Diary · 5 min read
Crucial Checks Before You Decide
The things nobody tells you to check before moving to the Cotswolds.
Many buyers spend months researching schools, train stations and broadband, but it's often the small practical details that determine whether you love a house after six months.
Here are some of the less obvious checks we made, or wish we'd thought about earlier:
Check 1
Mobile Signal in the Rooms You'll Actually Use
Not outside.
Not in the driveway.
Not by a window.
Test the rooms where you'll be working, taking calls and relaxing. Thick Cotswold stone walls can turn a five-bar signal outside into no signal at all indoors.
Check 2
Internet Speed at Peak Times
A village may have fibre, but ask neighbours what performance is like during weekday evenings.
The advertised speed isn't always the lived experience.
Check 3
Parking on a Friday Night
Visit outside estate-agent viewing hours.
Some villages appear quiet during the day but become parking nightmares when pubs, restaurants and visitors arrive.
Check 4
Noise After Dark
We visited several villages after 10pm.
You learn very different things at night.
That idyllic pub might host live music every weekend.
That peaceful lane might be a shortcut for tractors at 5am.
Check 5
Delivery Services
Can you get:
- Ocado?
- Waitrose?
- Amazon same-day?
- Tesco delivery?
- Uber?
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