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Dorset

place to discuss doing things round and about the UK or to ask advice about other locations
brightncheerful
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Dorset

#161214

Postby brightncheerful » August 22nd, 2018, 12:45 pm

With a view to downsizing and change of scenery, we are planning on moving to Dorset, a relocation target late 2019-2020. (An ancestral branch of Mrs Bnc's family lived just outside Sherborne and the family name which originated in the 1500s is still prevalent, probably I guess because by the late c19 Dorset had the highest population of the name.) We haven't toured/visited the county yet, that won't be until summer next year, but we are busy researching and gathering information.

Ideally, we don't want to live in Bournemouth or Poole. Real Dorset I gather is the north and west of the county: that would suit us best. Currently i have no idea how much we could afford for where we would want to live.We've not yet gotten an estate agent's estimate of what BnC towers would fetch - no point until much nearer the time when the state of the market can also be assessed. We won't know until we tour the county whereabouts we'd like to live and whether a house, bungalow, or flat - not interested in mobile homes. All I've gathered so far is that the closer to a railway station and/or catchment area for sought-after schools the higher the property prices. Not interested in schools and railway travel isn't a requirement.

Regarding property prices generally, I've scoured Rightmove and there seem to be a lot of properties currently on the market where the sellers are not in a chain. I'm wondering why; are btl investors selling up? Also, many properties, especially those not in a chain, have been done up fairly recently. again, is that symptomatic of an ex-btl? Or are there property traders actively doing up whatever they can get their hands on to make a profit? Any ideas?

I'd appreciate please comments about Poundbury which on the face of it is probably too pricey for us, unless we downsize to a 1 or 2 bed property.

What I'm after finding out and would like to know please are the disadvantages (subtle or otherwise) and downsides of living in Dorset. I'm not planning to stop work so for example how good is the broadband speed, etc. Is car parking safe in the street if we don't buy a property with a garage? Are the roads in good condition or are pot-holes a big issue?

Not knowing what questions to ask, what questions should i ask?

tia
Bnc

bungeejumper
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Re: Dorset

#161412

Postby bungeejumper » August 23rd, 2018, 8:32 am

brightncheerful wrote:Regarding property prices generally, I've scoured Rightmove and there seem to be a lot of properties currently on the market where the sellers are not in a chain. I'm wondering why; are btl investors selling up?

Hate to be indelicate, but quite a lot of older people move to Dorset to retire. And when they're gone, they're gone. ;)

Also, many properties, especially those not in a chain, have been done up fairly recently. again, is that symptomatic of an ex-btl? Or are there property traders actively doing up whatever they can get their hands on to make a profit? Any ideas?

I'd be slightly surprised if BTL is a big thing in Dorset - not really enough jobs to create the demand. But what the heck - if an ex-BTL has been done up to a good standard, fair enough. And if it's been built or refurbished down to a price, you'll know it as soon as you step inside.

I also love the west of the county. (Aaah, my motorbiking days on the glorious downs and toward Dorchester.) Friends close to Lyme Regis love it. But some of the inland parts are quite remote. You might want to check that the road and rail links are good enough?

BJ

Moderator Message:
RS: Text in red edited from original description which was reported as disparaging to older people.

cavebat
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Re: Dorset

#161646

Postby cavebat » August 24th, 2018, 12:09 am

Bnc, IIRC you live around the Cheltenham area currently.

I had to look up Poundbury, which I see is the newish Duchy of Cornwall estate on the outskirts of Dorchester. I was going to suggest you might look at Dorchester or Bridport as places that might have the kind of facilities (i.e. shops, culture, etc) which you might appreciate.

Moderators it's very difficult to explain the reason for so many properties being "no chain" without referring to the fact that people like to retire to the county, so it may be a final move for many.

cavebat

Moderator Message:
Redsturgeon: I appreciate that Cavebat, but the original term slightly pejorative term was changed to the new highlighted phrase in red.

Watis
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Re: Dorset

#161683

Postby Watis » August 24th, 2018, 8:55 am

I do wonder whether it is a good idea to uproot oneself from a location where you are likely to have made many friends and other contacts to go somewhere where all that is missing.

