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Original poster

What prompted you to move?

42 replies

3girlsmama · 28/01/2021 00:37

I'm wondering what inspired you to move? We are in our house 15 years, have upgraded it somewhat in that time. It's fine, affordable mortgage, very nice neighbours, kids can walk to school, family nearby. I know that all counts for a lot. But, I don't love it, it's a featureless semi-d, the area will become increasingly built up in the next few years and lockdown has removed many of the benefits of living here and made me reconsider what I want from daily life, plus significant crime issues in the last few years were very off-putting, but hopefully rare. I've felt like this for a few years now. So many people presumably stay where they are for convenience or lack of options but I'd love to know what sparks the decision to actually make a move.

OP posts:

ReefTeeth · 28/01/2021 06:06

Was time to move closer to family. Once I had decided that, the house went on the market a week later.

We have been contemplating moving again, but dh wants to stay in this area and I don't.

It's always been me to instigate our moves but this dilemma might cause a stalemate.

DaphneduM · 28/01/2021 06:56

We decided to move for a mix of reasons. The main one being our daughter was keen for us to be nearer now she has a child. We had done lots of work to our lovely cottage and thought we would be staying there, but the garden was large and now we're retired we realised it would be sensible to get a more modern house with a smaller garden. Made the decision, put the house on the market within a fortnight and sold within another fortnight. Been here eighteen months and love it. The change of area has also been energising and we've loved (pre-covid) exploring our new area. No regrets.

MrsJamin · 28/01/2021 07:41

Ours is a preemptive move really. Our house is lovely but in a dodgy area and a bit small. It's the best house on a not so nice road and we were thinking of doing some work to improve a bit of the house. We realised that we'd never get back the money spent as we are at the ceiling price for our road, and it would mean that we would have been definitely staying put for an extra 5-10 years, which actually filled me with dread all of a sudden! We decided to move away from this dodgy area to a nicer one where we can create a home we can comfortably share with two teenagers / young men well into the future. Sometimes I feel a bit mad us moving from a house we have spent so much time doing up but it's the best decision long term.

PowerslidePanda · 28/01/2021 08:05

Need more space and to be closer to family.

Don't under-estimate the stress and expense of moving - it's not worth it if you're not sure!

Standrewsschool · 28/01/2021 08:09

In the last twenty five years, moved twice.

First was from a flat to a house.

Second was for job reasons, moved to a new area. However, probably would have moved anyway within next three years as wanted to move to somewhere with better schooling, and I felt the area we were living in was going downhill a little.

ramblingsonthego · 28/01/2021 08:12

Neighbour from hell and no garden during first lockdown. The combination of the 2 made my life hell for months and months mental health deteriorated rapidly and still struggling even though we have moved.

Onandoff · 28/01/2021 08:13

Recently moved for much wider house, we had long thin rooms and a big but galley kitchen. Long thin north facing garden, buying south west facing wide garden. We had a shared drive which didn’t feel very shared. The road was getting busy and often used as a cut through. None of the things we could have done to improve would have made it right for us in the longer term although we had many happy years there.

whyamidoingthistomyself · 28/01/2021 08:13

Been here nearly 20 years. Came for work to the area over 30 years ago and got stuck

Want to be closer to family and my hobbies. Want cleaner air. Fewer people

The final push, lockdown.

CherryRoulade · 28/01/2021 08:15

Jobs. We generally moved around for ‘stepping stone’ jobs.

BlackDogBlues · 28/01/2021 08:17

I was desperate for a proper garden. We had outside space in a big terrace but I’d filled it. Also noisy neighbours with a well used raucous hot tub.

So got it valued speculatively and sold it to the first estate agent who valued it, well his son,in a private sale.

He was relaxed about waiting till something came up for us. That search was limited by dh’s rather specific requirements for where he’d live. Basically walking distance of his kids.

Where we are is a bit of a compromise but semi rather than terraced, garden, drive, garage.

DeeplyMovingExperience · 28/01/2021 08:18

We're in our late fifties and did the massive downsize out of the family home we'd been in for 25 years. It was the most stressful project ever - had I known how stressful and expensive it was going to be I'd probably have bottled out. We also got caught up in the covid malarkey and moved during lockdown.

We've done the whole nordic "life clean" thing and gone for a complete change, out of a sleepy tiny village into the centre of a bustling town.

Best decision ever and haven't regretted it for a moment.

BlackDogBlues · 28/01/2021 08:18

So glad we moved before lockdown it made that so much easier.

Roselilly36 · 28/01/2021 08:24

We are moving at the moment, hopefully, we have been in our house nearly 18 years, our children grew up here, it’s a big house, and we are downsizing to a 3 bed bungalow that will be more suitable for my disability which affects my mobility, and will be much easier for me to clean. Pre COVID I had a lovely cleaner who helped me, but unfortunately I had to let her go, due to shielding, I have really struggled since. I love my house, and we have been really happy here, but the stairs and the size of the house is just too much for me now. So time for a change.

