Choosing a home in a new area is about more than finding a suitable property. The location will affect your regular journeys, household costs, access to services and day-to-day routine.
Before moving to a new area, consider whether it suits your budget, travel needs and household priorities. Test your regular journeys, visit at different times and research schools, healthcare, local facilities, broadband, flood risk, recorded crime and planned development before making a decision.
This guide focuses mainly on moving within England. Some linked services also cover Wales, while different services may apply elsewhere in the UK.
What do you need from the area?
Start by separating your priorities into three groups:
- features the area must have
- features you would prefer
- issues that would make the area unsuitable
Your essential requirements might include a manageable commute, suitable schools, accessible routes, reliable broadband or nearby green space.
Think about how your circumstances could change over the next few years. You may need the area to accommodate a different workplace, a growing household, caring responsibilities or changes to how often you travel.
Use the same written list for every area you consider. This can help you compare locations consistently rather than allowing one attractive property to outweigh practical concerns.
Consider the full cost of the location
The purchase price is only one part of the cost of living in an area. Regular expenses can vary between nearby locations, so include them when considering what may be affordable for your household.
Depending on your circumstances, compare:
- Council Tax
- commuting fares
- fuel and parking
- childcare
- regular travel to work, family or support networks
- broadband and mobile services
- service charges, where applicable
- local leisure or membership costs
You can check the Council Tax band for a property and use the relevant council’s website to find the current charge.
When comparing areas, look at homes that broadly match your requirements rather than relying on one average for a town or postcode. You can search historic sold property prices through HM Land Registry for properties in England and Wales.
Look for broadly similar property types and recent sale dates. Prices can vary between streets and developments, and an older property may not be directly comparable with a newly built home. Sold-price records provide historical information and should not be treated as a current valuation or an indication of future value.
If you are considering Shared Ownership, your regular housing costs may include mortgage payments, rent and service charges, alongside your usual household expenses. Check the costs associated with the individual home and speak to an appropriately qualified mortgage adviser about your circumstances.
How practical are your regular journeys?
A property may appear close to a station, school or main road on a map, but that does not show how practical the entire journey will be.
Test the door-to-door routes you expect to use regularly. These may include travelling to work, taking children to school, visiting family or attending medical appointments.
When assessing public transport, consider:
- walking time to the stop or station
- service frequency and reliability
- the number of changes
- early morning and evening services
- weekend availability
- accessibility
- regular travel costs
- alternative routes during disruption
If you expect to drive regularly, try the route at the time you would normally travel. Check congestion, parking availability, permit restrictions and access to major roads.
If you expect to cycle, consider the available routes, cycle infrastructure, road conditions and storage at home or at nearby stations.
Your council may publish information about buses, roadworks, cycling routes and local transport plans. Use the GOV.UK local council finder to reach the relevant council website.
Visit at different times
One visit will not show you everything you need to know about an area. Return at different times of the day and week where possible.
Try visiting:
- during the weekday commute
- during the daytime
- in the evening
- at the weekend
- after dark, where you feel comfortable doing so
Walk around the streets close to the property rather than only driving through them. Look at pedestrian routes, lighting, traffic, parking pressure and how busy the area becomes.
Complete an ordinary activity while you are there. Walk to the station, visit a food shop or try part of your usual journey to work. This may reveal practical issues that are easy to miss during a property viewing.
What should you check about schools and childcare?
If you have children or plan to, consider the location and suitability of schools, colleges and childcare providers.
Living close to a school does not guarantee admission. Places depend on the school’s published admission criteria, the number of applications and other circumstances.
For schools in England, you can:
- find schools and check admission arrangements
- explore schools and childcare providers through Ofsted
- review information published by individual schools
- attend open days or arrange visits where available
- test the journey from the property
Consider published school information alongside admission arrangements, facilities, accessibility and your child’s individual needs.
For childcare, check opening hours, costs, waiting lists and the journey between home, childcare and work. Contact providers directly to ask about current availability.
Check healthcare and essential services
Think about the services your household may need regularly rather than looking only for the nearest hospital.
These could include:
- GP practices
- pharmacies
- dentists
- hospitals
- urgent treatment services
- opticians
- services relating to an existing health condition
The NHS provides services to find a GP and find a dentist in England.
Check whether the location, opening hours and transport options would suit your routine. Being close to a GP practice or dentist does not mean it is accepting new patients, so contact the service directly if access is important to your decision.
Consider how you would reach healthcare without a car, particularly during the evening or when public transport is limited.
Shops and everyday facilities
Focus on what your household uses during an ordinary week rather than the total number of amenities shown on a map.
This might include:
- food shops
- post offices and parcel services
- cafés and restaurants
- household and repair services
- petrol stations or electric vehicle charging points
- accessible shops and services
- places of worship
- community facilities
Check opening hours as well as distance. A nearby service may be less useful if it is closed when you would normally visit.
Walk the route between the property and the facilities you expect to use. Consider whether it would be practical in poor weather, when carrying shopping or when travelling with children.
Green spaces, leisure and community life
Local facilities can affect how you spend your free time and whether an area supports your interests.
