It depends where you live now too – I used to live in Watford, which is a dump (no apologies to those living there now, it is). It was rapidly becoming a suburb of London and I really don’t miss it.
I now live in near enough real contryside (very different to growing up on St Albans road) – although there is a massive new town being built on a lot of the surrounding farmland (Northstowe). So I think one day I’ll look to move further out into the country.
Expect your MTB to get a good long rest round here, as others have said, it’s roadie land and even that is pretty flat and open largely.
Pros:
Pubs, food and shopping* are great. There’s always stuff going on, people are generally nice. Villages can be very quiet compared to city living and can be much cheaper. Crime here is low aside from bike theft of even the crappiest BSO’s.
Cons:
Very expensive to live in the city, a friend recently sold their house they paid sub £300k for less than 10 years ago for nearly £500k. It’s getting increasingly busy these days as the city is still growing at a great rate. No landscape and no local coastline. No MTB, very little in the way of good walking countryside.
I love parts of it and I’m not fussed about others, but I’ve been here for around 10 years and I show no signs of moving anytime soon.