Do you have a holiday home in the UK? Tell me about it. :)
Discussion
Just wondering as I am considering a small flat or something else away from the big smoke.
-how far away is yours?
-do you live in an urban area?
-how big is the holiday home?
-what kind of place is it in (town? village?)
-how often do you use it and are you tempted to rent it out eg airbnb?
-how far away is yours?
-do you live in an urban area?
-how big is the holiday home?
-what kind of place is it in (town? village?)
-how often do you use it and are you tempted to rent it out eg airbnb?
The main thing to ask yourself, will I use it? Do you have the spare time, are you able to take long weekends, a couple of weeks off in the school hols etc? If not then there is no real point unless you're going to rent it for income.
I wouldn't have anything that is more than a 2 hour drive, you need to be able to leave at 7pm on a Friday and be there before bedtime. If not you will not use it once the novelty wears off.
I wouldn't have anything that is more than a 2 hour drive, you need to be able to leave at 7pm on a Friday and be there before bedtime. If not you will not use it once the novelty wears off.
Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 26th September 15:45
Not mine, parents.
1 - 4 hours
2 - countyside, 20 minutes from town though.
3 - 3 double bed, newly built development of around 10 houses. New houses are good as you don’t have to worry about doing it up / diy.
4 - seaside town in Devon
5 - they going every 2 or 3 weekends.
If you can work from home it’s handy. If you’re retired it helps a lot. If your main interest is going there, then you’ll use it. Would you be happy to just go there on your annual holiday?
They used to have one just under 2.5 hours away but sold it to buy this one.
They (well certainly my mum) couldn’t be without it now.
1 - 4 hours
2 - countyside, 20 minutes from town though.
3 - 3 double bed, newly built development of around 10 houses. New houses are good as you don’t have to worry about doing it up / diy.
4 - seaside town in Devon
5 - they going every 2 or 3 weekends.
If you can work from home it’s handy. If you’re retired it helps a lot. If your main interest is going there, then you’ll use it. Would you be happy to just go there on your annual holiday?
They used to have one just under 2.5 hours away but sold it to buy this one.
They (well certainly my mum) couldn’t be without it now.
PositronicRay said:
This is what I don't understand. If your retired why not just buy a really great place, somewhere you want to be, and just live in it.
Mum still works here. Family here. Works well at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if it does all change in the next few years though. PositronicRay said:
mcg_ said:
If you’re retired it helps a lot..
This is what I don't understand. If your retired why not just buy a really great place, somewhere you want to be, and just live in it. We bought a small cottage down in Cornwall when the children were younger, they are now teenagers and it gets little or no use at all as they have school on a Saturday morning and matches Saturday afternoon meaning we can't use it in term time except for the odd exact weekend they get, in the summer we prefer to be abroad to guarantee the weather.
Again, not mine but my parents.
Its in Oxwich in Gower.
Its only a fairly small 2 bed chalet that my parents had build on a small holiday park in the mid 1970's but we've done a lot to it over the past few years, new bathroom, new kitchen, decorated throughout and new furniture and a new large patio with glass balustrade system. Great for bbq's.
Big plus is its only about an hours drive from home so if the forecast is good we can just decide to go after work on a Friday and come back late on Sunday. We love Cornwall but its a long treck and traffic is usually dreadful. Only worth the trip there for 3 nights at a minimum.
We use it quote a lot during the summer.
Its a 10 minute walk from Oxwich Bay which has a nice hotel / bar and a great new restaurant right on the beach which is knocking on Michelin star quality.
Beach
View from Beach House restaurant
Its in Oxwich in Gower.
Its only a fairly small 2 bed chalet that my parents had build on a small holiday park in the mid 1970's but we've done a lot to it over the past few years, new bathroom, new kitchen, decorated throughout and new furniture and a new large patio with glass balustrade system. Great for bbq's.
Big plus is its only about an hours drive from home so if the forecast is good we can just decide to go after work on a Friday and come back late on Sunday. We love Cornwall but its a long treck and traffic is usually dreadful. Only worth the trip there for 3 nights at a minimum.
We use it quote a lot during the summer.
