Living in the South West vs South-East

[Snowcookie]

Hi, I accidentally posted in Chat but this is where it's supposed to go. I'm making plans for a likely move over the next few years and was wondering if you had the choice between living in the South West of England vs the South East, which you would choose and where you would live. I'd be moving from Scotland and working from home. Budget would be around 550-600,000. Looking for sububrban-semi rural. I have no children at present so that isn't a factor.

I appreciate that they're both huge, diverse areas and I'm currently leaning towards the South-West,but I'd appreciate any opinions, and factors that I haven't taken into account when choosing.

Thank you in advance.

What do you consider to be SW?
Gloucester is an historic city, somewhat deprived but improving fast. Lovely villages around, easy access to Cotswolds and Welsh mountains, just over an hour to coast (Wells and English) just over 2 hours to London by direct train.

Wells = Welsh

I work from home. Grew up in Surrey, lived years in London and moved to Bristol. Will always stay in south west now. Easy enough to get to London and family in south east, but cheaper, slower pace, less of a stock-broker vibe, easy to get to Cotswolds/Wales/Somerset/Cornwall - a better variety of countryside with easy access. Great support for small businesses and the self-employed. I love it here.

Would definitely go SW - would only do SE if benefits work. Some parts are more remote but I love Bath and Devon especially. Can get train from Bath to London quite fast. SE prices are inflated by people needing to work in London.

Thanks to everyone who has responded since my last post.

I hadn't considered Sussex as I've been looking further South, but I'll certainly check it out as it ticks so many of my boxes.

Chichester is my current number 1 place to live in Sussex. It's reassuring to hear that it's just as good as I'd hoped. I'm still looking at other areas though, but it holds the most appeal for me so far.

As for what I'd consider the South West, just whatever it's technically regarded as. I'd consider most of the counties there. I'm unsure on Cornwall though because beautiful as it is, it's a little too remote for me. I know comparatively little about Dorset, but from what I've read I'm not sure it's for me, though there's much to recommend it too of course.

I probably won't be moving for approx. 18 months-2 years so I have a lot of researching to do first and you're all being very helpful.

A few people have mentioned it being drier in the South East which is desirable but not essential for me. The winters are a big factor for me though as I absolutely detest snow and ice, and often struggle to get out in such conditions because of a disability.

I appreciate that there'll be a considerable difference depending on area of any particular county, but are the Winters milder in the South-East or South West, say in East and West Sussex compared with Devon?

Yes. my parents feel the weather was slightly better in Surrey. But they still love Devon. Their house was initially a holiday home but they kept finding it difficult to leave.

However, they got rid of their log burner as it was too difficult to get the logs to the house as they have no road access and this year they're saying they're staying put at Christmas as for the past few years they've been effected quite badly by travel disruption in the winter. You might be better in a bigger town with better road access. I think its because the weather over the winter has got progressively worse though.

Having said that, Chichester sounds like a good option for you.

Re Dorset, I chose a rough part of Bournemouth and had a bad experience there. I didn't fit in either. I just didn't like it. I know people who love it. My family live in a very desirable area between Bournemouth and Poole. It has great shops, a great food scene and brilliant schools but it's crowded and definitely doesn't feel rural. Transport links to London are good from Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth but not to the airports although Bournemouth airport is getting better. I had a holiday in Weymouth last year and it isn't what it used to be. Christchurch is nice if you want to look at Dorset.

Dh thinks we should look at Trowbridge in Wiltshire if we go back because he thinks it's up and coming and great value property. But that's almost up north to me!

Thank you so much, MrsNec. It's interesting to hear about Dorset, and you've given me more to think about. I probably will focus on staying in or around a small town, as I really don't want to be too isolated.

One positive thing about Dorset. I do like the theatre but not as much as I like music and comedy. Whenever I lived in Dorset or have been on holiday I never found I needed to go to London to find entertainment. There always seemed to be something worth seeing somewhere even inthe small theatres like in Dorchester and Yeovil.

It just suddenly occurred to me that when I lived in Birmingham I would go to London to the theatre but when in Dorset I never felt the need. It's easy enough if you want to though. I know people with football season tickets who travel from Bournemouth to London.

And Dorset would fit your walking criteria for sure.

I am in the process of moving from Surrey to Cornwall.

I love Surry/Sussex. If I could live anywhere it would be Headley in Surrey. Truly the best of both words, rural yet very near Epsom. Property is so expensive though. We looked at Rye, which I loved.

When we decided to move I asked myself 'what makes me happy?'. I realised that it is the sea and a big garden.

In Cornwall I am 5 minutes walk from the sea, I have a huge garden and the South West coast path runs behind my house. By the time all the work has been done our 4 bedroom house with separate 1 bedroom holiday let and half an acre of garden will have cost around £385 k. In Headley, the same would be around £1.2 million! And I wouldn't have the sea.

So my advice is to do a 'what makes me happy' audit!

*hooliodancer - as an ex Surreyite, I remember Headley well, as I used to ride there regularly. However, I do think the entire area has been blighted by the M25. I remember it when it was really peaceful. You won't have any trouble with motorway noise in Cornwall.

Dorset is lovely but broadband and mobile reception are not guaranteed.

Thank you for the Dorset information. It's helpful and it does sound lovely. I'll look at it when I go down to Devon again, but even though I'm not entirely sure it's for me I look forward to visiting it, and perhaps spending a holiday or two there.

Thankyou so much to everyone who has replied on this thread. You've all been very kind and helpful. I'm going to start separate threads to try to narrow down suitable areas in Devon and Sussex but I'm very grateful to you all for your responses on this.