Where would you live?

[IanF]

Following on from the “woman” topic, I’ve decided to buy somewhere for me.. ideally I’d like this to be my last UK purchase and so I have a few requisites: must be a min 2 bedroom in main house with an annexe for my parent(s) as my dad is not well medically. It needs to have a three car garage (to keep up with Jobbo obviously ). I enjoy a pub, so want 2 pubs within 5km, have 2 dogs so want plenty of outside space. A farm may be of interest, depending on accounts (and affordability).

I’d like a big kitchen/morning room, media/games room, with a pool/tennis court/both as a dream scenario.

It needs to be within 90 minutes of LHR (max 120) and max spend is £2m for property.. so, as per subject line, where would you live? And any actual suggestions would be most welcome ..

ETA: not Windsor, that place is dead to me

[mik]

Nice place up for sale near me that easily beats all of your criteria.

It’s within 90 minutes of LHR*


* by plane

[DeskJockey]

That's quite a range, and opens up both Surrey, and parts of Kent if you head south. My wife grew up near Reigate in Surrey and that is a nice area.

I guess you'd need to factor in the joy that is the M25 and the time it consumes if you're travelling (if that's the correct term for a slow moving parking lot) near peak times.

[Mito Man]

Surely West of London makes the most sense for a direct link to Heathrow. North Wessex ish area. But I don’t know anything about the area.

[IanF]

Yeah, Cotswolds etc seems like the obvious answer.. and as we are a car forum, I’ll add “be near good roads” to the requirements

[IanF]

Nice place up for sale near me that easily beats all of your criteria.

It’s within 90 minutes of LHR*


* by plane

I’m listening

[duncs500]

Looking around me out of curiosity.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/new-homes/deta ... ab5175481a

There is some more attractive stuff but this ticks a few of the boxes, £100k left over for the pool. Lacking a bit of soul though. I'm assuming the annex needs to be ground floor?

You could do a lot worse than the Hitchin or St Albans areas, both nice towns. If you decide to be unfaithful to LHR, from Hitchin you can get a direct train to Gatwick, Luton Airport is 20mins, and Stansted about 45mins. LHR is about 1 hour.

[duncs500]

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/detai ... ab5175481a

Old school, but ticks a lot of the boxes. Almost all except there's only two garages.

[Jobbo]

Cotswolds is bloody expensive for a house with tennis court etc. I think there are plenty of locations where you get more for your money and don’t feel like you’re compromising your house for location.

I’d say look down the M4 corridor and try places like Lambourn, Marlborough etc and villages around there.

[Sundayjumper]

Didn’t you or your parents live in Hartley Wintney ? I’ve never looked at the house prices but the high street is very nice and judging by the cars you see parked there it’s exactly the kind of area you’re looking for.

[dinny_g]

As you already fly and you won’t be fucking anything any time soon, I’d look near the coast so you can get something that floats…

Something like this maybe

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147451424

[Gavster]

I'd also be keen on getting as close to the coast as possible, but preferably somewhere slightly off the beaten track to avoid tourists. The kind of place you only find through local knowledge rather than googling places to live. Also, how do you find somewhere at that price range and prevnt making an epic error that only surfaces a year down the line? I've always thought that renting for a year is a great way to start, however that gets tricky in rural areas when looking for a larger property.

Personally I can't stand being stuck in the middle of nowhere, so would need to be close to a major town so I can pop in to catch Covid whenver I want to spice up my life.

[Sundayjumper]

...would need to be close to a major town so I can pop in to catch Covid whenver I want to spice up my life.

Ian spends a large part of his life sitting in a sealed metal tube with a couple of hundred strangers, I think he's got the COVID side covered

[V8Granite]

We’re about £400,000 short of this.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

You then have a lake and a lot of land aswell.

Dave!

[ZedLeg]

I’d move somewhere up north on the coast and I’d rather saw my own leg off than move to the south east, so I’m not much help here

[drcarlos]

We’re about £400,000 short of this.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

You then have a lake and a lot of land aswell.

Dave!

That ticks a lot of boxes for me.

[Mito Man]

...would need to be close to a major town so I can pop in to catch Covid whenver I want to spice up my life.

Ian spends a large part of his life sitting in a sealed metal tube with a couple of hundred strangers,balls deep in the cabin crew , I think he's got the COVID side covered

EFA.

[Ascender]

We’re about £400,000 short of this.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

You then have a lake and a lot of land aswell.

Dave!

That is a lot of property for the money!

[ZedLeg]

What about £1mil gets in my chosen area.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=COM_BUY

Probably more space than I need tbh.

[dinny_g]

What about £1mil gets in my chosen area.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=COM_BUY

Probably more space than I need tbh.

I really like this one that popped up in the Guardian this morning - a little further north but it's a cracking part of the world.

https://www.struttandparker.com/properties/annat

wee bit of a commute to Heathrow mind...