Hi all
I've followed the early retirement thread with some interest over the last couple of years and have been thinking about what is next for me and the family.
Now caught up in yet another re-org at work so thought I'd use the 'opportunity' as a catalyst for driving some changes.
Quick bit of context - kids are either at university or about to start so we are not tied to being near schools etc.
So overall, what is whirring around my mind is selling our current house and using the equity to buy something without a mortgage and then either retire early or possibly get a different kind of job, or even a job in a similar area but just in a different location.
My wife has some firm ideas of areas that she is not interested in, so we are realistically looking at the South-East and South-West.
I'm sure all the combination of priorities will change over time but right now considering these:
- Near a city or large town that can provide a bit of life, shopping etc.
- Somewhat cosmopolitan - though not expecting it to be like West London where we lived ages ago
- Access to motorways so we can visit family etc.
- Access to coast or places to walk and explore
Currently looking at Exeter or surrounding areas as a possibility and am hoping to go and spend some time there next week.
So a couple of questions really:
1 Has anyone else done this type of move within the UK?
2 Other than looking on places like Rightmove for what is available, any pointers for how to get more of an idea of what a place is like? (Obviously can't beat spending time there)
3 Any suggestions of places to explore/consider?
Thanks for any suggestions and insights.
If you want relatively easy access to the motorway network then you’re looking at North Kent (M2, M20), Brighton (A23/M23) or Portsmouth/Southampton (M3).
Anywhere else in the South East is getting more difficult and you can forget the South West if you want to get anywhere in under a day.
Dave - that's a strange answer! How about Bristol, technically the South West, M4/M5 so can go north, south, east and west easily!!Originally Posted by Dave+63
We’re looking at Bradford-on-Avon from SW London in a few years time once kids university is well over.
A nice town and a few mins from Bath by train (not much further to Bristol) or a cycle along the towpath. M4 and coast not too far.
That’s if we can extricate ourselves from our current area and friends.
But most friends are using high SW London house prices to cash in and provide their pension, so don’t think they will stay put, even if we stay.
London and surrounds is so transient, even in your 50s.
Are you looking there because you have existing connections there or just because it’s a place you like?
I know that having to start again from a local connection perspective is a concern for Mrs Bambam
Yes, Bristol is another option with the M4 and M5 being on its doorstep and whilst technically South West, it isn’t really is it?
Lovely city and surrounding countryside, I’ve a brother who lives there and have enjoyed many visits.
Hi,
I'm attracted by the idea of relocating to a more sleepy part of the UK, I currently live in North Kent.
The reality is everywhere is getting more busy with housebuilding going on everywhere and little or no improvement in infrastructure.
Truth be known I fancy living in the French Alps but I doubt we'd ever make the jump.
However, I think I'd miss my network of friends, family, clubs and other contacts that we have built up over the last 20 years since moving out of the London suburbs ...
I find it odd that people move when they retire and leave their network behind at the time of life when they would have more time to enjoy their network.
Relocating on retirement seems like an almighty reset and risks leaving you isolated and lonely ...
My sister and her other half moved from Welwyn Garden City to Okehampton about five years ago doing pretty much what you’re describing Bambam.
Both in their 50’s, no kids in tow and took early retirement. Place in WGC sold for strong money and they bought a 4 bed detached for cash. They both love it.
30 minutes drive to Exeter or get the train, North Devon / Cornish beaches 40 - 50 minutes drive, South Devon beaches the same, Dartmoor on the doorstep. London by train in 3 hours with a change at Exeter.
They spent a lot of time researching and looking at places to move to before deciding on Okehampton. They turned down a lot of places on the M5 corridor between Exeter and Bristol as they didn’t like what they found, similarly off of the A30 east of Exeter.
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I went to university nearby, love the surrounding area and have visited often over the years.
If we have to make the break, then we will have to make a new life wherever we go in the U.K.
I’m originally from the North Wast and my wife is from the South Coast, so we have no family in SW London, just friends. The latter all planning at some point to move away at some point given their house is their pension.
My kids will never have an opportunity to buy in our area and I am encouraging them to find a life somewhere cheaper away from the SE if they can. For us, that will make staying in the area even less likely.
Where are your kids and potentially grandkids going to be?
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All my frinds from up north call it SW but yep, not so sure!
Grew up in BOA it’s rubbish, stay away. (It’s not, but I don’t want everyone moving there as we plan to!)
There is a bit of a slow pace there though and it frustrates me at times as still got some family there.
