Rural House - Opinions Wanted

Acorn007

Hi all

Hoping you can help me!

I have been looking for a rural semi/rural house to buy for some time now and had a VERY frustrating search and two failed purchases.  There is a house that I viewed last September that I really love and which is still on the market. It ticks pretty much all my non-compromisables, however there are some aspects of the house that worried me, which is why I did not move forward with it at the time. 

Here we are 4 months later and I’m so tired and fed up of still renting that I am now reconsidering looking at this house again and would appreciate some other opinions on some of the things I consider a concern with this property and would love to hear other people’s thoughts. These are as follows:

Water Borehole – The house is not connected to mains water and after speaking to the water board it would not be possible to connect it to mains water. The house has a well maintained bore hole, which is shared with the neighbour. The bore hole does concern me, especially if it were to become dry or cease to work as it would make the house unmortgageable for any future sale. I would love to hear other people thoughts on bore holes? Would it put you off buying a house? Do you currently live with a bore hole and if so what’s your experience of getting water this way?

Access Lanes - The property is situated in a beautiful rural location, however the access to it is on minor country lanes. Although I want country living, this house is more remote than I ideally wanted.  I am used to living in the country so used to country driving, however the access roads to this house are minor lanes and very narrow with few passing points. Approximately 4-5 miles of these type of lanes to get to the house from a B road. Would this type of access to a property put you off buying a property? 

Internet – The internet at this location is pretty much none existent, although just enough to do basic emails and that’s it. As I work remotely and need internet for video calls, streaming etc, the only option would be to use Satellite internet and connect with say Starlink. Has anyone had any experience of Starlink? How reliable is it? Would a house with basically no / limited cable internet, but the opportunity to have internet via satellite put you off buying a house you loved?

I would really love to hear peoples own thoughts on the above as I keep going round in circles and definitely struggling in making a decision, as my head, heart and gut all have different ideas. Thanks so much!

teaselMay

It sound idyllic to me!

Bore hole wouldn't put me off, read up on it and make sure the water has the appropriate treatment/checks.

The roads I'd want to know I and any regular visitors or services wouldn't be put off using them but if you want to live in the countryside you get country roads.

Is there mobile reception? In some rural locations there's surprisingly good 4 and 5G that would be an alternative for your broadband. I've Three's 4/5G broadband at home and it's faster and more reliable than when I had virgin or plusnet. I know people who work from home via Starlink with big data up and downloads without a problem 

ButterCheese

I grew up in a farm house where my parents still live (Devon).  They have mains water but only use it when the bore hole is dry.  This only happens about once a year on average, sometimes never.  There is a UV style filter and of course a pump in the bore hole.  These can go wrong but they only tend to have a problem every 8 years or so at a guess.  It costs to get it fixed - make sure there is an agreement as to who pays the bill (should be 50/50 with the neighbour but what is in writing?).  The water tastes much better than mains, and you'll have a lower water bill, but also check what that is.  My parents still have to pay a standing charge as this includes drainage and other stuff that the water company make up.

But their reservoir is huge - enough to cover drinking water for 100 cows as well, so you may want to check the capacity, does the neighbour ever run out etc.  But saying that you can store/buy water to some extent if you are not fussy, there are ways around that.  The most important thing is drinking water which can be hoarded in a cupboard.

Access lanes:  You get used to them.  They can become a mess in the winter and get overgrown in the summer until someone decides to trim them.  Some locals and visitors cannot reverse for toffee, or will refuse to, so practice your reversing skills.  It wouldn't put me off if it was my dream home though.  And you get used to not going out/into town as often so big shops will be your friend, and don't have a flash car as it will always be dirty and scratched from the hedges.

Internet - I don't know about satellite because I never used it.  We had cable broadband which was still poor (2mb/sec) until a utility company wanted to put a mast in one of dad's fields which improved broadband dramatically and paid for the bill.

If the house and utility supplies are sound then it would not put me off.  Just consider heating (you won't be on mains gas), see how modern the consumer unit is (fusebox) things like that.  And be aware that it is quite a lifestyle change especially in the winter.  I would also go there and do a speed test using mobile internet - see what sort of signal you get.  Having no phone signal used to be fine but now is a very big annoyance

Cressida100

The only thing that would put me off are the very narrow access lanes. 5 miles of them would be a 'no' from me. The thought of meeting tractors and having to reverse a few miles regularly stresses me out just thinking about it. I think if it was the house for you you would have overlooked these obstacles the first time round. Can you delay your search for a bit, when the weather improves there may be more properties coming onto the market. 

