Where is your ideal place to live in England?

[Samara26]

If you could live anywhere in the South of England, or Midlands (excluding London), where would it be, and why?

I would like to know what areas appeal for what reasons, rather than personal reasons like having family nearby or sentimental reasons.

I'm looking to move within England in the south / midlands and am struggling to find somewhere that has a good balance of amenities, nightlife and being reasonably priced and reasonably safe.

Lewes quite often comes up on threads like this, although it may be too small and I have no idea on house prices.

Cheltenham is a good option. Central ( minus Hester's Way etc) is more pricey. But Charlton Kings and Shurdington on the edge might be in budget. Has shops, restaurant and bars. Has a couple of theatre's and the literature festival. Has a train & bus station. Edge of Cotswolds for walks, access to nature. Big employer is GCHQ so are jobs, esp in that industry.

If I could truly live anywhere, budget be damned, it would be a farmhouse in the High Weald. But your OP is a bit muddled – it’s not really “anywhere” you’re after, right? More “where has these specific amenities and vibe, for this amount of money”.

On that budget I’d look at Eastbourne, Hastings or Rye – Rye is my dream town. But does it need to be commutable to London?

Farnborough and Basingstoke are nothingy kind of towns; roundabouts on the way to elsewhere. Farnham’s pretty but dull and constantly being dug up and the traffic is INSANE.

Eastleigh Hampshire, south of Basingstoke. Good value, near airport and coast.

Have a look at Salisbury too OP, it's a small and compact little city which is still not far from Southampton, the coast and Bournemouth but because it's the biggest place in a wide area has a lot going on. quite affordable too

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads

Lewes quite often comes up on threads like this, although it may be too small and I have no idea on house prices.

House prices can be steep. You cannot get anything decent for less than £400k and then on out in the suburbs.

OP what about Huntingdon St Neots Cambridge?

@BurgerOnTheOrientExpress your reply made me laugh. In a good way. You are the first poster I have seen on Mumsnet to suggest moving to a genuinely cheap country. Many posters on the property forum are always looking for 'cheap places' but nowhere in the UK is genuinely cheap! It's all terribly bad value for money and you don't even get proper healthcare (while most British people would be able to afford private in Thailand). I live in London because I love the city and DH's family is here. But I wouldn't move away from family to live in a cheaper part of the UK cos it wouldn't have family and it wouldn't be cheap either! And a lot of people who move to cheaper places in the uk are often nowhere near family from my observation. London also has the best job opportunities in my field. I would sooner go abroad! At least you get low taxes and you can get household help.

Sorry not helping the OP.

Solihull? I live here and it can be very affordable depending on where you live. 15 mins on the train to Birmingham, very frequent & twice an hour service from Solihull to Marylebone which takes about an hour and 40. Good shops here like John Lewis and Waitrose and places like Stratford upon Avon and Leamington are only 20 minutes away in the car

Cheltenham is lovely. I really enjoy visiting there. They also have a John Lewis and excellent restaurants there. I rather Solihull if I’m honest but it’s still a wonderful place to visit. Be warned that the station isn’t close to the town centre - it’s more of an out-of-town parkway station

Bristol is 100 x better than Bath or Cheltenham OP.
My parents live in Cheltenham and I lived three briefly after returning from travelling. It’s so bland, massively lacks diversity, nothing to do, very Conservative.

Bath is pretty but expensive and dull.

Bristol is friendly, vibrant, great places to eat, lots of live music, diverse but cohesive. It’s not the cheapest, my 3 bed is worth about £350k now but I bought it for £275k 3 years ago. It’s fairly central but not in a ‘posh’ area.

I love it here.

Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Henley upon Thames x

@JudyGemstone

Bristol is 100 x better than Bath or Cheltenham OP. My parents live in Cheltenham and I lived three briefly after returning from travelling. It’s so bland, massively lacks diversity, nothing to do, very Conservative.

Bath is pretty but expensive and dull.

Bristol is friendly, vibrant, great places to eat, lots of live music, diverse but cohesive. It’s not the cheapest, my 3 bed is worth about £350k now but I bought it for £275k 3 years ago. It’s fairly central but not in a ‘posh’ area.

I love it here.

What do you like to do that Bath and Cheltenham don't offer? Are you very cultured and like to go to theatre and museums often? Are you looking for live music and festivals?

Sorry I've never heard anyone describe Bath as dull

@JudyGemstone

Bristol is 100 x better than Bath or Cheltenham OP. My parents live in Cheltenham and I lived three briefly after returning from travelling. It’s so bland, massively lacks diversity, nothing to do, very Conservative.

Bath is pretty but expensive and dull.

Bristol is friendly, vibrant, great places to eat, lots of live music, diverse but cohesive. It’s not the cheapest, my 3 bed is worth about £350k now but I bought it for £275k 3 years ago. It’s fairly central but not in a ‘posh’ area.

