Moving - can’t decide on area - Glouc’s, Herts, Wilts or Somerset?

[Barefootblondie01]

Hoping you can offer some advice.

A little about us:
My husband and I both work for ourselves and can be based anywhere. We have a three year old son but nothing else tying us to our area in North East Scotland. Looking for a sunnier place to live and considering the south of England.

What we're looking for (no particular order):
Budget - We have a healthy budget by Scottish standards (current house is a large detached country property with a good bit of land worth circa £525K).
Weather - Sunny/drier than where we are in Scotland (probably not difficult) without having to worry about significant flooding
A place to raise our son who is an only child - I love the idea of being able to walk him to school, for his friends to be close by without having to jump in the car for every play date etc
A village or town considered - so long as they have independent shops and a bit of something going on (nothing too sleepy)
Good schools - I'd like to be close enough to walk to his primary school
Amenities - we're a young family so I don't want to be too far away from a hospital, chemist, cinema, swimming pool/leisure centre etc. Ideally also a place where my son could become involved in extra curricular activities such as golf/football/athletics/rugby (he's currently 3 so little interest in anything other than diggers, Blippi and Paw Patrol)
Independent stores - happy to shop in waitrose and have a Starbucks round the corner, but we have a preference for local, independent stores. Ideally local restaurants and cafes
Cafe culture - probably one of the top things on our list.
Commuting - We don't travel for work so don't need to consider links for rail etc. So long as we are no further than 2 hours from the nearest airport we're happy.

Would love to get some advice! Currently searching blindly through rightmove at property in Herefordshire and in the Cotswolds with NO CLUE what I'm doing. Please help!

B x

I live in Somerset, so can offer opinions on here.
With your budget you can definitely get a nice house with some land. If you want to avoid flooding areas, then avoid the Somerset Levels which are below sea level & liable for regular flooding.
Access to an airport - both Exeter & Bristol are easily accessible. The M5/M4 allow easy access to both plus motorways & train lines to London.
It sounds like you want a town rather than rural, so look for some of the smaller towns. Several have reputations for independent shops such as Frome, but maybe look further for a better price house-wise?
Schools - you'd need to research once you have an area to focus on. There are a lot of private schools & good & outstanding state schools.
Weather - it's can rain A LOT but probably not as much as Scotland & we do get nice warm summers usually. Very rarely get snow.
We're in Wellington on the Somerset/Devon border. All primary schools are 'good' but our secondary is 'requires improvement'. We have various independent shops, Waitrose, small Coop & Asda & May soon has a Lidl. We have the benefits of being close to Devon - day trips to the beach & attractions, without the same level of tourists. We have lots of the usual activities for children locally; plus access to more niche stuff in the cities.
I can't say there is much of a 'cafe culture' here yet, mainly because the streets aren't usually wide enough but you might find it in either the larger towns or smaller cities or tourist areas & a car is pretty essential for getting further afield.

The nice parts of Herts are very expensive, partly because they are commutable to London. If you would really value access to London, it’s worth a look but otherwise I would stick with the other options.

Frome has a lot of what you are asking for.

Hampshire? Dorset?

Salisbury is a city, but a very green one, and might well suit what you’d want in a place.

Your budget won't go too far in the south. You certainly won't get what you have now space wise. Have you considered just going a bit further south to St Andrews or Dundee area? Won't be as much of a culture shock.

Cirencester and local villages? Ciren sounds exactly as you describe and it's a lovely place to live.

You don't specify the type of house you want, but this is available in your budget:

Bowling Green Avenue, Cirencester
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/89943625

Obviously the villages around would be more rural.

As for airports - you have Birmingham in about an hour and a half, Bristol in just over an hour, and Heathrow in just over an hour and a half, all depending on traffic

North Somerset / Avon- If you are after cafe Culture I would look around Bristol and Bath. If I was going West it’s the only area I’d consider. Am pretty sure there are good schools about. Bristol more vibrant than Bath obviously and the tourists in Bath will drive you a bit mental in summer. This area has the rep of being the least conservative area in the Near West (I think Somerset generally has that rep though how deserved I don’t know). If you can deal with a more rural hippy/posh vibe you could also look at Stroud in Gloucester.

Gloucester has posh n rural rep - though less of the posh and more of the rural as you go towards Wales. The Welsh end is cheaper, the royal bit and cotswolds expensive. Quite a lot of London weekenders in these bits. Cheltenham is an affluent busy town - not super exciting but certainly cafe’d up. Cirencester busy but not posh.

Wiltshire I think is a really underrated county but it is rural and sleepy, though not as much as Herefordshire. The North is more expensive and there is no point paying the extra around Marborough etc if you aren’t commuting to London. I don’t know Salisbury well - it’s fairly sleepy but I presume it has a bit going on, and it has good grammar schools. Best comps in the county are St Laurences in Bradford on Avon county or St Augustines in Trowbridge - but I think that area might be too quiet for you.