Hoenir

The activity in the property market will start to pick up now. I'd start afresh. Get talking to the local agents. 

lincroft1710

It doesn't matter what would put off other members of the forum, we're not intending to live there!


If the water supply, access roads, lack of internet etc are going to be a problem for YOU, then clearly don't buy. If you have a daily commute, then this sounds far from ideal. If you want to be a hermit, could be just the place! 

Myci85

I can't comment on two of the 3, but I've grown up in the country and narrow country roads wouldn't phase me one bit as I'm so used to them. But some people hate them. So how confident are you at driving on narrow roads? As someone else pointed out, you need to be good at reversing ideally... when I meet someone I'm always first to reverse unless I know they've a passing spot right behind them, as I know I can reverse easily whilst so many people I meet find it the hardest thing ever and we'd be there for ages. You do get used to the lanes if you drive them regularly and that helps. 

Something to consider is winter driving. If they're tiny, they're unlikely to be treated in icy weather. Would it be the end of the world if you were stuck in due to unsafe travelling conditions? Would you need to reconsider your car and maybe get a small 4x4? (Don't get one of the modern Chelsea tractors, they don't mix well with narrow country lanes!)

New_in_the_fens

I can’t comment on the first two items on your list - the country lane I live on is adequate for two cars to pass (not two tractors though 😂).

I’ve been on starlink for almost two years. it’s been totally reliable, easy to install, just needs unobstructed view of the sky. I work from home and on teams calls all day long. No issues with streaming etc.

Open reach have recently started wrapping the telephone wires for fibre? and want me to sign up for when it’s available. Although it might be a bit more expensive, I’m loathe to swap as I genuinely have no complaints at all. 

400ixl

Starlink will be reliable provided there is good line of sight, but is not cheap.

The risk is that depending where in the country you are as to whether Starlink is available or has capacity for you to join. If you are in the south east you will be out of luck at the moment https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/12/starlinks-satellite-broadband-hits-capacity-limit-in-south-east-england.html

sheramber

Until a few years ago I lived in a rural crafting area 0n a single track road.  40 miles in one direction and 4 miles in the other. No street lighting.

You learn where you can see the road ahead and if there is any traffic coming. 

One our road there were very few places you could not see ahead at some point earlier. 

At night the headlights alerted you to traffic coming. 

The road did get gritted but the low traffic rate did not work it into snow.

In 13 years I lived there we were snowed in once for 6 days. Buy others were travelling. We had a chest freezer stocked up so did not need to venture out. 

We had friendly crofters with tractors if necessary. 

Acorn007

Thank you so much to everyone that has commented and yes hoping the market will pick up in Spring if I don’t go for this house. Some really interesting thoughts and feedback and further things to think about.

@teaselMay – Although there is a little bit of 4G it’s not enough to support internet, so unfortunately that wouldn’t be an option here, but good to know you know people who rate Starlink!

@ButterCheese heese – Sounds like you had an idyllic childhood there and thanks so much for the details and info on the borehole. My main worry is it dries up permanently! SO good advice on trying to check the potential capacity, I will look into that. Heating all good as it has log burners and oil central heating. As you say its getting used to the lifestyle change and staying in if weather is bad.

@Cressida100 – thanks for your honesty. I think a lot of people may feel how you do about narrow lanes.

@Myci85 Thanks for your thoughts. My reversing skills are not bad luckily, but never fun having to reverse miles is it,  but like you, say I imagine you get used to it. I have a company car unfortunately so am locked in to what I have for the next couple of years, which isn’t ideal for country living as a 4x4 (or quad bike ) may be better.

@New_in_the_fens Meeting tractors is the worst on narrow lanes  but unavoidable with country living. Great to hear your positive experience of Starlink. Thank you. There is definitely an unobstructed view of the sky with this house. Interesting to hear you are not keen to swap back to cable either!

@400ixl – Thanks. I have checked availability in the area for Starlink and it says its covered, so shouldn’t be a problem and has an unobstructed sky view. You just never know just how good it will be until you do it, which means you have already bought the house, so too late if it’s not that great!

@sheramber – Great to hear your experience and yes I think driving narrow lanes is easier at night due to the headlights. I definitely plan to get a big chest freezer and like you say we don’t tend to get too much snow and it never lasts too long.