₦airaland Forum

AirBay:
Ticha........ I just want to screammmmmm

Ha! Don't scream o. Wetin I do o?

Pension and wealth planning for the future - very long read.

To access full pensions, we have to pay 35 years of national insurance to access the full state pension in the UK and in New Zealand, a naturalised Kiwi aka us has to pay at least 10 years of income tax. It means we can't access the full state pension in both countries.
In both places, I doubt if we could live on the pension anyway even if we qualified for it. The full UK pension is about £7k a year so £14k for both of us. Yes, you could potentially access other benefits, but it means from age 65 for women and 67 for men, you’ll be living on approx. £1k a month unless you have savings to draw on. If you have savings of more than £16k, you also can’t access any state benefits either. So we have been planning for retirement.

We have a Global Vanguard All Shares account (the name has changed over the years) - managed by Henderson Securities. We've had it jointly for more than 12 years (husbot for much longer) and have dipped into it sometimes (mainly to pay for IVF). We haven't touched it for years now and the funds have grown exponentially. If we continue paying into it consistently, we should have about £600k worth of shares (yay compound interest) by the time I'm 55 and husbot is 52. To give an idea, we've always paid a minimum of £150 each monthly into it since 2010. Henderson does the investing and taxes on our behalf. We haven't bothered to check what they invest it in, but we picked an aggressive growth fund for a long time and that really paid off (hence using the profits for IVF). Now it's in a mid-range growth fund and will remain there. We have upped our monthly minimum payments to £250 each a month now because we can afford to do so. The SOA comes every March, but we don’t check it or even look at it beyond seeing how much is there when the SOA comes.

In New Zealand - we pay into the government Kiwisaver scheme (pension scheme). I contribute 3% of my earnings and husbot contributes 5% of his earnings, the government contributes $521 every year. We can withdraw our Kiwisaver once we've been out of NZ for 12 months (6 years of payments), so we plan to withdraw it and dump it into Henderson when we leave.
Onto tangible assets – We have property in both countries. I sold my house in 9ja once I realised it was an albatross and put all the funds into a UK purchase. Our UK family home although rented out is on a full repayment mortgage. Thanks to the current property boom (which can also go bust!) we have some substantial equity in it. We also have other BTLs on interest only mortgages. We can always sell one to clear off the mortgage on the family home if needed.

The move to New Zealand has been the best thing for us financially. I have no employer loyalty. No one goes into education to make money as the pay is poor compared to the level of work and qualifications involved. I often jump ship every 2 years because that's the only way I can increase my wages. Wages in education are much higher in NZ than in the UK which is weird (5m v 67m) but good for me!
Anyhow, when we moved to NZ, we took opportunity of the higher wages and saved and saved and saved but buying a house seemed out of our reach. Then we met another couple who seemed to have the same values as us (family, financial, moral you name it). We pooled our resources and we bought a house in our name (we bought first because we had higher incomes and better credit). With property values going crazy, we within 6 months refinanced that property and gifted the cash to this family (basically paid them back their initial contribution and extra) so they bought one too in their name. They then refinanced and gifted us the cash and we bought another in our names.
Because we want to exponentially grow the money, we are demolishing the first house to build 5 new ones and then leverage that to give them enough to buy a 2nd property for themselves. They can choose to develop or hold or sell but we will have both walked away with 2 initial properties each.

It does mean we're financially tight until we finish the build March/ April 2023 (build starts in Oct 2022) but it's for our future financial security so we're totally happy to have a few tight years. It also means I can't help my extended family as much as I used to and boy! am I hearing about it! I've thoroughly enjoyed the consent and planning process for the development. We now have land use consent ad have just applied for building consent. It has been stressful and a huge expenditure but also a big learning curve. I almost decided to retrain as surveyor last year when we got the engineering bill ��. When the houses are completed, it'll be leased to Housing New Zealand on a 5 year repairing lease. The income from the 5 after tax is about the same as my before tax income (imagine fa) so we know we can comfortably live on that should shit hit the fan workwise.

Our current NZ home was bought with retirement in mind. We went for the biggest house on a large land. We also deliberately bought in a medium density zone. Basically, we can build up to 6 four bedroom houses on the land if we demolish the existing house. If we decide not to retire in New Zealand, then that is what we would do in about 7 years’ time. If we choose to retire in NZ (I seriously doubt it) then we'll sell the UK family home and pay off the mortgage on the NZ one. It has bedrooms and a full bathroom downstairs and is disabled friendly – no stairs to access the whole of the ground floor. I have no intention of going into a nursing or care home.

