Moving House

[Ropi Jo]

I'm retiring soon and will be moving to the countryside. I want rural but my wife wants semi-rural / edge of a village location.

I see loads of beautiful homes for sale in what appear to be ideal locations, surrounded by farm fields or woodlands, and start to wonder if they will stay this way.

Today I found 2 homes for sale, half a mile apart (they are about the only homes in this beautiful country lane), both for sale, at what appears to be fantastic prices, and got to wonder what they know that I should know.

I've searched but cannot find any info on any potential housing developments for the area that would affect them. The nearest development is the other side of the nearest town.

It's currently mile upon mile of beautiful open countryside. It couldn't be more different to where I live in a craphole concrete jungle.

I live in the paradise also known as Basildon. 30 yrs ago it was a nice place to live. How that's changed! Every open / green space has been sold off and developed. Greedy developers and greedy councilors.

Just up the road, in what was a nature reserve with a preservation order, there are now thousands of new homes, with more being built.

A few weeks ago I needed to drive to Thaxted. A beautiful old English country village now surrounded by thousands of new homes with more development sites than I could count already in full swing. Turning paradise into another Basildon.

Does anyone know a source of discovering what developments are pending in any particular area? Any websites dedicated to this?

I don't want to blow my life's savings on a dream that just becomes the next nightmare.

Ropi Jo2021-05-06 14:40:37

 

[strykr]

Dont go, you'll miss the basildon hollywood sign.

 

[big10p]

There's probably a hippy festival in the field opposite, every year.

 

[neoretro]

Have to challenge the Basildon was a nice place to live 30 years ago.

I lived there. And was surrounded by pretty much every sort of criminal you could hope not to meet. My partner laughs at how paranoid I am about everything which was brought on by 25 years of living there.

Might not be as green, but the growing population probably brings the percentage of criminals down in the area from about 10% of population to 1%

In terms of finding somewhere to move which won’t be developed. You can pretty much forget it. With working from home becoming common place, even places well off the beaten track will start to get developed as commuting is no longer a factor when considering a house purchase.

Your best bet is getting a house as close to the coast as possible. Unless you live in Dubai, you’re unlikely to find someone building a development in water

 

[Majik]

Honestly? Knock on doors and have a chat with locals. Find the parish councillors (if it’s a PC) and contact them. Ring local planning office and ask outright. The info is out there and you’ll regret it if you later find something out which was local knowledge. Added advantage of seeing if your potential neighbours are nut jobs or not…

 

[Venom]

I've always found the local council helpful, I just email them and normally they get get back with a number or a person to speak to.

Obviously they dont commit to anything but have a good idea.

When I bought my house in the country there was just fields on the back, field after field.

The oddity the back of the back field was reserved for a ring road. I phoned the council and they basically said it had been reserved for tha last 16 years. They simply did not have the money to build a ring road. Then a real oddity that the proposed ring road kind of blacks people putting houses on it !!

19 years later I still live here and its still a lovely field with a "proposed"ring road. Luckily so far all new houses have been built on other side of the road and nowhere near me !

My check box is....

Can I get three cars on the driveway, so I can move up for visitors.

Can I reasonably stop neighbors looking into my garden , is it fenced or bushes etc.

The three cars I am picky, I hate off street parking, even now people piss me off who cannot be bothered to move there cars around so sometimes dump them outside mine.

The garden fence we had a major running with neighbor over which nearly got violent.

The problem I want to protect myself from next time is the space around the property. Although detached , when built extension we needed to go round neighbors for scaffolding etc That not so much an issue.

The issue is more the neighbour we did not get on with making sh*t up to try and come round to look at his side wall !

I'd personally pop into a local shop and see if they do a local news letter . Our vilage does and it lists any new housing concerns and the parish council meetings so you can see what is going on !!

Then check my street pr whatever it is to see the crime rates

Enjoy.

 

[Coops]

I second what Majik said. Most village areas have a parish council and they can have a strong sway over building projects within their area. Most of them nowadays have a Facebook group so you could always check/join them and perhaps put questions on there about the area. Also check the county website for planning permission in the area, remember some counties are split into smaller areas (Suffolk are made up of different councils and therefore have different planning portals which you may need to check). When you do find an area you like, check where the settlement boundaries are in the area and see how these affect you and when these will be reviewed.

 

[Ropi Jo]

Thanks for the input chaps.

I hate neighbours, and never got on with any of them after the first couple of years in any of the homes I lived in, so fully rural with no neighbours would be perfect for me. Just need to persuade the wife.

Have to challenge the Basildon was a nice place to live 30 years ago.

I lived there. And was surrounded by pretty much every sort of criminal you could hope not to meet. My partner laughs at how paranoid I am about everything which was brought on by 25 years of living there.

Have to come back at you on that one Neo.

I moved here from a London dive. Compared to that Basildon was like a day out in an English meadow.

I'm fortunate to live in the 'posh' part of town (yes, believe it or not Basildon does have a posh part). But 2 minutes north, east or west and I'm reminded what a cesspit this place has become. South isn't quite as bad if you can avoid the 3500 houses they're throwing up.

 

[Ropi Jo]

Dont go, you'll miss the basildon hollywood sign.

Yes, quite right. A true masterpiece of understatement.

And don't forget Festival Leisure...AKA Bas Vegas! This is the place to be if you want to get stabbed waiting at the taxi rank.

There's probably a hippy festival in the field opposite, every year.

Peace, Dude!

Ropi Jo2021-05-06 21:01:36