To move or not to move

[Ottermum23]

Hi all,
I could do with some advice, please.
We are in a comfortable 4 bedroom house in Essex, a leafy, commuter town.

Good(ish) schools, grammar catchment.
DDs are 6 and 8.

Thinking of moving house, more rural, preferably a small village, bigger garden,etc.

But really can't make our mind up, as it's so many factors to consider. Longer commute to London, bigger mortgage...

Anyone who done the same? Pros and cons or just ideas on moving house with similar circumstances?

Any comments are welcome.

What are the benefits? Apart from having a more bling house?

I think up must live up the road from me OP. I keep looking at houses in Manningtree and wondering why the heck we are still here! But then commute for DH would be nearly 3 times what it is now and we have several children in school who would be completely disrupted (we’ve moved around quite a bit!).

Not looking for "bling" house, just a bigger space with bigger garden. The town, where we are at the moment have so many proposed development, (40 mins train journey from London) that, the traffic will be unbearable in a few years time, having said that, is already bad...
The benefit would be a different style of living, more cut off but possibly more peaceful.

Are you on the route for CrossRail where you live now? That should make a huge improvement (if it ever arrives)

I would take leafy town over rural any day of the week.
Getting your DC about (to school , activities, friends houses , sports ) will mean you driving them everywhere .

I have just come back from my DParents , ( rural small town, very scenic) . I bloody hated it as a teenager and I'm not enamoured of it now . After 18.00 some of the buses stop and some are only every 45 -60 minutes .
I tell my teenagers how lucky they are to live where we do (Essex ) where they can get buses , get trains , be independant .
I do have a fairly large garden but it wouldn't be worth moving for TBH.

Have you extended your house for maximum space ?

Consider your position in 5 years time with a 13 year old....are you going to hate all the running around you're going to be doing to facilitate your children's social lives if you are living more remotely?

I'd stay put, pay down the mortgage, put more into retirement funds and open a university fund for my kids personally.

While more rural may sound good now, with a 15 and 13 year old it really won't!