Is moving to a new area worth it?

[Catscrat]

For a few years, I've had itchy feet and keep coming back to the idea of moving somewhere new. For context, I have lived in this area for 15 years (our house for 11) and have lots of friends here. DH and I are early 30s and have one DD (2) and have a great network of parent friends now through NCT etc.
Where we live is just by the M25 and has good links to London, but expensive. We live in a 2-bed semi. Really good location, can walk to town and lots of amenities nearby. But I long for a bit more space and countryside nearby. It doesn't feel like somewhere I want to live forever. The other thing is that we have no family immediately nearby. If we moved out a bit (still in South East), we could settle near my family and get a bigger house.
Here we could do a loft extension, however we don't have a parking space which is a real issue on our busy road and is a long-standing issue. We wouldn't be able to afford a bigger house locally as it just wouldn't be worth it with all the fees etc.
I get excited about the idea of relocating, but also the thought of moving and leaving all the friends and networks I've built up I get really anxious and wonder if it's actually worth it. Our house is nice and we have a huge garden which I love. We could get the extra space we wanted through doing a loft extension. WWYD?

I think it's a good time to move. You don't want to carry on getting frustrated for another few years and your daughter going to school at that point awhich would make it more difficult.

I'd just move now and you'll be able to find new friends over time.

Lots of people will move op so I wouldn't base your decision on friends. Your DC is still young so you will meet new people / can travel to see old friends. I would look at commute / amenities / lifestyle / family and then house size. We have decided to stay central in a smaller house because it ticks all the other boxes for us but it might change in a few years and might well get different for you.

Thanks JoJo that's a good point about schools. I've been feeling frustrated for a while so that's true I don't want to carry on feeling in limbo.

RicStar Thanks that's very true about friends moving on! Yep, I need to decide on where ticks most of the boxes!

If you do move, do it before your DC starts school. You’ll meet a whole new network from school.

It’s harder to meet new people when your children are older and you no longer go along to play dates with them (in DC’s school, year 1 is when the play dates without parents start).

Choco that's a great point about playdates - haven't reached that stage with my DD so hadn't considered it! Feeling like moving now is definitely the right choice.

How would it effect your commute to work?

Hello,
We are planning to buy a bigger house and found one in the cuckoo lane, Liverpool. We have no idea about the location. I have two younger kids 8 and 5. I need some suggestions on how are the primary schools in nearby areas and how are the transport links as I mostly rely on public transport. I'm a bit anxious about moving to a new place and I will be leaving few friends from where we are currently living.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

@MegK I think you’d be better off starting your own thread, with the area in the thread title - that way the right people will see your post to answer it. Sorry I can’t help - I don’t live anywhere near Liverpool.