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A Place In The Sun E06
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00:00Today's House Hunters have decided that they want to leave England and start a new life in Reign.
00:07They hope the move will mean a better quality of life for themselves and their two children, Charlie, who's five,
00:13and George, just two.
00:16Everything just seems a real struggle over here.
00:19At the end of every month, you've never got any spare time or spare cash to do anything leisurely with
00:24the children, and we're just fed up with it, really.
00:27It's always rush and tear. I mean, over in Spain, everything's a lot more slow, manana, manana.
00:45Lee and Rachel hope to find their new life and home in southern Spain's Granada region, away from the crowded
00:52coast.
00:54Much of the population still live in traditional whitewashed villages in the valleys of the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.
01:03Younger people are moving to live in the city of Granada.
01:07It's the capital of the province, and 8 million tourists a year visit the Alhambra Palace, the last stronghold of
01:14the moors in Spain.
01:19Because Rachel and Lee are keen for their children to grow up in a typical Spanish environment, rural Spain is
01:25a great choice.
01:26Unlike the coast, which is now teeming with Brits, many of the villages here have few foreign residents.
01:32Rachel and Lee's children will grow up bilingual in this amazing countryside.
01:37Life in rural Granada is slow-paced, and for centuries people here have cultivated citrus and olive trees.
01:44The cost of living is half what it is in the UK, and as Lee, who cleans aircrafts for a
01:50living, is prepared to turn his hand to anything, he shouldn't have trouble finding work.
01:55House prices are also reasonable, and the couple can afford to spend up to £90,000.
02:01They hope to buy a three-bedroom house, close to a school, with a large garden that has space for
02:07a swimming pool.
02:08Property prices in the Granada region can be up to 50% cheaper than Spain's Costa del Sol.
02:14And as the prices continue to rocket along the coast, more and more people are choosing to buy inland.
02:19Not only are the house prices cheaper here, but you can be on the beach or in a ski resort
02:23in less than 45 minutes.
02:27A new motorway linking Granada to Spain's south coast and Malaga airport is making this region even more accessible to
02:35foreign homebuyers.
02:36This has helped prices to creep up, and the most popular villages have seen prices almost double over the last
02:43two years.
02:44A six-bedroom farmhouse can cost £400,000, but if you're prepared to do a bit of DIY, there are
02:52bargains.
02:53A Moorish-style mountain house in need of renovation costs around £40,000.
03:03Leaving their children in the capable hands of Granny, Lee and Rachel's search begins 20 minutes out of Granada City,
03:11continues south to an unusually large village house,
03:15climbs east to a hilltop villa with breathtaking views,
03:19and finally returns north to a converted cave.
03:26So tell me how you two discovered Granada, then?
03:30We passed through it a few years ago and fell in love with it, didn't we?
03:33It's very beautiful.
03:34You've got the contrast of the old and the new.
03:42First stop is the town of Padul, home to a traditional farming community.
03:46It has a choice of schools and shops.
03:52There are plenty of affordable properties which need renovation,
03:56ranging from houses in towns to small farmhouses in the countryside known as fincas.
04:09We're going to see a finca, a 15-minute journey from the town.
04:13It's in a hamlet of just four houses.
04:17Surrounded by a large fruit orchard, it has a natural spring water storage container,
04:22which could easily be converted into a swimming pool.
04:27Begonia, the local agent, will show them around.
04:35This is the living room.
04:37All the furniture are included, the price.
04:40OK.
04:41In winter, the temperature is like zero degrees.
04:46And you are going to get cold and you can have fire.
04:49Oh, lovely.
04:50It'd be nice to have a load of fire.
04:51OK.
04:54The kitchen is part of the living room.
04:56OK.
04:57It's quite small, isn't it?
04:59It's quite nicely laid out there.
05:00Yeah.
05:01Yeah.
05:02Now, this house is actually well below Lee and Rachel's budget,
05:05and I'm guessing they're going to love the orchard and the mountain views.
05:09My biggest worry is that they're going to think the house doesn't have enough space for them and the two
05:13boys.
