Boston lincs....really that bad?

[mklanch]

hi all, i have been on my house search for over a year now!
we have a budget of £325k (possibly 350k for perfect property)
we want a house/bungalow with around 1 acre of land to continue my small holding.(more that 1 acre would be a dream) we don't have an area preference and are willing to relocate as my husband works from home.
we have 2 children (11 and 8) so schools must be good.
we cant find anything! every time we see something we like it sells or they are not willing to accept offers.
so i have seen a few houses in boston, lincolnshire that seem perfect but having had a look through a few previous forums on here i get the impression its not a great area, nothing to do and smells of cabbage!
can anyone give me either advice on boston or advice on other areas that are nice where we can get what we want on our budget.
(husband has said no to rural wales, scotland and yorkshire)
thank you :)

I live near Boston. It has its gold points and people, as does everywhere, but tbh it is a very narrow minded, deprived town with nothing there!! Some gorgeous houses around the area though and I have some very good friends in the area.

Stamford is expensive!!

@mklanch

is anyone familiar with walpole st peter? im not sure if its considered cambridge/norfolk/lincolnshire/ its like on on the border area.

ive seen a few nice houses with a nice plot come up round there

This is the bit of Norfolk I know the least, have driven through that area in the past on the way to Cambs/Lincs. Nearest town is Kings Lynn~which is improving and has interesting bits, the area around the Walpoles is flat, agricultural and what I'd call borderlands it's in Norfolk but with a definite feel of the fenlands. Go and see the one at Spa Common!!!

Shropshire is nice
www.mccartneys.co.uk/properties/12955680/sales

Or a DIY project perhaps? www.mccartneys.co.uk/properties/12399400/sales

Lol I found that one in louth, the bungalow with land, all of us trawling Right Move 😁😁

I used to cover the area as a sakes rep. My heart used to sink when I had appointments there. I couldn't wait to get them done and get out tbh. Just my opinion but it's got a very strange feel about it.

Um no. I would not recommend east anglia as a place to live. There is a reason the houses are cheap. What are you going to do to earn a living?

It's in Lincolnshire

@Panpig

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70955448.html

Hi OP. What about this? Louth is a nice small market town

ive seen this bungalow and have it on my favourite list. but i was unsure about louth now from the information ive gathered on here.

i did like this house

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71363883.html

We've been looking at moving to Lincolnshire and the house prices are certainly tempting. The only thing that's put us off is how low lying a lot of it is, and the flood risk. We've been using this website to look at flood risk areas, so this might be of interest to you OP.

flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/confirm-location?easting=532943&northing=388192&placeOrPostcode=Louth

As you will see Boston and a lot of the south of Lincolnshire looks risky in terms of future flooding. My childhood house flooded a few times when we were growing up and it's devastating. So maybe I'm just paranoid about flood risk!

I've been to Lincolnshire on holiday many times as close relatives lived there. Not sure if I'd move there but boston hospital in my experience was very good.
Have you thought about East Yorkshire, just avoid the coastal section of Holderness which is eroding. Hull is a nice city but its not far from york if you're on the Wolds.

I would agree with pp, is there anything in your budget in Shropshire? It is so so much nicer. Easier to settle for kids and incomers too.

Boston is not East anglia
I drive through Boston a lot to visit in laws in skeggy
Boston always looks quite nice though lincs does have a bit of a bleak feel if the suns not shining - you grow fond of it though and there are some nice villages and property is so cheap
Lincoln is a great city me and dh have had a few nights away there and really like it

Have you considered North Lincs (the county not the north part of Lincolnshire) at all? Better transport links, so not quite so isolated. No grammar school system (not sure if this would be a plus or minus for you).

we were open to any area as long as it met our needs. i originally loved the other side of the uk..somerset, Devon and Shropshire area. but couldn't find much for my money.
maybe i should just consider finding a house with a large garden instead of land.

Also have a look at East Riding of Yorkshire - the area formerly known as North Humberside. Not sure what your objection to Yorkshire is but it's an inexpensive but nice area with quite a lot of small farms and bungalows and near the coast too. Try centring search on Driffield.

@NotMeNoNo

Also have a look at East Riding of Yorkshire - the area formerly known as North Humberside. Not sure what your objection to Yorkshire is but it's an inexpensive but nice area with quite a lot of small farms and bungalows and near the coast too. Try centring search on Driffield.

i personally dont have a problem with yorkshire, its the husband that does loll

Hi OP...I work (teach) in Spalding and live not far from there in a lovely village. It has a Peterborough postcode but is technically still in South Lincolnshire. There are some beautiful areas around here (and I love it) but as others have pointed out, it is very rural and does have pockets to avoid. Saying that, if you do your homework and stop simply 'looking at houses' (which gives you a false sense of reality...there are beautiful houses everywhere 🤷‍♀️), you will find what you are looking for. I would highly recommend Lincolnshire -it's a wonderfully welcoming county (and I have lived in many!!)

Good luck 👍

Hello @stopringingme from a fellow Deepings Dweller 👋

www.onthemarket.com/details/5575193/
A plot like this for example, and you would easily find an inexpensive home locally, Market Rasen has a decent school and it's a bit nearer to civilisation.

thank you to everyone who has responded.

at the beginning of my search i wanted to live on the somerset/Devon/Wiltshire/Shropshire side of uk but my husband didnt like that idea so we have stuck to the Cambridge/Norfolk/Lincolnshire area.
all along i have stated i didn't mind about where we located as long as i can get my land (With the house) and good schools for our children.
after all your feedback my husband now wants to looks at Shropshire area! its pretty pricey though.

The welsh borders are lovely, between Hereford and Wales. sweet.

Lincoln itself is lovely. Beautiful history, lots of amenities and some nice villages around - Navenby, Waddington, Skellingthorpe, Bassingham. Prices are still quite reasonable

Boston has nice old buildings & great houses for sale on the edges of town.It's not bad on the outskirts, say a mile or 2 from the town centre (which is where I live). Sadly the surrounding area is flat as a pancake and the smell that sometimes emits from the fields can make me feel sick, literally. Don't know if the smell travels to the centre of town but I wouldn't want to live there because there are too many foul-mouthed idiots cycling through the town precinct and other pavements & are not even stopped by the useless community police officers. but the indigenous (but not all) people have a really bad attitude and love to swear even when they're not angry. Sadly some of the southern outsiders are rude as well at least to me. Maybe it's a class thing or just inbreeding just cannot figure out why it's so bad.

I grew up in Lincolnshire. South Lincs is pretty awful in a number of ways, apart from the Deepings and Stamford. The Wolds are nice but risk getting too close to Grimsby etc. Too far North and you end up too close to Scunthorpe.

Around the North of Lincoln itself there are some lovely villages - Nettleham, Welton etc - which are rural but close to the city for your children as they grow. William Farr secondary in Welton used to be excellent due to its catchment.

Property still incredibly cheap in that area; my sister lives in a hamlet about 20 minutes outside of Lincoln, still in WF catchment, and her massive four bedroom, three bathroom house cost her £60k less than the two bed renovation project we’ve just bought in our Sussex village.