Preparation
Before trying this exercise it's
worth having a look at the Guidelines
for exercises.
You'll need two pieces of paper - one
for you and one for your partner. On
each one, write down the following questions,
leaving plenty of room for you answers.
Answer the questions individually,
then agree a time when you can sit down
and compare your responses.
Questions
Environment:
In which part of the country would you
most like to live? (eg, north, south,
Midlands, by the sea)
What are your ideal surroundings? (eg,
isolated location, village, small town,
city)
What's your preferred property type?
(eg, cottage, town house, bungalow,
detached)
What are your ideal room requirements
(specify number of bedrooms, bathrooms
etc)
Are there any external features that
are important to you? (eg, size of garden,
stables, pond)
Proximity:
How close would you like to be to the
following? (answer in miles radius,
eg within ten miles)
- your parents
- other important family members
- friends
- work
Facilities:
Which of these facilities would you
like to be near?
- school
- college
- university
- church or other place of worship
- hospital
- health support groups/services
- theatre
- restaurants
- gym
- municipal sports facilities
- other sporting facilities (eg mountaineering,
horseriding, windsurfing)
- special interest club or association
(eg Ramblers' Association, Women's Institute,
t'ai chi)
Look back at what you've written and
make a note of how important each particular
item is to you. Next to each answer
write "Essential", "Important", "Preferred"
or "Not essential".
Now complete the final two important
questions.
Cost:
How important is it to you to consider
the cheapest housing option?
Duration:
How long do you anticipate living in
your next home?
Talking it through
Once you've both completed the
questions, take some time to discuss
your answers with each other.
How many "Essential" and "Important"
items do you share? Make a note of these:
for example, do you both want to live
in a village location, close to friends
and schools?
Are there any areas in which your answers
differ considerably? If there are, think
about the final two questions. Do potential
savings affect how important something
is to you? Can you agree on the length
of time you'll live in your next home,
and what effect does this have on your
decision?
For example, living in a town may not
matter now, but you might agree to live
in a more rural area when you start
a family. Or perhaps you'd consider
sacrificing a short commute to work
if the financial savings were good enough.
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