Shareswise - we've now opened targeted growth fund accounts for the children with Lansdown Hargreaves. We pay £100 a month into each child's account. They will get full access at 18. Hopefully, they can use that to pay uni fees, supplement apprenticeship wages, down payment on a house or even go traveling before uni/ work starts.

We have also created a family trust. I look at the truly wealthy and what they have for going for them is generational wealth and good financial planning. In my family, I'm the first to be in a position to actually start building generational wealth. The trust will hopefully go on forever as it's for the direct progeny of my husbot and his siblings (both his siblings have no children and want none) and me and my siblings so it means my nephews and nieces will get payments annually out of it once they hit 21 but their parents can’t access any of the funds. We've currently set it so it can only be dissolved by a court and no beneficiaries can sell assets out of it including us once the asset has been placed in it.

2 reasons we have done this – divorce/ separation for us or our children. Even though we all hope to remain married till death, the truth is that divorce and remarriage happens. The trust is set up to protect the financial interests of all beneficiaries. If either of us divorces, we will continue to be paid out of it. Should any of us re-marry, the spouse will not be able to access any funds from the trust. Same with the children. Stats also show that first generation immigrants usually create the biggest wealth and subsequent generations waste the accumulated wealth. It is very likely that our children will not have the kind of drive we have because they have been born into or have lived in plenty enough to be happy with state handouts in the future. Therefore, they might actually see us as a burden as we grow older and infirm.

So hopefully at retirement, the trust can top up our pension but also ensure we remain at home till end of life and not be a burden on the children.

This is not financial advice. Just sharing what we have done.

hustla:
How can that work to residency be gotten and is there any reason why you want to move back to the UK?

By applying for jobs. Use www.seek.co.nz Majority of employers will offer work visas as part of the job package. Employers also regularly go to the UK to do recruitment drives. You will need UK experience and certification if needed. It's very rare (have met only 1 person) that was recruited directly from Nigeria and even that person had qualifications from the US (degree and masters).

Certain jobs are in higher demand - Engineering, IT, Health. This website also goes into specific details. https://www.newzealandshores.com/working-in-new-zealand/

You can also download the shortage list and target employers in those fields. If the job is on the shortage list, it automatically qualifies for the work to residence visa. You can also apply for visit visas (very easy to get) and come speak to employers face to face. The shortage list is here -https://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/

UK is our home base. It's a lovely place to live if one is not in a constant hustle to survive and be comfortable. We're lucky to be in that position now.

We also want to provide our children with the opportunity to grow with and spend time extended family members. My parents and in laws are in their 70s and haven't really spent time with the children. Plus secondary education in NZ is shite (good enough). It's poor by OECD standards and if we remain here, we have to go the private education route. That will be $22k per child. We'd rather spend 8 years in the UK for them to complete secondary school in good schools for free, spend time with family, they can get to really know their cousins, visit 9ja as often as we can and spend some time travelling Europe.

Aphrodite007:
Haha yeah one less tax payer. I considered getting lawyers to try again, but they said that I’ll need to be in the country for another 5 years with the route I’ll take. Been here 7 years now, I’m not interested in being classed a temporary for another 5 years lol. I can’t keep being used for tax purposes only to be discarded if they change immigration rules

To be honest, it’s just because I don’t like it here and want to try something different. Staying is not hard.

Have you considered NZ or Australia? Be warned that it is very very far from anywhere else. I always say NZ is what Nigeria would be like if it was classed as developed. It has lots of developing country vibes and attitudes and of course lots of opportunities for everyone. Once you have international experience, the world is your oyster! A work to residency visa gives you residency after 2 years and PR after 2 years so 4 years in total. Salaries are good (husbot and I have both doubled our UK wages) which will be frustrating for us when we return to the UK in 2 years time. It also has a small emerging Nigerian community (less than 1000 of us o!)

Regex:
But I am not seeing ensuite House for rent in that area.

You mean a room by room let? Burnham is not really set up for HMOs as it's essentially a holiday location. If you drive, you might have to live in Weston Super Mare and commute in. There are buses but it doesn't cater well for people who work mainly because most of the people living there are retirees.

Regex:
I am moving to Burnham on sea.

