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?

Chocbic that's so nice to hear as my much loved horse died of a heart attack the only night fireworks were ever set off by a wedding nearby . I am so sure she'd have lived years longer as too odd was the only night she heard them in 15 years (v v rural Scotland) that she died

Wow! So far only the mice thing is freaking me out but I think I will just have to deal with that!

Not every rural house will have all of these issues!

We have a decent bus service (if pricey), a taxi service (because the man who runs it lives in the village), no crime.

The main thing we have to think about is food shopping. It's a 45 min drive to our nearest decent supermarket, so we have to meal plan well. And a 45 min drive (other direction) to any proper non-food shops.

Without pavements, is there a safe way to walk to a bus/ shop/ other houses? Because if not, kids are prisoners and you're a taxi!

Will supermarkets deliver to you?

And everything else folks have said.

This thread is interesting! If only I'd have asked the same question on here two years ago. We're only 35 miles from Central London but we have all the issues listed on here. Whilst it doesn't seem too bad on paper the reality is very different.

Our private road just cost the best part of 50k to resurface!

So far we've had 6 power cuts this winter and each time we've ended up camped out in a friends house or a hotel. Not much fun with two under three!

Popping to the shops involves a 10 mile journey.

You become great friends with the pest control guy, the mice move in in the autumn an never leave. The rabbits eat all your plants. And the baby will eat dead spiders.

No footpaths. Walking with a buggy on narrow roads with crazy drivers is not an option.

Are you going to be close to a church that has a bell tower? Bell ringing is lovely when you hear it occasionally on a Sunday morning, but not when there is a team of over enthusiastic amateur bell ringers who practice several nights a week for hours on end.

Is your nearest town in the same county? If not, you'll be limited in which public services you can use / libraries, schools etc.. Sports centre membership....

pancakeday as an evil bell ringer I'm surprised at that. There are pretty strict rules governing bellringing practice in terms of noise nuisance etc. I thought the rules were that you could only practice once a week for a max of 90 mins and never after 9pm? The Church of England has a hotline you can call to report any excessive noise nuisance from bells!

We practice with special silencers on other nights and when learning so that there is no sound at all from the bells.

depending how rural you are looking but you may want to think about how many buses a day rather than when the last bus is. Also - are you on a bus route?
We lived some where once with 3 buses a day. The last one getting back at 6.40 pm.

I live in the countryside between several towns. There's a bus to Barnsley twice week.

How rural?
How old are your kids?
How viable is local bus route/local shop/pub etc

Do you know where you are planning to go as questions will be different. I think we are semi rural - nearish a town with station but lots of fields. We have super fast broadband & a mobile signal booster in the house. Sometimes it isn't the area 're signal it is the house. We also have two cats that regularly bring offerings. (better than having them in the house). We also didn't buy a house next to a rape field due to the smell.

Oh & has the house got a covenant that makes you liable to contribute to church repairs (although you can get insurance for that)

Great points on this thread. We have recently moved more rurally and were prepared for everything mentioned apart from the MUD. We live at the bottom of a hill and mud literally runs past our house whenever it rains. Tractors spread it onto all local roads; fast moving vehicles spray it up the side of our house and we and the dogs are dirty every time we come inside. I even get covered in mud myself as the car is so filthy even lifting shopping or the baby in and out transfers the bloody stuff (no point in cleaning the car all winter!).

Still, we wouldn't move for the world - spring is imminent, I can see lambs from my bedroom window and I have free pheasant in the freezer!

If you have plenty of candles, an open fire and calor gas, you can get by during a power cut. But stock up on contraceptives

Stop watching horror films immediately,especially Blair Witch Project types.
It can be so dark here outside that you cannot see your feet hitting the ground when there is no moonlight so it can be quite spooky.

Or Paranormal Witness. They usually seem to have a log cabin in the woods.

Having said that,I went and watched Wrong Turn 2 yesterday.
It's not too bad to watch them in Spring with the days getting longer -a chance to forget them before enveloped in darkness again....

Keep away from The Hills Have Eyes

Are you likely to have any particular healthcare needs while you live there, and are there facilities to provide them? I'm particularly thinking of maternity and birth services, although this may or be relevant to you.

I remember a very tense live birth thread a year or two ago when the OP was somewhere very remote and the midwife couldn't get to her. I think helicopters might have been involved...

It really depends on the area, but flooding is a massive issue round here - not of propertys in general (mostly, it does happen though and some have lovely personal flood barriers), but of roads. Our bus routes have standard flood timetables, and a bridge near us floods terribly regularly. This would be OK, but it means a 20 mile detour as there aren't that many river crossings.

If looking near county boundaries, consider school patterns carefully. A friends dd currently goes to the village first school - fine, its only a mile from home. At 10, she'll go to middle school 7 miles away. At 14 (weird 3 tier system) secondary school is 15 miles away, and the bus takes forever as they wind through villages. The nearer secondary is across the county boundary, and of course, no transport provided if you choose that and no bus at sensible times.

I think I remember that one Mara.I didn't sleep well that night!

It is pretty poop when you're ill and too unwell to get to the dr's because its a long walk or car journey,that has to be said.

I have an amazingly well stocked first aid kit!

Op what did you decide? We've gone for a bolt hole ATM in an area we want to relocate to permanently when DH can find a suitable job. We also wanted to test the water to make sure we weren't making a mistake. So far so good. Recognise many of the points raised here. I am so glad we went for an interim situation before doing it lock stock and barrel. The village we are in has many people who started off like we have. What u found amazing is one couple who also live down south part if the week moaning about improved services for various reasons. Try telling that to the lady we've gotten to know whose DH couldn't get to work fit a while. He hit some sort is scooter scheme.

Drainage; septic or soak away?
Heating; likely to be oil only
Accessibility- how cut off is cut off in bad weather
Re above- what is local weather/ environment- ask would be neighbours not google- eg snow, floods etc
Check catchments for services and then hours- eg drs 7 miles away open 3 mornings only- what is next option