New member

[mark Avis]

Hi all. My name is Mark my partner is June, I am a retired police officer from Hampshire aged 54 currently working as a sales rep, June is 61 and retired.
We have been looking with interest at this forum and you all seem helpful to each other. We want to move to spain in the near future possibly Andalucia.I have been reading a thread reporting living costs. One thing we have been pondering over is the costs of living. My pension delivers £850 per month and obviously June gets her state pension. If we were mortgage free in spain, is that income realistic to live on or should I consider employment?

[Gerry Pridham]

Mark,

I recently set up a company in the Canaries, and am beginning to know cost of living there for locals. I have no experience of the area you are moving to, but here's some advice:

There is no substitute for local experience. First, take a very short trip over there and stay in a reasonable hotel. A week should suffice. During that week, have a good look around for a place to let on a six month basis. Compared with the UK, long term rental should be reasonable.

Spend at least six months in rented accommodation before committing to buy a place. If you are looking to buy around €150,000 this action could save you as much as €30,000 overall. Don't take my word for it - ask as many other people as you can. It's so easy to overpay for property in Spain, and it's so hard to make up for it once that mistake has been made.

Don't sell your UK property until you have fully researched what you want to buy in Spain, and you are satisfied you can afford to live over there on your pensions. I've met expats in the Canaries who bought, then decided they wanted to move back to the UK. I recommend you take a whole year between first going out there, and deciding to sell up and move.

Talk to Halifax bank - they have recently made a big move into the Spanish property mortgage market for expats. They are very useful for general information about cost of living in Spain. I have visited them four times in Fuerteventura since setting up our business venture.

A friend of mine knows an ex-police officer from Wales who moved out and moved back. If you want, I will try to get his contact details so you can talk to him - could turn out to be a good friend with lots of advice to help you avoid losing a lot of money quickly.

[Stravinsky]

This already posted in General

Hiya Mark

The Benchmark for living here is £1000 per month as a retiree with no mortgage, although I have heard of people living on £6500 a year. Inflation here is around 4%, but a lot of that has been due to house prices rising. It is true to say though that things are more expensive here than they were a year or so ago when we arrived. In general in the CB North where we are, the cost of living is about 30% less than the UK.

As June is 61 you will both be eligible for free healthcare in Spain. Make sure you apply for an E121 from the DWP before you come out here.

[jakaka]

Hi Mark

Welcome to the forum, I live in Andalucia, (Chiclana de la Frontera - Cadiz)
OH and I live on £850 per month, we have no mortgage/rent, although things can be tight from one month to the next. We could never have both stopped work and have a high standard of living if we had stayed in Blighty, we are both under state pension age so we know that things can only get better for us. We have found that we are now beginning to draw from our savings for little extra's such as holidays, visits back to the UK and any repairs that our house calls for, but every day living is covered by the £850. We don't eat out as much as we did when we first moved here due to cost of living rises but we certainly don't sit at home either, we usually manage to have a couple of meals a month out and we have a few visits to the local bars for coffee and sherry/brandy every week.

Hope you get to come out here soon and sample what you can achieve if you put you mind to it.

regards Jakaka

[rowlandsbb]

The general advice you have been given is about right The east of Andalucia in Almeria is much cheaper that Costa del Sol
Properties are also cheaper- Near Huercal Overa you can get a 2 bed villa in plots from 400m2 from 190.000 € inc the 7% IVA Apartments and maisonettes are cheaper
In Costa Blanca you can get a nice 2 bed maisonette with small garden for 104.000 € plus IVA complete with solar hot water heating
More info if requested