Burnham on Sea is lovely and very very quiet. Full of mainly retirees so be prepared to have people talk and talk and talk to you. There are few BAME in general. We have holidayed there quite a bit as it's very close to Bristol

LagosismyHome:
Please what insight do you have regarding getting a mortgage if you have a IVA. Is it possible with all these specialist broker

Is the IVA discharged or almost discharged? If no, it's best to wait till it's within 6 months of being discharged and yes, a specialist broker will be needed. Be prepared for higher than normal interest rates as well.

bikerboy1:
Have they started letting international students into the country?

Yes but numbers capped to 5000 till end of June. All student visa applications open from July 2022.

Lexusgs430:
Madam, you don overstretch this matter o ...... No go cause family conflict o ..........

Are you insinuating, he does not trust the judgement(s) of his nearest and dearest ...........

I don keep quiet o. Weekend don come

ShalewaT:
I was there the day he called him asking if he can use him as his next of kin for his NHS, and it just took me by surprise cos normally how can you be married and ask your cousin if he can be your next of kin?
This cousin is married and he isn't his next of kin, then he said he'd fill my name in when he gets to the hospital. He brought the form home yesterday and I saw he actually used his cousin.

Does he realise that means his cousin will also be the one to make medical decisions on his behalf should be incapacitated in any way? Basically he might end up in hospital and you might not be able to see or support him if he's not in a position to give consent for you to do that. Hopefully you can both have a discussion and come to some conclusion on this. I do find it weird and bizarre that he'd do that.

phyl123:
My white friend once told me she was at a family party and her niece was playing with a black kid, she then licked her finger and rubbed it on the black girl’s skin to see if her colour would rub off. This was just two innocent kids playing together. Her niece has not been exposed to black kids apart from on the telly, so she was curious like most young kids.

I used to live in Radstock about 12 years ago and taught in the local secondary school. I got no end of weird and bizarre questions. I was the only black person in that town of about 5k people. There was an Indian family too and that was it. People would ask how I can speak such fluent English - if I was in a bad mood, I'd usually tell them to go study British history and they'll know why, could they sniff my hair, touch my skin, do we have lions, sleep in huts, did I like having a bed at home etc. Sometimes, I patiently answer all the questions - no be me carry myself go live for bush?

During my very first OFTSED inspection, I was teaching the Access to Health Dip discussing about people migration and how it affects health outcomes - ie language barriers, new illnesses etc. One of the girls (she was 18/19 ish) said, 'We don't want dirty immigrants bringing new illnesses. They take our jobs and they want to infect us too?'

I responded, 'Dirty immigrants? Am I dirty?' She was shocked and said, 'But Miss, you're not an immigrant. You speak English, you work, you're our tutor!' She could not comprehend how I was possibly an immigrant.

The lesson took a side step into different forms of immigration, how it affects places negatively and positively and I had to pull up stats etc about immigrant Drs, nurses, teachers, engineers (basically to show that we're not bottom feeders) and then linked back to health outcomes. The lesson over ran by almost 45 minutes. The inspector stayed through out the lesson. We talked about Windrush, Irish and Italian migration (they were shocked about that as well). I scored an outstanding grade and till date, it's my only outstanding grade in all my teaching years
These were children from reasonably middle class families and they had zero clue. Many of them were actually very racist in that lesson but it was a teaching moment so I used it as one. They at least all walked away with a better knowledge and awareness of what not to say and do!

Now imagine that session was run by someone who 1. had no experience of immigration, immigrants and racism and 2. didn't want to derail their lesson because frankly if it was another inspector, I may well have failed that observation and affected the over score of the school.

As far as I'm concerned, people are inherently good. Doesn't make them not racist

I can't even begin to recount my conversations with my in laws. The only person who has not goofed in that family is my youngest sister in law and she is very, very well travelled which explains it. They do love me very much but mehn...

Chreze:
For the sake of our children, let’s just try to delete that word, cos our kids relate and play perfectly with kids from other race/skin color and they don’t know any of these things, if we keep up with the word, it will destroy the future just like it’s affecting today.

This is like saying let's commit more crimes so the police will have work to do! Good people are also very racist. My mother in law is a prime example. All research shows that children know, see and acknowledge differences in others. They just have not imbibed the social norms and indoctrination of acting on or using those differences to either accept or exclude people. They learn that from the families and communities.

