sallysimmons

I'd choose Norfolk if I had to live down south. I think it seems pretty, quiet, affordable and friendly and your post seems to confirm that. Sadly it would take almost as long for me to get to my mum's in Cumbria from there as it does from NYC!

The Guardian's 'Let's Move to' featured Wensleydale today, one of my favorite places in the world. This comment caught my eye:

cheers

Thanks for the reference. It took me to a nice village of Middleham which looks 'my cup of tea' and a cottage for £159K
Price, price,price.
Look beyond the couch. No garden that I can find. I don't think there is any central heating, just the stove and a heater. No double glazing. Price, price. I'll take it!


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-18611685.html

sallysimmons

Here's an even cheaper one in the village of Gayle, which is so beautiful it's ridiculous and is just a few miles from the market town of Hawes.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-18983478.html

But stretch to £190K and you could have this right on the river:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-18112368.html

£180K will get you a 4 bedroom apartment with a view to die for
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-23615473.html

Or an immaculate cottage in a lovely village
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-33853769.html

cheers

My first choice is the second one because of the nice fireplace. The forth one I also liked but I couldn't get it on the street view. There is a building project going on in the street view but that maybe well away from the actual house.

The thought has acured to me that a lot and I mean a lot of these homes for sale are holiday lets that people are selling because they can't rent them out because of the saturation that exists, also, with the slow down they may have to get out of the second home.

aries

What astonishes me about these lovely cottages, is how tiny the second bedrooms are. Four, five, or even 7 feet wide would be claustrophobic, supposedly they were built as rooms for children?

cheers

Easier to clean and keep warm in

johnh009

That's the problem, there is money to bomb Libya and the likes but nothing to seems to be available to generate jobs, or at least jobs that employ a reasonable amount of people other than the odd network administrator here and there. Margaret Thatcher left us with that legacy.

Pistolpete2

The United States has a far more flexible workforce, economic stimulus, food products and raw materials to sell globally, zero interest rates, the typically smarter people who go to MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Yale etc. and NO Thatcher legacy and they can't create employment either. Throwing money at whatever, be it education, artificial jobs, infrastructure will not accomplish anything unless it is NOW part of a greater long-range plan for countries like the US and UK. Hence my previous comments. If it is business as usual we are screwed.

Corporate activity is confusing and the US and UK stock markets are doing relatively well, apart from this last week. That's because the principal companies in the DOW and FTSE are global/multi-national corporations and are making mega-profits typically outside of the US and UK. Jeffrey Immelt (CEO of GE) recently said that GE manufacturing in the US makes next to nothing (presumably US profits are GE Capital) and they make their money overseas. Access to and exploitation of global export markets and global trade is what will lift the US and UK out of the doldrums somewhat, if they can compete with Germany and others at the top of the ladder.

Pistolpete2

Remember that many streetviews can be upwards of three years old and the disruption, if that is what you are concerned about, is long gone.

I also sense a lot of second homes coming to market. I guess we should remember that the attractive country spots we (you) are digging up are only affordable now for newcomers/outsiders as the locals have incomes at the bottom-end. Hence several listings specifically state ideal as a holiday home. Owning a second home when it is used very little and when the weather is becoming more extreme, rainy/stormy and as you say there is a lot of choice for the renter, makes little economic sense in this economy.

cheers

Yes interesting that the SV's are maybe 3 years old but in a lot of cases the for sale sign was up back then.

True about the locals not qualifying to be able to buy and that is wrong! In Wales I have been attracted to some homes but they specify you must be a local to buy the home. There is a terminology that they use?

I'm not in the UK but when I look at the weather forecast I rarely find the weather you mention and that makes me think seriously of moving to the Lake district because we need rain for food. (climate change and all that) Rethinking this, yes there have been storms in Scotland in the last few weeks.

cheers

Pete, the problem seems to be that the politicians are playing with peoples lives and I think of it like a parlor game such as chess were you are always trying to trump your opponent In this case the other political party at the expense of the people they should be representing.

aries

Don't forget that there is an industry in building bombs and other warfare material, also the means to deploy them. Thus warfare generates jobs. Take away that opportunity, and more people would be on the work scrap heap.

It is the same with other manufacturing processes, and with Britain's former industrial power now gone by the wayside, workers must look to other locations.

Local businesses suffer, and the housing market changes. But how many people wish to relocate? Whether they like it or not, it is what they must do.

Pistolpete2

This is the English Summer cheers! I personally suffered insurance loss during the extreme snow and ice storms of January and that was in the milder South East. Come October things will be very different. Climate change brings extremes of wet/dry and hot/cold and storms when they come though the trend seems in general to be for less strong prevailing wind. All to be considered when picking a location, particularly coastal and near rivers and on higher ground.

East Anglia is the largest arable farming area if you are looking to be close to the food.

Pistolpete2

aries I've just been scanning OPs on other threads relating to returning to the UK where the posters have a pre-conceived idea as to where they are relocating to in the UK when at the same time they are seeking employment.

It seems to me that in the same way that we are putting in time and effort to locate desirable areas for residency they should be researching areas for optimum employment opportunities. The UK is not just the UK, period. There are cities/areas which present particular opportunities while other areas are pretty well known as being employment and benefits black-spots. I'm most surprised therefore that they plan on putting down roots before they have the job(s) that will hopefully actually end up sustaining them.

aries

Very true. While it is fine for some of us to look for a satisfactory location because we are retired, those who are still working must consider work opportunity locations first. It is economic reality.