I love it here.

You mention diversity several times in your post - is that something that's particularly important to you and perhaps why you discount other areas?

We relocated to Norwich, absolutely love it, great property prices, we live just outside the city centre, can be in a wonderful sandy beach in under 30mins, train to London etc.

@APerfectSky

Cheltenham any good? I've seen a beautiful 4 bed house there for 340k, just half mile from the train station!

I know Cheltenham quite well. It's generally a nice town, not too big, but enough to do, parks, restaurants, easy access to the m5, Cotswolds etc.

Thee are a couple of areas that are considered less desirable (Princess Elizabeth way area, Whaddon..) so it depends on where you've found the house.

I like Cheltenham as I'm not a fan of larger towns, but it really depends on what you're looking to be able to do there.

The house is in Rowanfield not far from the train station - any good?

@APerfectSky

Cheltenham any good? I've seen a beautiful 4 bed house there for 340k, just half mile from the train station!

I know Cheltenham quite well. It's generally a nice town, not too big, but enough to do, parks, restaurants, easy access to the m5, Cotswolds etc.

Thee are a couple of areas that are considered less desirable (Princess Elizabeth way area, Whaddon..) so it depends on where you've found the house.

I like Cheltenham as I'm not a fan of larger towns, but it really depends on what you're looking to be able to do there.

I'm just looking for good bars to socialise at weekends, restaurants and amenities like good shopping and gyms etc. Does it offer this? Some people say it's dull with hardly any bars or shops - others say the opposite

@applecatchers36

Cheltenham is a good option. Central ( minus Hester's Way etc) is more pricey. But Charlton Kings and Shurdington on the edge might be in budget. Has shops, restaurant and bars. Has a couple of theatre's and the literature festival. Has a train & bus station. Edge of Cotswolds for walks, access to nature. Big employer is GCHQ so are jobs, esp in that industry.

Is Rowanfield any good?

@Hairbrush123

Cheltenham is lovely. I really enjoy visiting there. They also have a John Lewis and excellent restaurants there. I rather Solihull if I’m honest but it’s still a wonderful place to visit. Be warned that the station isn’t close to the town centre - it’s more of an out-of-town parkway station

Do you know Rowanfield?

I live near both Farnborough and Basingstoke and they are fine for what you want. I would probably choose Basingstoke though out of the 2.

My son is always in Basingstoke socialising and he really enjoys the bar scene there. I enjoy the choice of restaurants and shopping is fab. Obviously you can easily nip into London for a show and/or heavy shopping (I do this once a year as a birthday treat).

I'm just looking for good bars to socialise at weekends, restaurants and amenities like good shopping and gyms etc.
I think you need to define “good” bars and shopping, and towns where you like the vibe. Everywhere has bars and shops, but are you looking for a Pitcher and Piano plus Zizzi plus Tesco, or farmers market plus John Lewis plus indie bookshop – what are the parameters?

OP
Basingstoke is a good option, people can be snobby about it but I am also considering moving there (currently renting in Winch) and whilst I would love to stay in Winch it just doesn’t offer good value for money unless you want a boxy new build on the Kingsbarton estate for an inflated price not to mention the plan to build 2000 of them!

I visited old basing and B/S over the weekend and found some decent bars, two theatres the Anvil and Haymarket, a really useful shopping mall, a Vue cinema, lots of open green space, a very cute village with historical points of interest, several types of restaurants including Nepalese to Italian but also useful chains, a lively train station with regular trains to Reading (for a larger town experience), Winchester as it’s just a lovely place to visit, the coast and London of course. All of these places are easily accessible from B/S. I find it a well located town. Diversity is also important to me and I noticed a mixture of people.

I’m from London moving for work and I am swayed as I too would like family friendly but also some nightlife and the only other places I would consider over this are Southampton or Reading. Alas Brighton is too far a commute for me.

I also note that the villages between B/S, Reading and Winch, Farnham and Guildford are all v nice but you do need 500+ budget.

I agree with Stunt,
John Lewis and Farmers Market = Winchester, Farnham, Guildford type places
Expensive and I’m sorry to offend but often full of people who look down on you if not middle-class and white. Shame as I love all this stuff but want to feel comfortable when I’m out and about.

@stuntbubbles

I'm just looking for good bars to socialise at weekends, restaurants and amenities like good shopping and gyms etc. I think you need to define “good” bars and shopping, and towns where you like the vibe. Everywhere has bars and shops, but are you looking for a Pitcher and Piano plus Zizzi plus Tesco, or farmers market plus John Lewis plus indie bookshop – what are the parameters?

Ah ok, I was a bit vague on that - I'm looking for mainstream clothes shops like the type you get in bluewater or Oxford street. Plus superstores / supermarkets

By good bars I mean, wine or cocktail bars for weekends and decent size pubs for Sunday lunch or a more relaxed drink in the week.

Bournemouth or Poole.