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?

IS THERE A PUB THAT SERVES NICE FOOD IN WALKING DISTANCE? [GRIN]

Sorry for the shouting, can't believe it's not on here already!

Its worth stocking a few doomsday preppers stores.
Any local village you can get to in the event of snow/fuel strikes will have run out of anything almost instantly as everyone panic shops.

Good point about the mud. Ditto huge puddles/ponds/fords across the road which don't clear because the council don't come and clear the land drains often enough.

I grew up in the country & this thread is giving me serious nostalgia! I had forgotten about stuff like having a proper power cut emergency kit, and cooking on the camping stove when we lost power for days after the 1987 storm.

My village was about 4 miles from a small town so there was no issue with getting tradespeople out to us but some relatives of mine have moved to a much more isolated place and are having real issues with this - nobody will come out to them. Also if your village has a pub/shop/bus service don't assume it will always be there! We didn't even get notice when the bus service in our village was cut suddenly and the last bus went at 5 instead of 6 - I was sat at the bus station in our local town on a Friday night waiting for a bus that never showed up!

Finally - if you don't like spiders or badgers or moles perhaps try getting to like them? I was raised in a wildlife loving family (hence why we lived in the country) and I am a proper tree hugger and lover of creepy crawlers. Having mice or rats in your own home, I'll concede, is not so nice, but that can be dealt with.

evidently there are villages and villages! We have tarmac to the door so I expect we don't really count.

Flooding is an issue in my area (although not here) so do your homework.

LPG gas stove solves the cooking in a power cut problem - just keep a box of matches handy.

Flooding.

OP are you sure you want to move?

Oh, I see we've done flooding but it's worth repeating.

Rural properties are a keen target for outlying zombies.

Expect power cuts. They will happen. Still can be romantic.

I've moved from a terrace to a bungalow and boy, is this house cold! Obviously four walls to the elements but also the bedrooms don't have the advantage of rising heat from downstairs. On the plus side we have garden on all sides.

But in most of the south of England 'rural' doesn't really mean back of beyond anymore (certainly not in Devon, anyway). I live in a village but main roads mean supermarket is only 10 mins away. But no bus service so everyone drives.

Yeah but chockbic it's safer from a zombie perspective in the first place. By the time they reach you in a rural location they might have found a cure. Plus you can pick them off with your shotgun as they approach across the fields.

Will you have any shared access/lane issues with your neighbours?

I can't stress enough how important it is to find out about your neighbours, particularly if you share a lane or boundaries with them.

Make sure you have a really good solicitor to ensure your access interests are well defined and protected.

We've found that lots of things "have always been done this way" and our neighbours expect us to continue to go along with it, and get very upset if we question it, or try and do it differently.

I've been watching The Walking Dead for some tips. And to get my eye in

We have oil and septic tank. A good woodburner has reduced oil costs hugely (except this year when its been cheaper to rul oil! Either way we're warm!!) and we've been here for nearly 5 years and never had to touch the spetic tank.
Lots of good advice here, good luck with the move, you'll love it!

Hahaha at time of last bus and location of taxi service. We have a bus on a Tuesday to one big town, a bus at 0730 to other big town, comes back at 1800 by different route, and the school bus at 0830 to other market town, on way back to another market town at 1600 (i.e. none of them any use for anything and they cost a lot). Taxis won't serve us as they can't get fares in opposite direction.

Def worth being on mains sewerage if possible, round here septic tanks are a nightmare due to high water table. Def worth being on gas as oil prices so volatile/have to buy up front in large quantities/runs out/gets stolen. But if the house you want doesn't have these then you'll have to put up, thousands of us do.

More important/useful is a repair garage in the village, very useful. And swing park.

Broadband is always a problem but we have put a satellite dish on the roof which seems to have solved it for now, but it isn't cheap.

We don't have mains water, and our water is lovely. Bills are less than for mains, we get it tested every couple of years.

Lots of mud in winter though, so not a place for the house proud.

Dogs are a plus as they tell you when anyone comes near the house.

Check out school catchments and transport before you move. You may not get a choice of schools.

Living in the country is much harder work than living in town and you either love it or you don't.

Lots has been covered already...

Check crime figures - I have heard of far more break ins in my rural village than I ever heard of when living in the city (maybe people talk more). You will need a good alarm particularly if you are buying large/relatively expensive property

Try and get a feel for what the roads are like at different times of the day and on weekends. Some can be rat runs morning and evening and then given over to large packs of cyclists on weekends.

Noise can travel a fair distance so proximity to a good pub isn't necessarily a good thing - especially if it has a popular beer garden. Also good pubs can turn into bad pubs remarkably quickly. Can equally apply to sociable neighbours who like to host all night parties.

Schools are a whole separate issue....

I'm surrounded by trees - I'm not going to be able to see the zombies coming am I!?

I'll have to raise this at the next parish council meeting, maybe suggest some kind of zombie early warning system.

We're in the middle of woodland too. The brambles will slow them down at least.

Oh yes - taxis, don't assume they will come out to you and if they will then check how long you have to book ahead. Ditto takeaway drivers and delivery drivers (the number of times I get a phone call saying we couldn't find your house).

Dont buy any house thats called Glebe cottage/house/lands anything.. You may find you have to pay ££££s for church repairs (it might not even be a church anywhere nearby) .

Check if anyone has right of way or access over your land or if you have to cross theres.. , potential probs

Can you put up with Foxes, badgers, moles, rats, rabbits , deer hawks owls etc etc digging up your garden? or leaving half eaten wild animals on your lawn (or in your house if you have cats .). and then theres mice and bats in the house and spiders that get HUGE by the end of the summer ..

Mud on the road and stones (ive had three windscreens go from flying stones) and tractors (they go really really slow) and rural roads can also be terrifying to cycle on as some people go really fast. Also danger of horseriders on roads esp around round blind corners ..

How far is your nearest tip? ( you'll need one if you have a big garden) and when is it open..

Check the major couriers deliver to your area... they dont all to us and its a pain as many companies wont send any other way).

How far to nearest library / cinema/ decent shopping centre ( you will wasnt to use these ) ..

Will your town friends come and see you more than once? Its funny how they all say they wi,l but after one wet weekend in wellies seem to be too busy and you end up going to them all the time ..

Can you cope with rural wet weekends? (theres nowt much to do!)

But despite all of those things I love living rural

Aha.. so may people have mentioned the Mud .. Yes lots and lots of lovely mud ( often mixed with undefined animal poo) on t e roads in the house , inth ecar everywhere .. (you come to not care so much)

We dont get them here , but when we lived in Wales we were plagued by low flying military aeroplanes on manouvers.. several times a day .. Make sure you are not in a test zone

Oh but what is utterly disgusting is Fox shit.. (especially as some dogs just love to roll in it )

You won't be able to let off fireworks.

(In case that's high on your list)

Brambles!
and lack of takeaways ( but i can cook a mean curry now) and bake bread..

difficult when you are older /less mobile or disabled

Still wouldnt move back (.. ok well might when im older but not yet)

I love this thread! Makes me miss my Yorkshire Dales village cottage like crazy. :(

We don't let off fireworks as there is livestock around and we don't want to frighten them.

Argos won't deliver here haha.