Racism is going nowhere - not in our lifetime and likely not in that of our children either and we better prepare our children to deal with it otherwise it will stymie them.

jesmond3945:
well I mentioned that I have no problem with racism, I even laught it off. I agree with you wholeheartedly. However, blacks should always support each other when issues of discrimination are discussed. We should not dismiss it or find a way to blame each other because we have no allies when all is lost is only a black brother that will come to the rescue. Even this thread is a testament to that. You can see Nigerians are good people with their quality advise but would prefer to relate behind the computer than physically.

I agree with you. As adults that have been fully formed and immersed in the Nigerian confidence before heading to the UK, it is easy to shrug off and minimise the racism we encounter. The problem is then that we do not fully equip our children and youngsters to deal with what life as a black person in a majority white country gets throws at them from the moment you step foot here. And that is the underlying issue. When people raise concerns about racism, I don't ever minimise it. I listen, offer support or advice as needed. Sometimes, it's not even possible to follow up on it. It doesn't mean we can't validate that person's feeling at that moment in time.

It's very much like the trans issues going on at the moment. The trans movement (supporters of the trans movement) seem to be eradicating women's right and spaces left, right and centre. I support the right of a trans woman to be a woman and my own right as someone who fully identifies as female and a woman to be a woman - I don side track now

hustla:
No, I mean both properties are worth say 300K each, with 30K as down-payment


I'm Allowed to dream naw

#30k deposit for a BTL is a maximum #120k purchase. The only time you get away with less than a 25% is if you're buying a home to live in. Be realistic in your dreams o. Otherwise you go just waste money with nothing to show at the end of it. It's why the wealth creation industry exists - making millions from property is a big one. Lots and lots of stories that touch emanating from there.

For a #300k BTL property, stamp duty alone is #14k then you need a deposit of #75k. So before you even start, almost #100k don comot from ya pocket.

hustla:
Hello Chairmen, Women and Ancestors

Happy Easter to everyone

I do have some funny property questions

Let's assume I have £60K which ideally can pay for 2 properties at £30K each

Will it make sense to

1- buy 2 different properties at the same time or -

2 - put the £60K in one and then refinance later?

3 - Can mortgage be paid using credit cards? If yes, does it make sense to spend more than the 20 - 30% recommended on cc's per month?

Which one saves more money and makes the most sense at a latter date

I'm just curious and thinking ahead in this case

Thanks!

1. You are seriously underestimating your costs. For each purchase, you have #30k for deposit, #600 for solicitors fees, #3,600 for stamp duty. Then you need change EICR, GSC and letting costs. You can cut letting costs by using Open Rent which is c. #500 ish to include credit checking. If you decide to do a survey, that's another #600-#800. If the house is in top spec condition, you might get away with a deep clean otherwise, you also need to budget funds for small repairs before letting.

2. Refinancing is not really as easy at it sounds. You'll have to re-apply going through a full credit application, break the initial fixed period if you fixed, pay break fees. House values don't instantly rise and sometimes, will actually be static for awhile even in a rising or an over blown market

3. No. Sometimes having a lot of accessible credit works against you when it comes to mortgages even for BTL especially if your income is not very high. Banks are not averse to asking you to close down lines of open credit before draw down so don't even bank on having immediate access to that money. Of course you can get new cards or loans once the mortgage has been drawn down.

LagosismyHome:
No 3 touch me ooo. I am all about our people raising our people. ... how can we grow if we run away from each other

It's being choosy about which Nigerians you hang out with regularly. I curate my friendship groups very very finely. We must share similar values, have a similar outlook and be on the same page.
I know and speak to/ with many Nigerians. I will give advice, suggestions, directions, go over CVs, have one off conversations etc. Doesn't make us friends. I won't give references, act as guarantor, provide accommodation. Been there, done that, burnt the T shirt.

dustydee:
Oya UK asylum seekers, kuku ma buy ticket to Rwanda instead because Britiain will now ship them there. I don't think it is right.

They're copying from Australia's playbook. At least Rwanda has land borders and asylum seekers will most likely be able to leave. Christmas Island, Manus and Nauru where the Australians send their asylum seekers are all tiny islands with no way out unless the government lets you out. Unfortunately for the UK government, there are a lot of white knights that will likely scupper this plan. There'll probably be protests within the week

HollyMadison:
My elders please I need mortgage advice.