05:15This is the master bedroom.
05:17Right.
05:17OK.
05:18It's just a lot smaller than what I thought it would be.
05:20Yeah.
05:20We need something bigger for us with the two children, don't they?
05:26The property may be small, but it's in good condition,
05:30with a recently decorated shower room and second bedroom.
05:36This is the garage.
05:37As you can see, it's very big.
05:40Oh, yeah, excellent.
05:41It's been used as a workshop.
05:45Right, OK.
05:46Get any tools in and actually get to them.
05:48Yeah.
05:48Climbing over everything.
05:49Yeah, it's very nice.
05:56Outside, there's plenty of space, and the orchard has olive and citrus trees growing.
06:03This is the swimming pool.
06:04Climbing.
06:05I didn't realise it had a swimming pool.
06:06Yeah.
06:07And the water of the swimming pool is used for the plant.
06:11Right.
06:12Irrigation, yeah.
06:12It's got potential.
06:13You've got the basis there, haven't you, to work on.
06:17Almonds.
06:18Oh, yeah.
06:19It's about everything, yeah?
06:20Yeah.
06:20Went down to the freshly laid eggs in the morning.
06:23Oh, they've got chickens as well.
06:30It's well under their £90,000 budget at £68,000.
06:35I personally find it a bit too far away from any local village shops or anything.
06:41That would be my main concern, and the schools.
06:43And the schools.
06:43Yeah.
06:43Well, the location isn't as remote as you might think.
06:47Your nearest big town for your basic amenities is called Padul.
06:50Oh, that's only a 15-minute drive away from here, and that's where all the schools are for the boys.
06:54There are three infant schools there and three secondary schools.
06:58They would be taught entirely in Spanish, though.
07:00How do you think they'd cope with that?
07:02I don't think Charlie would find it a problem.
07:04And George is at the age now where he would just be brought up as Spanish as his first name
07:08would, really.
07:09Now, let's talk about the house, then.
07:11What did you make of it?
07:12Very small.
07:13That was my big concern.
07:15Yeah.
07:15Smaller than what we would have wanted, really, isn't it?
07:18Yeah, definitely.
07:18It's only two-bedroom, and ideally we'd like three bedrooms.
07:22But the location's wonderful, and the garden's lovely.
07:30The Finca seemed a bit remote for Rachel and Lee, so next we're heading for the very centre of a
07:36village.
07:36It's further south in the Lecran Valley, the Valley of Happiness.
07:42The Moors introduced irrigation techniques to the area over 600 years ago.
07:47Bringing the mountain waters down through the valley to nourish its orange, lemon, and almond groves.
07:55One of the more sought-after villages in the valley is Chite, as it has its own primary school.
08:02It's already home to around 20 British families.
08:07Homes here are constantly being modernised, but some date back as far as the 15th century.
08:13Very few have any outside space.
08:18This terraced home in the centre of the village is for sale.
08:21It has three bedrooms, but no garden.
08:27Andy is going to show them around.
08:30Hi.
08:31Hi.
08:31Hi, there you go.
08:32Hi.
08:32Come through.
08:33This is the living room.
08:36Wow, it's very rustic, isn't it?
08:37Yeah.
08:39Very traditional-looking.
08:40Yeah.
08:41And nice high ceilings as well, which is good as a bonus.
08:46What's that?
08:47That's one of the agricultural machines that they use to recup the earth.
08:52A rotavator.
08:53Yeah.
08:54Here we have another room which is being used for actual garage and storage, general storage, for the tractors at
09:02the moment.
09:05Gosh, it's quite small, isn't it?
09:07Yeah, it's a bit confined.
09:09Yeah.
09:09My idea of a patio.
09:12And here we have a large window which will let a lot of light into the main stairwell itself.
09:17Same sort of cos we've got at the bottom of our stairs in our house.
09:20Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it?
09:21It's nice.
09:23And here we have the kitchen.
09:25It's got the room and potential.
09:26Yeah.
