‘We give up one-bed UK flat for Crete villa with pool and save £300 a month’

Danielle Grant, 35, and her husband Russell, 40, left their one-bed dwelling in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, searching for a special tempo of life

Danielle Grant with their daughter in Greece

Danielle Grant together with her daughter in Greece (Picture: Danielle Grant/SWNS)

A pair who grew weary of the British climate deserted the UK in favour of sun-soaked Greece, and say the lease for his or her three-bed villa with a pool is £300 a month cheaper than their one-bed dwelling again in Britain. Danielle Grant, 35, and her husband Russell, 40, fell head over heels for Crete after visiting the Greek island on vacation and determined to pack their baggage and settle there in November 2024, when their daughter, one, was simply three months outdated.

The pair now lease a spacious villa with a roof terrace for £850 a month, in comparison with the £1,150 a month they forked out for his or her one-bed property in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, including that the “family-oriented” locals immediately made them really feel welcome. As each work remotely in digital advertising and marketing, they had been capable of safe digital nomad visas and spend their days grafting from their sun-drenched terrace. The couple mentioned their main motivation for relocating was to offer their daughter the best potential upbringing, and so they haven’t any intention of ever returning to the UK.

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Danielle mentioned: “We not felt protected within the UK, we had been sick of the rat race and the climate. Our jobs weren’t location-dependent, so we thought why keep within the UK after we can journey the world and dwell life to the complete.

“After visiting Crete on vacation about 5 years in the past, we fell in love with the tradition, the life-style and the individuals. They’re so family-orientated and so they simply make you are feeling actually at dwelling, we did not really feel like we had that again within the UK.

“Now we have an enormous villa and a great deal of land house, all of our meals is regionally sourced and natural. It is such a special lifestyle and it makes us really feel so enriched and alive.

“You get a lot extra in your cash right here, we pay £850 for a three-bed villa with a pool, whereas we had been paying £1,150 a month for a one-bed flat again in Essex.”

Danielle and Russell determined to bid farewell to their Essex life in November 2024, when their daughter was merely three months outdated, having grown uninterested in British climate and not feeling safe of their hometown.

“We simply saved listening to an increasing number of tales about crime being dedicated and the police not taking something significantly”, Danielle mentioned. “In nations like Greece, it simply would not be tolerated.”

The spiralling value of residing was one other issue that left them disillusioned with UK life and, since they each work remotely, they recognised there was nothing stopping them from relocating and travelling the world.

“In every single place within the UK is now London costs,” Danielle mentioned. “In Leigh-on-Sea, a glass of wine and a pint was £19, to me that is loopy. Lease is surprising for what you get and childcare is ridiculous.”

After visiting Crete on vacation 5 years in the past, Danielle and Russell fell head over heels for the Greek island, and once they returned for his or her honeymoon in 2023, they started searching the native property market. The couple had been drawn to the big island owing to its tradition, way of life and welcoming locals, who they are saying made them really feel immediately at dwelling.

Danielle Grant and her daughter in Greece

Danielle Grant and her daughter in Greece (Picture: Danielle Grant/SWNS)

The couple’s outgoings are significantly decrease too, with power payments amounting to simply £70 a month, in comparison with the £160 they had been forking out within the UK, whereas automotive insurance coverage prices a mere £100 a yr, 10 instances cheaper than the £1000 they had been paying again dwelling. They’re additionally exempt from council tax and a TV licence in Greece, decreasing their month-to-month expenditure considerably.

“In Crete, the bin males come each day and it is free,” she mentioned. Each Danielle and Russell maintain digital nomad visas, which enable them to stay in Greece for 2 years, after which the visa may be renewed.

Regardless of discovering it powerful to bid farewell to family and friends, the couple revealed that the transfer had truly introduced them nearer to their family members, as each second they now spend collectively is “high quality time”.

“It is onerous not having the ability to attend each household occasion, however it’s a must to make sacrifices to dwell the life you wish to,” Danielle mentioned. Regardless of adoring their new life in Greece, the couple have encountered a number of drawbacks, notably that the majority eating places and retailers shut between November and Might because of the absence of vacationers. “It’s a must to get artistic with issues to do, particularly with a baby,” Danielle mentioned.

She additionally famous that whereas Crete enjoys much more sunshine than the UK, temperatures can nonetheless dip throughout winter, falling to round 12C. “We’ll journey elsewhere for a number of months this winter, to bypass the chilly,” Danielle mentioned.

The couple intend to stay in Greece long run, although they’re equally open to the prospect of settling in a foreign country additional down the road.

“We wish to give our daughter the highest quality of life potential and no matter nation that takes us to, that is the place we’ll find yourself,” Danielle mentioned.

The couple had been, nevertheless, adamant that returning to the UK was merely not an possibility.

Danielle Grant and Russell's home in Greece