I’m on my 10th month in the UK and I want to use HTB before it ends next year. I’m buying with my husband who’s been here store a bit longer, but one mortgage advisor tried to discourage me based on the fact that I’ve not been in the uk for 12 months yet.


Our credit scores are excellent and good and I’m working on mine and it’s very close to excellent.
Any good tips or advice would be greatly utilised and appreciated.

Thank you for all the sweet and harsh advice, I Dey collect all. My people use Nairaland to yab me but this page has helped sooo much.

Get a new broker. Contact Ezra Le Mon​
Mortgage Advisor
Ezra.LeMon@JohnCharcol.co.uk
020 3334 9967
www.Charcol.co.uk

mumzt:
Please, my first was born here. Though we've gone in and out of the UK as visitors.
We're back now under student visa. Does this mean I don't have to add him when we're renewing? Or ut will affect us because he's gone out before?
Can we renew without him and just wait till we get ilr and apply for citizenship for him?

If I'm not mistaken, to do that, the child must not have an existing visa linked into an existing passport. Once they have the passport of another country even if they haven't travelled out of the UK, that automatically means the visa restrictions of that country applies to them. That's my understanding so you'll need to clarify.

For the school holidays - places where kids eat free.

gratefulme40:
I am completing application for citizenship for my 2kids born before I got ILR
Now, it’s asking for ID document, can I use just birth certificate as an ID document for them? If not, biko, can someone break down the process of getting Nigerian passport for kids again that wouldn’t take forever.


I was hoping to submit the applications this month end

Thanks in advance

Their long form birth certificate is all you need as their form of ID

rinzylee:
Yeah I'm coming to work at the Hospital there. I'm a physiotherapist. It's been crazy searching i must say. I may look the Norwich way. 47 mins by train though.

The train is very slow. It stops everywhere on it way to Cromer. You're better off using the bus then driving. In fact, if you can drive straight away. I'd advise you to do that. You'll be driving against traffic as well as most people will be heading into Norwich for work.

Norwich train station is also near the most expensive parts of the city (Golden Triangle). Whereas if you're driving, you'll just take the ring road and head out.

LagosismyHome:
I wish someone can just state one or two post code that is good for BLT for lazy people who don't have power for plenty research . ....

You can't afford to not do research o! One bad property investment will set you back seriously. People have different risk appetite's and it's easier to be risky with other people's money.

Even if you'll hand it to an agent, the buck stops with the property owner. Agents can be very very unscrupulous as well. There is no comeback apart from a civil case against them either. Our first agent would refund money to the tenant for any complaint. Then bill us for admin services. Turned out she was his friend's daughter in law. Her husband bin don run follow another woman, leave her with the children. As far as he was concerned, we lived in London and had money. We didn't live in London fa - husbot just worked in London. We were ourselves renting and luckily because we had built good equity and were on a repayment mortgage, we could absorb some of those initial costs. We removed her and re-tenanted with me managing it myself.

It now takes an average of 14 months from serving notice to successfully evicting a tenant if they don't want to leave. They can also not pay rent that whole 14 months. Then it was a max 2 months to remove a tenant.

Once you successfully set the first one up, it's easy to replicate. It's like rearing children. The first one is the hardest - no blueprint. The rest just fall in line once they arrive

omopapa:
Seems it’s been long you checked the property price in wolves I think the HS2 project and maybe the football club has surprisingly affected the property values in wolves recently. Only considering that particular one Cus I knw couple of friends that stay in the block and it is strategically located, with very good transport link. Also, it will interest you to know that the rent is going up while the mortgage is going down which makes it a BTL property with a potential good return

I completely forgot HS2! I still think houses are better than flats outside the SE unless they're conversions. Even if the mortgage is decreasing, if the property value is not going up then you lose the power of leverage which is the greatest wealth builder in property

Ralphlauren:
I have attached the price history of my buy to let property.

I'm the second owner. The first owner bought the flat brand new and I guess the property was overpriced/over valued as at 2007. New builds are notoriously overpriced, hence why those looking to achieve the best returns in property investment avoid them.

You make a very valid point. New builds especially flats that are located outside the SE and London lose value very very quickly and takes forever to catch up. Works well for OO but is absolutely useless for BTL (as a new build I mean).

@omopapa although 99 years seems long, in 10 years time it would be practically unmortgageable unless the lease is extended which costs a pretty penny and 10 years is not a very long time at all. Plus most people can easily get a 2/3 bedroom house for that amount in Wolves which majority will prefer. Why are you considering an apartment?

