Still wouldn't swap it though.

It is a slower pace of life.

Oh yes, forgot to mention joy riders. They can be a feature of rural life, on occasion accompanied by a police helicopter.

And yes to flies and mice. Flies in the summer, then mice as soon as it turns chilly.

Also, other forms of wildlife murdering each other as you sit down to enjoy a nice summer evening in the garden.

Mice and spiders. Plentiful and large. Don't do it if you are bothered by either.

Is there a lot of cut through traffic using the lanes like racetracks?
Lane flooding and fords.
Alternative routes should the nearest main road be closed.

I would agree that heating issues are by far the biggest thing to consider though,and,if you only have one car,how you get to work should that break down.
Also the fact that you'll drive more yet it'll be harder to opt for an economical vehicle ic the lanes aren't gritted (which they won't be....)

Its great though -honest

Security.
Isolated doesn't necessarily mean safe.It can mean the ability to work undisturbed by passers by.

Do check the address on google maps - our rural road name was marked incorrectly on google maps and therefore on every delivery driver's satnav. They were all angry by the time they eventually found us having got lost and then failed to reach me on his mobile due to no signal!
When checking bus times remember to check whether they run at weekends and time of last one back from town. Also is it a county council subsided service as they are in danger of being cut.

Positives - being cut off is fun as long as you keep a well stocked freezer and store cupboard, including long life milk, bread flour and plenty of batteries and torches in case of power cuts. Some form of non-electric heater is useful too.

If you have no gas,power cuts are even more interesting.
I recommend a camping stove or gas bbq.
In this situation an open fire,or,preferably,a woodburner, is worth its weight in gold.

If you are in woodland you may not get a sky signal.

We lived in a city till we were early forties then moved first to somewhere slightly rural then in 2011 at the age of 44 to a rural hamlet as DH had always wanted to live in the countryside.

Didn't do it for me, although it had its good points.

For me the issues were (in no particular order) -

Badgers and moles ruining the very large lawn - one night I nearly shit myself when a badger shot from one side of the garden to the other whilst I was out admiring the stars!

Blooming enormous house spiders - everywhere, but usually on the ceiling over my side of the bed.

Knowing you could run out of oil at any time - got a Guardman guage to sort this.

The most nosey neighbours ever - knew everyone's business and made up all sorts of crap about people, including us no doubt!

No footpaths - so taking your life in your hands from speeding drivers when dog walking.

Bloody HGV drivers driving through unsuitable roads, wrecking the surface and Fix My Street not having the desired effect - think flaming Wilts council at fault there though!

Broadband and mobile fairly crap - not so good when running a business from home as we do.

Now living in a village right on the edge of a city and so far we've encountered non of the above.....

Horses for courses though!

When I moved from central London the things I missed the most were convenience stores - I had a 5 mile round trip to the nearest corner shop and 14 miles to the supermarket. I also missed pavements - I had 2 children under 3 and traffic can be lethal on country lanes. Initially I found the pitch black at night and relative silence unnerving especially when I was on my own.

I have now moved into a village

Mobile phone coverage - I only have it in one small area of the front garden.
Broadband - no fast broadband til 2019 here.
Secondary schools - children in our village have to catch the bus as early as 7 15am to get to school.

Primary school - lots of village primaries have mixed year groups, 1 local primary only has 45 children
Shooting - a popular past time here. Some people complain about the noise when there is a local shoot. My neighbour has a small arsenal of shotguns and will hang dead birds from his garage.
Flooding - all the roads out of our village flood several times a year so are impassable at times unless you own a 4 x 4
Crops - if rapeseed is planted behind your house, you are likely to have extreme hay fever. At harvest all the rats and mice will be looking for a new home. It is also unpleasant when the crops are sprayed as their is a chemical drift.
Chickens - if your neighbours keep chicken, the smell may drift. Chickens attract rats. Some people with chickens have a cockerel.
Driving - you are likely to spend a lot of your time driving.
Facilities - things like gyms, swimming pools and cinemas are likely to be some distance away.

Oh and if it's thatched, when was the roof/ridge done?

Ours was a thatch and it had a very strong smell - especially in damp or very hot conditions.

Also agree with previous poster about flies in Summer.....never seen so many indoors in my life!

gauge

Is the property listed.
Is the garden manageable or will you need to factor in for a landscaper or gardener.
Is there a landfill nearby.Or a quarry.Or a farmyard being used for a haulier to operate his hgv fleet from.Or a massive caravan park.
Is there a fracking site nearby or a proposal for one.
Could you defend the property easily in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
Refuse collections -wheelbarrowing your rubbish up a dirt track with quite a gradient for 7am is a pita.

Another point.
Dirt track = mudbath for about 10 months of the year.
Delivery drivers will get stuck.The truck sent out to rescue the delivery driver will get stuck.
You will end up feeding sandwiches to stranded people in your kitchen,and letting them use your loo till the farmer comes with his tractor to pull them both out.

Where will your teenage children get jobs? Can you afford driving lessons, insurance & cars for each of your offspring; and is there somewhere for each of them to park?

Check where your oil tank is relative to the road; could someone park up their truck in an inconspicuous spot to easily empty your tanker without being observed (some tanks come with locks, though).

Where's the nearest sewage works?