Where in the UK to buy, if I work from home?

mubeye

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

I'm not surprised, central Manchester isn't exactly known for low traffic .... You want a bit of life yet low traffic? Maybe you need to define what you mean by "a bit of life" as I would have said the two were difficult to marry up.

There are pockets of cities which can be quite chilled, Clifton in Bristol, North Laine in Brighton. Both super expensive though. Wondering if their are similar gems hidden perhaps a further out.

padington

Hastings will see a healthy revival now the new pier is getting opened this year. It's bloody cheap and has a pretty good party / student scene. For every lovely antique shop there is a gang crack heads but one day they'll move elsewhere.

Bournemouth has some pretty amazing beaches and sounds like its got its mojo finally going.

Worthing might be worth a lookin for cheap access to Brighton and close to the big smoke.

Otherwise I would move to a farmhouse outside sheffield.

islandannie

Stirling Might be OK if you can take all the anti English spite my English Husband used to experience.

mystic_trev

padington wrote: »

Hastings will see a healthy revival now the new peer is getting opened this year.

What happened? Did Lord Lucan jump off the end of the old one?

Jonbvn

Based on a uswitch survey Edinburgh has the best quality of life.

There are some good contenders in the list in the linked article.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3283019/Best-places-live-UK-Edinburgh-soars-138-areas-quality-life-league.html

wymondham

East Anglia.... good broadband (mostly!), great beaches, near to Norwich and not a motorway in sight!

PasturesNew

I prefer the far south based purely on weather. I grew up in the East - it was bitterly cold in the winter when the ice came from Russia. Bitterly cold. Awful it was.

I like the south because it's milder.

What I've found though is that milder usually means wetter and, close to the coast, windier. I also hate the wind.

But, I hate the cold far more than wind/wet.

You need to think about what you like/hate etc to help to pin it down.

Do you want to be "somewhere lovely" that's up North, where there's snow a lot of the time and you've a chance of being snowed in? Or do you want to be in the softy south where you just see that stuff on the news and snigger as you open your patio doors?

Also - you need to think about older family members, particularly parents. If your parent suddenly was in hospital and ailing, could you get there in a reasonable amount of time? Repeatedly? To visit them, sort stuff out? Once they take a turn it can take a LOT of visiting to feel you're of use/benefit. Could you, say, get there straight from work on a Friday? And leave theirs very early Monday to be home in time for work/commitments?

chucknorris

PasturesNew wrote: »

But, I hate the cold far more than wind/wet.

I'm the opposite to you, I don't mind the cold (within reason) but I really dislike the rain, I don't mind going hiking or jogging when it is cold, but I tend to shy away from it when it is raining.

Ithaca

Warwick / Leamington Spa / Kenilworth? Less than 30 mins to Birmingham (road and train), under 90 mins to London on the train. Lots of countryside, nice looking towns, close to motorways, very central and a nice mix of places to live in. Traffic a bit of a pain in the mornings but if you're WFH it's fine outside rush hour.

This place (£310k / 3 bed) is just down the road from where we recently bought in Kenilworth... within 5 mins you're out into countryside past the Castle, we've got a Waitrose and a Michelin-starred restaurant (as well as an Iceland and a Sainsburys) decent range of pubs & restaurants, plus Coventry and Leamington are only 4-5 miles away (handy for Ikea, dept stores etc). You can walk into town in 10-15 mins, large park in the middle, woodlands for dog walks etc.

It's also really well connected for broadband etc - I regularly work from home 1-2 days a week now and it's great.

duchy

I too work from home and with your budget I'd be looking somewhere coastal in Devon with a decent view to distract me from my work .
Good rail links to London and Bristol -and Exeter nearby.
Brixham with its working harbour to wander down to for a coffee break is where I'm currently considering.

You've not mentioned what size of property you need so whether your budget would get that is another matter as you could be single or you could have six children to house,