Has anyone done this and can offer advice? Want to move rurally but no idea where to start

[Coffeecoffeeinmytummy]

We live in a pretty expensive area of the south east. House is an average 3 bed semi, nice but nothing special, worth circa £525k. We have approx £235k equity but still a mortgage of £290k over 29 years, which feels massive. Repayments are currently £1k a month as we fixed at 1.7% but this will end in 2025 and it’s just a bit of a chain around our necks. Always worrying about how high the interest rates will go.

We live here because of work. Not because we love it. There’s some nice areas and things to do but DH and I both grew up living semi-rurally and just want to leave our busy, congested town where everyone seems stressed and not that friendly. However we have most of our family living within 1-2 hours of us, all over london and the south, including both of our widowed mums in their seventies. We have two kids preschool aged.

Ultimate dream would be to sell and use the equity to either buy outright or with a very small mortgage (no more than say £40-50k). Somewhere semi rural, not totally isolated but away from the rat race. DH and I would both work part time, not sure doing what (we both work at universities currently). But where do we even start? And what about family? I don’t want to live my life wishing we could be somewhere else. We are lucky and have a nice life.

Has anyone done this? We can’t afford to live rurally nearby if we want to clear the mortgage, everything is so expensive. I’d love to live in Scotland but it would mean completely starting from scratch.

I think you need to start by narrowing down areas and then apply for jobs. It could be quite grim to down size your mortgage considerably only to find that you were struggling month on month with the basics of food, bills etc Areas I would consider would be Forest of Dean, Herefordshire, Shropshire (could live in Wellington and be 45 mins on the train into Birmingham for university jobs) Worcestershire, with access to Worcester for jobs including university. In essence, get a job somewhere cheaper and then find a rural property within the locality.

Have you looked at East Kent? you could get an ex council for that in a village here where you could drive to the high speed trainline.

Have you told your DM, MIL and relatives you are thinking of moving? If they live to their late 80s or 90s, they will likely need regular visits and support, not to mention someone nearby if they fall or end up having surgery etc. If you are thinking someone else will do this, it may be worth discussing.

I went London - working overseas - rural Shropshire and love it. Houses are (relatively) cheap and plenty of space, But, that's because there's not that much work.

But Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff are all within two hours and I can be in London in less than four. It's not for everyone as we are properly rural, but I do like it.

My father is >80 and lives in the South East so that is a concern, but we have space to accommodate him if need be.

DH & I had the same dilemma, it took a while to narrow it down but we decided to base location on the lifestyle we wanted - semi rural, lots of walking routes on the doorstep, 10 minutes to a small town with great pubs, theatre, community events and 20 minutes from a city. Also 1 hour from my family and 45 minutes from his family. We looked at Wales, but ended up on the Worcestershire/Herefordshire border.

We had a big tick list for the house too, so it took around 2 years to find the right place.

Best decision ever! No mortgage, I've given up work as it was too much of a commute and now enjoying renovating the new house and looking for another job part time to enjoy.

I'd base your decision on your lifestyle, what things you enjoy the most etc.