Moving to the Countryside: What I Wish I’d Known Before Leaving York

Last December, we swapped our new build estate in York for a tiny hamlet in the Yorkshire Wolds in North Yorkshire. The reasons were simple: we craved quiet and wanted a proper garden in a rural location. Now, several months in to village life, I’ve learned that countryside living is brilliant in ways I expected and challenging in ways I didn’t.

If you’re considering a similar move, here’s what I wish someone had told me.

Why We Made the Move (And Why You Might Too)

The Garden We’d Been Dreaming About

On the estate, our garden was functional but small. Now? We’ve got space for vegetables and fresh fruit, room for my son to actually run around, and enough lawn that my husband can procrastinate mowing it for weeks. There’s something deeply satisfying about looking out at land that’s yours (we have a third of an acre!), watching the seasons change across it.

The peace hit us immediately. No more hearing neighbours through walls, no cars revving at 6am, no distant sirens. Just birds, wind, and the occasional tractor rumbling past. It’s just us, fresh air and the English countryside. 

Air That Actually Feels Clean

I didn’t realise how much city air bothered me until we left it behind. Here in the Wolds, stepping outside feels like your lungs are getting a proper reset. If anyone in your family has asthma or allergies, the difference is noticeable within weeks.

Slow Living and Community Spirit 

Life moves slower here, and I mean that as a compliment. In York, everything felt urgent. Here, people stop to chat. The locals know your name. When you pass someone on a walk, they actually say hello. We actually talk to our neighbours and help each other out! 

The village pub isn’t just somewhere to drink—it’s where you meet people, hear local gossip, and feel part of something. After years of anonymous city living, that matters more than I expected. Our small village has a pop-up pub in the village hall once a month. We bring our own drinks and spend a few hours chatting. It’s so interesting to hear about some of these people’s lives! 

The Bits That Took Adjusting To

You Will Need a Car (And Use It Daily)

This was the biggest shock. In York, I could walk to the shop, school, the doctor, pretty much everything. Here, the nearest supermarket is a 15-minute drive. Milk and bread? That’s a trip too unless you plan ahead.

Our car has become essential. We’re filling the tank twice as often, and I’m learning which country lanes flood when it rains. Budget for this—fuel costs add up fast when you’re doing 40 miles just on the school run.

The nearest petrol station is a good drive away too. I’ve learned to fill up whenever I’m passing rather than waiting until the light comes on. Same goes for MOTs and servicing—find a local garage early and build a relationship with them.

One thing I didn’t consider: is your car actually suitable for country life? Our estate car handles the muddy, potholed lanes fine, but I’ve seen friends with low city cars struggle. If you’re viewing properties down rough tracks, think about what you’re driving. We’ve recently switched both our cars out to four wheel drives that are more suited to country living. When I drive to the nearest town, 75% of the journey is country lanes with steep inclines! 

Broadband and Mobile Signal

We got lucky with broadband—it’s decent enough for working from home. But mobile signal is another story. There are dead zones in our hamlet where calls just drop. I’ve learned where I can and can’t take a video call. I use WiFi calling because we only get 4G at some points in our house. When we have a power cut (which happens in the country way more than in a big city!) it can feel isolating because the internet goes too! 

I know people in nearby hamlets who still struggle with speeds that make video calls impossible. Check this before you commit to a property—ask for recent speed tests, not just what the provider claims. Test your mobile signal on different networks too.

Smart home tech that relied on constant connectivity? Some of it doesn’t work as well out here. We’ve had to rethink security systems and heating controls.

The Shopping Situation

There’s no popping out for something you’ve forgotten. We don’t have a shop in our village. We’ve adapted by doing big weekly shops and keeping a proper stockpile of essentials. I plan shopping trips around the school run to save time and often do a big Tesco delivery to stockpile. 

If you have specific dietary needs—vegan, gluten-free, whatever—check what’s available locally. The village shop and local pub (if you have them!) might not cater to everything you’re used to. We’ve found it means more planning but also less food waste.

Amenities Are Spread Thin

The doctors’ surgery is 20 minutes away. Our dentist is still in York. If you need a specialist, you’re looking at trips to York or Scarborough. This isn’t a problem if you’re generally healthy, but it’s worth considering if you have ongoing medical needs.

Schools are another big one if you have kids. Our local primary in the village 2 miles away is sweet but tiny, with only 40 pupils. Before choosing, check Ofsted reports for any schools you’re considering. We decided not to send our child to the village school and opted for a bigger one in the nearest town as it felt more suitable. You can compare school performance to help make this decision. We don’t get school transport because it’s not our catchment school but thankfully I’m self-employed! Secondary school will involve a 30-minute bus ride each way. 

We do have a post office, but it runs out of a little hut in someones garden and is open at strange times. There’s also a lovely parish Church here!