I know the house I want, it is basically 1 of 1 location wise, utterly perfect but realistically unlikely to happen, but would pay way over market value for it. I lived next door to it for many years, so know it very well.
Thanks, good to know that there is a path to follow. Anything they would have done differently do you know?
Not sure, probably come with us to be honest and then move as/when needed depending on work etc.
I get the point earlier about retiring and relocating and possibly ending up lonely, but my wife will carry on working and her family are in London/Herts so she'll continue to see them. I may or not carry on with the type of thing I do now (innovation in technology fields) but part of the attraction to places like Exeter is that there is a tech sector there so I could continue to work in the same type of thing, or just do something different as we won't be beholden to a mortgage.
I'd like to try my hand at a few things as I get older so this is one way of making that happen. If we stay where we are, then I have to carry on working and that is a less and less attractive proposition as time goes on!
Would just like to re-set. I don't think moving to Europe full-time etc. is really on the cards for us, but we do plan on travelling a lot if possible. Again, selling up makes this possible.
I heard a definition of the South West as that part of the UK where there is no cut-off date for sleeping with your parents.
if looking at bristol i'd just cross over the bridge and look at south wales instead.
Crossing the Rubicon there.
Wimborne Minster is pleasant. Within easy reach of Bournemouth and Poole, Shaftesbury, Dorchester etc. New Forest too…
Been with them today as it happens. I don’t think so. They seem happy as a pig in you know what.
They did spend quite a lot of time in different places. Staying in either cottages, b&bs or hotels for a few days to get a feel for the places. They started with areas closer to Wiltshire where Joe’s parents were and worked their way south west from there.
I think there were a lot of contenders before settling on Okehampton
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relocated from south wales to fife scotland at 50.
downsized from 4 bed new build town house to nice old 2 bed place with huge garden. mortgage ancient history.
the ball and chain went from teaching full time to part time work and some charity stuff too.
i went from an semiconductor engineering career to muggins work requiring no global travel, no stress and being able to switch off very night.
should mention we are, and have always been, delighted to be a rugrat free zone.
that was just about 5 years ago -
tried some semiconductor work up here - too much like stepping backing in time - the industry is totally farked in the uk now. i lasted 3 months and after the first review amazed the company by legging it.
her is still doing her thing.
we downsized a bit too much - currently on the move up to a newish 3 bed detached with mid size garden - the current huge garden is getting too much and we were even only getting through half the veg we grew. new house MUCH cheaper to heat and needing no remedial work in the next decade which is more can be said for our current choccy box looking money pit. trades and materials prices and heating bills make this a no brainer.
we originally chose at place only a few miles from a rail station as we though we'd be hitting the lights on a semi regular basis - and we have not used it once, there are plenty of decent places to eat an easy drive and then i have a nice big glass of something warming when we get back. the new place is less than 15 mins walk from 2 decent pubs - that'll do nicely. as it happens we are moving about 5 miles this time.
think i am just pootling along until proper retirement whatever that is - which is bloody hilarious as i seem to be doing a better job than most of my mostly younger whiney work peers, but that is a story for another day.
glad we did it - would probably do it differently if we could go back but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
no idea what my actual point is but any questions just ask.
Last edited by bigbaddes; 21st March 2024 at 21:15.
Bradford on Avon is a frickin' nightmare. The out laws live nearby so we've been there a lot.
Looks pretty on the outside but traffic is horrendous and whenever we've visited it's choking. In fact every town/village we've been to in that area is choked with traffic at all hours.
And it seems to be solely populated by a mix of la di da middle class hippies, rich Tory pensioners and the poverty stricken unemployed. Drug problems. Crime problems. Unemployment problems.
And it's so white. Even as a white family we find it unnerving being surrounded by so many people of the same ethnicity. Give me the diversity of a city any day.
The irony is that the out laws are always saying to us, "I don't know how you can live in London with all the traffic and crime."
I'd be looking at the areas where the kids go to university and see if any of those suit.
Thanks and that is one of the things that we don’t want - ie lack of diversity. We aren’t white so it matters to us.
One child is at Uni in Cardiff and the other will be in London. We do like Cardiff and the areas around there. We’ve lived in London before and although my wife would be happy to move back, I don’t think we’d get the same sort of size and facilities that we’d want back in London.
Hence why looking at a Uni town/city as you get some diversity just due to the students being there.
Any other suggestions and insights of places keep ‘em coming.
