Relocating to Wales

StaffieTerrier

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Wales is no different from anywhere else. If you live close to the cities there are jobs but it's urban; if you live in the countryside it's nice but there aren't any jobs. There are plenty of areas of England that are just the same.

While this is true to some extent, the urban areas of Wales tend to be a little small than areas of England so it's less distance to travel to urban areas from the countryside. I live on the edge of a village (there 6 houses beyond mine before you're in open countryside) yet I'm only 20-25 minutes drive into the heart of Cardiff. My house is 50% the price of the equivalent in Cardiff.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

StaffieTerrier wrote: »

While this is true to some extent, the urban areas of Wales tend to be a little small than areas of England so it's less distance to travel to urban areas from the countryside. I live on the edge of a village (there 6 houses beyond mine before you're in open countryside) yet I'm only 20-25 minutes drive into the heart of Cardiff. My house is 50% the price of the equivalent in Cardiff.

Smaller than some areas of England. There are other areas of England that are exactly the same. Particularly outside the South-East.

oldposter

Wow.....so many replies and so much to consider!

We both love the idea of starting (or improving an existing) small-holding, but thought that getting something like this off the ground would be difficult whilst renting? Simply down to all of the restrictions that are in place as to what you can do to the property when you don't own it. We have no way of raising enough funds for a deposit to buy a place, so that is out of the question at least for now.

I saw that someone mentioned getting a campervan and in all honesty, this idea stemmed from that to begin with. The original idea was to sell most of our things (furniture, current car and other things) to fund the purchase of a used motorhome and simply just take off and live on the road - why not - we have nothing to lose!! However that plan is now obsolete because OH has been diagnosed with a chronic condition and needs regular GP visits and medication, which is impossible to do with no fixed address

We hadn't thought about South Wales purely because we thought it would be much more expensive and out of our price range. Also in all honesty, the area that we live in now isn't exactly great so somewhere a bit 'rough around the edges' wouldn't really put us off.

The main reason for the idea is that we would both like to get back to basics a little bit, try living off the land and giving something back, be part of a community We are completely disillusioned with life as it is now and feel stuck in a major rut and want a fresh start before it is too late

I guess A LOT more research is going to be needed, but thankyou so much for all of your input

Davesnave

oldposter wrote: »

The main reason for the idea is that we would both like to get back to basics a little bit, try living off the land and giving something back, be part of a community We are completely disillusioned with life as it is now and feel stuck in a major rut and want a fresh start before it is too late

I guess A LOT more research is going to be needed, but thankyou so much for all of your input

Don't think you can 'live off the land.' You can't, especially in the affordable areas of Wales, where the land tends to be marginally productive.

That's not to say you couldn't eventually have a few hens, sheep or pigs, and grow your own veg, but the concept of becoming self-sufficient has lured more than the occasional ex-hippie to their doom in Wales, and elsewhere.

Running a smallholding ties you down and it's hard work for minimal monetary reward, which is why those who do it, like me, have another source of income, or go bust very fast.

-taff

Living off the land is bloody hard work, and with your partner suffering from a chronic condition means eventually, this work will probably fall to you.
Don't go biting off more than you can chew.

oldposter

Davesnave wrote: »

Don't think you can 'live off the land.' You can't, especially in the affordable areas of Wales, where the land tends to be marginally productive.

That's not to say you couldn't eventually have a few hens, sheep or pigs, and grow your own veg, but the concept of becoming self-sufficient has lured more than the occasional ex-hippie to their doom in Wales, and elsewhere.

Running a smallholding ties you down and it's hard work for minimal monetary reward, which is why those who do it, like me, have another source of income, or go bust very fast.

-taff wrote: »

Living off the land is bloody hard work, and with your partner suffering from a chronic condition means eventually, this work will probably fall to you.
Don't go biting off more than you can chew.

Sorry, my fault for wording that badly. I don't mean live off the land literally, I fully understand that we would have to work.

What I meant was as you say - maybe have a couple of chickens, a vegetable garden, that type of thing - more because we would enjoy doing that than the financial side of things. We certainly don't know enough to be able to live off the land completely

We also understand that this will not be easy and we are under no illusions about that, we will have to have our heads screwed on very tight and get the balance of following ours hearts and heads right.

Davesnave

oldposter wrote: »

Sorry, my fault for wording that badly. I don't mean live off the land literally, I fully understand that we would have to work.

No worries. I totally understand the desire for a slow-paced more rural life and I can thoroughly recommend it.

We only ended up on the wrong side of the Bristol Channel by accident. This was supposed to be Pembrokeshire!:rotfl:

oldposter

Davesnave wrote: »

No worries. I totally understand the desire for a slow-paced more rural life and I can thoroughly recommend it.

We only ended up on the wrong side of the Bristol Channel by accident. This was supposed to be Pembrokeshire!:rotfl:

Thanks again for your input. Ideally the plan would be for one of us to work full time (probably me) and the other part-time or from home, so that we can still earn money to live on but also have a bit more freedom to enjoy life and do the things that we enjoy.

After my OH being diagnosed, we have decided that life is too short and we would love to be able to do this whilst we are still young (relatively, both under 40 ) enough. We have mulled it over for a long time, but never actually gone into any details, because it was just a dream.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I have relatives who retired to Wales some years ago, near Aberystwyth I think. One of them has sadly been diagnosed with cancer; treatment is only possible at one of the big hospitals in Cardiff which obviously involves travel and the cost of staying over every week for several weeks. If your partner is likely to ever need hospital treatment in relation to their chronic illness, it might be wise to research what local hospitals can provide.

cbsexec

I live in Wales and love it. But - you need to think about travel - to work, to shops to hospitals. Some areas as stated are easier to get around. Houses are much cheaper to buy and rent in the Valleys and it is easy to get to Cardiff, Newport and Swansea from there (more work in those places). And the scenery is stunning.