The rush to move out of London – do our clients have any regrets about their move?
This weekend, The Sunday Times Home supplement led with the story entitled ‘Rural Regrets’ documenting a few families who had moved to a rural retreat in a bid to escape the city during or just after lockdown. Whilst we sympathise with the families featured it also made us question their approach to their move and why it hadn’t been as successful as they had hoped.
The problems these families faced
The Sunday Times featured three families who were discontent with their move. One couple sought a rural idyll with views of the rolling countryside. However a 4 hour round commute for him and lonely days for her working from home left them less than satisfied with the move.
Another family fell in love with a historic 700-year-old home but failed to appreciate the amount of work required to bring it up to date with modern day living and the constraints in place with it being Grade II listed.
The last family featured were also struggling with a ramshackle house and had found schooling for their six-year-old son challenging having moved him twice.
Research is vital
Chiltern Relocation sympathises with these families and the obstacles that they faced following their move. However, what resonated with us on reading their stories was that there was one vital element missing from their home search – detailed research.
When we take on a client, we spend time getting to know them. If it is a family, we want to know what makes them tick:
- What activities do the children do that need to be available for them in their new location?
- What length of commute would be acceptable?
- Have they considered if walking or driving to the station is more important?
- What schools are needed and what type of character is/are the child(ren) for best fit?
- Does the family want to be able to walk to the supermarket or do they want more land and a rural feel?
We send a detailed questionnaire ahead of our initial meeting with a client and then we meet in person or via Skype to really get to know them and the motivation for the move. It is only once we feel that we have thoroughly researched their requirements and what they hope to achieve that we will start to view and shortlist properties.
Case studies of some of our London moves
One client from London wished to view a stunning character property in Caversham and asked why we had not shortlisted it for our Viewing Day. We had discounted the property given its location on a 50mph road with no pavement. We knew that the family had young children and that there was no opportunity to walk with a pushchair directly from the house to the children’s new school, which would be an important part of the family’s routine. The client was still keen to view it but on arriving at the location, she was quick to agree that it would not work for the family (despite the stunning Victorian interiors!).
One relocation where detailed research was vital was for a couple who had very specific requirements. He suffered from PTSD following time in the armed forces and needed a big garden and she was wheelchair bound and needed a bungalow. The electric wheelchair allowed her some freedom, so the location needed to have access to local shops. The pavement need to be wide enough for the electric wheelchair and the distance to local amenities needed to be measured given the battery levels of the mobility scooter. Finding a bungalow with sizeable gardens was challenging and the added need to address her accessibility needs (both internally and externally) meant that we needed to intensively research all options. This was possibly our most rewarding search when we found the ideal home.
Another family we moved from London was keen for village life but when we really got to know them, we learnt that a stroll to a café and a ‘babyccino’ for their toddler was an important part of their routine. Therefore we needed to find a location with the right amount of ‘buzz’ but that still felt like the countryside.
Getting the right fit
If we could give any advice to people wanting to escape London for a greener and more relaxed lifestyle, we would urge them to fully do their homework. Research the train times, check commuting options, look at schooling for both primary and essentially secondary schooling. Also get a feel for the town or village by looking at local Facebook pages or spend some time there. Also research location options and the housing available – many of our clients love Marlow for example but there is a dearth of good sized family housing within walking distance of the town.
Aftercare service and survey post move
We provide an aftercare service for our clients – with detailed information provided about local amenities and health services. We often have clients drop us a line asking for recommendations for alarm services, kitchen companies, cleaners, gardeners, landscape designers and in one case the best shop for children’s shoes! We are always on hand to answer questions to help make the move as seamless as possible. Chiltern Relocation also sends a questionnaire following the move to see if there is any room for improvement to ensure we are always providing the best service for our clients. We recently conducted a survey: ‘How our clients feel about moving to the area’ and we were delighted with the results.
What our clients say about their move
When we asked whether our clients would recommend the move, we were thrilled that this was an overwhelming yes from all our clients. As one client commented:
‘Absolutely. It has been brilliant for our family, and it is such a great atmosphere and environment to bring up our children. It has been exactly what I hoped for when we first contemplated a move.’
If you would like further information regarding Chiltern Relocation’s services, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01494 672086 or email enquiries@chilternrelocation.com or visit www.chilternrelocation.com
