Running away to Wales.

Bedrock Barney · Post by **Bedrock Barney** » 12 Oct 2008, 20:34

It's ok. Biff can moor his boat here when the waters rise. We're about 200 feet above sea level.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 12 Oct 2008, 21:38

Bedrock Barney wrote:It's ok. Biff can moor his boat here when the waters rise. We're about 200 feet above sea level.

So you'll be on an island in the North Sea then. Will you be self sufficient, or will you have to sail across to the mainland under cover of darkness to acquire what you need to survive?

MisterE · Post by **MisterE** » 12 Oct 2008, 22:18

I love Wales!

Anywhere in South Wales will do - god country and I'm sure Jesus settled here after the old rise from the dead. May have even seen him down the pub

West Wales is cracking too, but I like a bit more life than that

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 12 Oct 2008, 22:27

MisterE wrote:I love Wales!

Anywhere in South Wales will do - god country and I'm sure Jesus settled here after the old rise from the dead. May have even seen him down the pub West Wales is cracking too, but I like a bit more life than that

Agree 100%, I saw Jesus drinking in the Uplands Tavern in Swansea once.

Post by **adam2** » 13 Oct 2008, 09:19

IMHO the size of the property is very important, obtaining planning permision for enlargement is near impossible in many areas.
Improvments to a property in poor condition are much easier.

As we face an uncertain future stockpiling of food, fuel and other supplies may be more and more important, and of course if you intend to produce much of your own food and energy this entails more storage space.

Wind or solar power? excellent idea, but make certain you have room for a large battery bank, and spare parts, and preferably a workshop.

Growing your own fruit and veg, again highly recomended, but how are you going to store the surplus for the hungry gap? perhaps by freezing, in which case make sure that you have room for several large freezers, or what about home canning? got enough room for perhaps 100 preserving jars?

Or what about home brewing? that takes a suprising amount of space both for production and storage.

You may require a diesel generator (and a spare) and safe fuel storage.

If working any significant area of land you will need a plow (and spare) together with a tractor (and spare) or perhaps a horse with stable and feed storage.

And finally dont forget manufactured goods that you may wish to stockpile, clothes, sheets, blankets, shoes, boots, tools etc.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 13 Oct 2008, 22:00

If you believe that there will be a significant change in our society then it may be worth buying a smaller house with more land / woodland. Remember, people may have more important things to worry about than whether or not you have planning permission to extend your old farmhouse.

My personal "retreat" would be a stone built 3 bed farmhouse with 10 acres of arable land and 15 acres of woods. It would be on high ground away from major routes, preferably loam or clay over chalk with good potential for a well. A roundish plot saves on fencing, and when my lads decided to pair off I'd stick a couple of mobile homes in the woods until they could build something decent either of stone or logs. (Everyone needs a bit of space).

Outbuildings will include a barn for chickens and a tractor, and a workshop for the engineering work that will supplement what I can grow.

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 13 Oct 2008, 23:12

Very good advice, adam, catweazle. In practice funds are very limited - I'd love to be able to afford 20+ acres and a goodly size house/outbuildings but if we bought such a thing I'd be stuck with a mortgage and another full time job which would again keep me away from the desired life. And to be honest I dont think we could do it justice yet. Instead I think that at first small and debt-free wins out - just because it offers us more time to focus on learning and practising all the new skills we'll need. We need to know what we enjoy and what we're good at.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:07

A 3-bed house with outbuildings on 20 acres would cost somewhere in the £400k - £650k region depending on specific location. You might get some land with a derelict building for £250K but these get snapped up by local builders pretty quick. £100K would just about get you a building plot with outline permission. There's a big price difference between something with 2 or 3 acres and 20.

Prices for these sort of properties here are not really falling at all. There has been a continued strong demand for them.

Have a look at the listings on The SmallHolding Centre website - they pretty much have all the area in West Wales covered.

Kites Barn, listed there at £350k, is just a few hundred yards away from me. It is rather over-priced and has been on the market for about 12 months.

[edit - blimey is this my first post? I've been reading here for ages. Hello everyone.]

Bedrock Barney · Post by **Bedrock Barney** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:20

Hello Ted!

Also worth a look on the rural scene site

http://www.ruralscene.co.uk

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:37

Ted wrote: [edit - blimey is this my first post? I've been reading here for ages. Hello everyone.]

Hi Ted, Nice to meet you.

I'm coming to look at a place in Carmarthenshire on Friday actually. I'm not going to say exactly where; don't want to attract any other buyers...

If the place turns out to be what we're looking for, then there'll be the difficult decision as to how much below the asking price to make an offer.

That smallholdings website has been required reading for me for some time now...

Ippoippo · Post by **Ippoippo** » 14 Oct 2008, 22:06

Oooo, some good links there. Must admit, tempting to move back to that part of the world. In Cardiff now, but I work in Swansea.

skeptik · Post by **skeptik** » 15 Oct 2008, 01:57

Tess wrote: Personally I feel that the only way out of the current economic crisis is a hard recession and horrible inflation, so I am wary of holding cash in a bank account. I'm not so afraid that the bank will fold, but I am definitely afraid that inflation or currency devaluation will reduce the value of my life savings.

I think you've picked exactly the right time and need not hurry in choosing a place. Falling house prices are going to outrun inflation for the next year or two at least. I'm in a similar situation. Cashed out of the London property market and in (fortunately!) cheap rented accomodation. The fall in property prices both here in Spain and in the UK have only just begun. I wont be seriously looking to buy for at least another year. Spending time having a good look at what's on the market in Wales will be a good investment.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 15 Oct 2008, 11:09

Tess wrote:
Ted wrote: [edit - blimey is this my first post? I've been reading here for ages. Hello everyone.]
Hi Ted, Nice to meet you.

I'm coming to look at a place in Carmarthenshire on Friday actually. I'm not going to say exactly where; don't want to attract any other buyers...

If the place turns out to be what we're looking for, then there'll be the difficult decision as to how much below the asking price to make an offer.

That smallholdings website has been required reading for me for some time now...

If you want any advice on background to different areas then feel free to ask. We looked around a lot of Carmarthenshire before we settled on here about 9 years ago and know south Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire pretty well too.

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 20 Oct 2008, 22:41

I've put in an offer on a place. We'll see how it goes.

hardworkinghippy · Post by **hardworkinghippy** » 21 Oct 2008, 00:11

Although I agree with the "hanging on" bit, it's nerve-racking waiting to see how things will turn out with your savings. I think you have to start sorting your life out a soon as you can.

Good luck and let us know....

PowerSwitch

Running away to Wales.

Re: Running away to Wales.