Transport Links

We don’t have a train station or regular buses here. There’s a mini bus that comes twice a day but the times are very limited! So it’s a good idea to look at the local transport in the village you’re considering before moving there. 

Things I Checked (And You Should Too)

Are You Moving to a Tourist Hotspot?

This matters more than I realised. Some Wolds villages get flooded with tourists in summer—cars parked everywhere, shops running out of basics, and that peaceful countryside vibe vanishing every weekend.

We deliberately avoided the picture-postcard villages because we wanted a real community, not a place that empties out after tourist season. Check TripAdvisor, look at local Facebook groups, and visit during both peak season and winter to see the difference.

If you’re looking at coastal villages or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you need to know what you’re getting into. Can the village cope with visitor numbers? Are there proper car parks or will your lane be blocked every sunny weekend?

Second Homes Are a Real Issue

Connected to the tourist thing: check how many second homes are in the area. Our hamlet has a couple, and it does change things. Houses sit empty most of the year, there are fewer people around for community events, and it can feel a bit dead in winter.

You can usually spot second homes fairly easily—immaculate gardens but no bins out on collection day, curtains never opening. If half the street is dark in February, that’s not ideal for building community.

Some villages have been gutted by this. Do your research and visit off-season to see what you’re really getting.

Visit in Winter

We viewed our place in July and moved in December. Seeing the hamlet in winter was crucial—you learn what the roads are like in bad weather, how dark it really gets, and whether you can handle the isolation when everyone’s indoors.

We had snow in January and our lane wasn’t gritted for three days so the school commute took longer. That’s reality out here. The power went out during a storm and stayed off for six hours. We’ve since bought a backup heater and extra blankets. At night, there’s no lampposts so it’s pitch black out there – you need a flashlight to walk around! 

It’s not dramatic, but it’s different. Rural issues take longer to fix than in cities because you’re not a priority. Local roads in and out of the village flood in heavy rain and take days to clear (thankfully our village is higher so no houses are impacted!). You adapt, but you need to know it’s coming.

Find Your People

This is massive. We’re in our late thirties with young kids. If everyone around us was retired or young professionals working away Monday to Friday, we’d have struggled to settle and make new friends.

Before we bought, we asked about the village demographic. We looked at the primary school size, checked Facebook groups for local activities, and read the parish magazine to see what events were happening. That gave us a sense of who actually lives here.

If you’re retiring, you don’t want to be surrounded by young families with screaming kids. If you’ve got toddlers, you want other parents nearby. If you love hiking, check there are clubs or groups that do it.

The village hall has a few events on. Coffee mornings, the popup pub and seasonal events.  

Talk to Actual Locals

At viewings, chat with neighbours and visit the pub. People will usually be honest about the challenges—power cuts in storms, slow bin collection, patchy mobile signal. That honesty helped us prepare. They can tell you about floods, the local milk man, where to get eggs and more. They’ll know more than the estate agent!

Can You Actually Walk Where You Want?

I assumed countryside meant free access to wander anywhere. Wrong. Most land is private, and farmers don’t want you trespassing. You need public footpaths and bridleways, and not everywhere has good networks.

We’re lucky—the Wolds has brilliant walking routes. But some villages we looked at had almost no accessible paths, meaning you’d have to drive somewhere just to walk the dog. That defeats the point.

Check official public rights of way maps before you buy. Also, see if lanes have pavements. Ours don’t, and walking with a pushchair on narrow roads with blind corners isn’t ideal. We manage as we have very little traffic, but it’s not as safe as we’d assumed.

Check What’s Getting Built Nearby

Our view across fields is one of the reasons we bought here. Before we committed, we checked local planning applications to make sure nothing was getting built that would wreck it.

If there’s farmland nearby, ask what the farmer’s plans are. A new grain store or barn could block your view. Housing developments are less common in truly rural areas, but they do happen on village edges.

Conservation areas offer some protection, but it’s worth checking with the local planning authority directly. Your solicitor should flag anything obvious, but it pays to be proactive.

Understand Your Utilities

Our place runs on oil heating, not mains gas. That means scheduling fuel deliveries and watching the tank level. We’ve got a septic tank too, which needs emptying every couple of years at a cost of about £150.

These aren’t problems, just different systems to get used to. Oil prices fluctuate, so heating costs can be unpredictable. In winter, we’re definitely spending more than we did on the estate where we had mains gas.

Older rural properties can be draughty and expensive to heat—factor that into your budget. We’re slowly working through improvements, but it’s ongoing.

Some rural homes still have Agas or wood burners as backup heating. Ours has a log burner, which was brilliant during that power cut and when our boiler broke. If you’re looking at older properties, think about what happens when the electricity goes.

Sort Out Security

Country living is generally safer—crime rates are lower here—but properties can be more isolated and therefore more vulnerable if someone does target you.

