Making the leap - UK or EU?

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Making the leap - UK or EU?
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VM

Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1748
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 14 11:40 pm Post subject:

Sounds to me as if you could do with looking (virtually and for real) round the UK some more and thinking some more about the here / abroad thing. Despite the huge house price problem here there are parts of the country where you could buy house and space with the budget you have. Lincolnshire is still cheaper than lots of England, for instance, though not much like the south west! Going abroad will get you more land, perhaps more beauty or house of your dreams etc - and it really works for some people - quite a few people on here for instance. But it doesn't work for everyone and I guess you need to be fairly clear about it to have a good chance of it working out well.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 14 12:12 pm Post subject:
Depending where you go in Europe, you are likely to have better growing conditions than you will ever likely have in the UK. A warmer year is nothing to be sneezed at especially when one considers the cost of heating a house in the UK. I would also make certain you look at aspects like taxation and health care.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 14 7:58 am Post subject:

Can you afford a few months to travel? Pack a rucksack, and throw a few darts in the map, and have an explode. You're young, with energy and £150,000 to spend. One day you'll need to worry about kids, and old age planning but today, just go and see. I think I'd look in France, Northern Spain, and Italy, but that's because of the food, the geography and previous trips. Maybe Greece, basket case that it is, is full of empty, cheap property with land, and you can work remotely.

Or, go east, Bulgaria is interesting. But, go and explore. Send us a postcard.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 14 9:54 am Post subject:
Croatia is another interesting one with the added advantage of a lot of English being spoken.

VM

Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1748
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 14 2:40 pm Post subject:
Travelling for a bit would also give you an idea of how self-sufficient you are as a couple - I mean socially and emotionally. Moving to anywhere new and pursuing a plan that is different from those of family and friends around you means resilience, good humour and togetherness will be useful.

lagori

Joined: 07 Jan 2014
Posts: 9

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 14 11:46 pm Post subject:

VM wrote:

Travelling for a bit would also give you an idea of how self-sufficient you are as a couple - I mean socially and emotionally. Moving to anywhere new and pursuing a plan that is different from those of family and friends around you means resilience, good humour and togetherness will be useful.

Thanks VM / all,

Agreed, maybe taking some time to travel a little and see if somewhere pulls us in would be good.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 14 2:24 am Post subject:
Having a family abroad throws a different dynamic into your future family history. If you have and raise kids in another country their ties are bound to be different to yours. If you are doing this for keeps your are immigrants and will have to integrate you and your family into the cu.lture you have chosen.

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 14 6:42 pm Post subject:
C A N A D A

VM

Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1748
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 14 11:27 am Post subject:

Shan wrote:

Depending where you go in Europe, you are likely to have better growing conditions than you will ever likely have in the UK. A warmer year is nothing to be sneezed at especially when one considers the cost of heating a house in the UK.

That wouldn't apply to CANADA of course - though otherwise, yes, Mr O, I hear nice things about it!

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 14 1:09 pm Post subject:
VM made a good point about sussing out how you can cope at being self sufficient. There is nothing like the strain of continual loss....we made a loss for nearly 5 years...the kids were most cross (us being a bit older), but it still had its trying times and arguments.

numenius

Joined: 12 Apr 2016
Posts: 1

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 16 12:14 pm Post subject: Same budget

Hi, we are in a similar position with a similar budget and have got some land in Northern England and am right now starting a self-build. We managed to get enough land to at least be semi-self sufficient and I stepped down (it's "up" in life quality really) out of the rat race from a well paid but stressful job, to one which pays the least I've ever earned but I absolutely love, and which gives me far more free time to build our new home and work the ground. My wife's job, is one which she could take anywhere. We considered going overseas for many years, but it seemed like adding complication to the project by a factor of 1000 to be honest. For example, working out cheapest sources of building materials, etc etc is complicated enough in a country where we have always lived. Imagine trying to explain something like say a Tundish valve or a ewe with a prolapse in Spanish or French for example!

. We may not have the summers, but it seemed many times simpler to stay here.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 16 12:26 pm Post subject:
Welcome aboard.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 16 7:11 pm Post subject:
Work is forcing me to spend time abroad. I love it, but I can only scrape by in French. I have no other linguistic skills. But, across Benelux and Nordic, I've yet to hit anyone who doesn't speak English. So, language might not always be a barrier.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 16 8:46 pm Post subject:
I'd second the travel. Wish I had. What about communities? I know of this one looking for new members https://sunflowercohousing.org.uk/index.html

john of wessex

Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 2130

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 16 8:54 pm Post subject:

Domestic Facilities Management is from the West Coast of Scotland - near Ayr.

Houses with land can be quite cheap although the weather isn't that clement and in her opinion neither is the culture.

A friend has property in France - he says that the locals wont touch the sort of 'charming' rural properties you see advertised here so the real price of them is quite low by UK standards

Failing that Midsomer Norton/Radstock has quite a lot of miners cottages with big gardens

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