Moving to Suffolk - where?

[doornail]

I posted this on the education board, but also thought I'd post here for more responses....

Husband wants to move to Suffolk where he's originally from... we are currently in Scotland (where im from) and have 3 kids - primary school and nursery age.

If we could live anywhere in Suffolk, where would you recommend for good schools and a nice area (work from home mostly so that's not an issue)

And can someone please explain to me about how admissions work with schools in England - if we were to live near a good school (do you have catchment areas?) does that guarantee you a place? If not how does it work?

We have a lot to think about and it's all scaring me as I don't understand it at all!

Thanks

I’ve lived in Suffolk and Scotland - you will hate Suffolk in comparison. I can’t emphasis enough how unfriendly it is compared to Scotland.

@Spck - can you explain in what way it's unfriendly? Is it from the point of view that you feel people don't like 'outsiders' coming in, or something else?

@EmmaGrundyForPM - Woodbridge did come up when I searched online looking at schools and it looked like a nice place on paper anyway! have people been friendly? Do you have kids of school age? Why did you pick Woodbridge?

Not Ipswich.
Crime is on the rise and its not somewhere i would want to live with children

Also - what sort of budget is sensible for a 4 bed with decent garden in an area with good schools?

I grew up on the Essex/Suffolk border, and went to school.in Ipswich. So, like your husband, I have a Suffolk connection.

Our children are adults, as we are in our 50s, so we didn't have to worry about schooling. However, one of my old school friends, who I'm.still very close to, lives in the area. Her children went to Farlingaye and did really well. They are now at university.

We've always loved Woodbridge as its got so much to offer. DH grew up on the South Coast and loves the sea. My parents lived in Hadleigh until very recently (my Dad's no longer with us and my Mum has moved away) and we used to go to Woodbridge a lot with them.

We wanted somewhere within easy reach of the coast - I can be on the beach within 15 minutes - but also wanted a real town. We love Aldeburgh but could never live there. - too many second homes, very little community activity in winter. Woodbridge has loads going on. It also has a good range of shops. there are 4 primary schools I think, plus Farlingaye Secondary. There's a train station. And the countryside around it is beautiful.

I know some posters are saying it's unfriendly but that honestly hasn't been our experience. Our neighbours moved here 5 years ago from elsewhere and have made loads of friends.

I'd say £500k - £600k would get you a standard 4 bed house, nearer the higher end of that for detached. Massively depends on where.

@PragmaticWench we will prob have a budget around 850k as that's what we've been told our house here would sell for, but might not get that much as market has cooled since we got told that. There is such a variation in price when I look - some 4 beds in not so great condition are over £1m...and I have no idea why and worried that would be cause they are near the better schools and the ones nearer 600k would be less good... but I don't know....🤷🏼‍♀️

I should add, we have a period 5 bed with large garden at the moment, and I assumed that we wouldn't get as large for our money down south, but don't want to feel the move would be to an obviously 'lesser' house from kids point of view.

If you have a budget of £850k that will get you a really good size house.

where I live on the a12/a14 corridor, that would get you a 5bed detached with a few acres of land, but somewhere like woodbridge/aldeburgh/southwold you’d get very little.

surely you want to move to near where your DH grew up, else what’s the point in coming back to the county? There’s a huge difference between Ipswich and Lowestoft for example, and at least a 1.5hr drive between the two locations.

@thebellagio he moved around Suffolk so there's not one specific area really, but Bury is prob the one he has most connection to.

Also, when you say 'very little' in those areas, would we struggle to get a 4bed with decent garden? Don't need huge, but want kids to be able to play football etc and run about, wouldn't want acres as couldn't manage it all!

If his biggest connection is Bury then I would personally use it as a starting point. It’s a really lovely town - the town centre is lovely to walk around and the council are much better at creating a sense of community than Ipswich. It’s also more in the middle of the county so you could go to days out elsewhere easily.

Here’s a few things for a 900k budget (based on rightmove brackets)

Shotley Penninsula (very nice, good schools). - 7bed detached listed building - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129470348#/?channel=RES_BUY

sudbury - 5bed townhouse - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128079746#/?channel=RES_BUY

newmarket - 4bed - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130788158#/?channel=RES_BUY

ipswich town centre - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130682708#/?channel=RES_BUY

For bury at edmunds you could get a gorgeous house for your money

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130605266#/?channel=RES_BUY

Is the only reason to move just because your husband fancies it? I would really think a lot about this. The way of life is very different - I found not so much of the east friendliness and warmth of the north. And that’s a big miss as it impacts all of the day.
could you take some holidays and look around. Examine why the move. We moved back north and have a so much better quality of life and my only regret is not doing it sooner.