We’ve installed CCTV that links to our phones, so we get alerts if anyone comes down our drive. There’s also a sensor that sets an alert off in the house if someone comes onto our property at night. 

Smart locks were less useful because of the mobile signal issues, so we’ve stuck with traditional locks but made sure they’re decent quality.

If your property is set back from the road or hidden by trees, think about visibility and access. Are you overlooked by neighbours? Can people see if someone’s breaking in? We’ve got no near neighbours, so the cameras give us peace of mind when we’re away.

Think About Your Commute

If you’re still working in a city, drive the route at rush hour before you commit. What looks like 40 minutes on a map can become over an hour when you’re stuck behind a tractor, a school bus, or sheep being moved between fields.

I’m lucky to work from home, but I have to take my son to school. Country roads are slower, speed limits are often 20-30mph through villages, and you can’t just nip onto a motorway.

If you’re commuting daily, really think about whether you can handle it. That’s two hours or more out of your day, and in winter when roads are icy or flooded, it gets worse.

Consider Visiting Relatives

We’re two hours from my parents now instead of 45 minutes. That’s fine for us, but it’s something to factor in. If elderly relatives rely on you, or you share custody of kids with an ex, proximity matters.

On the flip side, we’ve got spare bedrooms now, so family can actually stay over rather than cramming into our old place or booking hotels. That’s made longer visits more practical. Plus because our house is bigger here, it’s so much nicer to have guests!

If you’re moving somewhere remote or hard to access by public transport, older relatives might struggle to visit independently. Think about whether you’re happy being the one who always travels.

Making It Work

Budget for the Extras

Council tax here is actually lower than York, which was a pleasant surprise. But we’re spending more on fuel, car maintenance, and heating. Set aside a buffer for unexpected repairs—rural homes throw curveballs.

Heating oil deliveries cost £400-600 depending on the season – we’re set up so they come and fill it up automatically when it drops to around 30% and we pay monthly.. Septic tank emptying is £150 every couple of years. The car needs more frequent cleaning and seems to need new tyres more often from the rough roads.

If you’re looking at older properties, budget for ongoing improvements. Ours needs work on insulation, the roof will need attention in a few years (we’ve already had a leak), and there’s always something that needs fixing. It’s part of the charm, but it costs.

Property Value and Future Planning

One thing we didn’t think about initially: could we rent this place out if we needed to? It’s not in our plans, but having the option for holiday lets or Airbnb gives us flexibility.

Our place could work as a holiday home—it’s got character, decent space, and we’re in a pretty area. We’d need to upgrade the Wi-Fi and maybe add another shower, but it’s doable. That’s a safety net if circumstances change.

If you’re looking at properties, think about layout. Could you section off part of the house for guests? Is there potential for a B&B? Are there outbuildings that could be converted? These options can generate income or give you an exit strategy.

Get Stuck In

The best decision we made was joining in early. We went to the Christmas event at our village hall in the first week – say yes to village events, and chat to people. It’s how you stop feeling like an outsider and start feeling at home.

Rural communities can be wary of newcomers, especially if they think you’re just here for a holiday cottage or you’ll move back to the city in a year. Show up, contribute, and be patient. It takes time but it’s worth it.

Embrace the Pub

I can’t overstate how important the pop-up pub has been for us getting to know people. It’s where you hear everything that’s happening. It’s not just about drinking—it’s the village hub.

Not every village pub is idyllic though. Check it out properly—read TripAdvisor, visit at different times, and see if it’s actually somewhere you’d want to spend time.

Keep Perspective

Some days, I miss being able to walk to a café or browse shops on a whim. I miss decent takeaways that aren’t a 30-minute round trip. There are moments, especially in winter when it’s dark by 4pm and we haven’t seen anyone all day apart from my sons school teacher, where it feels isolating.

But then I look out at the Wolds rolling away in every direction, hear absolute silence at night, and watch the stars without any light pollution. My son has space to play properly. We have conversations with neighbours. Life has a different quality.

The trade-off makes sense for us. But it won’t for everyone.

Is It Right for You?

Moving to the Yorkshire Wolds has been brilliant for us. We’ve got the space we wanted, the quiet we craved, and a slower pace that suits our stage of life. My son is thriving with all the outdoor space, and we’re more connected to our community here than we ever were on the estate.

But it’s not for everyone.

If you need constant activity, diverse restaurants, or easy access to everything, you’ll find the countryside limiting. If you can’t drive or work from home isn’t an option, rural life gets complicated fast. If you’re not prepared to adapt your routines and expectations, you’ll struggle.

But if you want room to breathe, a garden you can actually use, and a community where people know your name? If you’re happy trading convenience for space and peace? It might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Just check the broadband first. And the school bus route. And whether your car can handle muddy lanes. And visit in January.

But seriously—if it’s right for you, it’s really right.