Where I am we've been seeing an increasing influx of 'southerners' retiring/relocating here by cashing in on their property prices. It's not great for locals wanting to buy houses but understandable from their perspective when the price of a 2 bed terrace buys a 5 bed detached.
I'm increasingly contemplating living abroad for a few years...
I know about the traffic, but fancy bit of la di da middle class hippy action.
Rich Tories, unemployed, poverty and drugs. It sounds like every prosperous town in England to be honest.
Thanks, that is a great piece of insight, especially the part about maybe having downsized too much and the cost of repair and upkeep on an older property. We quite like older places, unless its an old building that has been renovated, so something to bear in mind. Also interesting perspective about the huge garden becoming too much as I keep looking at places with a large garden, even though I am very much not a gardener!
South Wales to Fife is an interesting move - what made you choose Fife?
Your experience of moving near a train station as you thought you'd be going out quite a lot and then not using it is enlightening. Similar to when we were moving from London - we had all these places on our doorstep that we 'could' go to, but with young kids we simply didn't, yet we were paying for the potential.
So you say if you were doing it now you would do things differently, what would you do differently?
This is all really interesting and very useful to get some insights from a range of people.
I'm not a fan of suburbia now, preferring small towns (which of course grow with time).........
In England - I've always admired Ashby-de-la-Zouche as it seems to have retained a decent 'town' infrastructure despite the traffic at peak times to Tesco and the Motorway.
Okay- it ain't the south coast with the better weather, but has lots of countryside around it, but good for road, rail and air-links.
And famously the furthest town from the sea, or that what I remember as a statistic when growing up.
Too close to Leicester for both Mrs Bambam and I! We have 'history' from there so a no-go for us.
If only you could tell us the juicy details.
Student days (separately)...
I think this is a pretty good idea, I would extend it to say somewhere between Winchester and Wimborne (Winchester, Romsey, Brockenhurst, Lymington, Southbourne, parts of Poole, Wimborne all fairly popular for people relocating IMO) depending on the property you want and priorities. I've recently relocated that way from London for work and there are quite a few people who have done the same.
Reasonably large student population in Bournemouth/Southampton which adds to the diversity (though still less diverse than I would like), all fairly near or on the coast, nice walks in the New Forest/South Downs and Winchester has quite nice shopping with some in Bournemouth and Southampton depending on what you want to buy. Within 2 hours of Waterloo on a direct train from most of those places and fairly easy access to the M3/M27
Downside is most of those places have London type pricing with parts of Poole costing more than a lot of London in £/sqft measures. Traffic in the summer can be bad and isn't great at any time on the southern parts of the M3, Ringwood or throughout Poole and Bournemouth and IMO everyone who isn't a student seems a lot older than me (though that might also apply to you!)
One of the things we found most noticeable about the south east compared to the north (although changing now) is that there were very few black or Asian folk down here but a lot more white Europeans.
I don’t think that there was any less diversity down here but it was just less noticeable until you actually spoke to people.
Yeap, my Mrs is from there, and property is cheap as chips too.
I hadn't realised that (the cheapness, not that your Mrs is from there)
I don't know England intimately (or your Mrs) - but Hampshire isn't bad if you have enough money to spend
Romsey is nice, but I thought Uber-expensive.
Bishops Waltham is quite nice, and perhaps Fareham?
Anywhere near Winchester is going to be expensive I think (apart from 'Beastly-Eastleigh')
For me - one of the big downsides, is that traffic can be so bad at peak times that for leisure - no-one ventures out onto the major roads before 10am.
We moved from Beckenham (BR3) to Portishead which is just outside Bristol in 2015 for a chilled out life . It offers a nice outdoor lifestyle with plenty of walks ,nice scenery, good schools, and great motorway access enabling us to visit in laws in Ashby de La Zouche and my relatives in Brighton and the Hampshire area. Bristol area is good :)
I’ll just add flooding to the list.
Interesting thread. Our hope is to retire and relocate in 3 years, so frequently discuss potential destinations.
Although off the map for the OP, we will almost certainly retire in Scotland, which we believe to offer a better quality of life at a lower price, and with better public services and NHS (read as not-so-stretched). The dark winters are the only drawback, though at least the weather appears to be improving with global warming. Pleased to see ever increasing diversity up here, though definitely behind the curve vs England.
I'm originally from the south east, and sometimes think it would be nice to retire to the south coast, but whenever I visit my folks and brother in Kent, I'm reminded of how heavily populated it is. Very pretty but (relatively speaking) crowded, tense, and tiring. I had forgotten what a challenge it can be to find a parking space.
