Some of the Margate area (Cliftonville and Broadstairs) is OK but Thanet is an area of special EU assistance and Margate is in urgent need of regeneration which is why Tracey Emin got her way with Turner Modern which has just opened.

(Some) locals don't think Turner Modern will do anything to help things and they live there. Thanet will be hit by the closure of Pfizers in Sandwich next year as well. So property will probably continue to be cheap and you get what you pay for, I think.

Lots of folks down in that neck of the woods live off welfare.

There are a couple of good state grammar schools on Thanet though.

I'd be quite happy having Birmingham as my airport.

No, it's solely a geographical judgment. I want to be able to get to most of the country relatively easily. Dorset doesn't work for me because it's a long trek to anywhere in the northern half of the country. So I want to be located somewhere where access to both north and south is a little easier. That's one reason I came up with Shrewsbury and Bath as (roughly) the northern and southern boundaries of my thoughts.

A good question. I'd probably do a mixture of leaving it empty, letting family use it and renting it out. I definitely wouldn't be doing this relying on rent in order to make it work financially.

Do we care about this though?

The house I buy in the UK will be my last house. I can't take money with me when I go, so the housing market is really my last consideration in choosing where to live (other than how it affects what I can afford).

Much of Wales is truly beautiful and cheers won't need a job. If he can afford a bigger house there, why not go for it?

Google is your friend ;-)

I just googled and that episode was shown in 2005. So prices would have gone up after that, but then come down again. I don't know about the UK, but I'm told prices in our area are at 2006 levels right now.

This thread is: Moving back to the UK / Location Location Location not over 50s etc. etc.

I accept the fact that if cheers is showing us a house that he personally is interested in then it might make sense for him but typically the rightmove listings posted are for others to consider, I thought, hence my comments.

In the UK, areas of emerging low employment / rising unemployment typically create not only poor property prices but other anti-social problems, particularly if the smart money moves out and there is decline, such as in Margate. Hence my comments about employment, without trying to put the wind up anybody.

Different potential buyers have different issues. In some ways one could think that prospective buyers from outside the UK would not only hope for some sort of meaningful property decline but also a fall-off in Sterling before they buy, particularly if they've been slammed elsewhere, but I personally would rather not discuss or hope for either. Therefore I bring normal property buyer considerations based upon the latest gleaned information to the table for general readers to use as they see fit.

Ah, I thought he was showing us houses he was interested in, as I thought most people were posting houses they liked the look of for themselves. Perhaps I misunderstood.

Personally, I may need to start looking at other areas beside my beloved Kendal. Rentals seem few and far between and we'd need to rent for a year or two. I assume it's because rentals in that area are either snapped up right away, or rare because so many people have second homes up there. Maybe also landlords prefer to do the holiday let thing with the town being right between the Dales and the Lakes. Whatever the reason, it's slim pickings for anything, let alone 3-4 bedroom houses.

Keep them coming, please.

Aha no wonder the house prices seemed cheap. The Turner gallery hadn't even been built and they talked about how it was going to be on one of the piers. I tried to find a date for the show on the credits yesterday but couldn't do so.

The prices are therefore very misleading.

Sorry I should have said Turner Contemporary. Opened two weeks ago.

Some of the property shows actually overlay current information to bring them up to date from their original release where it was a number of years ago.

An interesting last November Halifax article centered on the affordability of countryside living, by Local Authority District, based upon local incomes.

http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/me...singReview.pdf

Guardian commentary on it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010...de?INTCMP=SRCH

Anyone want to go in with me on this one?

Its luvly, clean, cheerful and away from the maddening crowds.

Price is around £129,000.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-18822671.html

I am in Malvern, it is very pleasant. I looked these apartments the other day, they are an excellent buy for the price. Nicely renovated with plenty of space and a great location. In fact, when you go there, the properties and location are actually better than what the photos show.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-29584252.html

Thanks for that. I didn't know you were living in that area and that is an area of particular interest, Hereford, Roos on Wye and Ledbury.

When I looked at your listing I found this one that would give me space for my chickens and I think Linda would take care of the rest of the garden.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-33680069.html

I found some new build apartments that looked really good and they were either opposite a hospital or a train station but unfortunately I can't find them now. I don't remember what town they were in but I think they were in this area of Herefordshire.

Cheers

Then I'll be able to eat here which is one of the best restaurants in Wales, which is just up the road:

http://www.tyddynllan.co.uk/restaurant.html

Note under the Location button it tells you where Llandrillo, which is about six miles from Bala is in relation to everywhere else and how to get there.

Ond a ydych yn siarad Cymraeg?

because it is the first language of around 80% of the 2000 or so population.

Check the White Lion Royal Hotel on Y Stryd Fawr if you can find your way there on Streetview. Mount Street is quiet while Y Stryd Fawr is a hive of activity.

My thinking is very much along the same lines as yours, concerning location.
I occasionally come across appealing places such as Bridport in Dorset, Totnes in Devon and end up wondering how access would be to other places that I would like to reach.
I am resigned to the fact that wherever I choose will mean giving up on one or more of my criteria. Probably the first to go will be being by the sea.
I like all of the places you are considering. Herefordshire and Shropshire are two beautiful counties but I wonder about the weather. I have been considering Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset as fairly centrally placed counties and am wondering if I should add Worcestershire (where I have family) to that list, or even Oxfordshire and Berkshire though they tend to be more expensive.