Property, Houses and Flats for Sale in Suffolk, England

The county of Suffolk

Suffolk is a county in East Anglia, which shares its borders with Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. It is a county with wide open skies, outstanding coastline and rolling rural countryside. The scenery and quintessential charm of Suffolk has inspired many artists over the years, and is especially famous for having inspired the great English romantic painter John Constable to produce great works of art such as The Hay Wain. The coastal towns and resorts along Suffolk's 45 mile stretch of the East Coast offer a variety of year round enjoyment for visitors and residents. Suffolk's county town is Ipswich, which is the largest city in this part of the UK. Other notable towns and cities in Suffolk include Bury St. Edmonds and the ancient towns of Stowmarket and Woodbridge. Suffolk is also home to the UK's most easterly town; Lowestoft, occupying a remote spot on the coast, between the Broads and the North Sea. Further down the coast is Felixstowe, a small town but nevertheless the UK's largest container port. Much of Suffolk's coast is secluded and uninhabited, except by the many rare species of seabirds whose habitation of the area has seen much of the Suffolk Heritage Coast designated as NSPB nature reserves.

A brief history

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the early fifth century lowland Britain was settled by a succession of folk, predominantly Angles and Saxons, emigrating from what is now northern Germany and Denmark. By the sixth century what we now call England (land of the Angles) was a series of separate kingdoms, each with its own royal dynasty. What is now Suffolk formed the southern half of the Kingdom of East Anglia rules by the Wuffinga dynasty. Although the East Anglian kingdom features little in the literature of the 'Dark Ages', archaeology is beginning to reveal that it was probably one of the wealthiest kingdoms of England, with well-established trading links. Most of the kingdom's most important Anglo-Saxon sites lie in Suffolk. By the time of the Norman Conquest all of Suffolk's major towns and most of its present-day villages were already in existence.

Living in Suffolk

When you are searching for Suffolk property you will discover that when it comes to 'the good life' Suffolk is a definite winner. Nine out of ten Suffolk residents state they are happy with their local area as a place to live (according to a MORI report). And it isn't difficult to see why - with its mixture of competitively priced housing in regional centres, small towns and villages, its access to excellent independent and state schools, hospitals and leisure facilities, Suffolk offers an exceptionally high quality of life. Suffolk also has a lot to offer when it comes to sports, culture and leisure. There are 18 cinema screens alone in Ipswich and three theatres. Suffolk is home to the Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Maltings Concert Hall, and to Cardinal Park. The county has dozens of sports centres, swimming pools, gyms and leisure centres, and almost 30 golf courses. A largely unspoiled 45 mile coastline offers access to eight marinas, most with established sailing clubs. If you enjoy eating out and you are looking to buy property in Suffolk you will find that Suffolk frequently tops the entries in the Good Food Guide, and has venues which cater for all tastes, including marina bistros, oak beamed pubs, brasseries and cafés.

Suffolk is currently the only county in the UK without a university, but that is due to change. The University of Ipswich is expected to open within the next three or four years in Ipswich town centre. The university will be built on both the Waterfront and the existing Suffolk College site, and will have a significant and positive economic impact, as has been the case with other towns and cities around the UK where new universities have been introduced. It could, therefore, be a good time to buy property in Ipswich for investment purposes.

There are a number of property hotspots in Suffolk, including the county town of Ipswich; Newmarket which is the home of horseracing; Felixstowe- the UK's largest container port, Lowestoft which is due to receive a significant boost in the form of an Offshore Renewables Centre; and Stowmarket which is developing into one of the latest investment hotspots in the county.

Stowmarket is a medium sized market town which lies equidistant between Suffolk's main towns of Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds. Large national companies including Muntons, ICI and Bosch provide a stable source of employment. Residents of all ages benefit from good transport links, a good selection of schools, a library, health centres and interesting shops. The town has a cinema and theatre, recreation grounds, a skateboard park and designated play areas for children, as well as an 18 hole golf course, and an open air museum. The types of property for sale in Stowmarket include brand new houses, period semi-detached cottages, detached bungalows, barn conversions and Edwardian houses.

The county town of Ipswich is undergoing a renaissance, investment in the waterfront, which is set to become the new heart of the town. Local amenities include a pedestrianised shopping centre, a market, restaurants covering every type of cuisine, two multi-screen cinemas, theatres and lively night club venues, as well as gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools and a beach that is just five miles from town. Residents consider Ipswich to be a modern contemporary place to live, combined with a village feel. People who are relocating and work in London should consider searching for property for sale in Ipswich. With a main train station operating four trains per hour direct to London Liverpool Street in just over an hour, Ipswich is ideally located for commuters. If you don't want to commit to buying a property, then renting could be an option - you will find a number of estate agents in Ipswich who have a good selection of houses and flats to rent.

Travel and transport links in the county of Suffolk

Suffolk has excellent rail connections to London with four trains per hour taking just over an hour to reach Liverpool Street from Ipswich, as well as cross country rail links through Peterborough to the Midlands and the North. Suffolk has an extensive road network with London and the Southeast easily accessible via the M11 or the A12. The A14 is one of the country's major east-west routes linking the Midlands and the North of England to continental Europe through the east coast ports, as well as connecting Cambridge to Suffolk within minutes. Suffolk is located adjacent to England's fastest growing airport - Stansted offers scheduled passenger services to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Luton airport is little over an hour away, offering flights to more than 63 destinations across Europe.