09:28I'm not too keen on the lampshade, though.
09:29I think Uri Geller's been a bit busy in here, hasn't he?
09:36The dining room is traditionally decorated with ceramic floor tiles
09:39that continue through the hallway and into the master bedroom.
09:45There's a bedroom each for the children and a shower room for the family.
09:49Though there's no garden, there's the potential to build a roof terrace.
09:56And through here, you'll be able to see the main views onto the street and onto the playground
10:03and also directly to the primary school on the other side.
10:08Oh, right, which is just here, is it?
10:09Yeah, nice having the school that close by.
10:12Yeah.
10:15This village house is under budget at £64,000.
10:20It's nice and big and airy and full of character, isn't it?
10:24Yeah, and upstairs you can do so much with it.
10:27Yeah.
10:27It's just that outdoor space on the roof.
10:30I don't know if that's going to be enough.
10:33Rachel and Lee aren't being realistic about what they can afford
10:37and I think they need to take a reality check.
10:40I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.
10:42For your budget of £90,000, you are not going to get a three-bedroom detached house
10:47with a lot of land and a swimming pool in a village or just outside of a village.
10:52You're either going to have to up your budget, compromise or move to somewhere really remote.
11:03Rachel and Lee need to work out their priorities.
11:07Later they focus and find two properties they love.
11:11But will they go for the large family home?
11:14Definitely come up trance with this one.
11:16Yeah, it's everything, isn't it, that we wanted.
11:18Or the deluxe cave dwelling.
11:20Blown me away, I know that for a fact.
11:23What you can do with a cave.
11:40Husband and wife Lee and Rachel want to move their family to Spain's Granada region
11:45and hope to buy a spacious family home for £90,000.
11:50The first property was not big enough and too remote.
11:55It's a very pretty house but just not for us is it.
11:58And the second had no garden.
12:02Our search continues south of Granada City close to the Sierra Nevada mountains
12:07in one of Spain's highest settlements, the Al Pajaras Valley.
12:12Here, the melting snow of the Sierras keep more than 50 mountain villages lush and green.
12:19Out of the whole Granada region, the Al Pajaras Mountains are still one of the last undiscovered areas.
12:25Fans of Chris Stewart will know that he wrote his famous book, Driving Over Lemons, from here.
12:29And the people that come to live here come here for the peace and solitude.
12:34One of its most popular towns is Orkiva.
12:40Up until two years ago, the place was predominantly Spanish.
12:44The only foreigners were hippies, wanting to escape to the mountains.
12:49Now the bustling town attracts new age Europeans and hosts a weekly market.
12:56The properties here were really cheap two years ago.
12:58You could pick up a farmhouse for £20,000.
13:00And it didn't take people that lived on the coast very long to realise it.
13:04And they came in their droves, pushed the house prices up.
13:08Several estate agents that I've spoken to said in the last two years,
13:10house prices have gone up by 100%.
13:13They think it's going to continue to rise for the next couple and then it'll just level out.
13:23On the outskirts of town, you get more property for your money.
13:27Here, a ruin can be bought for as little as £39,000,
13:30while a farmhouse without buildings costs around £185,000.
13:40The property I found, Lee and Rachel, is a 20-year-old villa
13:44with breathtaking views and enough space to build a pool.
13:48Nicola is the local agent.
13:52This is the conservatory that was updated two years ago with new windows and frames.
13:59It's nice that it goes the full length of the front of the house.
14:01It's a perfect playroom for children.
14:03Yes, for children.
14:04Yeah.
14:05And this is the living room in here.
14:07Lovely.
14:07Oh, I like this.
14:08That is nice.
14:09It is, isn't it?
14:10It's really, really spacious.
14:12Yeah.
14:12It has a wood burner.
14:15Would that be sufficient to warm the whole house on a cold day?
14:18It would be.
14:19I have one at home and it keeps the house very warm through the winter.
14:23Now, on paper, this property has got everything that Lee and Rachel have been looking for.
14:28It's close to a village.
