I haven’t had a lot of time for writing here on Substack over the last few weeks. Since we decided, somewhat suddenly, that it was time to move, and then even more suddenly sold our house, we have been a bit preoccupied! (See my recent post Big News - I’m Leaving Yorkshire!)
We thought that it would be easy to rent a house to move into temporarily while we look for a new house in our preferred area (Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland). But it turns out that renting a house is not easy at all.
There is huge competition for any decent house that comes on the market, so they get snapped up really quickly. I have heard reports of people getting into bidding wars over the rent, and some of the application forms blatantly ask what is the highest rent you would be prepared to pay! How are you supposed to answer that? If you put the advertised rent, chances are that someone will go higher and they will be selected over you. And if you put a higher rent than what is advertised you may end up paying more than you need to.
We did look at a few houses in Dumfries and Carlisle, but very soon realized that we don’t want to be in a city or modern housing estate, even if it is only for a short time. And we want a property that is large enough for all our furniture and belongings so we don’t have the additional expense of putting things into storage.
After panicking about the shortage of properties to rent in Dumfries and Galloway, we have decided to rent in Cumbria, on the opposite side of the Solway Estuary to where we hope to settle.
I am pleased to report that we have now secured the tenancy on a house, and should be able to move in within a few weeks. Packing has begun, and our current home is now full of boxes, empty wardrobes and bare shelves.
Our temporary new home is in a rather forgotten area in north west Cumbria, England. The area gets few tourists but does have easy access to the west coast and the Solway Estuary, and it is close to several wetland nature reserves. So I think we will be happy exploring the local area for a few months, at least.
It is a bit further away from Dumfries and Galloway than we wanted to be, but still within easy driving distance. And of course we are not sure where our next permanent home will be - perhaps we will go further north in Scotland, or even decide to stay in Cumbria.
Whatever, it is good to know that we have somewhere to live while we continue our search. Watch out for further updates, and photos from our temporary home after we have moved!
Congratulations on getting that problem sorted, hopefully giving you the time and space needed to find just what you want. There are lots of fabulous parts of Cumbria that are ignored by tourists simply because they aren’t the Lake District, I’m sure you’ll find lots to do there.
Congrats with the new place!