Where should I relocate to?...(I need your help) please read the post to understand better. TIA

[TheTallOne]

Hello Mumsnetters, I am new on here and I could do with your kind help regarding where should I relocate to? Yes I am a guy – I have seen so many threads about properties on the web from Mumsnet that made so much common sense and were honest, I felt I wanted to join and ask for help - I hope that you don’t mind? :-)

I’m a guy about to need to relocate away from my family home and I’m in an area that I have grown to love, it a village in Surrey named Shepperton. This is not something that I want to be doing and I am forced to due to the breakdown of my relationship and because as a cash buyer, I now cannot afford a reasonable detached house with a garage anywhere near my family home, family or friends. That’s life.

Here’s where I need your help: I would love to integrate into a new community where there’s a reasonable standard of living and I can walk to local shops, reasonable public transport and hopefully be near the sea or countryside and in an area that is welcoming and relatively safe. That’s what I have here in Shepperton. Sure, it’s not the best area, but it’s definitely not the worst area :-)

Starting a new life in my early 60’s is leaving me feeling a bit overwhelmed on my own, and while I have wanted to live near friends in Kent (Whitstable / Seasalter / Canterbury or Hastings. Or relatives in Arundel). Trouble is with Covid in this example, it kicked all those areas off my wish lists with DFL’s buying places as soon as they could realise they could get away with working from home and buying in those areas for less money that their London homes were worth.
Supply and demand went crazy quickly. I think I went a bit crazy when I saw what happened and was powerless to react.

Prices went through the roof rapidly! My budget was static. I saw increases of £75k - £125k per house in some instances. Offers well above asking prices, sometimes sealed bids were common. Gazumping reared its ugly head. My newer dreams gone.

Looking on Rightmove & On The Market I have saved 100’s of detached houses or detached bungalows with 3 bedrooms and a garage and garden for around £275k cash from months of refining my searches. It absolutely must have decent fast Fibre Optic connectivity and decent mobile phone signals for EE or Vodafone for work. Yeah, I know “he’s fussy isn’t he” :-)

So many areas. I don’t have the time to visit so many areas to take a look. I am really busy on so many fronts. Once I have narrowed it down with your help, I will visit for a few days per area. This is where I could really do with your input. What fits my requirements in your own experiences?

I have looked online in so many areas. I have no experience of any of them, and it’s daunting not knowing any of these areas to live in from - Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Pembrokeshire, Norfolk, Devon, Lancashire, Cornwall, East Anglia to Monmouthshire and others I probably omitted.

Can you please help?

Thank you so much for your kind help in advance.

Could you not have your office in the guest room?

Thanks BravoTango, I have considered the compromise, but it just won't work for me. Hence looking farther afield. Thanks anyway :-)

£275k or thereabouts. I need the space and can't compromise despite trying. Like most people, I know what I need. That's why I'll compromise on area, not on actual size of the property if you see where I'm coming from? :-)

Thanks, A flat does not serve my actual requirements, but thanks for the thought

In my area, like I said, I'm totally out-priced and I couldn't afford anything in my area anywhere near what I need. I have searched, and searched and there's absolutely nothing. I know what I want and what I need, and that's why I have no option but to move away. I need £600k and up to remain in my area for what I already live in. I don't have £600k + in cash. Thanks anyway.

I already have my 27 Sq Metre office in my back garden and I'm leaving that behind, so moving to a smaller bedroom office is a big compromise already if you see where I'm coming from :-)

What about this www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111142925#/?channel=RES_BUY It isn't in a village but North Hykeham is a town attached to Lincoln.

Various 3 bedroom detached bungalows are coming up on Rightmove in Dover Kent. That is near some of your friends and could be worth taking a look.

Various seaside towns nearby even if Dover would not have been your first choice.

Then you need to look at how far away you’d be happy to move and work your way up the main transport routes between where your friends and family live and just work systematically like that until you hit an area/place you like the look of.

No one here can do that for you, realistically.

Manningtree is rather nice.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104814263?utmcampaign=property-details&utmmcontent=buying&utmmedium=sharing&utmmsource=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

It seems insane to me to prioritise being able to play loud music over living near to friends, family and your daughter. Really have a proper think about what is important to you. It is usually the people in our life rather than things like owning a garage that make us happy.

Do you need food access to family and friends?

I really do agree with what Cactu says.
I’ve made the move from SW London to a market town in Hampshire and really struggle sometimes with my new environment due to lack of friends in my new location.

Don’t underestimate how hard it is making new friends later in life when everyone is settled in their friendship groups. It’s a world away late 50s making friends than it was in my twenties and thirties.

I'd rule out Pembrokeshire on grounds of very limited likelihood of getting fast fibre and mobile signal, lack of public transport and local shops where you would also get a three bed detached house and garage for your budget. Prices have shot up here too.

There's a handful of houses which suit your needs / budget in Southport. Not all areas have very fast fibre, so you'd need to check that out. Likewise phone signal.

Thanks Champersandchocolate, may I politely mention that none of this fits anywhere near the criteria in my post, but thanks for the thought.

Thanks NoWordforfluffy - where's Southport, is it where you live and recommend?

I'm looking for areas first and foremost :-)

@Cactu

It seems insane to me to prioritise being able to play loud music over living near to friends, family and your daughter. Really have a proper think about what is important to you. It is usually the people in our life rather than things like owning a garage that make us happy.

Agree entirely

If you're into music look at Suffolk, around Snape/Aldeburgh the music scene is amazing and housing nowhere near as pricey as the Southeast. Utterly beautiful too.

Maybe it does to you Cactu, but you aren't understanding my circumstances or predicament in my post. I have a 24 year old son who may end up living in Germany where he's been many times. I have a 20 year old daughter who will travel soon. I can make friends wherever I go.

I know what my priorities are, same as most of us do. Music is nectar for me, same as it for my kids. We all have different options, game plans and priorities.

I have done a lot of deep soul searching and it's been tough. My decisions are based on what I want and know. I want a bit of me time having funded the lives of others for a long time.

All I wanted was actual advice about which areas people recommend were good compared to what I want in my post, that's all :-)

Yayyy!...finally a post that does what I had been looking for :-)

Thanks Bogoroditse

All I wanted was actual advice about which areas people recommend were good compared to what I want in my post, that's all :-)

It’s too broad a question.

Identify some areas that might fit the bill.

Then ask for opinions on those areas.

You can’t realistically ask MN to recommend you a friendly village anywhere in the country…

The St Leonard’s side of Hastings is still do-able:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108228842#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would also suggest you take access to a hospital into account. Approaching retirement years miles away from a hospital can be v problematic.

Rail links too, for visitors and for you to see friends in London.

Not easy. Do you really need detached and garage? As a Londoner I have never had these.

Depending on the volume of your music your neighbours will find it annoying even if your house is detached. Most detached houses still have neighbours. Why not get some excellent headphones and widen your property net?

It’s far away from where you are now but you can easily find a house that meets your requirements in County Durham. It’s a beautiful place to live and I’ve found the people to be very friendly so it’s easy to make new friends. Also easy to travel down to London on the train.