Come up here - loads of room :wink:
Indeed, a regular occurrence.
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One very useful bit of advice I have noted from this thread is to consider a University town when retiring.
I think this is a good shout and I will ponder as I like the cultural and other amenities that students bring to a town or city.
I’m really open to where we go, others in the team less so…
I’ve always fancied living in Scotland. Always got on with Scots and the scenery is amazing.
Stirling, Edinburgh, and St Andrews - all fabulous university cities and retirement destinations.
Depends on whether you're a city or country boy. I've studied & lived in Bristol as well as worked there for the last 38 years. I would not recommend it unless you look at Clifton. I live in Bath which is OK but I do really like Bradford-on Avon.
I have North Yorkshire in my blood though. If it wasn't for my family I'd be on a hobby farm somewhere in the Cleveland Hills chugging around on a vintage Massey Ferguson & with a few animals to look after....& with Global Warming it's becoming a perfect climate!
Last edited by trident-7; 23rd March 2024 at 16:30.
There's the Mossies though :-/
Hehe....it's a no from me
Midges - angry Scottish variant that get even angrier when called mossies :wink:
Only go out in summer if wind speed is above 5mph as such keeps them grounded.
Clifton is lovely, not cheap mind! That said, Bath isn’t either; I’ve not been there for years, one day I’m getting another Schwartz Bros burger - remember them so fondly standing outside the theatre eating them.
I see the Swan Hotel in BOA is up for sale, be nice if the new owners went for some good dining / boutique hotel. Rooms look so much nicer than the usual under-age / late teens I recall drinking in there would have led me to believe.
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Probably something in the middle. Grew up in Berkshire, moved to west London, got married and had kids, moved back to Berkshire - mainly as the kids were small and my mum lived there.
I don’t mind a city at all, but I do want a decent driveway, possibly a garage and some space for a workshop so that probably rules out actually living in a city right now.
Having said that, I have seen some lovely renovations that are in the middle of cities that I can see us in the step after this. Downside to most of them is lack of parking.
Driveway / garage is important as I want to be able to indulge and maybe buy the odd additional car or three.
Wiltshire maybe?
Very interesting to read what people look for in their downsizing/retiral living.
It would be helpful to know what sort of budget/number of bedrooms BamBam is considering.
When I was looking for a new home - I spent a lot of time with Rightmove searches, with a lot of streetview recon, before jumping on bike/into car to go and look at the house/area/facilities- before viewing. 18 months and only 6 viewings. No point in viewing for the sake of it, I don't think.
There is quite a lot of work involved - that's for sure.
Up to £800k and min of 3 bedrooms and detached. Would ideally like to spend less so we can spend more on any work needed etc.
All ears as to how you did your recon before getting in the car and going to see in person.
I have managed to get down to a couple of areas in the past but not actually looked at any potential places from a viewing perspective - more just to get a feel for a place. But when you don’t know an area you tend to wander around the centre (or at least I did) without a sense of context.
When we went to Bournemouth we did drive to some roads that we had seen houses for sale via Rightmove which was helpful.
Suggestions re method and/or areas welcome!
£800k seems like a healthy top line (but realistically maybe £700k max?)
I only looked within around 70 miles radius of Edinburgh (with a few fanciful looks beyond that), but still didn't waste the journey without doing extensive research to see if the area was viable.
One house I thought ticked the boxes for house/location/infrastructure/transport links - I did extensive search IRT flooding. I think for a lot of places in England with higher density building you should have a checklist with FLOODING, together with CLAY substrata - in your decision-making/assessments.
I have said to several people that I was not the typical purchaser, but I think perhaps a bit like a retiree.
(typical families look at Work commute, School catchment, bdrms to suit family size, garden if important - then it is prob pretty much down to budget/trivialities)
For me:
Not interested in school catchments
Want a house that I "want" to live in, with the footprint for decent size rooms.
Not so interested in a large garden space for kids - just useable.
Want to be near a viable town that has the right 'vibe' and amenities.
Double garage.
I think you are fortunate with that budget - to prioritise the area/town, and then look at what is available to then ask "what is the house we want to live in, there?"
Some really nice towns in Dorset/Wilts/Hants that are far enough remote from the Motorway to allow many journeys without hitting a slip-road.
Good luck in the search, and most of all - don't panic buy.
(apols if a bit random - it's Saturday wine night)
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