IN SEARCH OF THE GOOD LIFE
Selling up in the city and moving to the country can win you a bigger home and better quality of life. But what is it really like to downshift? Caroline Allen meets three couples who opted for a rural retreat
IF you dream of upping sticks and moving to the country in search of more space, a chance to buy your own home and a taste of the good life, you are not alone. According to the latest preliminary CSO figures, the population in some rural areas is rising, and that is despite lack of broadband, closing post offices and poor local transport.
Take the pretty market town of Sneem in Kerry. It has seen an increase in population of 41.1pc since Census 2011.
Other areas on the up include Claremorris in Co Mayo, up 12.5pc; Roosky, Co Leitrim, 23.3pc; Gort, Co Galway, 13.7pc; Tullow rural in Carlow, 20.7pc; Carlingford, Louth, 22.2pc; Ballycommon, Offaly, 28pc; and Skibbereen, Co Cork, with 4.8pc.
Skibbereen auctioneer Pat Maguire has noticed a ‘trend for continued growth’ dating back over the past two years. Some buyers are younger Irish couples who are getting mortgages now that the banks are lending again, and are back in the market. Many young couples he sees buy in the eastern part of West Cork, and commute to work in Clonakilty, where there is a large technology park.
A second type of buyer has been working abroad ‘in good jobs’ in the UK or continental Europe during the crash and now wants to move back home.
Typically, they are looking for large houses on West Cork’s Millionaire’s Row, the stretch that runs from Skibbereen to Baltimore and which numbers Sir David Puttnam and Jeremy Irons as residents.
“There are good quality schools here to educate their kids and they want to settle down in a smaller community,” says Pat.
And then there’s the ‘grey market’, older people who may have sold their business or property and have money on deposit but are getting little or no return on it. They are looking to invest in property. “There is literally no supply of rental properties — buyers are picking up on that, you are virtually guaranteed €600 a month and there’s the likelihood of capital appreciation ahead as well.”
Many in the grey market choose to retire to West Cork, or use their house their as a holiday home, which they may rent part-time.
In the past, moving to the country usually meant waving goodbye to a well-paid role but digital hubs like Ludgate@Skibbereen, where you can rent a desk or hire a meeting room, and have access to high-speed broadband, now make it is possible to keep your city job or even start a new venture.
Being connected, however, is crucial. Seamus McHugh, his wife Niamh Walsh and their two children, Laoise and Tom, arrived in Carrigart in Co Donegal last October from their rental in Dublin and soon became involved in a local campaign for a digital hub. Seamus is international sales and marketing manager with retail software company CBE while Niamh works with Cushman and Wakefield, a branch of Sherry FitzGerald. Both their employers have been very open to them working from home.
Seamus doesn’t miss his 40-minute commute but looks forward to the day when he — and many others — can work from the digital hub. “We relocated for family and lifestyle reasons. We’re currently renting with a view to buying or building — here you have the capacity to build a home to your own specifications, with local schools and amenities on the doorstep.”