Living in Algarve – West is Eden

Homes Overseas Magazine interviewed Tom and Gill Blades from Streatham, London, who have been living in Algarve since 2006.

Tom Blades, 60, a composer and Gill, 53, a freelance counsellor, had originally planned to buy and renovate a Portuguese farmhouse. Tom said:

“We did not want to buy on a golf course or similar development. But we were attracted by the thinking behind AlmaVerde and impressed by the quality and type of construction and villa styles.”

Also of interest to the Blades family was the ‘Coolhouse’ system at Alma Verde and the whole eco- commitment to insulation. They felt the Western Algarve had not been over-commercialised and secured a large plot (2,300 square metres) in a prime position, with the villa designed to their specific requirements.

Gill said:  “We liked the fact that there was never the hard sell from AlmaVerde over the course of our lengthy decision-making period. We became increasingly confident about dealing with John Tranmer and architect Jes Mainwaring and felt they were committed to making AlmaVerde a very high quality and unique place to be.”

“It was John”s hope from the outset that the site might attract a certain amount of people who, like ourselves, were able to live/work from here either full or part-time and this was a factor. There are now several residents who work from here.”

Aside from the build quality, much attention has also been given to the gardens and communal landscaping which the family consider to be top quality. They also had to consider that the decision to relocate to Portugal might need to be reversed if things did not go well and felt the resale potential of their property was very good.

The Blades’ villa is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom property, split into a main house and a detached annex. The main house has three bedrooms, all en suite, one with dressing room, cloakroom a large living room, study, kitchen and dining room.

There is a large upstairs terrace and a covered terrace downstairs. The annex is a living room, bedroom and bathroom and upstairs terrace. This part of the house was designed to be used as a music studio (for Tom) and a consulting room (for Gill). There is also a large heated pool.

The main thinking behind the purchase was that Tom, a professional guitarist and composer, was working increasingly from his home studio and it was no longer essential to be based in London.

Rather than just move out of London, the decision was made to relocate to Portugal, a long time holiday destination. Having worked for the NHS, Gill now works in Portugal as a freelance counsellor seeing clients at the Luzdoc Clinic in Praia da Luz and the Oura Village Clinic in Albufeira, and also privately at her home consulting room.

The family paid €730,000 for their home which included various upgrades and extras. Tom said: “This equated to around £500,000 due to the strong pound at the time of purchase. We averaged a rate of 1.47 on our currency trades.”

AlmaVerde made the whole buying process easy and also access to excellent English speaking solicitors and mortgage specialists should you need them.

“We felt that, at the time of purchase, there was scope for a significant uplift in the value of the property in the short/medium term.

The Western Algarve is becoming increasingly popular and a villa like ours in the Central Algarve would be much more expensive.

“Also we did not think we would have been able to buy a comparable property in the South of England for this price. Oh and the sunshine!”

Living and working there full time, their daughter, Hollie, 18 is at a local international school where she recently attained 10 international GCSE grades and is about to sit her A levels.

Gill did have concerns moving her from a good private school in London at the age of 14, but she settled in and made friends immediately. She has loved her life here.

“It is a lot less stressful than living in London”, said Gill. “Despite being on the tip of Europe, the Algarve is pretty well set up for every aspect of modern life, particularly technology wise with broadband. Obviously things tend to move at a slower pace, but things do get done and in a more laid back fashion. We are minutes from both the beautiful wild west coast in one direction and the vibrant and historic town of Lagos in the other. Here you can take as much of the real or expat Portugal as you choose.”

Both Tom and Gill have been on Portuguese courses, stressing the importance of learning and speaking the language. However in most cases, the locals, particularly in shops, offices, and restaurants all speak adequate to excellent English.

“Our daughter gained an A grade in Portuguese GCSE after about 18 months of living here and is taking it at A level.”

Gill was surprised to learn that school fees for Hollie are half of those they paid in the UK. The Blades’ other major costs such as car tax, house insurance and local authority taxes are also far less.

“We had always enjoyed the value for money with fresh, good quality food and wine in the Algarve, though did not realise our house bills would be so much cheaper than in the UK,” she said.

In terms of advice on relocating abroad, the Blades said: “Do some research and be realistic about the kind of property you think you would like to buy to live in full time. A nice old villa or farmhouse you look at in the height of summer could turn into your worst nightmare in the typical Algarvian damp and rainy winter months if it has not been well renovated and insulated.”

“Unless you intend working here and earning in euros, think about the effect of the weak pound at present, not only on the price of property, but also ongoing living costs.”

“Also, unless you are moving here to retire, or to start a business, you need to be very realistic about employment prospects. The average wage is very low compared to the UK and without a working knowledge of Portuguese, your job options will be limited. But the quality of life compensates for a lot.”