*easy friendliness

@Spck - it would be largely down to the fact that he wants to move 'home' (although his family aren't there anymore 🙈) yes. It would also be practical from the point of view of work as while we work from home he occasionally needs to travel for work and the majority do the places he would travel to are around the south east area (although not all). He also cites the weather as a pull too, and I know it is warmer down south.

However, I don't really want to move, and I've said if we are to move it needs to make me feel like it's a positive move and that I'm not going to do the work for it, he needs to sell it to me. But having said that, I don't want to be sold a load of outdated info about how nice places are/ good schools from 30 years ago and then we move and discover it's not what we'd been lead to believe, so actually need to do some research.

Best to make as many trips to the area as you can to get a feel for it.
As for friendliness, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
People talk about places being friendly or unfriendly, but ime it's bollocks.

We moved from London from a two bed flat to a three bed house with decent garden for the same price in Lowestoft. Catchment areas where we are don’t really seem to be a thing or certainly they don’t have stupid 400 metre catchment areas. It is also very safe that it’s laughable when they moan about crime. It is deprived where we live but there are wealthy areas. It’s close to Norwich which is great for shops and Great Yarmouth. Beccles is really lovely. Not sure about the friendliness aspect as I’d probably say it’s a bit more compared to where we were and we have our own road Facebook page and a lot of kids down our road go to my daughters school.

I grew up in Bury and visit regularly. If I was going to move to Suffolk, family notwithstanding, it would be there. Great schools, open countryside but loads of shops and amenities, friendly people, lots to do, good transport links - lovely place. You’d get a palace for 850k.

Villages like Dedham around the Essex/Suffolk border are lovely. Can’t believe people are recommending Ipswich. It’s a dump but cheap I suppose.

This thread is fascinating! I grew up in Suffolk and still have family there. I didn’t realise it had such a reputation for being unfriendly.

The town I grew up in has actually been mentioned upthread (but not recommended as a place to live 😂). It’s the kind of place where everyone is related to knows everyone. Many of the people I went to school with stayed in the area, had kids young and sent them to the same schools we all went to. Some people love it but it wasn’t for me and I can see why it would seem quite insular.

If I were moving back there now, Bury St Edmunds would definitely be my choice. Lovely town with good shops and schools. It doesn’t have the best train line but it does have direct links to Cambridge and Ipswich (and not such a big deal anyway if you’re WFH).

Ipswich is an odd place, it does have some nicer areas but there are also parts which feel very unsafe. The town centre is too big for the size of the town really, which I think leads to it feeling quite desolate. It has some good schools and some terrible ones, so catchment areas would be an important consideration.

None of the seaside towns are places I could imagine living with a young family. Some feel like holiday destinations (Southwold, Aldeburgh), some are very neglected (Lowestoft). Felixstowe seems to be improving.

Despite living in Suffolk for nearly twenty years, I don’t think I ever made it to Woodbridge. It does have a reputation for being “naice” though which I guess is both good and bad.

On the Essex/Suffolk border you could look at East Bergholt or Saffron Walden? I like both and I think they have good schools.

Having said all of that, I think relocating to Suffolk from Suffolk when your husband’s family don’t even live there anymore is pretty bonkers and I can see why you’re wary. Could you not plan an extended holiday there, maybe spend a month or so there in the summer exploring all your husband’s old haunts?

I mean take an extended holiday as an alternative to actually moving there!

Depending where you live in Scotland you might find the countryside and scenery in Suffolk quite depressing. My in-laws live not far from Woodbridge and I find it really oppressive when we visit. It’s just flat fenland with nothing to see in any direction. There aren’t even trees. You might see some pig farms in the distance. In comparison to hills and forests in Scotland, I would really miss that.

I find there’s not much to do either if you have young kids. Not all the beaches are sandy or safe to play on. You’ll end up driving around to places and there’s only so many times you can visit the Suffolk Punch Horse Trust.

My in-laws are in their 70s and I would say that’s the demographic of the area they live.

Bury is nicer and then you can escape to Cambridge or London.