Cornwall, expensive?

fatbeetle

I don't know if this is the right forum for this, I'm happy for the mods to move it somewhere more appropriate if so.

In early 2018 me and her indoors will be moving to Cornwall to live and retire, we currently live in Australia. We have a mortgage free house in Cornwall, and will move into that. We're trying to plan our budget, except we keep being told that "Cornwall is a very expensive place to live!"

I lived in Cornwall from 1991 to 2003, and at that time didn't consider it remarkably any more expensive than the rest of the country. I'd lived all over the UK before that.

Yes, we realise that Cornwall has a low wage economy, based around tourism. Also that transport costs can be high. But neither of those would greatly affect us.

Can anyone offer help and advice on the costs of living in Cornwall presently please?

CLAPTON

fatbeetle wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right forum for this, I'm happy for the mods to move it somewhere more appropriate if so.

In early 2018 me and her indoors will be moving to Cornwall to live and retire, we currently live in Australia. We have a mortgage free house in Cornwall, and will move into that. We're trying to plan our budget, except we keep being told that "Cornwall is a very expensive place to live!"

I lived in Cornwall from 1991 to 2003, and at that time didn't consider it remarkably any more expensive than the rest of the country. I'd lived all over the UK before that.

Yes, we realise that Cornwall has a low wage economy, based around tourism. Also that transport costs can be high. But neither of those would greatly affect us.

Can anyone offer help and advice on the costs of living in Cornwall presently please?

no cornwall is not expensive compared to many other parts of the UK
you can look up council tax and water rates on the internet.
electricity gas is often slightly more expensive per unit than elsewhere but as the place is warm you spend less overall that most part of the uk.
food, clothes etc are about the same as elsewhere althiugh you may spend a lot of travelling if you travle a lot

Ray_Singh-Blue

You become no stranger to the A30 and the A303 - how do you put a price on that?

fatbeetle

Thanks Clapton, much appreciated.

Pobby

South West water is quite expensive due to maintenance of the coastal areas. We are across the river in Plymouth and save so much using a meter. Buying food when out and about can be expensive in many resorts but a packed lunch will sort that out.

carefullycautious

Water costs!!!

ElwoodBlues

Living costs generally aren't much different than most rural areas. Bear in mind that public transport is shockingly bad, if you don't drive or like to go out for a drink, you might end up spending a fair bit on taxis. You could do more travelling just for day to day matters (shopping, banking, post office) than somewhere more urban, e.g. my nearest supermarket is 10 miles away). Same if you want to visit the rest of the country with any regularity, it's usually a lot further to go than living somewhere a bit more central. So transport costs work out higher than average. All things to consider when you are looking at location to buy though.

Maybe people are talking about the cost of houses relative to income and comparing to other parts of the country. Wages won't affect you, and there is a massive variation in prices depending on location. Generally, anywhere coastal is very high, rural is high, and towns inland are much closer to the national average. But most towns in Cornwall are quite run down, rough, deprived areas, and probably not what most people are looking for when they relocate here...

Pobby

Would like to know where the op is moving to. I lived in Looe for 9 and a half years. Pretty yes but over crowed in the summer and pretty depressing in the winter. Looks lovely but there is quite a high incidence of aggression, drugs and other unpleasant stuff. Maybe with time the gossips and trouble makers have diminished but it would be very unlikely i would live there again.

fatbeetle

Pobby wrote: »

Would like to know where the op is moving to. I lived in Looe for 9 and a half years.

Land's End, of all places :-)

Tromking

It pains me to say it as a proud Cornishman, but Devon for me is the wise choice. Devon is less parochial, more advanced in most aspects that effect daily living and is but a short car journey to the admittedly beautiful Cornish scenery. Lost count of the people who thought that a retirement in Cornwall would mirror the enjoyment they have in a two week holiday every year.

PasturesNew

It's not all expensive. To walk in and live, without research, I'd say St Austell/Par or some outer bits of Truro if you want to be closer to 'the capital'.

But, it depends what you want... you might be wanting a farm and 20 acres

Lots of places are cheaper than a lot of places in other counties.
Lots of places are 'the most expensive' in England.

Generally, reports and TV programmes focus on where the rich like to be, so the most expensive housing.

But - it's affordable for "regular people/retirees", just choose carefully and, as you know, it all shuts down and is mostly 'empty' September to May.

You lived there 1991-2003 - back then the houses were "cheap as chips" compared to other places; then it got "all trendy" and prices went dafter.