DisappointedOfNorfolk · 28/01/2021 08:43

We got places at a great high school for our two youngest dc, but it is 20 miles away from our house...and in a much more expensive area...then a house like ours on our road sold for much more money than we thought it would!

So, we finished all the DIY and decorating jobs that we hadn't finished over the 10 years we've been here and put ours on the market in August!

We've now sold and bought a house less than a mile from the high school, and are completing and moving in next week .

Our new house is both smaller and more expensive (!) but it is detached with a bigger garden and we love it . We don't plan on moving again...ever!

SollaSollew · 28/01/2021 10:25

We had been contemplating moving to a completely different part of the country but then lock down happened and we didn’t want to move dd’s school without being able to visit (not just virtual open days) so we decided to stay put. Then a house came up that was an ideal project house (bigger, detached, better layout) and so we decided to go for it and moved locally instead.

While I absolutely love this house all the reasons I wanted to move to the new city remain so realistically it’s probably a 4 year house till dd is secondary age.

user86386427 · 28/01/2021 10:32

wanted a bigger house, moved to a cheaper area to do so, needed office space for me, wanted double bedrooms for both kids, garage, spare room and additional reception for teenagers, simply couldn't create that in our old house or village even.
wanted detached and non shared driveway
lived in a village which we loved but was concerned about opportunities for kids as teenagers, wanted better transport links, leisure and potential part time job opportunities as they get older.
better links, new town has better train links for me.

Never lived in a house longer than 3 years, have moved around a lot, so not very loyal to a particular area and thus find it easier to look at it from a very practical point of view. Hoping this is it till kids are grown now though as don't want to disrupt them again.

GenderApostate19 · 28/01/2021 10:43

I’d quite like to move but our house is in a cheap area and we’d have to put £50k to it to get a comparable house anywhere else we’d consider living, DH wants to retire in @ 7 years. Plus we’ve just got the house perfect and did the garden last year, I think we’ll just spend £10-15k replacing the ancient (separate) garage and maybe have a carport down the length of the house.

NastyBlouse · 28/01/2021 11:28

Last time we moved, it was for work.

Next time, which fingers crossed will be later this year, it'll be to a different part of the country for a fresh start, and to move further away from family. (Long, unpleasant and complicated story not for this thread!)

mrsfeatherbottom · 28/01/2021 11:53

We needed to move to a bungalow because I have a degenerative muscle wasting disease. We moved a couple of years before we really had to because we wanted to move before DD1 started school as we knew there were no affordable bungalows near where we were. It worked out brilliantly as we moved to a lovely area close to a fabulous school.

Notyetthere · 28/01/2021 14:45

Out last house was probably one of nicest on the road. No a dodgy road as such but it had a ceiling price and we really wanted a 4th bedroom so we had to be careful with spending big on it.

We weren't planning to sell as we had even just done the hallway and were looking to knock kitchen and diner into one. But then we saw what a neighbour a few doors down sold theirs for. A lot more that we thought we could ever achieve for ours. We were on a bigger plot too. This meant that we could just about afford to buy a bigger house on a better road.

We had our neighbour's EA price our house but we ended up with a different EA who sold ours in a day for 10k more than our neighbour. This was summer last year, during the madness as lockdown 1 eased.

Chimeraforce · 28/01/2021 14:54

We bought close to a school 17 years ago. Busy but OK. Then school extended by a third along with their playing field ending behind our fence.
With the increased numbers, parking is hideous. With covid, the parents queue all the way up past my window for drop and collect. I feel like I'm in a goldfish bowl. I want to put up a high sharp hedge for privacy and to block the exhaust fumes. But Mr won't bother.
New houses have gone up on previously green land next door so I feel hemmed in.
Drug dealer pulls up in his twatmobile 3 x weekly to service the muppets in the houses opposite.
So that's why I want to move.

isseys4xmastinselcats · 28/01/2021 15:06

we were in rented as older couple who got together 6 years ago and my OH was made redundant from a well paid job and with the redundancy package he got and being able to draw down on a good pension 25% enabled us where we are to by a small house outright where we live (Yorkshire )

harknesswitch · 28/01/2021 15:14

It's my ex house I bought from him during the divorce, it will always be his old house? Plus I wanted another bathroom

Shufflebumnessie · 28/01/2021 15:20

We were in a 2 bed maisonette and had outgrown it, especially as we were hoping to TTC a 2nd child. Plus, the area had rapidly gone down hill.

We moved about 30 miles away to a 4 bed detached in a village location. DS is in a fantastic school, we're closer to my in-laws (who are lovely) and our 2nd baby was actually born in our new home. We love the house and location and I don't think we'll be moving again!

msgloria · 28/01/2021 16:20

Like a PP, we were in a thin house. It was also tall and on a tight road with tricky parking. It suited us for a good many years but then over time it stopped suiting us. Our priorities changed and, if I'm honest, so did our expectations. Moved to get a bigger, much wider house with proper off street parking. New house has its compromises but it's fundamentally a better family home than our previous one.

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