A new life in the sun for Allison

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“I was having a mid-life crisis and needed to re-assess my life – so I went to Crete with my mum and, suddenly, I was no longer ‘SAD’,” explains Allison Gilbert, who is buying a home on the island and intends to move there permanently.

Allison lives and works in Chelmsford at the moment. Her job as a play and park ranger also provides her with accommodation – but she has always regretted not buying her own home. “The difficulty is that I have always been in tied property,” Allison tells us. ”Before this current job I worked as a yard manager and chief riding instructor, again in a tied property, but as I got a little older I realised that I hadn’t thought through where my future lay. Luckily I have a wonderful family, a realistic doctor and a terrific developer so, between them all, it has turned out marvellously!”

Allison first visited Crete over 20 years ago. Immediately, the island felt like home to Allison. “We stayed for a month and, despite an outside toilet and shower and very basic amenities in the pretty village, it was a place I loved and over the years I went back many times on holidays.”

Allison’s sister, Cathryn has a Greek husband, who was born in England but who wanted to go back to his Greek roots, so he and his wife bought a renovation property about 15 years ago, in a mountain village in the far west of the island.

During this time Allison hit the inevitable mid-life crisis, sought medical advice and was diagnosed as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). She realised that part of the problem was that she was living in tied accommodation which gave no security for later years and she was unable to afford to buy a home in the UK. She was looking for a home, a simpler life and sunshine.

Allison has bought a house in Kamisianá from Snobby Homes. Kamisianá is a small working village with olive groves, local shops, bars and a bus service, near to the beach with good links to large towns. Because Allison is able to speak a little Greek she says, “all the locals think I am a very jolly person.”

The asking price of around £110,000 includes all purchase and legal costs, furniture for the new home, fittings and even utility connections. And Allison’s house comes with a wood burning stove for cooler winter evenings. There is air conditioning fitted to all homes and hot water is provided free, by a solar panel.

The detached home has two storeys and is built to blend into the rest of the village houses. Allison’s property has a secluded, walled courtyard and she is planning to convert part of hers into a large vegetable plot to feed her throughout the year.

Concludes Allison, “Where I have bought there are just five homes and I have one and my mother has another. The intention is to live there permanently. I have a Greek mortgage and am just working now in order to pay off the bulk of it before I leave the UK forever to start my new life in the sun”.

Tags: Finance & property, Self improvement & wellbeing