Where should we move to?

[woodenknots]

Where can I move with a £700k budget that will buy me a big house with reasonable land but is actually a nice place to live?

I've searched rightmove and seen some places that have the kind of houses we're thinking of with that budget (may be able to get up to £800k depending on where dc goes to school as private now) but I'm a bit scared to go travelling around the U.K. with zero idea about 'nice places'

We have one primary dc at a private school now but would be happy if we could get them into a nice (little school, do these exist?!) state school. Maybe village school etc. Secondary would have to be thought of as well I suppose.

We are currently living in rented accommodation in the middle of nowhere in SE in a wonderful house with land but that's renting, I just don't see us buying round this way without compromising on the house size and land.

How much land are you after?

Do you need to commute? What do you mean by 'nice place to live' - a charming village or a larger town with amenities? Do you have any criteria for the house other than 'big' - are you imagining a Victorian villa?

I can't imagine having no ties to anywhere in the country, do you have any friends or family you want to be near? It's a bit of a wide search area otherwise!

@MrsJamin

I can't imagine having no ties to anywhere in the country, do you have any friends or family you want to be near? It's a bit of a wide search area otherwise!

DH and I are in the same position as in no ties anywhere and we've been paralysed for 3 years just due to not knowing where to settle, it's surprisingly hard when your search area is basically the UK!

North Lincolnshire

Look at the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, stunning scenery, lovely villages, lots of small schools and good travel links.

Thanks. Yes I suppose I didn't really specify much in my op. No family ties. Both wfh. Happy to drive everywhere. Dh is from a rural background I'm not but I love it. One dc who's easy going and can't foresee huge issues moving school.

Currently semi rural with 2 acres and so happy. If we could buy this land here we probably would but it's worth too much in SE. Covid has done what I'm sure it's done to many, shaken us up a bit to finally do something about making a change.

So I'm coming on here to get the pins out to stick on the potential new house map

I don't know how your budget and land requirements would stack up but I'd look around North Yorkshire - Pickering / Malton / Helmsley sort of area. There's some stunning villages, access to York for shopping etc and fast train to London / Edinburgh, hills and moors for walking and the coast to the east.
The highlands of Scotland tend to be quite cheap for property but it's a long way from anywhere!

@RunningThrough yes this is the problem. Whole country = difficult to narrow down a specific area.

Oh meant to say detached house is a must. Done the terraced and semi and just didn't work for us, wfh doesn't work so well when you can't get next doors poor lonely dog who's sitting right the other side of the wall to stop barking during calls!

How much land do you want?
Garden / paddock / woodland?
Do you want to be in a grammar school area?
How close do you want to be to facilities such as shops / restaurants / theatre / cinema etc?
Is fibre broadband essential?

I’d narrow it down by climate and whether you want to be near coast/hills/a city etc.

Once you’ve got a handful of counties in mind, you can go onto Primelocation and type in ‘acres’ - that’s likely to throw up only properties with land.

North Yorkshire! So much choice for semi rural and great cities when you want them. Somewhere near Helmsley/Harrogate/York?

The Royal Oak, Church Street, Nunnington, York, YO62 5US
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82516603.html

Main Street, Bishop Wilton, North Yorkshire
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71486226.html

Stamford and it's surrounding villages , will def get a detached house with land , could even consider Rutland as well.

How about this one, OP? It doesn't totally fit the 'detached' brief - it seems to be part of a little mini-community carved out of old farm buildings - but it is fabulous. I think that the EA have messed up the location so the school checker is all wrong which might be putting off non-locals. It should be in the catchments for some very naice Primary and Secondary. Character house in a fabulous location; semi-rural yet easy reach of cities, towns and motorway network.

[quote NotMaryWhitehouse]The Royal Oak, Church Street, Nunnington, York, YO62 5US
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82516603.html

Main Street, Bishop Wilton, North Yorkshire
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71486226.html[/quote]
The Nunnington property has residency restrictions and the Bishop Wilton property is priced to allow for development on the plot (otherwise you’re paying £250k for a garden / paddock).

Thanks for the suggestions will have a rummage through and start having a search or two.

Shropshire. Plenty of house and land for your money. Small schools and private schools if needed

Hello again, we are now planning to look around Gloucestershire and possibly push up to a bit more on budget for the right property. Which areas are nice here?
Are there good schools? I'm doing some research but the area is fairly large and I'm seeing articles which suggest large discrepancies between areas.

@woodenknots have you got a mortgage in principle or is it cash? Check that so you know your budget for certain and have evidence. It will also help get viewings as EA and sellers would consider you as serious buyers.

@woodenknots

Try Cheltenham or Forest of Dean, maybe?

We have a 50% deposit and we have a personal bank manager who's said we are fine to borrow way over £700k but we want to stick to £700k to keep the mortgage low. We are really sad people and talk to our bank manager nearly every week. He even texts us happy birthday now  I completely trust him as we've used him for years.

We are in our early 30's but don't want to tie ourselves down to too much of a loan so we could go upwards but rather just stick to our guns if we can.
The only problem might be the banks LTV valuation on the property but due to our reasonable deposit level I'm fairly confident we'll be ok and if the bank valuation foesnt pass on a property then I suppose we'll have to trust that is for the best anyway.

Thanks @ChocoTrio very helpful.