Title: Location, Location, Location: What Are Your Priorities?

[OrangeCarrot]

Hi all,

We’re buying our long term home and I’m curious—when choosing the perfect location, what are your top priorities?

For us, it’s about being close to nature, having decent schools nearby (even though we don’t have kids yet), and being near to family. Commute is less important when compared to these.

What factors do you consider most important when it comes to location?

School catchment (if children are that age)
Quiet street
South or West facing garden
Transport links (not too far from train station)
Not too rural as the countryside makes me nervous, I like shops and restaurants and local amenities

Commute, being able to walk to bars/restaurants, nice area and close to dog walks

Local amenities available on foot (shop, take away, pub, hair dresser, GP and school, playgrounds)

On a bus route, near a station

Quick access to countryside, ideally on foot.

Walkable from local amenities - shops, grocery stores, post office, transport hubs

Walkable from safe spaces for teens to hang out - churches, youth groups, other friends houses, parks, shops

Walkable from the sea/coast

Pubs, cafes, restaurants in walking distance, off a main road, schools when is was relevant.

A bright and sunny house so lots of windows. After that then a small shop close by.

Countryside always....I don't mean pretty, chocolate box countryside which is basically suburbia disguised as a village somewhere down south, but real RURAL, as far away from the beaten track as possible.

Preferably no neighbours and not overlooked, down a lane rather than a main road. I no longer need schools etc. because children left home long ago, nor do I need access to a pub etc.

It's got to be quiet - I'm happy with natural sounds such as bird song, farmyard sounds, even cockerels crowing at 3am - just not traffic, town sounds, factory noise, neighbours coming back late at night, kids playing in the school yard etc.

It needs plenty of land around it....lots of mature trees, fields of sheep, views of undulating countryside. A view, in my opinion, means fields and a natural landscape from here to the horizon. If it contains urban sprawl or even a distant market town, it isn't a "view" !!

I'm prepared to sacrifice a lot of things I'd like inside a home for the above outside considerations. Fortunately I've found a place to retire to which ticks all those boxes, it's only small but that's the compromise and I absolutely love it!

Mine were:

Cost. Repayments have to be manageable for 25 years. Allow for potentially horrific inflation

Safe, not in the middle of a war zone where my windows could get smashed or my car broken into or I can't walk outside without fear of being mugged.

Near family for caring responsibilities.

A house with drive and garden rather than a flat this time so I can have a shed for storage and a place to sit out in summer. And no parking issues as I have a drive.

A spare bedroom. Just in case I need a lodger or get unexpected pregnant again.

Unfortunately to get all those things I had to compromise. Ended up not in the best location. But it's been ok, if not ideal, but you never get everything you want in life!!

Oooh, interesting! We recently made a big move with a baby and a toddler. For us, priorities were:

Safe, “nice” area.

Well connected, including by public transport.

Not on a main road or somewhere too noisy, smelly or ugly.

Easy walking distance to nursery, schools, shops, cafes, parks, etc.

Commute in terms of distance and ease of travel between nursery/school and work was a big factor!

We decided against another really lovely area because we don’t want the panic of fearing I’ll be late to work or late to get kids if traffic is bad. There needed to be an easy walk or cycle option. Don’t underestimate this if planning kids and you’ll need to collect after work - a long and painful school run would gradually destroy my soul 😂. Obviously less of an issue for SAHP or those with a nanny or family help, but might be something to consider!

Kid school is our location priority, being walking distance of the high street as I can't walk far or drive at the moment would be amazing too.

safe area
Walking distance to schools and amenities
Public transport links

We lived between zone 1-2 for yrs on a busy, noisy road. When we moved, we wanted:
-Nearish to DH's family
-Walking distance to the beach
-Walking distance to shops/high st
-Large garden
-Off street park
-No kids so schools not of interest to us, but I didn't want the house/garden backing onto one due to the noise
-We both WFH, so commuting distance to somewhere wasn't a worry

We had no thought on roads, but just not a busy, main road. We ended up buying on a very quiet, lane with just 1 access in and out. I'm SO glad we did, because its popular with dog walkers due to open fields nearby, we get lots of birds in the garden and its very peaceful.

We moved into the catchment area of our chosen school. Other priorities were:

Walking distance to few couple of pubs, cafes & restaurants;

Safe area with lots of trees and green spaces

Not a main road and has to be quiet at night

Pretty road & area

Walking distance to town, mainline station, off-road parking, ideally west facing garden. Somewhere I can go for a walk at lunchtime.

Ideally I would love to be by the sea but I couldn’t get the above in my budget in a seaside location here. But I have everything else and I love it. No kids though (although I am walking distance to both primary and secondary schools).

Sounds perfect!

Given the gridlocked roads in my area close proximity to work . I was so tired of the commute, not just the distance but stuck in slow going traffic . Other than that outside space is a must .

The countryside and isolation are a real problem if you suddenly cannot drive! We live on a bridleway. We have 14 acres of woods and fields. We have fabulous walks directly from our house. However we don’t have a shop, pub or a bus. Now we are getting older we are not sure what we should do as we have spent on lot on effecting heating and solar panels and batteries. Ultimately we should be in a much larger village or town but making the change is difficult. We love this house and it’s a wonderful in many ways. Finding something half as good will be difficult.

We are relocating so spent a long time researching areas as it's a big move for us after 25 years in London. Priorities for us were somewhere with good amenities - quality shops, cafes and restaurants, but on the edge of great countryside. I do a lot of cycling and currently have to spend the first 30 minutes of every ride getting out of town. My other half has always lived in cities though so there was much flip flopping about town vs country before we landed on a decision. In the end, we've gone for the outskirts of an upmarket town so we can have the best of both worlds. The ease of being able to jump on a train to London for work was also a big factor. Given the stress and expense of moving, we are also trying to ensure what we buy will be good for 20 years, when things like access to healthcare or an inability to drive might come into play.

Walking distance to shops, pubs, restaurants and the sea with great public transport but not on a main road with traffic noise. We are in an expensive area in the south so to get all this we opted for a garden flat and compromised on off street parking. I love it. My sister lives in splendid rural isolation. We both love to visit each other but wouldn’t swap. I am the town mouse!