14:29It's got three bedrooms, the outside space and room for a swimming pool.
14:34The only problem is it's £15,000 over their budget.
14:38Is this the kitchen through here?
14:40It is, yes.
14:42It was fitted about one year ago.
14:45Right, okay.
14:45It's quite modern then, isn't it?
14:46It is, yes.
14:48This is the master bedroom.
14:50Oh, wow.
14:51So just have a look around.
14:53Okay.
14:53There's no shellac.
14:55This is much more like the size we want.
14:56Yeah, very nice.
14:57It's got en suite as well.
14:58Is it?
14:59Yeah.
15:00Lovely.
15:00After you.
15:02Oh, very nice.
15:03Blimey.
15:05There's much more space for a family here, with another spacious bedroom, a room currently
15:11used for storage, and an outside utility room.
15:17My idea of a Spanish family home, anyway.
15:19Yeah, definitely.
15:20Definitely come up trumps with this one.
15:22Yeah, it's everything, isn't it, that we wanted.
15:26This Alpajaran villa is priced at £106,000.
15:31I just got the right feeling as soon as we walked up the driveway, we thought, this is
15:34the place for us.
15:35Really?
15:36Yeah.
15:37Okay, well, this is the one property I'm showing you that's over your budget.
15:41Right, it's actually £106,000.
15:43Thought it might be.
15:45It was originally on the market for £120,000, but the owners reduced the price because she
15:49wants to move back to England.
15:51She's quite desperate to get home.
15:52Could you stretch that far?
15:54I really don't know.
15:55Yeah, something we'd have to go away and do our something about, really.
16:01It looks unlikely that Lee and Rachel will be able to stretch their budget over £90,000,
16:07so we head north to the cathedral town of Guadix, founded by the Romans under Julius Caesar.
16:17On the outskirts of the town is the cave district known as Barrio Troglodyte.
16:23We're now in one of the oldest settlements in Spain, and it's also home to the largest amount
16:29of cave dwellings in Europe.
16:31In fact, over half the population live in caves here, and they're called troglodytes.
16:44Caves have always provided shelter for the farming community, and have recently seen a revival
16:49for families escaping the summer heat.
16:52A newly dug-out cave can cost as little as £16,000, but Rachel and Lee are going to see
16:59one of the top dwellings in the area.
17:02Can you see all the chimneys dotted around here?
17:05Yeah.
17:05They're actually the chimneys to the caves.
17:08How does the idea of living in a cave grab you?
17:12Not at all.
17:13No.
17:13Absolutely not.
17:14No.
17:21I don't want Rachel and Lee to dismiss this cave until they've seen inside.
17:25It's decorated to a high standard, and has the space for an outside pool.
17:32Anna is the local agent.
17:39Wow.
17:43Not what you expect.
17:44No, definitely not.
17:45No, absolutely not.
17:46Not when you're up on the top.
17:48No.
17:48I don't envisage this being inside.
17:50No.
17:50That dirty mound.
17:52Fantastic, isn't it?
17:54And this is the lounge.
17:55Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?
17:56Got a built-in wine cellar as well.
17:58It's nice to have the large fireplace as well.
18:02Now, you'd think that living in a cave would be very primitive and claustrophobic, wouldn't you?
18:06But I was really surprised by this cave space and its modern decor.
18:10Mind you, judging by the look on Lee and Rachel's face when they went to look at it,
18:13I've got absolutely no idea what they're going to think of it.
18:17As you can see, there's quite a lot of light coming through the window.
18:21And you'll find, actually, with most cave houses, this is quite unusual to have a window in a cave bedroom,
18:26because the logic is, normally, you know, you're going to sleep, so why bother having lots of natural light?
18:31It's surprising how much light that small window lets into the room.
18:34But it actually depends on the shape and size of the hill.
18:39Very nice.
18:41That's lovely.
18:42It's like a bedroom.
18:43This cave is soundproofed and has a well-equipped fitted kitchen,
18:47a tiled shower room, and two good-sized bedrooms.
18:55That's a nice touch, isn't it?
