Does anywhere in the EU have affordable housing??

[KookyNotOoky]

So after years of being shafted by landlords and letting agents I'm looking to buy this year, and we all know the issues with the UK's housing market.

As I now work from home 100% and with my Irish passport on it's way, I'm seriously considering moving to an EU country, given the above and the general poor quality of life on offer here.

Are there any countries in the EU where decent housing is actually affordable? I don't want a flat - just a basic two-up two-down house or similar would suit me. Ireland would be the obvious choice due to linguistic/cultural similarity, however their housing market is as bad if not worse than Britain's. Scandinavia appeals though I understand cost of living is high. I like Spain also, however I understand most of the housing stock is flats. Holland is nice and convenient for trips home, however I understand housing is quite expensive there also. A bit wary of eastern Europe tbh due to unreliable legal system in many countries.

Any advice appreciated.

ps. this is a thread about housing, not Brexit - not interested in getting into that debate.

@Eustonia I live in Cork and the house prices have gone crazy in the last few years since we moved from Dublin. Unless you're talking 40/50 mins drive away East or West. The roads are horrible once you move away from the city and suburbs.

That's worth buying just for the bathroom sink!!!!!! 😍

However, I think you'd have to be prepared to spend another £896,000 making it more comfortable to live in...

I don't think it is a good idea just to follow 'cheap housing'. Some of the villages in the cheaper parts of France are mindblowing in terms of utter, interminable boredom. Other countries do not speak any English at all, what languages do you possess? What cultures are you interested in? The quality of life in many parts of the EU is far far lower than the UK. Greece, rural Portugal, many areas in Italy, northern France and most of Eastern Europe will be a step down in terms of living standards, and are very expensive in other ways.

You need to define much more clearly what you are looking for, what happens if your jobs ends as it might well be outsourced to Asia where it can be done at a fraction of the price? You need to really deeply consider how this is going to work into old age etc and what is your motivation? A greater work life balance/lower costs may be possible in areas of the UK for instance.

You can't just say you want cheap housing op. It is expensive here for a reason. I say that as someone that has moved and lived all over the world.

@Poppitt58 Oops I missed that!!! They do still have odd rules about partners etc if they don't have an EU passport - I'm not sure if that applies here

Cheap areas are generally cheap because of work opportunities and location. Theres bloody loads of affordable places in the UK and ireland If youre not needing super transport links or outstanding schools and colleges, or year round jobs.

In the same boat as OP.
We're moving to Dénia in Spain for a trial period.
We've also considered Lisbon - but that's more apartment living.
Other areas of Portugal that might be worth a look at are Lagos, Ericeira, Porto.

Love Berlin but again it's apartment living -
Might be an idea to rent somewhere for a while before committing.

Berlin isn’t cheap any more. If you are considering Germany, then you can still get quite affordable properties in the former DDR and in the areas bordering those states - think of small towns in north east Bavaria for example.

Downside is there may not be an awful lot to do in these areas and few work prospects, which is why so many people have left and moved to the cities. Plus you would definitely need to speak German.

Thanks for replies.

I am just thinking of what to do atm. I can't drive so living in a village in the Scottish highlands isn't an option.

Tbh I would much prefer the States as obviously there would be no language barrier and my job would be much better paid out there. Though I'm not highly skilled/in demand enough to qualify for a green card. Have been completely put off CANZUK after the past 3 years, so really it's the UK or EU.

Yes and no. OP will be relying on EU Treaty Rights, which means she needs to e employed or self employed in the EU state she wants to live in.

Working remotey for a non EU based company (UK) doesn't count. She won't have the right to stay in any of the EU countries that properly enforce these rules (it varies hugely from member state to state)

@LahLahLoopsy Yep- in Denmark they were very strict even on EU citizens with regards to work and residence etc. if you plan on being self employed for instance we had to show quite a lot of money at bank and this was pre the end of withdrawal agreement . There were always more controls available under the rules - the UK just couldn't be arsed to enforce them or didn't see them as necessary and that's why some people thought there were no restrictions. It's very state dependent.

Isn't Biden in the process of returning immigrants as we speak - they have serious problems there.

Have you looked at Italy? Much easier to learn Italian than an Eastern European language, IMO. You'd probably find something in a village somewhere. Rightmove lists properties in Italy.

Are you employed? Will your employer let you work abroad? I work for a huge global company and we can’t work abroad, even home workers with the right to work in the EU. It makes the tax rules complicated for them, and all sorts of regulations about holidays and rights are different. And if you can’t drive, you’ll probably need to be in or near a city or large town, and these places tend to be more expensive, unless you want to rely on a rural bus service once a day.

Yes I'm employed atm but work freelance on the side. Long-term goal in to switch to freelance full-time (might be pipe dream, who knows). That would nix the employer issue.

Though tbh it all sounds like more faff then it's worth.

There are programmes in some European countries that are set up to repopulate areas that have seen an aging and vanishing population. In those, you can get a house for basically nothing. You'll have to do it up and sign a commitment to live there for a certain amount of time but you get a decent sized house in a nice area. A young couple in our family were looking at a lovely village just outside of Naples over Christmas. They also looked at communities in the south of France where you could get double the house for the cost of a 2 bed mid terrace here.

Although house prices and availability in Ireland are problematic, I wouldn’t discount it as there are wide variations in prices across the country. Have a look at Daft.ie and scroll down to find the search option for all of Ireland and search by price. If you view by map, you’ll see clusters of houses in the cities and towns - these are most likely to have decent transport as you mention not being able to drive. Dublin would not be very affordable but Waterford, and some of the larger towns might suit. Depends what kind of house/apartment/lifestyle you are looking for. If you need advice in a particular location, you could ask in the sub-forum - Craicnet.

I live in Germany. The cheapest one room bedsit within 20km of us is over 200k €. A plot with a small condemned building to tear down but without explicit planning permission know exactly what you could rebuild is 400k € Two up two downs don't really exist. 3 bed semi-detached houses start at about 650k.

Most of the property for sale is well over a million euros if you discount flats, and most of the flats are over half a million. If you find what you think is a bargain you'll discover it has sitting tenants who've been there 20+ years without their rent ever having been raised (very difficult indeed to get them out and illegal to raise the rent to current market rates).

It very much depends where in Germany of course - some parts of the former DLR are dirt cheap because there are no jobs and they're hotbeds of the AFD...

Have sent you a pm op

Could you specify what are your hobbies, are you ok with Spanish hot weather or Swedish winter? A lot of countries would have much nicer cost of living than UK, however they would give much less opportunities. You want a house but you don't drive - that means you need to rely on good public transportation. For that I would say small town in Germany.

Yeah, Germany ain't cheap unless you want to live in the middle of nowhere.

But this "nowhere" would probably have nice railway connection)) And we need to define cheap

Germany is not cheap.Munich is now even more expensive in London.A 'Reihenhaus' or terraced house now costs over Euro 1 million or more in the region of 1,4 million to buy .Renting same would cost over Euro 2,000 a month in any of suburb of Munich .A one roomed flat in the city would set you back around Euro 300 -350 ,000 .Competion to buy or rent any property is major and in most cases very frustrating .

Berlin isn't Germany, London isn't the UK, Paris isn't France.

www.imovirtual.com/pt/anuncio/moradia-t2-1-soudos-torres-novas-ID19nHq.html

3 bed, 2 bath for €80k.

And cheap backwaters without jobs are grim everywhere