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Wow! There are others like me?

O

OTGWannabee

Slightly Talkative
Messages
7
Points
60
Age
44
I'm so pleased to have found this forum. I live just outside of London and work for a humanitarian aid agency. I like animals, organic food (am a total vegetarian), star-filled skies, peace and quiet. I don't like social media, TV or anything that isn't real or genuine. I have been thinking about moving into a rural location for a few months now. I feel that as a city-dweller, I'm part of a massive social engineering experiment and I'm anxious to get away from it all. I'm looking forward to joining your conversations on how to prepare for country living. I've spent months learning about how to live off the grid and would love an opportunity to trial for a few weeks. I'd also like to know how I would go about looking for property that is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. Do such places exist in the UK? Have a wonderful day everyone.
 
Welcome OTG, nice to have you with us :). I usually find that the members who get most out of these forums are the ones who get involved so don't hesitate to ask questions and if there is a subject that is dear to you don't hesitate to start a new thread....enjoy:D
 
Welcome aboard.

How much cash do you have? Setting up an offgrid dwelling ain't cheap even after you've got yourself a more remote home...really there is nowhere 'in the middle of nowhere' in the UK. Northern Scotland dwellings can be more remote but often the land is not great for growing and as your not a meat eater it won't help your cause.
 
Hi! Middle of nowhere? Well it depends how close to things you can bear to be. You can be quite close to a village but miles from anywhere big, that's probably the best you can hope for in the uk. My daughter lives offgrid in a converted furniture van. They get the land rent free in return for working one day a week for the owner but buying land is expensive. Still its good to dream.
 
The middle of nowhere is probably a relative term, depending on what you're used to.
Harry is right though, space and privacy are expensive in the UK, parts of Powys in Wales and Sutherland in Scotland can provide glorious isolation if you're not prone to cabin fever but so many of the isolated cottages are tied up as holiday homes or by Airbnb... That's the reality of it in the UK.
 
For value for money and better weather Northern France has some advantages over the UK and Scotland.

75,000£ GBP in Brittany gets you a very isolated very rural large farmhouse, on electricity grid, with outbuildings and around 5 acres of land. Plenty enough to start a small holding if that's what you want to do. Bretons do not consider themselves French and if you can speak Welsh or Cornish the languages are very very similar. (Gaelic I think).

Owning a firearm in rural France is fairly simple as well. If you a resident and have land you can get shotguns and a .22 rifle for vermin control in a straightforward application with your local Marie (sort of mayor).

Travelling back to the UK is simple as you have many port choices within a few hours. Food costs about the same as the UK, habitation tax is cheaper than council tax, water and electricity are about the same.

The disadvantages are employment (very few jobs) and learning the French language plus the currency exchange issues.

As a guide a remote 4 bed farmhouse with barn and five acres in rural Hampshire or Dorset would cost you at least ten times more.

Best advice is to go and have a look and then rent for a few months, wherever you decide before you take the plunge.

I don't live in Brittany but know many retirees that do and lots of other people with holiday homes.
 
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Hello OTG. lf the UK is still your choice (BTW, John, Scotland is still in the UK) and you want to "try before you buy" have you thought of joining WWOOF UK? As a member (WWOOFer) you get to stay with hosts who offer you board and lodging in exchange for work on their land. There is a wide range of hosts, some of whom are very remote and off grid. Once you have decided where you want to be there are lots of possibilities on the Greenshifters website and they have a "wanted" section where you can post what you are looking for.
 
Hello @OTGWannabee :)

John Galt said:
For value for money and better weather Northern France has some advantages over the UK and Scotland.
Click to expand...

This is something we considered seriously but in the meantime ended up moving to Belgium because of work. I'm so glad that we did because I found out that I really don't like living in a country that doesn't feel like home. This was a surprise to me as I didn't think this would be an issue at all. The experience meant that we stopped house searching in France and decided to come back to the UK and settle in Cumbria. For this reason, I would strongly recommend spending some extended time in any region before deciding to buy. When we were house hunting (a period of 2 years) we did see some off-grid properties in Dumfries and Galloway at around £1k mark, but they don't come up very often. Another place we considered because of property prices was Ireland.
 
