Early-retirement wannabe

OldMusicGuy

We are both 61 and are downsizing next year. We are moving to a more "rural" area from the crowded SE to get both cheaper housing and a better quality of life. However, we've decided not to go for the "cottage in the country" as we ideally want this place to last us for at least 20 years (ie until our 80s). So we are moving to a town location and looking for a place within walking distance of all the facilities.

MallyGirl

We will try to strike a happy medium when we move - no need to pay the premium for living in the Thames Valley if we aren't working. We would want a bigger garden (my hobby) / paddock for the dogs but we would want to be able to walk to a pub for a meal/drink and a local shop for food if we ran out of something basic. Access to healthcare would be something else we wouldn't want to have to drive long distances for. The West Country will probably work for us.

atush

hugheskevi wrote: »

I'm doing it very much the other way around, moving from central London to mid/west Wales - probably about as extreme as you can get.

But I will be aged 45-50 when I move there, am very fit and healthy, so expect at least 20-30 years of good health. At that future time things could change, not least as the upkeep of a large property might be more difficult.

I will need land for a number of pets, including a couple of big dogs - probably a Husky and a German shepherd, but a Malamute would be very acceptable too. Our lifestyle at the moment means we can't have a dog (both out all day) but we walk a friend's Malamute most weekends

Again, interesting. Having lived in a rural location for 20 years, we are looking forwards to not having to drive everywhere. So we can go down to one car etc. Plus we no longer need a lot of land as our dog died a year ago and we wont be replacing him. As we plan to winter in the USA.

atush

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

We are both 61 and are downsizing next year. We are moving to a more "rural" area from the crowded SE to get both cheaper housing and a better quality of life. However, we've decided not to go for the "cottage in the country" as we ideally want this place to last us for at least 20 years (ie until our 80s). So we are moving to a town location and looking for a place within walking distance of all the facilities.

Exactly our approach. Outskirts of small town etc, walking distance to at least a shop and pub/restaurant.

Slinky

atush wrote: »

Exactly our approach. Outskirts of small town etc, walking distance to at least a shop and pub/restaurant.

We've bought a house in a pleasant market town much nearer the coast which is 5 mins walk from the gym, in sight of the doctors, 8 minutes walk to the shopping street with plenty of nice shops and pubs and restaurants. 10 minutes walk to the railway station and a bus stop around the corner if we choose to give up driving. Close to a park with the river on beyond. It's currently rented out whilst we work towards my chosen retirement date. We'll need to do some building work but we have enough room to live on the ground floor if necessary should we not be able to get up the stairs. If it all becomes too much, there are 2 retirement complexes a 5 minute walk away we could downsize to.


It's not exactly pretty but ticks so many boxes (we hope)!

DancingBadger

A bit self-pity with a political bias: apologies in advance, but I need to get this off my chest.

Relocation comes up quite frequently in our discussions these days. I've retired, but OH regards himself as semi-retired and therefore still needs to be within driving distance of west London - even if it is only once a month or so. :mad: The extra money is nice, but not essential.

Some would envy our location - on the south coast, house in quiet unadopted road, within walking distance of the marina where we keep a boat, easy access to the motorway network (although "smart" motorway conversion work has just started and, if it's anything like the roadworks at the top of the M3, will be a complete nightmare).

BUT, but...

The area where we live has lost its character and is no longer recognisable as a result of housing development. Local roads can't cope with increased traffic; the queues are horrendous - and apparently the Government has just imposed a requirement for more new houses, the effect of which will be compounded by a Housing Delivery Test which comes into effect in November. (At this point, people reading this will probably be thinking "diddums" as I would think a lot of areas in the over-crowded South East are affected by these new proposals.)

So the bottom line is we're thinking of moving in the next year or so, but where to go? The south-west is appealing, but it does get busy in the summer. Pembroke is nice, but a bit far out and inclined to attract a lot of rain. We don't want or need isolation, just need to be somewhere where there isn't a plethora of signs stating "Land Acquired for Development by Knock 'Em Up Quick Homes. More Land Needed".

Slinky

Dancing Badger this is why we are moving. We're currently in an area being swallowed up by new developments and only going get more crowded with the planned million homes being touted by the Government from Cambridge to Oxford (don't come here!). There's been some developments near the town we're moving to, but since we didn't know what it was like before, we can live with how it is now. I'm sure many people who move into our area think much the same since they don't know how it was before.

Stirfry

We bought our current house coming up to eight years ago and moved in permanently two years ago. Husband was meant to give up work (but thats another story). His commute is now a lot longer. On the plus side we can walk to 4 pubs, all currently thriving. Five minutes walk to the Doctors Surgery, although not planning on going there much hopefully. Five minutes to the Station. There is a local Church and Post Office. Tea rooms and Coffee shop. We are right on a River and there is a Sailing Club two minutes away.

Its in a village in the South East and we love it. Only been planning to move here for the last eighteen years!

bluenose1

Stirfry wrote: »

We bought our current house coming up to eight years ago and moved in permanently two years ago. Husband was meant to give up work (but thats another story). His commute is now a lot longer. On the plus side we can walk to 4 pubs, all currently thriving. Five minutes walk to the Doctors Surgery, although not planning on going there much hopefully. Five minutes to the Station. There is a local Church and Post Office. Tea rooms and Coffee shop. We are right on a River and there is a Sailing Club two minutes away.

Its in a village in the South East and we love it. Only been planning to move here for the last eighteen years!

Ha, I wouldn't tell us where it is or we will all be moving there.
Sounds ideal. I haven't a clue where we will move to, though we will definitely have to downsize as won't require 5 bedrooms.

Rowbo

DancingBadger wrote: »

A bit self-pity with a political bias: apologies in advance, but I need to get this off my chest.

Relocation comes up quite frequently in our discussions these days. I've retired, but OH regards himself as semi-retired and therefore still needs to be within driving distance of west London - even if it is only once a month or so. :mad: The extra money is nice, but not essential.

Some would envy our location - on the south coast, house in quiet unadopted road, within walking distance of the marina where we keep a boat, easy access to the motorway network (although "smart" motorway conversion work has just started and, if it's anything like the roadworks at the top of the M3, will be a complete nightmare).

BUT, but...

The area where we live has lost its character and is no longer recognisable as a result of housing development. Local roads can't cope with increased traffic; the queues are horrendous - and apparently the Government has just imposed a requirement for more new houses, the effect of which will be compounded by a Housing Delivery Test which comes into effect in November. (At this point, people reading this will probably be thinking "diddums" as I would think a lot of areas in the over-crowded South East are affected by these new proposals.)

So the bottom line is we're thinking of moving in the next year or so, but where to go? The south-west is appealing, but it does get busy in the summer. Pembroke is nice, but a bit far out and inclined to attract a lot of rain. We don't want or need isolation, just need to be somewhere where there isn't a plethora of signs stating "Land Acquired for Development by Knock 'Em Up Quick Homes. More Land Needed".

What about Penarth near Cardiff? We still don’t get as much sun as the east of the country but it’s better than Pembs (I type from my caravan in Pembs). Lovely marina, town, sea front, sailing club, close to Cardiff.