The latest episode of Escape to the Country on BBC was focused on Suffolk. The county of Suffolk is located in the east of England, there are many coastal towns of different sizes in the picturesque part of England.
The buyer looking to make the move to Suffolk was Lizzie, helped by her mum Sue. Sue already lives in the county after moving there from South London nearly 10 years ago but her daughter had planned to move closer to her.
Lizzie wanted to be nearer to her family, to her mum, to her sisters, her nieces and nephews. Aside from the family reasons, the buyer was also hoping to move closer to a body of water.
For the past nine years, Lizzie, a marketing manager who grew up in Essex lived in a two-bed flat in South London. Her dad died 18 months ago and after his passing, she has looked at ways of returning to her East Anglian roots.
She told host Alistair Appleton: “I think when you lost a parent, it makes you sort of, stop and re-evaluate things.” Three of her four sisters live in Essex, as well as her mum over the border in Suffolk.
Part of the move for Lizzie was to try and find a new hobby. Explaining to Alistair that a big draw for the move was “a new hobby, new dog, new people .”
The type of property the buyer was on the lookout for was a “character property”, top of the wish list for housing options was detached or semi, with two bedrooms and a reasonable garden. The budget was set at £500,000.
About the potential move, Lizzie told the property expert she was “excited”, although she added that she is not naïve enough to not be apprehensive, as it is a big move.
The first property the mum and daughter looked at was in Thorpe Morieux, Suffolk. The house had a guide price of £425,000 and was a beautiful semi-detached Edwardian cottage. It boasted two receptions, three bedrooms and large front and rear gardens.
Speaking about her viewing, Lizzie told viewers: “I like this cottage, I think it’s been done to a really high finish, and there’s been a lot of care and attention that’s gone into it.
“I think for me the fact that it has been done to such a high end, there’s not much that I could do and it might be a little bit too rural, so, lovely house but not one for me on this occasion.”
Taking the move to the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds, the hopeful buyer viewed her second house. The house was on the market for £500,00, a detached modern cottage with a sitting room, diner, three bedrooms and a wraparound garden.
However, it was not the perfect house for Lizzie, despite her saying it was “very much” like her style. She shared that the downside for her was that it was located on a road that was “too busy” for her.
Unfortunately, the other properties viewed by Lizzie and Sue were not perfect matches either. Alistair caught up the them both at the end of the week, asking if any viewing had “hit the nail on the head.”
Lizzie told the BBC star “I don’t think you’ve quite hit the nail on the head. I think the third one was a really interesting property, it might be worth us going back and having a look at the village a little bit more, because when you were talking about it being such an active community I think that’s great.”
The experience opened her eyes up to a “consistent theme”, that the three properties had better ground floors than the second floor. Discussing her thoughts further, Lizzie said: “Going forward, it’s about a small market town for me or a slightly larger village.”
She continued to tell viewers that and the host her thoughts were “starting to crystalize.” Lizzie will continue visiting the county every month to try and find the perfect property.
Alistair asked Lizzie and Sue to let him and the show know when they find a property as they will visit them. Lizzie promised “absolutely, you’re welcome anytime.”