Buying in Suffolk

[user1499695642]

Hi there

So I'm thinking of buying in Suffolk (first time buyer) in the next 18 months or so.

I'd like some advice as to where to live. I'll be on my own (with no dependants).

I really want to experience living 'in the country'. I spend too much time pouring over magazines like Countryliving, visiting NT sites, villages etc. I currently live in a commuter town in Herts (10K population?). It's far too built up here - too much traffic and concrete. It also feels like there's little history or character which is something I appreciate in a place.

Criteria:

I'd prefer a house with character but pref not thatched. (I literally could not in something horrendously ugly). I'm happy petrifying a house though.
2 beds - house, not flat
garden
good public transport connections (I would like to be near cambridge/norwich/ipswich). I literally hate driving so only want to do small journeys.
Near to cultural and landscape sites.
I don't want somewhere too isolated - somewhere good for a 'first trial' of country life

I ideally don't want to be more than an hour away from ipswich (work).

BUDGET: £175K MAX (pref under). I know it's not a lot. This is why I need help!!

Lawford or Manningtree are just over the border into Essex. Manningtree is one stop from Ipswich on the train and it takes about 10 minutes. Your budget is fairly low for the area but there's this one-bed house on Lawford Dale: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67487858.html which is at the top end of your budget.

I just thought it was pretty from the front and you seemed to like the idea of Beccles. Hello, my name is Flash, and I'm addicted to house hunting

Hahaha, Flash - same!

It is a pretty house and I can think of all the things I would do to make it pretty!

Climbing plants, pastel shades, bunting, period bathroom suits

Beccles has a really cool Choral Society if you like singing

There's actually not that much for sale at the moment but if you include sold STC in a Rightmove search, you can see the type of thing that comes up in that price bracket.

That house is on one of the roads into town and very close to the centre, it's okay but mixed fast food/shops/residential - probably the best of what's available at the moment though.

What about Sudbury?

Sudbury looks lovely - I love the fact it has two stately homes just outside and a museum on Gainsborough.

Despite having a train station, it seems a bit isolated? Any thoughts?

I wouldn't live in central Lowestoft. We're on outskirts (hi RebeccaJane, fellow neighbour?) but I'd have rather stayed in
Beccles - my home from home!

You'd get a decent house for that amount of money round my way - Beccles it would be a bit smaller, and villages surrounding smaller still (they are v. posh!). I'd ideally like to live in Southwold but too expensive.

I'd say a big no to Sudbury - even though it's close to Colchester and has a reasonably quick train line to London (changing at Marks Tey) I can honestly say it's one of the more boring towns I've lived in. Long Melford down the road is lovely though (but v expensive again!).

Basically - I'd move to Beccles or Bungay

Oh gosh, what makes Sudbury boring ? I have never been there but would love to know why. I have never really lived anywhere else other than central Cambridge (renting) and approx St. Albans.

This is another question (that might deserve another thread?) but:

If you have any experience of either of the places I've lived, how does "Suffolk", or prominent places in Suffolk (e.g.Ipswich) compare? E.g. I understand Ipswich has more crime than where I currently live, commuter times into London are approx. 3 times in length.

I live in Cambridge but grew up in a village between Colchester and Ipswich and my parents now live in Hadleigh so I know Cambridge and Ipswich pretty well.

I love Suffolk and dream of retiring to a village there at some point. I don't like Ipswich though. It's not half as nice as Cambridge. But some bits have definitely improved like the marina where the old docks used to be.

Ipswich is going to feel more downmarket than Cambridge but it's not some hotbed of crime. It has some rougher streets in the centre than Cambridge does but I don't feel unsafe there.

I would look at villages a short distance from a train station which can then get you into Ipswich. One of my friends lives on the Hollesley Peninsula and drives to Melton station to get the train to Ipswich so that could work.

I love village life (were currently in a small village outside Cambridge) but don't underestimate how difficult it might be to get involved in the comunity if you're working f/t and don't have kids or a dog which are sure fire ways of meeting people!

I moved from Ipswich to Birmingham twenty years ago. It was a culture shock, Ipswich felt very provincial compared to a big city. Ipswich may have more crime compared to a village, but it's still low compared to a big city imo.
Though it pains me to say it, there is more to do in Norwich! Ipswich has lovely countryside around it but the town is a bit meh.
Are you working in the insurance industry perchance?

Leiston is excellent value for property but it doesn't have a station - it's only a 10 min drive to the station in Sax though. Saxmundham has a lot of new build estates, but it does have a station and a Waitrose

Beccles is a good place to look although some areas are really quite manky. Great little town though.

Halesworth is a great little town with a station.

I have family in Suffolk and bought a village property near Leiston last year. Good value for money and only a few miles from Aldeburgh and Snape (for culture!).

We did look at Lowestoft, tempted by the cheap property, but it is a bit rough and the traffic is terrible. If you want to travel to/from London by train it's a hell of a slow train through to Ipswich.

It might be worth investigating the villages further west towards Diss (excellent rail connection to Norwich and London). Very pretty but you would be more reliant on a car round there.

Leiston looks nice. Diss also! It's so annoying that Woodbridge is so pricey because it looks perfect Out of all the places Beccles appeals the noisy but you can't get a season ticket to Ipswich and the journey is a bit long

I would avoid Leiston also IMO. Lived in saxmundham for 12 years and Leiston is somewhere we would avoid..