Moving to Wales

[Buzyizzy21]

I’m from the SE, but now the children are grown up and flown the nest and I’m currently living in a shoebox, I’m thinking I’d like a decent sized home again with a garden. Currently I’m in a flat and I really miss the space.
I’ve been looking at where I can afford without a mortgage and with no financial stresses and this area came up.
What’s everyone’s views and in particular the local’s attitude to the English? I’m ok with the poorer area, but do need to be reasonably accepted. https://www.onthemarket.com/details/13134036/

Not in the slightest. I’ve just remembered tho why I never interact with anyone of here.

Cardiff or Swansea for a young family?

hello, we’ve moved to the UK with my job and have 2 kids (2 and 7 soon). We’ve been here about 10 months now. Currently close to London but the rent is exorbitant and even on a very decent salary cannot save much at all. Our rental is about 2500 a month and has terrible heating insulation costing us another 500 a month for a house that rarely goes above 19 degrees. We are bleeding money. I’d always wanted to spend more on the kids and feels like I’m just paying bills.

we started to look for an alternative and have friends in Wales.
I have the flexibility of working from anywhere and since we feel more settled now can look at finding somewhere more permanent and comfortable.

im currently considering Cardiff and reading up threads on here for private schools and areas to live.

we like to have things to do and love travelling in our car with UK. Ideally looking for a city vibe and not rural, hence Cardiff. Somewhere 3 bed with a good private school and space in nursery. Walk to some amenities but parking for car. We have enough for a deposit for about 400k house mortgage is approved. But I would like to cap it at 300k. Or alternatively , perhaps better , rent somewhere first and then go from there.

I would like to ideally kick start this process now and start my older boys 7yo in year 3

what would you suggest in terms of Cardiff, areas and schools and any advice that may help us make the most of our money and time in the UK here. Thanks!

It's nothing fancy but I spent 3 happy years in Thornhill. If you want fancier then Rhiwbina and Lisvane are close by. All have good access to Cardiff and the countryside, handy day-to-day shops. And lots of rain, but it's South Wales... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The sun shines quite a lot too.

We’re in West Wales and live in a village up a mountain. We adore it. We moved from London.

It’s beautiful, the stars are amazing, the locals have been really friendly and there’s lots of walking and beach in easy reach.

Positives in our area:

• lots of attractions in driving distance both Pembrokeshire and Swansea/Cardiff way
• Pretty much always get a GP appointment (even managed to get ds one at 10am the other day when the morning when to pot and I couldn’t phone at 8:30am
• Friendly chatty people (good if you like chatting, can be a bit stressful when busy)
• When it rains, it’s still beautiful- unlike London (which I love but is grey in rain)
• Enough local shops and driving distance to markets etc

Negatives

• lots of rain - fine, but you have to prep for walking places with no pavements and need wellies and coats (my kids have the full suit ones)
• Cant get NHS dentist by phoning round as you go on a central waiting list (fair, but long process, ours was affected by COVID)
• Public transport is not reliable, so you need to drive really (or have a family member who does). Buses have no screen in our area saying which stop you’re at and you can’t see in the dark when lights are on inside, so if new have to ask driver to tell you when the stop is. The buses stop around 6:30-7pm for us.
• Long narrow drives on lots of properties and lack of parking in many town areas

Another thing to note is there’s a tradition in Wales that people build their own houses. This is both lovely - as there’s much more choice and properties aren’t always terraced or semi detached, and a bit annoying because building work often drags on so when it’s nearby it can cause on off disruption for a while. I still prefer it to big companies doing it constantly though and it means there’s quite a bit of variety in the houses. You still have the choice of plenty of terraces too.

We’ve enjoyed the move and feel it’s right for us.

Swansea for sure. Cardiff isn't for me at all.

I grew up and lived in Cardiff. I now live in Llanelli and work in swansea. You definitely get more for your money down here. Where we live now, we have a large driveway and massive garden. I had a small 2 bed in Cardiff. We live in a friendly village. We overpay our mortgage each month and still only pay £1000. However, houses' prices do seem to be increasing around here. I love the location as we are close to Cardiff/Tenby/saundersfoot/Gower. I don't like swansea City centre. I personally don't miss living in Cardiff, I still have a lot of family and friends there, but it just feels so busy and cluttered if that makes sense. I suppose it depends on what you're after. I love the fact that we can nip down the beach with the surfboards on a weekend. We've got great costal paths for bike riding, etc. But when I was younger, I loved Cardiff for the city, uni, and nightlife!

If you're looking at private schools there st Mike's in Llanelli, and there's one in uplands, swansea, but I can't remember the name of the top of my head. In Cardiff, there's Howells and The Cathedral School, but there's also very good high school schools in Cardiff too.

Ffynone House School. The primary private school is Oakleigh House School.

Tylorstown is very deprived, as are most of the Valleys. And get used to rain, lots of rain, if you move anywhere in Wales.

Schools and health service are of a worse standard than England and public transport very patchy.

Beautiful scenery though!

it is making a lot of sense to look at Cardiff now. While I like Swansea I think that having a much more diverse city would suit us best. It’s also another hour closer to go England way. I also seem to very much like the 1-2 private schools I’ve researched in Cardiff. We have friends further west into wales and would make a hell of a lot easier to go see them or they come to us.

I’ll be contacting the schools this week and going for visits. And in the meantime keep a look online for properties. This gives us a good starting point to base our search off.

The biggest benefit of Cardiff is that we can get to be in a city vs if we looked at south of England where either houses are way more expensive or I can’t find schools relatively near by to the semi rural locations where houses do tend to be within our range.

May I ask - as an overseas buyer, we may have to return home in a few years. So from what I can see rental potential in a city like Cardiff is somewhat better than say somewhere semi rural. Are there any downsides to buying in Cardiff I should be aware of?

Hi, I know this post was a while ago but I wanted to post anyway to help out if I can. I moved to Wales for work 18 years ago when I was 27, I knew no one and I had never been to Cardiff. It was fabulous! People were so friendly and welcoming and in Cardiff it's quite diverse. Great for when your young and wanting a career etc. I lived in canton, Cardiff, the bay, Sully, Magor and then 3 years ago I moved to Carmarthen. It's a totally different way of life, and most people here siarad cymraeg (speak welsh) but they like it if you try to learn at least a bit of the languages which I think is only respectful anyway. There are beautiful beaches, scenic countryside and everyone here is so friendly! The transport links are fab, 1.5 hrs drive from Cardiff or the train station is in the town (2hrs to Cardiff) The houses are still relatively cheaper here just because it's not as busy and job Rich as somewhere like Cardiff. But as much as I like Cardiff I'd not live there again. You kind of get used to where you are living, and if like you said you like to do your own things but also integrate then I believe the valleys would be the most beautiful place to live. Especially if you like walking and exploring nature I can't think of anywhere nicer. You drive too so no need to worry about transport links. I guess it all depends on what you want from your relocation. If it's peace and quiet and tranquil walks and to get involved with the community I'd say do the move. If it's to be in a hustling bustling city with shops and cafés galore then it's a no.
Often my days here are spent visiting beaches, castles, hiking up mountains, but equally I'm 15 mins from a pop into town for a nice cafe and cuppa.
Pob hwyl gyda'ch chwiliad a dechrau dysgu ychydig o gymraeg! 😊