Moving to North Wales

SameOldRoundabout

MysteryMe said:

I would definitely rent first. North Wales has areas within it that deem if you are not a Welsh speaker you are unwelcome. 

This is definitely the case. There are some areas where racism is still rife because of this etc. West Wales has villages of the same nature. It’s quite common to walk into a shop and the locals start speaking to each other in welsh as soon as they clock you’re a stranger, it’s so rude! Of course the majority is lovely and friendly, but without renting first and knowing an area you won’t be able to tell, especially if you’re aiming for rural. 

I’m Welsh born and bred, love the place, have been all over and some of it is just stunning, but even I wouldn’t just pick a place and move because of the above. 

Robin9

Is this a retirement move, moving for work - what about the commute  Are you single or family - schools ?

Davesnave

The initial post is so vague! It's unclear why the OP wants to re-locate to N Wales rather than, say, South Wales, Devon, or Argyll.

But how to go about it would be the same in all; rent first, especially at a time when there looks as if there will be no big financial penalty for stepping outside ownership for a while.

MessedUp

78 im doing the same thing.

 for the last 12 months ive been watching properties in north and west wales ...im looking for something traditional welsh stone and rural .... i had thirty on my saved list on right move ...some listed since 2019 ...now suddenly in the last month they have all gone sold stc. 

they estate agents there arent letting you view properties unless youre already 'proceedable' ( unless the property is empty)

ive had a couple of estate agents also tell me theyre tooo short on staff to do viewings at the moment ......now whether that is because i am english or not ...who knows?!

davidmcn

daivid said:

MysteryMe said:

I would definitely rent first. North Wales has areas within it that deem if you are not a Welsh speaker you are unwelcome. 

My parents moved to a Welsh speaking village as non-Welsh speaking English people, they never felt unwelcome, moved after 20 years for work and still have friends from the village. They did however try to learn Welsh (with mixed results) and integrate into village life.

I'd certainly be learning Welsh if I lived there, it's very much the first language (and no, not just a secret code they switch to when an English person approaches!).

bethymai

Robin9 said:

 Are you single or family - schools ?

This will really help in your choice if you have kids, some schools are Welsh speaking only/bilingual but with lessons taught in Welsh with no English only for miles, especially in Gwynedd and Anglesey 

Davesnave

MessedUp said:

ive had a couple of estate agents also tell me theyre tooo short on staff to do viewings at the moment ......now whether that is because i am english or not ...who knows?!

Wait till the recession. In the last one we were looking there and property such as you describe had been hanging around, for years in many cases.

We had no problems viewing;  were even given keys to empty places and told to post them back through the letterbox when done. It was after seeing  20 or more of these traditional 'rural dream' properties that we switched to something completely different, somewhere else!

MessedUp

Davesnave said:

 It was after seeing  20 or more of these traditional 'rural dream' properties that we switched to something completely different, somewhere else!

just out of interest and if its not too personal a question, what made you change your mind? i am already rural but wont be rural for much longer as farmers are all selling land to be developed, so i am looking for places where thats less likely to happn.

MoneySeeker1

There are more properties for sale than ever appear on RightMove and the like.

The way to find the ones unofficially for sale will be if you are actually there and can find someone of the chatty variety that lives in any road you have in mind. To my knowledge there are probably 4 properties for sale in my road at present - but only one of them is "officially" for sale in the normal way. The other 3 I know about through the "local grapevine" - and it may be there are others in the road that are also "unofficially" for sale.

Davesnave

MessedUp said:

Davesnave said:

 It was after seeing  20 or more of these traditional 'rural dream' properties that we switched to something completely different, somewhere else!

just out of interest and if its not too personal a question, what made you change your mind? i am already rural but wont be rural for much longer as farmers are all selling land to be developed, so i am looking for places where thats less likely to happn.

Some of the reasons we switched away from West Wales were personal, but there was also a lack of realism among sellers there on prices, even though there was no surge of interest as there is at present. We tried to buy two houses by offering a fair price, but were turned-down. Most houses sell eventually and neither of them made more than we offered.....3 years later in one case!

We were also more aware that older houses are darker inside and come with problems not experienced by those built later in the C20th. As we value light, especially in winter, we were willing to sacrifice character to get it. Something characterless and bright came up in Devon with more potential than anything we'd seen in Wales at the same money, so we bought it. The character of the countryside here and in Ceredigion is pretty similar. Unlike there, having lived here as a child, I also speak the language!