Decide where I should move to. The country is my oyster...

[Ab31]

We (DP, DD and I) desperately want to move out of our one bed, rented flat in scummy bit of London to the countryside. We are not tied to anywhere but would like peace, space, not too far from a nice town but not in it.
Where should we go?????

Makes sense Expat but we both grew up in the country so it won't be a big shock. The city was great when we were a bit younger (!) and without DD...
Have been thinking about East Anglia - his family are there but they're not very close. My family are on Isle of Wight so I wouldn't maind a bit more South. Does anyone know nice villages in Dorset? Will look at the places you metioned too beaniesteve....

It's all about the MARNY.

How much do you have to spend?

It only takes 1.5 hours to fly from Inverness to London you know.

Harrogate. The nicest place in the universe, and very child-friendly. Fantastic schools (state and private), great shops, lovely people - and heaps of green space - the Stray is a huge grassy area right in the centre, where my DS learnt to ride his bike. If I can ever afford it, I'll move there like a shot!

Commute to London must be slightly over 3hrs (on a good day...) via Leeds?? I did see an episode of Relocation, Relocation where the male half of the family commuted from Harrogate to London.

Might also be affordable if you're moving from London? Certainly not if you're moving from Leeds, whatever they say about the 'Golden Triangle' of Harrogate/Leeds/York. Harrogate out-prices the lot!

OK.... still wanting to rent... 2 or 3 beds, garden (for cat)... around £650 pcm...

I don't think that would give you too much choice in Dorset.

Best place I ever lived was Bath. I'd love to live there again but DSs are in school now and we don't want to move them.

You might get somewhere in Harrogate for that kind of rental money. I own a lovely 2-bed terraced house on the south side (v popular for access to Leeds), and have just let it out for £600 pcm. It gets extra rent for being a "character property" (though has no garden - just a big yard), but if you were prepared to compromise on style, you might well find somewhere. I gather that all the school catchments in HG are "good", so you're spoilt for choice!

North Somerset side of Bristol. Loads of train stations with direct routes to London or hop on M5/M4 to drive there.

We live near Weston Super Mare so 20 mins one way and we're sat on beach, 20 mins the other and we're in middle of Bristol.

North Wiltshire or some bits of Somerset. Bath is great but not sure what you could rent for that money.

Chippenham (15 mins from Bath by train, 1 hr 15 mins from London Paddington) is good for families. Two-bed house with garden would cost £500+ to rent, you could get a 3-bed for £650-750 depending on size and location. Lots of choice between town itself and more villagey.

You'd get what you want in Cornwall I think. You can live about 20 minutes away from Plymouth and the transport (airport and train) links to London are good.I rent out my 4 bed house for £850 per month, plus bills, and I know from looking that there are properties out there in your price range. My place is in the Tamar Valley, but there are other pretty villages not far from Torpoint, and also outside Plymouth which would give you the mix of town/country that you want.

We plan on moving to Norfolk in the future. I love it there, the coastline is gorgeous, lovely rural villages but close enough to a large town for the amenities.

For example you can rent something like this for £695 pcm.

I moved from Scotland to Norfolk because of dh's job and would advise anyone to think very carefully about it.

Yes there are beaches and nice coastline but there are not very many dual carriageways here and it takes ages to get anywhere. In the busy summer months the main route into Norwich/Norfolk Broads/Gt Yarmouth/North Norfolk is the A11 parts of which are single carriageway and can be an absolute nightmare especially when travelling with children.

Yes it is close to London but you have to negotiate the M25, which always seems to have roadworks in the summer months.

My dh often has to work in London, he went off this morning to spend the week there and when he got to the station there were no trains to Liverpool Street due to the weather (it wasn't that bad!) and over running engineering works. He had to go via Cambridge and goodness knows what time he eventually arrived as he said there were almighty delays.

Where that property is Sidge takes about an hour to get into the centre of Norwich in rush hour. The reality is it should only take 10-15 minutes.

Oh I agree Fimbo, that ring road around Norwich can be hideous. When visiting the in-laws we always avoid arriving near Norwich around the rush hour!

I think wherever you move to you have to do a lot of research into the transport/travel situation between work and home. It's not as simple as saying 'oh great that lovely house is only 4 miles from xxxxxx'.

All true. Thanks all... food for thought that's for sure!

BTW What's Framlingham like...anyone?