Cheap and rural locations

Jenko109 said:
Just to be clear we are not looking for an equestrian property (I wish!)

We want cheap and cheerful 😅

Our only requirements are a detached house in a quieter village. Less traffic, less pollution, more peace.

It's only us two, so a small 2 bed property would be fine. Just a little garden for the dogs.

It's hard to tell what our budget will be at the time, but judging by the adverts I have looked at so far for some of the suggestions, we should be able to get what we need for around 240k. Which feels absolutely bonkers.

Thank you for the suggestions. It's going to take some time to work through them all. Better start planning a few short breaks 😅
Click to expand...
240k???? Check out northern Ireland!!! You'll get some amazing properties, with land, for that. Pm if I can help!!
 
Jenko109 said:
Just to be clear we are not looking for an equestrian property (I wish!)

We want cheap and cheerful 😅

Our only requirements are a detached house in a quieter village. Less traffic, less pollution, more peace.

It's only us two, so a small 2 bed property would be fine. Just a little garden for the dogs.

It's hard to tell what our budget will be at the time, but judging by the adverts I have looked at so far for some of the suggestions, we should be able to get what we need for around 240k. Which feels absolutely bonkers.

Thank you for the suggestions. It's going to take some time to work through them all. Better start planning a few short breaks 😅
Click to expand...
Dear me, 240k?! I bought exactly that property 7 years ago for £75k! It’s not the best area but you can get much more for that in this area (North East)
 
Isle of Wight. Property is £100k ish less than mainland (like for like) but there are downsides. Like; don’t get ill, or old, or need a job. Or want to go across the water.

Have you considered Argyll & Bute?
 
fredflop said:
They may be cheap… but are for a reason. Good luck getting a saddler, farrier, chiro etc to visit.
Click to expand...
Not true at all. Im Aberdeenshire where prices are generally a lot lower than probably most of England. Ive never had or heard of any issues getting hold of farriers, saddlers, chiro etc! Maybe harder if you're in the absolute depths of the Highlands or Islands.
 
fredflop said:
They may be cheap… but are for a reason. Good luck getting a saddler, farrier, chiro etc to visit.
Click to expand...
Scottish Borders great saddlers and physio's, farriers can be a little harder but only due to demand, there are around 6 to choose from in my area just there's even more horses! There is life (and facilities) outside the Home Counties 😂
 
MagicMelon said:
Not true at all. Im Aberdeenshire where prices are generally a lot lower than probably most of England. Ive never had or heard of any issues getting hold of farriers, saddlers, chiro etc! Maybe harder if you're in the absolute depths of the Highlands or Islands.
Click to expand...

We moved from an area that was very well served in terms of horsey life (East Lancs) to the NW coast of Scotland; this was 6 years ago.
Main thing was that we needed land for the horses plus a house, all for sub £250k. We ended up getting 2.5 acres plus a 0.33 acre plot with planning permission for £65k- we then did a self-build. Lots of pros and cons. Biggest problem was living in a caravan while the build was happening (plus 2 lockdowns during Covid!) It was hell.

Whatever you do, there's always some sort of compromise...we have incredible views of the sea & mountains and the Highlands is generally an amazing place to live. House is just the right size and extremely cozy plus cheap to run. Lovely hacking, the people are wonderful, the pace of life is fantastic, traffic queues are very rare. It's no colder than Lancs although it's really windy at times.
However, we were used to getting a non-emergency vet out within a day when we were in Lancs, whereas I had to wait 5 weeks for a vet to come out and sedate Ozzy. They will come over in an emergency and people with transport can take their horses in to the vet if necessary.
EP - no problem, I think there's a farrier in the area too.
Physio - a really good physio travels over from the West.
Saddle fitter - hmmm no. Hence we went with TCS, which has been great.
You can get pretty much anything delivered by Royal Mail/Parcelforce/various couriers.

NHS is amazing up here, I've never failed to get a GP appointment on the same day.


Our nearest big supermarket is about 60 miles away, but it's a stunning scenic drive and I never get bored of it. Lots of people just get Tesco home delivery, but we travel once a fortnight to stock up on horse feed anyway so we go to Tesco while we're there.

Beautiful rural areas, especially in England, that are close to motorways, towns, facilities etc tend to be expensive. If you want more for your money, there's usually a compromise and it's often to do with ease of travel. (Having said that, it is cheaper and quicker for me to get to London from here, via Inverness airport, than it was to take the train from Manchester!)

I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss anything from my previous location - I liked being near various equestrian centres, forage was cheaper, there were always fun rides and the like.
But on balance I'd much rather be here. And overall I'm a lot better off financially.

Had we not come up here I would have looked at Cumbria (outside the touristy bits, which are expensive), Devon or West Wales.
 
A place near Aberaeron has just come on the market, 2 bed, 2 acres £450,000, edited to add in the town would probably be just as expensive as it's a nice town on the coast
 
South Wales Valleys. The industrial past has left a legacy of very good road and rail links but the pollution of the mines is long gone, leaving some beautiful green countryside. House prices are cheap, especially further north - the further away from Cardiff you get, the cheaper they are. If you go West a bit too (the Llynfi and Ogmore valleys north of Bridgend) you'd be close to some of the most beautiful coastline in the UK - the Glamorgan coast is a bit of a hidden gem.

Just to give you a bit of an idea on prices, I chose a random village in the area and looked for a detached house. This is within 30 minutes of Cardiff, 10 minutes to Bridgend station which would have you in London in just over 2 hrs! https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/166208414#/?channel=RES_BUY
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top