Climate Change

Charlotte Senior had suffered from poor health for years and the cold, damp English climate was not helping matters. She and her partner Simon Greenwood were also both fed up with working life in the Capital, so in 2005 they decided to move abroad.

“We’d been living in central London in Kensington,’ Charlotte explains, ‘and the climate and the environment there just weren’t good for me. Simon was working in publishing and I was working in media and neither of us were finding our nine to five jobs fulfilling. So the idea of a climate and a life change was hugely appealing. We were both more than ready for it.” The couple considered different areas in mainland Europe, but they settled on Italy, because Simon speaks fluent Italian.

“We read a lot about the different regions of Italy and decided to settle in Puglia, because it is said to be very “up and coming” and the climate is ideal for me. Plus, property prices are quite reasonable, it is not yet a saturated market,” says Charlotte.

There is a wide variety of property available in the area and prices differ greatly too. You can find, for example, a three-bedroom apartment with underground parking in the region’s capital Lecce for around €350,000, but pay less for similar properties in other parts of the region. At the other end of the scale, you can get yourself a small castle for around €1.5 million.

Despite all the homework and research they had done in advance, however, when Charlotte and Simon first arrived in Puglia they experienced some difficulties.

“We found it hard to find a house over here,’ says Charlotte. ‘We spent a good six months looking for the place we now live in. We stayed at a bed and breakfast and, by pure chance, we got on very well with the owner Alfonso Carbotta.” Alfonso, who works in a local law firm, became invaluable to Charlotte and Simon. He helped them to find their property and to secure an architect and building company to gut and refit the place.

“Without Alfonso’s help I don’t think we would have been able to set up home here. He helped us to find our house, he helped us settle in and he was able to help us to get things done that bit faster. We learnt quickly that not being Italian, it can be much harder to get things done at a good price,” says Charlotte.

“The Italian culture is very different to the British, and especially different to central London where we had come from. It is a definite fact that 'when you know someone who knows someone' you will get the things you need faster and often at a better price.

“The house we eventually settled on has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two balconies, as well as a roof terrace and a garden. It required quite a bit of work and because of that we got a low price. We live in a lovely area near Gallipoli, on the south-west coast of Puglia, facing the Ionian sea with a national park within walking distance.

“We basically gutted the building and made it our own, repainting the whole house inside and out, re-fitting the kitchen and bathrooms and bringing in our own furniture. We employed a local architect and his team of builders to help us. It was a very rewarding experience to start with a blank slate and make the house ‘ours’.”

Eighteen months on, the couple are now completely at home in Puglia. They are both young, Charlotte is 26 and Simon is 27, and they can see themselves spending the rest of their lives there.

“I was living a half-life in London,’ says Charlotte, ’I feel so much better here. The climate is wonderful and the lifestyle is just so relaxed, it’s completely the opposite of central London. There is a siesta period every day here from 1pm to 5pm, and a domani ethic whereby a lot of things get done at a slower pace. This was all difficult for us to adjust to at first. But now we have integrated well, people in general are very friendly.”

You couldn’t really get more of a change from the hustle and bustle of London life. Although in summer time the area fills up with town-dwelling Italians coming to their holiday homes, for most of the year the local vicinity is pretty deserted.

“The area we live in is quite isolated,” says Charlotte. “It’s not for everyone, but it’s what we wanted. There are only two other families who live on our street year round as we do. In the height of summer though our area becomes much busier, and we are friendly with a lot of the people on our street. We love it and find the peace and quiet very relaxing and much more conducive to good health than a hectic city environment. We are near enough to several towns to get what we need, but we love our peaceful home.

“You also get to know the people in local shops, who have a congeniality not found in big cities. Being English can be appealing to the locals, as the area is not as cosmopolitan as places like Rome or Milan and, therefore, being British is something of a novelty in villages and small towns.

“We find the peace and quiet very relaxing and much more conducive to good health than a hectic city environment. Our way of life is now much slower and runs at more relaxed pace. We now live by the sea on nature's doorstep as opposed to being surrounded by pollution and concrete. We are also much more active than we were in London. We take two-hour hikes in the national park three times a week, swim in the sea in the hot months and play tennis.”

Charlotte is now busy teaching herself Italian, practicing interacting with Simon and the Italian friends they have made. And the couple have also just set up a business, in partnership with Alfonso, aimed at helping fellow Brits who want to make a life for themselves in Puglia.

Their company is called A Life in Puglia, (www.alifeinpuglia.co.uk) and their slogan really sums up how big a life change it can be: ‘From metropolitan madness to sanity under the sun, we did it, so can you!’ The aim of the business is not only to help Brits purchase property in Puglia, but also to assist them in establishing residency, finding local tradesmen and supporting them through the settling in process.

Charlotte explains, ‘we set up A Life in Puglia with Alfonso to help others who want to follow in our footsteps. I really wouldn’t advise anyone to just come over here as we did. It is so difficult for English people to deal effectively with Italians, even if you do speak the language. You need to know someone here or use a company like ours to help make things easier.

‘We arrange familiarisation trips to help people select the right location for their lifestyle. We locate properties, arrange viewings and we negotiate on price. We inform people about local legal obligations and help people to obtain planning permission and local services, such as schools and medical cover. It costs £500 to register with us for six months service and that amount is redeemable against the percentage we take for any property purchased.’

The business is now taking up most of their time and really helping the couple to feel part of the local community. In fact there is very little they miss of their ‘old’ lives.

“It is extremely liberating not to be working in an office,’ says Charlotte. ‘We are afforded so much opportunity here and are involved in quite a few different ventures, and the fact that the impetus is on us to make things happen and to succeed makes any work we do much more satisfying and fulfilling. I am even writing a novel, which has been a personal dream of mine for some years, and to have the time and motivation to do it is very rewarding.

“The only things I miss from London are the people I lived with there and a
few of my favourite shops, such as Waitrose and Urban Outfitters. But with low-cost flights we go back quite regularly and we have friends and family visiting about once a month. With the amount that we see people and the work we're doing, we don't have time to get lonely. It has been a very challenging journey for both of us, but very rewarding as well. We love it here.”