Norfolk..water world or bargain basement?

[Four Cofffee]

Persuaded that the entire of East Anglia will be under water within 5 years I hadn't looked at the region but my co-house-hunter sent me some links to agent's sites with some stunning and great value houses for sale.

Anybody live(d) there and if so, what are the pros and cons?

[herbialfa]

I've lived in Norwich for 11 years! Although I am from Glasgow.

Norwich is a great city, biggest thing I noticed was the pace of life! Everything is a lot slower here compared to bigger cities. That said Norwich has come a long way in 10 years!

Everything is flat here no hills. Tons of pubs etc. The coast is only 30 minutes away. No motorways at all in Norfolk. Where I live (Sprowston) there is virtually no crime (Touches a big bit of wood).

Great Schools - or Academies as they are calling them now. All being newly built. The Hospital is about 10 years old. Petrol is about £1.15 erm.......................

Hope that helps!

[Simpo Two]

Try the East Anglia forum.

Norfolk: Flat, low population density, can get very touristy in summer.
Suffolk: Pretty, a favourite of retiring city types. Certain places expensive but nice.
Essex (north): Not dissimilar but starts to get trafficky,
Essex (south): Best avoided
Fens: Desolate, flat, agricultural.

[satans worm]

Norfolk is a fantastic place to live, some of plots positives are the country lane driving, huge array of of quaint pubs, the broads, the coast very low crime and the country village way of life that is possible , it's a bit like turning the clock back 50 years or something!
On the down side, links to the rest of the country are mainly via single lane roads, the nice couple next door may indeed be brother and sister, the really quite way of life is not for everyone, neither are the completly black nights!
Personaly I love it but it's too far for me to commute to london to each day so I live in Suffolk.

[Simpo Two]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Would it be fair to say though that the extra money you get from doing a job in London is largely spent on living in London?

Cambrisge is also East Anglia and that's just a blat up the M11, and there's a lot of industry there.

[JakesterUK]

Lived on the Cambridgeshire / Norfolk borders for the past 7 years, moved from Hertfordshire, although I still commute into London for work.

Best move we ever did, Schools are very good, outdoor activites for the family are endless, our 'quality' of live has improved dramastically, depending on your property budget but you'll easily find property with space & land for little money.

Yes the commute can grate sometimes, but I have work colleagues who have a 2 hour commmute jut to get across London, whereas I can be in Norfolk in that time and the feeling at the end of thrday of coming home to a bit of peace, space, clear air and countryside is priceless..

Oh yeah + you get to build REALLY big garages and workshops to put all your toys in....

[Four Cofffee]

I am probably looking coastal, certain;y Noth or NW Norfolk. I only go to London once or twice a month so the extar drive to Peterborough or Cambrdige wouldn't be too painful.

[satans worm]

Four Cofffee said:

I am probably looking coastal, certain;y Noth or NW Norfolk. I only go to London once or twice a month so the extar drive to Peterborough or Cambrdige wouldn't be too painful.

Norwich to Liverpool street would be best, about 2hrs, costs alot though!!

[Four Cofffee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

True, I drive to Doncaster at the moment (20 mins), walk to the station (10 minutes) and in 1 hour 50 on the train I am at Kings Cross.

[anonymous-user]

I work from home so location independent. Went to the Norfolk North Coast a few times this year to check it out...certainly is a lovely part of the world and very tempting!!!

[Four Cofffee]

garyhun said:

I work from home so location independent. Went to the Norfolk North Coast a few times this year to check it out...certainly is a lovely part of the world and very tempting!!!

But will if just disappear underwater??

[Beardy10]

Parts of North Norfolk Coast are very expensive....lots of second homes.

[Four Cofffee]

Beardy10 said:

Parts of North Norfolk Coast are very expensive....lots of second homes.

Really, I would havwe thought it too remote even for a weekend pad

[croyde]

Did a job in Sheringham a few years back, very nice place but was shocked to find that the house prices were on par with London and this being a place that is a long way north of Norwich.

[Simpo Two]

Four Cofffee said:

Beardy10 said:

Parts of North Norfolk Coast are very expensive....lots of second homes.

Really, I would havwe thought it too remote even for a weekend pad

There comes a point on the 'rich' scale where you don't have to go anywhere to work

As for prices, try Southwold or Aldeburgh...

[KevF]

Four Cofffee said:

But will if just disappear underwater??

I doubt it.....well not in our life time...True there is coastal errosion with some of the cliff faces dropping into the sea but this is mainly down to the area having chalk layers.

More info here if ya want to read it.... http://www.northnorfolk.org/files/Coastal_Environm...


There are plenty of villages towards the coast such as Burnham Market, Waxham, Trimingham, Gimingham and Holt....prices vary and Burnham Market is known as 'Chelsea on Sea' due to a few celeb types visiting / owning properties there.

From the north coast around Wells, it takes an hour to drive to Norwich and then a 2 hour train to Liverpool Street, so a bit long unless you go across country to Peterborough.

Moved here from London around 18 years ago and love it. My three children enjoy going to the beach any time of the year plus there are many other places they can go to.


Also the areas surrounding the Norfolk Broads could be prone to flooding but when the rest of the UK was under water in last years floods, The Broads area got away very very lightly so go figure...

Good luck and hope you male the right move.

Kev

[Simpo Two]

KevF said:

Also the areas surrounding the Norfolk Broads could be prone to flooding but when the rest of the UK was under water in last years floods, The Broads area got away very very lightly so go figure...

'Cos the flooding was caused by rainfall not tides?

[FunkyNige]

Four Cofffee said:

Beardy10 said:

Parts of North Norfolk Coast are very expensive....lots of second homes.

Really, I would havwe thought it too remote even for a weekend pad

Wells High school's intake of kids is dropping quite dramatically as local families can't afford to buy a family house in the town any more, quite a few of the local villages have an awful lot of empty houses during the winter too! The further inland you go the less holiday homes there seem to be.

As for wages, some companies pay a higher wage to get people to move to the area!

err, roads are nice if you avoid the coast roads, it gets noisy when the RAF are about, chavs tend to congregate in the towns (town is obviously relative!), broadband can be poor.

[neilsie]

Norwich. Arse end of no-where.

train to London first-class is only £26 if booked a day in advance - don't expect any splendour though!

nice city, great Belgian beer bar/restaurant. A nice steak house @ the Georgian Hotel - well the food is much better than the décor. Some scabby bar open to 6am - regularly kicks off there during the week.

[satans worm]

neilsie said:

Norwich. Arse end of no-where.

train to London first-class is only £26 if booked a day in advance - don't expect any splendour though!

nice city, great Belgian beer bar/restaurant. A nice steak house @ the Georgian Hotel - well the food is much better than the décor. Some scabby bar open to 6am - regularly kicks off there during the week.

gbp26, really? That's got to be a very special deal as it costs over gbp65 in standard class from Stowmarket, which is half an hour less journey time!