RESIDENTIALsales Winter blues?


All I want for Christmas is a… change of scenery. Sheila Manchester dreams a dream.


I


t’s the time for the onset of the winter blues. Oh yes, it’s OK right now, early December, office parties, budding new romances, or, if not, at least the thought of a cosy family Christmas where you can mask your dejection and frustration with life in the freezing cold, damp environs of Great Britain.


But come January, wouldn’t you rather be somewhere


else? Not necessarily forever, just for the inhospitable winter months? This train of thought started with a small news piece


from Skyscanner, a website that compares flight prices, airline seats, quality of service and all that. They must have been bored one wet Wednesday afternoon because they did what many of us do when it all gets too much. They scanned the portals and looked at that place called ‘abroad’. Now, many people are sufficiently free to dream and


make their dreams a reality; whereas, ten or twenty years ago, everyone over twenty in a regular job would be itching to get a deposit down and become an owner occupier, the world has changed and young people are renting for longer. Without the constraints of a mortgage


Where would you rather be right now? London, Newcastle, Liverpool? Or Costa Rica, Goa or Lombok?


and the associated maintenance of a home, renting with a break clause every six months, for an increasing number of ‘virtual workers’ it’s easy to up sticks, pack up the laptop and work from their choice of global destinations. The chaps at Skyscanner took a look at where these lucky nomads could go to live more cheaply and their initial short story led us to investigate further. While estate agency and, in particular, lettings, may


not be all that easy to administer from a beach in Thailand, there are many other jobs that are more transportable. (Like editing a magazine, for example, all you really need is an Apple Mac and an internet connection…). And it’s not only the weather, everyone in the property


business is aware that rents are on the rise in the UK, with average rents heading towards £550 per month, meaning that in our cities and other desirable locations, rents in the UK are now, officially, very high indeed. So where could you be, on this cold December day, instead of reading this article in your chilly coffee room?


34 DECEMBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum


in London = six months in Costa RiCa £1387


One month’s rent in the capital is now a whopping £1387, a average which is, to be fair, affected by the über-rents in Mayfair and balanced by the few areas in the metropolis that are still bomb damaged and, thus, cheap. If you must stay in London, it might be fun to consider an apartment (okay, it’s a tiny flat) in Morocco Street, in the Borough; at least you could kid yourself you were near a souk as Borough Market is full of promise. This is a trendy but still not elegant area of central London. (Please don’t write in and complain, it’s true, I grew up there.) This little pad is available through Nelsons and it has all you need,


including a glass washbasin. But if you just can’t help dreaming


of the sunny side of the street, the £1387 in London Bridge equates to – hold on – a 28 week stay in a £7-a-night a hostel in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. This stunning coastal town is most famous for the Manuel Antonio National Park, an area of spectacular national beauty and an excellent spot for water sports and fishing. It is located between the rainforest and the most amazing beach and, says its website possesses, “a magic that is hard to explain. One thing, however, is absolutely certain, once you’ve been here you’ll want to come back again.”


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