Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms UK or France? Input sought

Why not both? If I had the choice of buying a single property in one place, or splitting the budget between two more modest properties in two locations, I would do the latter. For 10 years our family has split its time between Kent (main family home, job & school commitments, space etc) and Dorset (weekend and holiday home, hosting friends, beach & leisure amenities on doorstep).

It takes a lot of planning & travel and adds complexity, but in return life does feel like an adventure.

In your position, why not a main residence in France where the way of life is better (sorry, it just is!) and your budget will more likely get you the space and garaging/barns you need, and a smaller pied-à-terre in the UK somewhere within easy reach of a small airport - assuming this would be within range of where you keep your Aeroplane(s) in France.

in the next few years when my wife also retires and our kids decide which house they want to live in if they want to stay at home, we shall sell one of the houses and buy somewhere in France around Perigeuex.

Whow! what an opportunity is unfolding for you. Helen an me are in France right now to be with daughter and her French partner and each time we spend holidays in France away from the English weather and broken roads etc we wish very much we could live here but now feel we have missed the all important window. Age is creeping up and aches and pains become more frequent. Family matters figure high in this equation. Two sons live in UK and daughter normally resides in the UK too.
France has healthier Mediterranian diet, health system probably superior to UK, Far better roads, incredibly varied and beautiful landscape and more ....Because the 4/4 is undergoing overhaul we are using the Volvo V70 to do what the Morgan does best in the summer.
Your post suggests your window of opportunity is open here and now.
One thing that needs to be remembered though, is that property system is very different and costs are higher in France.

Stuart and Graham you are describing an ideal situation i.e. buy a smaller place in France (bad news for the Australian back-packers and TM visitors ok they can pitch a tent in the yard ) and keep the place here renting it out until ready to sell and then buy the Devon cottage or flat. We would be able to manage the running costs on two. We've been discussing whether we can do it and in a year or two it will be clear.

Thanks everyone for the discussion. It's been good therapy for me.

We actually have two houses but our holiday house is 800 metres higher and only about 30 km away. It is a real hassle every time we go up for more than a weekend because so much stuff has to be taken up, and back. The main problem, other than the dog and the cat, are the pot plants. I suppose if it was further away we would just have to make other arrangements,someone to come and water the pot plants etc or they would not survive the summer heat.

We did consider, and it is still a little bit in the back of my mind, buying a place in Portugal or perhaps Provence. The trouble with that is that you are then somewhat locked in to spending your holidays in that place and you loose a certain amount of flexibility.

Sounds like a great idea to have two places but you need to think it through a bit.

There is a much cheaper option than buying two homes. Buy one in the place where you see yourself spending the most time and rent a holiday home for the other times. The money you would spend on buying and the upkeep buys you a lot of holidays and you get to be in different locations too.

You also turn up and don't spend the first few days fixing everything and cleaning up!

South of France Every time ...

Great climate and food of course - the roads with virtually no one on them

Cant wait to go there again

Gajet

I suspect a lot of others too.. Me for one.

With the inlaws living in Spain and amongst the immigrant community I saw a lot of this ageing issue. The Spanish health service is good, but nevertheless time after time I watched older people selling up to return home to live near kids, in a society they know and with the NHS to back them up. But its an age issue. To generalise, its something that becomes important at 75 rather than 65.

I've read this thread with great interest - not because I'm thinking of moving, but because I enjoy well thought out positions.

I think much of the decision will rest on appetite. The appetite for adventure rather than the safe choice.

As you say, either way will work out.

I suspect that when and I reach retirement age (in 8 years time) we may well move North and South.

We both feel that if we move from here, we'd really rather live somewhere warmer.

For this, at the moment Portugal is at the top of the list. As things stand, the tax regime offered to incoming retirees is incredibly attractive; 10 years free from income tax (including on lump sums taken out of pension funds). Add to this the pleasant climate, beautiful country, reasonably priced housing, friendly people, decent food and wine and the second lowest cost of living in Europe, what's not to like ?

On the other hand, both of our daughters are settled and working back in the UK, so a small pied à terre back there seems to be quite a likely direction to take. I quite fancy buying something in Cowes.....but I really wouldn't want to be there for the winter.