Fast broadband now pre-requisite for moving to the country

The desire to have a fast and reliable broadband connection has jumped into the top five requests for people moving to the country according to County Homesearch.

A survey among the 20 branch network of the homefinding service shows that people who move to the country crave a degree of privacy and frequently ask for views and houses away from road noise – but fast broadband is now a requisite not a luxury.

With more home working and people running small businesses from their residences the demand for swift broadband has become an essential for many people relocating to the country and houses without it are often undesirable.

Jonathan Haward, chairman of County Homesearch said: “Clients who don’t really know their kilobits from their megabits or their ADSL from their wireless connection nevertheless are beginning to ask for speedy broadband connections. Some sections of the country are virtually broadband free or very patchy and this undoubtedly puts people off who want to either keep in touch with their businesses or who want to run a company from their home.”

Martin Watt, director for Scotland East said: “Broadband is mentioned in virtually every search we undertake – if not actually in the brief then definitely when we’re viewing properties. Clients certainly would not be keen to go for a property that doesn’t have/can’t have broadband.”

Andreas Bonney, director East Anglia, said: “Put simply, everyone wants fast broadband now. There have been a couple of occasions when clients have told me not to view a house because of lack of coverage.”

Lisa Green, director Cheshire/Manchester, said: “A big issue is broadband speed so the roll out of BT’s super-fast fibre-optic broadband might become more important – particularly for those people who try to run businesses from home in rural areas.”

Carol Peett, director West Wales, said: “A pub, local shop and a village hall are important as it usually follows there is then a good community spirit. A farm shop is also very popular. But broadband is obviously a recent addition to the list and is an absolute must.”