18:57Yeah.
18:57They've picked away at the wall, haven't they, to fit the bed in?
19:00I really like that.
19:04I can't believe what's here.
19:06Can you?
19:06It's just a show you can't sort of...
19:08Blown me away, I know that for a fact.
19:10What you can do with a cave.
19:16This cave dwelling is spot-on budget at £90,000.
19:22OK, then, when I left you on top of the cave, you looked like you were about to kill me.
19:26Yes.
19:26What did you think when you went inside?
19:28Mind-blowing.
19:29Absolutely mind-blowing, wasn't it?
19:30It was amazing.
19:31You just didn't imagine that that could be under that dirty old hill, basically.
19:34One thing the property doesn't have is a swimming pool,
19:37but you've got plenty of outside space and you could easily get one put in.
19:40But to install one would only cost you £3,000,
19:42which is about £10,000 cheaper than if this property was down by the coast.
19:47I take it you'd get a pool?
19:48Oh, yeah.
19:49Definitely, yeah.
19:49Yeah, at that price, yeah.
19:51There's one agent that's set up a website selling cave dwellings,
19:54and she's already had lots of phone calls from foreigners.
19:57Granada Airport is about to become an international airport in three years' time,
20:01which means you can fly direct from the UK,
20:02and you're only 45 minutes away from the coast.
20:06If you moved here now, however,
20:07you would be living in a predominantly Spanish community.
20:10Do you think that would put you off or not?
20:12No, I don't think so.
20:13No.
20:14I mean, sometimes I think it is better to jump in the deep end
20:16rather than take the easy route.
20:18Yeah.
20:26Lee and Rachel have seen four potential family homes.
20:29They dismissed the finca because it was too small and too remote.
20:34And as a garden is a must, they said no to the village house,
20:38which leaves the villa they loved but was over budget
20:41and the cave they thought they'd hate but actually adored.
20:45Hey, guys, how are you doing?
20:47Hiya.
20:48Finally managed to sit down and get some alcohol.
20:51Yes.
20:51It's been a bit of a whirlwind, hasn't it?
20:53Oh, definitely, yeah.
20:54Now, you two are taking a massive step by moving out here,
20:57lock, stock and barrel with the kids,
20:58and I know that you've driven through Granada before,
21:00but you've never really had a chance to explore it.
21:03Now you have done.
21:04Do you reckon it's somewhere you could bring the boys up?
21:06Yeah, I think so.
21:07It's lovely, especially the Lacrine Valley area.
21:10I love that.
21:10I like to.
21:11The villa in Orkiva.
21:13Now, you both fell in love with that, didn't you?
21:15Yeah, I mean, it's perfect for us in every way.
21:17The outside space, the area where it was in,
21:20the views were spectacular.
21:22I mean, you couldn't really fall there at the end of the day.
21:24No, there's no way we could stretch our budget.
21:25No.
21:26We'd be cutting our nose off to spot our face, wouldn't we?
21:28Yeah, yeah.
21:38I think what we'd really ideally like to do is perhaps sell up
21:43and come out and rent, and we can take our time.
21:46Even perhaps, we were talking to an agent, weren't we,
21:48about the cave houses, and an option is to buy one
21:52that isn't up to that standard of the one we saw,
21:55and actually design what we'd like ourselves.
22:00So you never know, you might be living in a dirty old mound after all.
22:03Quite a large possibility.
22:04Well, I hope you find what you're looking for.
22:06Good luck with it.
22:07Thank you very much.
22:11Rachel and Lee have decided they definitely would like to live underground
22:15and intend to save money by designing their own cave dwelling.
22:19They're in the process of selling their Bournemouth home
22:22and hope to move to Spain's Guadix within the next year.
22:26If you want to buy a piece of traditional Spain,
22:29then the Granada region could be ideal,
22:31but house prices are rising quickly here
22:33and good properties only stay on the market for a couple of weeks.
22:36So if you see something you like, you've got to be prepared to jump straight in.
22:41I'll see you next time.
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