Its a 10 minute walk from Oxwich Bay which has a nice hotel / bar and a great new restaurant right on the beach which is knocking on Michelin star quality.
Beach
View from Beach House restaurant
Edited by Davey S2 on Tuesday 26th September 16:58
Ours is 3 hours and a ferry away! In general I'd recommend less....but it depends where you want to get to: once you're on a ferry, you're on holiday!
As important may be who can look after it if needed, perhaps if you consider letting it out a bit.
I also know people with a woodland caravan 30 minutes from their home, & they love it....& certainly use theirs more than we could ever use ours...
Each to their own!
As important may be who can look after it if needed, perhaps if you consider letting it out a bit.
I also know people with a woodland caravan 30 minutes from their home, & they love it....& certainly use theirs more than we could ever use ours...
Each to their own!
dazzalse said:
We bought a small cottage down in Cornwall when the children were younger, they are now teenagers and it gets little or no use at all as they have school on a Saturday morning and matches Saturday afternoon meaning we can't use it in term time except for the odd exact weekend they get, in the summer we prefer to be abroad to guarantee the weather.
This is exactly what happened to us. In the last year we had our place (Abersoch) I managed to spend one full weekend and a few snatched nights. The kids 'got lives' so we couldn't just go every weekend and school holiday as we had done before.They are 17 and 14 now so maybe look again when the youngest is a little bit older and can be left or leaves home.
As above. Small cottage in Snowdonia. Bought when the kids were small. Used it quite a lot then despite it being 3 - 3.5 hours away, since then, just rent it out. Works OK for that, but we want good weather for our precious 2 weeks in the summer, so we go abroad. If we want to go to Snowdonia now, we just look at the weather forecast, and camp.
Risotto said:
PositronicRay said:
mcg_ said:
If you’re retired it helps a lot..
This is what I don't understand. If your retired why not just buy a really great place, somewhere you want to be, and just live in it. We've had our place on the Isle of Wight for c25 years and reckon 3 hours door to door on a good day including the ferry.
About 2000sq.ft so big enough for all the friends to stay you didn't know you had! I had a bad patch with it as was getting bored but got into boats and that keeps me busy when there and no regrets since. My boys (17 - 26 age range) love it but again, really into the water stuff. Perfect if you've a dog, no pet rules to worry about.
Never rent it, the best rents would be when we want to be there.
When it's yours rather than just a rental, you've always got stuff you can do, just get the location right. IOW works for us, ferry costs are a bit mad but its easy to weekend there unlike say my parents place in Normandy which needs a minimum 4-5 days to make it worthwhile.
Pic from the back of my boat this summer, taking a break from water skiing, beer in hand listening to Test Match Special. Middle aged pursuit perhaps but beats a packed beach on the Costa for me!
About 2000sq.ft so big enough for all the friends to stay you didn't know you had! I had a bad patch with it as was getting bored but got into boats and that keeps me busy when there and no regrets since. My boys (17 - 26 age range) love it but again, really into the water stuff. Perfect if you've a dog, no pet rules to worry about.
Never rent it, the best rents would be when we want to be there.
When it's yours rather than just a rental, you've always got stuff you can do, just get the location right. IOW works for us, ferry costs are a bit mad but its easy to weekend there unlike say my parents place in Normandy which needs a minimum 4-5 days to make it worthwhile.
Pic from the back of my boat this summer, taking a break from water skiing, beer in hand listening to Test Match Special. Middle aged pursuit perhaps but beats a packed beach on the Costa for me!
We've been thinking about buying a cottage in the Lakes but have pretty much decided that we're better off just renting a house in the UK and a villa in Europe each year, partly to get the variety rather than feeling obliged to keep going to the same place and also to enjoy better weather at least once per year.
It's nice to have a base that's your own and to really get to know somewhere but it can get a little boring after a while IME, especially if the weather restricts what you can do. If you're really into boating or walking for example that can change things a little however.
It's nice to have a base that's your own and to really get to know somewhere but it can get a little boring after a while IME, especially if the weather restricts what you can do. If you're really into boating or walking for example that can change things a little however.
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