HollyMadison:
Disclaimer first, I’m just speaking from acquired knowledge. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Yes, you can buy a house.

Mortgage end age is 65-80. Most lenders cap at 70-75, so you’ll have about 25years to pay back which is good.

Lenders will give you around 4.5 of your annual salary, your expected mortgage is dependent on if your £1,600 is before or after tax… so you can just do the calculations yourself.

You don’t need to use the full £20k on deposit, your deposit will probably be £10k… you can use the remaining £10k on renovations and upgrades as you’ll most likely buy a “not-so-new” house.

The top age for residential mortgages is retirement age whatever that is at the time of application. Top age for BTL mortgages is as old as one can get as the rent will always cover the mortgage and can be sold off to pay the mortgage (expected repayment vehicle). Otherwise, all correct.
I always advise first home buyers to put down the smallest deposit allowable on what you want to buy. That is most likely the only time, you'll be able to do that! So maximise the utilisation of the cash you have

rinzylee:
Please is anyone in North Walsham here? I have been trying to get an accommodation from Naija. E hard o. Can anyone help??

North Walsham in Norfolk? Are you there for work? You may need to look in Alysham and Norwich instead and travel to work in N. Walsham. It's a very small town and has a lot more older people than families which means people hardly move out. Not impossible, just a much more longer wait for a place.

omopapa:
Our property gurus in the house, please what is the best explanation for this? A 2bed flat that was sold in 2006 for £120k is now being listed for £105k

Length of lease left, cladding issues, major repairs coming up, low sinking funds across board - linked to major repairs, low EPC (new rules in place around EPC). Just jejely leave that flat alone

Evagreenfields:
Hello @Ticha,

Please can you send me this spreadsheet too? evagreenfields@gmail.com

Thanks.

Sent

Kijaz:
Hello mamas, una well done ����

Please I need a little help in deciding where we would stay when we arrive in September, family of 4 (2 daughters 6&3)

I'ld be schooling in London and can't seem to figure out what area outside Central London is suitable.

In terms of affordable accommodation, good schools, safe environment for the kids & activities for them, job opportunities, and also travel time less than an hour to Central London.

Please I'm really looking forward to your recommendations.

Thanks a lot. ��

PS - https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/London_South_East_Network_Railcard_map_Dec-2021.pdf

This maps all the trains coming into London. Obviously it doesn't tell you time it takes so you'll need to go on the national rail website and start mapping the times, cost etc. Then go to Rightmove and check rental prices for properties in that area - make it 0.5 as that's walkable. Anymore than that and you'll need to get a bus/ drive etc which of course will add to your journey time and costs. That was essentially what we did when we were deciding.

If you will only be in London 2 or 3 times a week, I'd suggest looking as far as the Midlands actually as the fast trains are a max 90 minutes so if you're living in Rugby for example (cheap rent yay!) that might take 50 minutes, Northampton (also cheap rent) - 45 minutes, Milton Keynes (more expensive rent) 30 minutes etc
Or the South West so working backwards from Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Didcot etc...

Hope that makes sense.

Kijaz:
Hello mamas, una well done ����

Please I need a little help in deciding where we would stay when we arrive in September, family of 4 (2 daughters 6&3)

I'ld be schooling in London and can't seem to figure out what area outside Central London is suitable.

In terms of affordable accommodation, good schools, safe environment for the kids & activities for them, job opportunities, and also travel time less than an hour to Central London.

Please I'm really looking forward to your recommendations.

Thanks a lot. ��

I'm assuming you won't be driving into London? Therefore you need to follow the train lines. Based on the time tables, you can see from which stations you can get into central London under an hour then start house hunting there. Be very aware that all those cities will also have a London mark up prices for rental purposes and the closer to the station the property is, the more expensive it will be as well.

The husbot worked in London for 18 months and we wanted to be within an hour's train ride (got in at Euston Station), we ended up in St Neots. It was 42 minutes to Euston and a relatively small market town with everything you need. I think I still have the spreadsheet we created with all the train times/ costs (costs would be wildly different now) and rental cost (also different). If you send me your email address, I'll forward it on to you and it may help you narrow down your choices.

Clakyvip:
Anyone in Norwich?

I used to live near Norwich. I call it my 2nd UK hometown