I gather that the older one is, the harder it is to make new friends and build a new social circle.

To prove my point, I have neighbours who moved to Cornwall on retirement. They were back within 5 years!

HTH,

Watis

AleisterCrowley
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Re: Dorset

#161686

Postby AleisterCrowley » August 24th, 2018, 9:03 am

cavebat wrote:Bnc, IIRC you live around the Cheltenham area currently.

I had to look up Poundbury, which I see is the newish Duchy of Cornwall estate on the outskirts of Dorchester. I was going to suggest you might look at Dorchester or Bridport as places that might have the kind of facilities (i.e. shops, culture, etc) which you might appreciate.

...
cavebat


I've seen Poundbury described as 'Disneyland Dorset' as it's an entirely new development designed to look 'old'
Might be be perfectly reasonable place to live though, and looks preferable to the usual fields full of ugly red-brick 'Barratt Boxes'

brightncheerful
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Re: Dorset

#161850

Postby brightncheerful » August 24th, 2018, 4:07 pm

Interesting, thanks.

Bearing in mind we've not yet visited Dorset with a view to living in the county, currently our thinking is only on paper from on-line research. Currently, it's a toss-up between Bridport and Poundbury. About 15 years ago I did some work in Bridport town centre, but wasn't visiting long enough to form an opinion about living there. Mrs Bnc has never been to Bridport and neither of us has visited Poundbury. Mrs Bnc has just read a review of P by someone that lived there for 2 years and described P as "windy city". Amongst other comments are that in the 2 years the writer reckoned only about 9 people said hello whilst walking in the streets. The person moved to a small village nearby where about 9 people said hello on the first day.

As our friends and contacts, we've been analysing whether our 25 years here has resulted in any friendship worth maintaining and on balance unlikely: mostly if not all of the friendships are superficial. Possibly that's only to be expected: we don't have children, or any roots in the area, so there's no continuity. Over the years, I've done a lot for the town community, ranging from inspiring the launch of what has since become a national festival to creating a blueprint for the carnival that is still in use to authoring a local history book, to serving on several committees. But the town is changing not just in physical character but also intangibles and in our view not for the better. Locals nowadays are in the minority and the more recent incomers so nimby that anyone that dares disagree is subject to ridicule, etc. Talk about making people that have lived here longer feel like outcasts. Whether it all started a few years when a campaign opposing a supermarket on the outskirts led to a flare up or whether divisive attitudes underlying the sweetness and light were merely waiting for an opportunity for hostility to erupt, but the division has lingered. Some activists having taken it upon themselves to modernise the local council have caused most of the old guard to resign and saddled the town with a 6 figure sum for legal costs. Where we live is friendly neighbourly and ever since a street party more people greet as they walk or drive by and occasionally chat but for us that's about it. As you may know from my ramblings elsewhere i play badminton regularly but, as i am fond of saying, it's a sport that takes people out one by one, so many of the people i've met and enjoyed playing with have long since quit or moved away.

Some people seem, at least to me, to have a knack with friendship: whether old friends since schooldays or a coterie recently, I think owes a lot to whether they mix and mingle with people on a daily basis. We don't. After going along to local clubs etc complementary to her interests, Mrs Bnc gave up long ago trying to cope with petty squabbling and judgemental attitudes. I am more accommodating but even so having had my fill of local politics, it really is time for a change of scenery; also we need to downsize.

I am good at making friends - provided I don't overstep the mark by thinking a friendship should be more than superficial. As soon as our conversations get to a stage where others' priorities differ, I feel excluded. I know the reason for that feeling and for a while I felt like I was part of the small group that I used to go around with but gradually it disbanded, others went their own separate ways.

Yesterday, Mrs Bnc told me something she'd read recently about a bride who'd broken off her engagement when her fiancé wanted one of his ex-girl friends to be a bridesmaid. Amusing! When Mrs Bnc and i got married, our best 'person' was one of my ex-girl friends who had never met the to be Mrs BnC before our wedding day. As for the wedding ring i bought for Mrs Bnc, paid for by part exchanging the wedding ring my first wife had bought for me. I suppose with progressive attitudes such as those it's perhaps not surprising I don't find many people on the same wavelength!


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