Barbara said:
Hello OTG. lf the UK is still your choice (BTW, John, Scotland is still in the UK) and you want to "try before you buy" have you thought of joining WWOOF UK? As a member (WWOOFer) you get to stay with hosts who offer you board and lodging in exchange for work on their land. There is a wide range of hosts, some of whom are very remote and off grid. Once you have decided where you want to be there are lots of possibilities on the Greenshifters website and they have a "wanted" section where you can post what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
WWOOFers tend to be quite hardy types looking to get experience of organic (and not so organic) farming, the only real qualification necessary is to be a willing worker. Each farm or smallholding can offer whatever arrangement suits them. One or two days a week, full board or maybe just a few hours a week for free parking, firewood and fresh water.
 
ystranc said:
Welcome OTG, nice to have you with us :). I usually find that the members who get most out of these forums are the ones who get involved so don't hesitate to ask questions and if there is a subject that is dear to you don't hesitate to start a new thread....enjoy:D
Click to expand...
Thanks, ystranc, for the warm welcome. I have a ton of questions, but will read some of the other topics first, just to make sure I'm not repeating questions that have already been asked and answered.
 
Harry Palmer said:
Welcome aboard.

How much cash do you have? Setting up an offgrid dwelling ain't cheap even after you've got yourself a more remote home...really there is nowhere 'in the middle of nowhere' in the UK. Northern Scotland dwellings can be more remote but often the land is not great for growing and as your not a meat eater it won't help your cause.
Click to expand...
Thanks Harry. This is useful to know. I'll keep it in mind as I continue my search.
 
John Galt said:
For value for money and better weather Northern France has some advantages over the UK and Scotland.

75,000£ GBP in Brittany gets you a very isolated very rural large farmhouse, on electricity grid, with outbuildings and around 5 acres of land. Plenty enough to start a small holding if that's what you want to do. Bretons do not consider themselves French and if you can speak Welsh or Cornish the languages are very very similar. (Gaelic I think).

Owning a firearm in rural France is fairly simple as well. If you a resident and have land you can get shotguns and a .22 rifle for vermin control in a straightforward application with your local Marie (sort of mayor).

Travelling back to the UK is simple as you have many port choices within a few hours. Food costs about the same as the UK, habitation tax is cheaper than council tax, water and electricity are about the same.

The disadvantages are employment (very few jobs) and learning the French language plus the currency exchange issues.

As a guide a remote 4 bed farmhouse with barn and five acres in rural Hampshire or Dorset would cost you at least ten times more.

Best advice is to go and have a look and then rent for a few months, wherever you decide before you take the plunge.

I don't live in Brittany but know many retirees that do and lots of other people with holiday homes.
Click to expand...
Thanks John. This is fantastic information. Perhaps I should look further south. I speak a little French so could probably venture into warmer parts of France. I love the idea of renting first, to test the waters. Thanks again for your insights.
 
Barbara said:
Hello OTG. lf the UK is still your choice (BTW, John, Scotland is still in the UK) and you want to "try before you buy" have you thought of joining WWOOF UK? As a member (WWOOFer) you get to stay with hosts who offer you board and lodging in exchange for work on their land. There is a wide range of hosts, some of whom are very remote and off grid. Once you have decided where you want to be there are lots of possibilities on the Greenshifters website and they have a "wanted" section where you can post what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Oh my word! More great stuff. This is just the kind of thing I and a friend were thinking of doing for the summer to see if we were cut out for country living. I've just found the website and will contact them. Thanks soooo much for this.
 
Denidoom said:
Hello @OTGWannabee :)



This is something we considered seriously but in the meantime ended up moving to Belgium because of work. I'm so glad that we did because I found out that I really don't like living in a country that doesn't feel like home. This was a surprise to me as I didn't think this would be an issue at all. The experience meant that we stopped house searching in France and decided to come back to the UK and settle in Cumbria. For this reason, I would strongly recommend spending some extended time in any region before deciding to buy. When we were house hunting (a period of 2 years) we did see some off-grid properties in Dumfries and Galloway at around £1k mark, but they don't come up very often. Another place we considered because of property prices was Ireland.
Click to expand...
Thanks Denidoom. I also considered Ireland as I spent 2 of my best childhood years there. But I was told growing food would be difficult in the most affordable locations; and I've seen some lovely ones. I guess I shouldn't rush this. I've heard others say that it took them a year or two to find just the right place.
 
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