Look for places you are likely to use, such as:
- parks and public gardens
- walking and cycling routes
- children’s play areas
- gyms and swimming pools
- sports clubs
- libraries
- cinemas and theatres
- community groups
- cafés, restaurants and pubs
Visit facilities that matter to you where possible. A map cannot show whether a route is accessible, whether a park has suitable equipment or whether an activity runs at a convenient time.
Your council’s website may list public leisure facilities, libraries, community centres and local activities.
Consider your support network
Moving can change how easily you see the people you depend on or spend time with. Consider the cost and practicality of travelling to:
- family and friends
- childcare arrangements
- people you care for
- community or faith groups
- regular appointments
- social activities
A journey that seems manageable occasionally may become difficult several times a week. Test the routes that matter rather than relying only on the distance shown on a map.
Review recorded crime information in context
You can review local policing and recorded crime information through Police.uk.
Look at several months rather than one isolated figure. Consider the types, dates and approximate locations of recorded incidents, but do not use a single total to judge an entire community.
Crime-map hotspots provide only a general indication of where incidents occurred. Locations are anonymised, and not every recorded crime can be displayed on the map.
Recorded crime information is one part of researching an area. Your visits, regular routes and individual priorities will also influence whether a location suits you.
Check flood risk and environmental factors
Use the government’s long-term flood risk service to check an area in England. The service covers long-term risk from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and groundwater where information is available.
The results relate to the area around a property. They do not establish how likely an individual building is to flood and do not cover every possible source, such as blocked drains or burst pipes.
Property-specific concerns may require further investigation by your conveyancer, surveyor, insurer or another appropriately qualified specialist.
Other environmental factors to consider include:
- traffic and railway noise
- aircraft routes
- nearby commercial or industrial activity
- air pollution
- busy roads
- overhead power lines or other infrastructure
- the condition of nearby public spaces
You can check local air quality and pollution forecasts through the government’s air-quality service. Conditions can vary by location and time, so consider the results alongside what you notice during your visits.
Check broadband and mobile coverage
Reliable connectivity may be important if you work from home, make frequent video calls, stream content or depend on connected services.
Check availability using the full address rather than relying on an average for the postcode or wider development. Compare:
- expected download and upload speeds
- contract costs
- mobile coverage from the networks you use
- installation requirements
- whether faster services are available or planned
The government’s gigabit broadband availability checker shows whether gigabit-capable broadband is available or planned at an address in England or Wales.
Information may change as suppliers update their plans. Check the services shown for the full address with broadband providers before committing to a property. Availability and achievable speeds may still depend on provider checks, network capacity and installation requirements.
If connectivity is important to your household, test mobile reception during a viewing as well as checking coverage information.
Review planning applications and future development
Nearby development could affect traffic, views, construction activity, local services and how the immediate area changes.
Use the government’s planning application and decision search to reach the relevant council records for England or Wales.
Look for:
- current planning applications
- recently approved developments
- major housing proposals
- new roads or transport projects
- proposed commercial buildings
- changes to nearby land use
Search the surrounding streets and neighbouring land as well as the property address. An application may relate to an access road, a site behind the development or another nearby plot.
The council’s Local Plan may show longer-term proposals for housing, transport, employment and infrastructure.
Planning applications can be amended, refused, withdrawn or approved subject to changes. Records show information available at the time of your search, and new applications may be submitted later.
If nearby land, open space or a particular view is important to your decision, review the available planning information and raise property-specific questions with your conveyancer. Public planning records are not a substitute for the searches and enquiries carried out during a home purchase.
Compare the areas on your shortlist
Review each area against the same requirements once you have completed your research.
Record:
- whether your essential requirements are met
- typical journey times
- regular household and travel costs
- the services you would use
- concerns requiring further investigation
- what you noticed during each visit
- whether the area could accommodate future needs
You can also use Office for National Statistics Census maps to explore official information about housing, health, work, education and population across England and Wales.
Census maps provide area-level information down to neighbourhood level. Use the results as background context rather than to make assumptions about individual streets, households or residents.
Your final area checklist
Before making a decision, check that you have:
- identified your essential requirements
- considered regular costs associated with the location
- compared suitable homes and historic sold prices
- checked the Council Tax band and current charge
- tested your most important journeys
- visited at different times and on different days
- researched school admissions where relevant
- checked access to healthcare and essential services
- reviewed recorded crime information in context
- checked flood risk, air quality, noise and other environmental factors
- checked broadband and mobile availability at the full address
- reviewed nearby planning applications
- considered access to family, friends and other support
- compared the area with at least one realistic alternative
Final thoughts
A suitable area should work for your budget, regular journeys, household needs and day-to-day routine. Online research can help you narrow your options, but it should not replace spending time there and testing the services and routes you expect to use.
Compare locations using the same requirements and investigate any concerns before making a commitment. This can help you look beyond the first impression of a property and reach a more informed decision.
Once you have identified what matters most in your next area, explore Guinness Homes developments and compare their locations, transport connections and nearby services.
This guide provides general information and is not financial, mortgage, legal, insurance or property advice. Local services, costs, transport, planning applications, school admissions, broadband availability and other facilities can change. Check current information with the relevant provider, council or public body and seek suitably qualified professional advice where needed before making a homebuying decision.