Herefordshire (I think you mean this rather than Hertfordshire??) is obviously Welsh borders rather than Near West, it’s beautiful but very remote. No motorway so an arse to get in and out of. From what you say you want I would discount it, though you could take a look at hay on Wye.

Sorry - I meant Frome not Stroud.

Stroud is nice too though.

In Herts you won't get much to compare with current home. 3 bed semis are over 500k easy. And the nice ones are nearer 800k.

Detached character home 800k plus
New build or estate maybe 600k

You
Could manage it if you were prepared to live in one of the new or rougher towns Stevenage. Hatfield Hemel Hempstead.
THey have great facilities but are a bit rough in areas.
The naive towns. St Albans Harpendon
Berkhampstead tring are horrendous prices and a bit snobby tbh

If I were you I'd consider south Bedfordshire. Or south Cambs. Cheaper houses but not the competitive vibe of Herts

I've lived in Herts all My life The litter and fly topping around here is also a disgrace Makes me ashamed tbh.

I live in a nice village and I wouldn't move as I have so many friends here but in your shoes I would not settle Here

To echo PPs - I'd definitely suggest you look at Frome. It is lovely if a bit up its own arse and ticks a lot of your boxes. Bristol is another good shout but house prices there are sky-high, and I'm not sure you'd get much for your budget.

Good luck, and enjoy exploring - it's a beautiful part of the country!

Wherever you go, you really should rent before you buy. Test driving an area first is vital. You could end up buying twice otherwise. We did this after moving out of London, got to know our county really well, and ended up buying on the opposite side to where we rented.

In terms of weather, it generally gets better the further east you live. But also more expensive.

If I were in your shoes with a young child I'd consider Bath or Bristol. Avoid the Cotswolds - yes it looks nice but it's just full of Range Rovers and weekending Londoners.

These are all lovely places to live in Gloucestershire:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/property/five-poshest-towns-gloucestershire-4466692.amp

Somerset small towns / big villages with amenities. There’s lovely smaller villages nearby to them.
Somerton
Wells
Wedmore
Frome
Bruton
Castle Carey

Dorset
Sherborne
Shaftesbury

Tisbury (might be Wilts / Dorset). Along the A303

I came to suggest Frome too.
Would you consider Dorsey too, some nice towns near the beach

I'm originally from NE Scotland and now live in Somerset, near Street.

Wells sounds ideal for you! the surrounding countryside and villages are gorgeous too- Dulcote, Dinder (we rented here for a bit, in a 3 story 400 year old cottage, lovely!), Croscombe, Priddy. Wells is 30 ish mins from Bristol Airport, less than an hour to Bristol and Bath, I dont know much about schools but nearby is Millfield prep in Glastonbury and senior in Street. Wells is a lovely wee town, it has a market on Saturdays and Wednesdays, is the smallest city in England due to its stunning cathedral, lots of independent shops on the lovely High Street. Wedmore is also lovely, but perhaps a bit more rural than you'd like. Further south and all nice are High Ham, Low Ham, Langport, Curry Rivel, Somerton. Langport has loads of independent shops and a lovely busy High Street, some areas do flood but not all of it and there are plenty of areas around Langport that don't. For reference our rural 5 bed detached house with garden was £340k 3 years ago. Definitely possible to find something lovely in one of the towns for your budget.

Happy to answer any questions if you like We also have a fab carnival every November

Your budget won't go too far in the south. You certainly won't get what you have now space wise. Have you considered just going a bit further south to St Andrews or Dundee area? Won't be as much of a culture shock.

Your budget would get you a lovely home in Somerset (where I live). I’m in a 4 bed detached with lovely garden, dc walk to school, 2 country parks in walking distance, lovely restaurants etc and my home is worth £350k. People do talk nonsense about house prices. Your budget is good.

Thank you - lots to go on there :)

Wow thank you so much - lots for me to look at.

Definitely moving to England, and now talking to a few estate agents based on the recommendations above. Will let you know how we get on :)

Really appreciate all the detailed advice too.

Good luck, there's lots of lovely places mentioned!

I currently live in a sleepy village in Gloucestershire, it’s perfect for my daughter (16months) as I’m a 5 minutes walk away from 3 different ‘tourist attractions’ that are in the top 10 things to do. It’s pretty rural, the walls are lovely and there’s a nursery and primary school just a couple minutes down the road. Local town has no high street stores, just cafes, charity shops and hairdressers 😂

We are however looking to move to Herefordshire to be closer to me and DP’s work. We’re looking at Ross-on-wye, we just need to get an offer on our house!

Good luck OP!