Dumfries area to live?

Used to be able to see one Greggs from the other – but they moved one to the other end of the high street.

to encourage exercise?

There are four Greggs in Dumfries and immediate surroundings that I can think of.

As a follow up to this, the plot at Fechan is ours on May 6th. We've arranged a few changes to the building to suit us, the Architect, who we finally met on Saturday, is a lovely old guy who is also arranging the planning amendments, and sign off for us.
We're going for a SIPs framed wooden house, with slate effect tiles for the roof.It may have negative equity once finished, but, there is nothing for sale that will meet our criteria within 50 miles for the total price we are paying (expected to be £200k) so even though the local market is depressed, there are no houses with the spec we are building to, and it will be just what we require design wise, and low cost to run.
Motorway noise. We've been 3 times in the last 8 days. Yes, it is heard. But isnt a bother. (new) neighbours, a little closer to it say they never notice it at all, just a background noise that is ignored.
Ecclefechan itself. The Roofer we are getting a quote from lives around 15 doors away up the road. He moved from Leigh, Lancs. 5 years ago. He told us he was told the same about Fechan, 'dont move there, its rough as..'. He says he hasnt lived in such a nice place. The 'rough streets' , 2 or 3 with some council/social houses, are far smarter than a lot of the private houses around here in South Leicester. It isnt a downtown sink estate!

Local sights. We've been out twice on the bikes, down the Annandale Way to Annan, then to Newbie beach and, yesterday, to Powfoot beach. Newbie is a bit grim for a beach, being all pebbles,but Powfoot is brilliant, 8 miles from home.The Indian Restaurant in Annan is good, 2 pubs we went in were fine too.
Just waiting now for quotes for the timber frame, once that is ordered we have up to 6 months to sort this place out and get it sold, and get moved.

Best of luck with the project. My wife and I have been looking for a while, considering the possibility of retirement / semi-retirement there. Assuming we’re still healthy, the combination of sea, surf, awesome Kitesurfing spots, MTB, cheap house prices and some really stunning older properties is fairly appealing. Looking a bit further West and not any time soon but I think it’s a good shout.

Sounds like a good move. I loved Galloway - perhaps a rose tinted, pre-kids, just myself and mrs_oab view of life. But perhaps it really is a green, quiet gem with delightful coast, lovely and empty hills and a welcome of off-comers that I remember.

And can I check - is £200k including land(!)...? For how many bedrooms?

Yes, £200k total.
4 bed, 3 up (could be 4 up, but she wants a huge walk in wardrobe) 1 down, with ensuite for guests and air B&B arrangement. (marketing it as suitable for bikes and motorbikes with secure parking in the large shed at the back). Very well insulated, so it wont cost much to run. UFH downstairs, maybe a few radiators up, but they could be missed out as the MVHR will help heat them.Living room down, large (to me) kitchen and dining at the back.
Land and fees associated with planning is less than £70k. The first quote for the timber frame, from MBC, who are known to be expensive, was £90k for passive standard. We're hoping for around £70 for the frame and walls. The roof will be roughly £12k. Rendering will be £5-7k. ASHP fitted by me will be £5k ish after the grant. Plastering will be another £5k ish, though I may do that myself which will bring it down to £1k or under.
Electrics and plumbing done by me, around £2k for parts. Bathroom fittings, maybe £3k, probably less for the 2 bathrooms. Kitchen, done by me for around £5k inc. appliances.
Flooring materials, not sure, at £500 per room will be close to £3.5k, but probably less. Extravagant stairs (her choice!) £5k.
That leaves £12k for things like the woodburner, driveways/landscaping and windows/doors which are around £7k.
It'll be tight, but I reckon we can do it for that.

Fair play, and your giving mrs_oab and I hope to self build soon!

We're currently doing the last year of boy at school, tied into a mortgage, and looking at mrs_oab having to change jobs soon. We've a chunk more than you're spending already, so would be mortgage free in a nice energy efficient modern house is the plan...

When we did our my Mum's place (converted one of our 'barns') we went with a all-in-one quote with a local Contractor, timing was well behind but quality & price were as agreed.

It seemed expensive at the time we agreed it, but there was no pressure on us to deliver anything other than keep on top of the Contractor. I'd part renovated somewhere previously so had experience plus my OH is a Project Manager by trade - but we didn't want to 'lose' our life for a year or two.

Good luck.

a regular question here:

Welcome to the `shire...

your local club

Yes, thanks, we're on the local Fechan FB group, and will have a look at the cycle club too.

I thought I’d put an update to this after over a year (18 months now) of owning the Plot. We finally moved to Ecclefechan 2 weeks ago. We have rented a house since the beginning of August, 3 doors away from our plot, so that fell really well. Rent is far more than I expected, at £600/month, we were expecting £500, but rental houses are going in a few days around here.

The delays were caused by the awful Planning staff at D&G Council, which has cost us £2.5k+ in extra fees. The story is long, I wont go into it here, but the Planner was forced to resign due to her treatment of many people, inc. us. That also led to us needing a new Building Warrant which is £2k, and further delays. I havent got a good word at all about D&G Planning dept.

As for the village, can't complain. Everyone we’ve met has been decent. It was said by the OH yesterday ‘everyone talks and is cheery’. Noise from the M/way, yes, sat here now with the front door open, I can hear the traffic clearly, but it isnt intrusive, and, of course, when the door is shut, cannot hear it at all. The farm at the back, it’s a one man business, he has 2 fields of cows. There hasnt been one moment when it is intrusive, with either noise or smells. His silage bales are in view, that isnt a problem, it’s nice when you go to bed to see the cows in the fields. The local hotel/pub is virtually shut now, the Owner is trying to sell up, but having little interest, it could be a good place to run a hotel. But we’re too old to take something like that on. There is another hotel 300 metres the other way to get a drink/meal.

The new build is starting within the month, we’re having a stick build (wooden, made on site) frame, with brick outer sheaf. The budget is coming under pressure, though we’re still hoping to do the build for less than £150k. Oak staircases, and 'stack and slide' doors are expensive, but that's what she wants.

Going back on topic, I havent even got the bike out yet, it’s sat outside under a cover (we havent got a shed at the rented house), but, there are 2 hills locally which I’ll be exploring soon. Rain, christ, we’ve had 3 days of constant rain, thats not a few showers, it has been constant. I’m really glad the sun is out today, and looking at the news, the west coast and Perthshire have had it far worse than us.

Overall, it’s been a great move so far.

Excellent.
Glad to hear of a reasonable build budget. What size house is that?

@alanl - I come into contact with D&G Council planners through work (energy projects) and they have the reputation for being next to useless / unnecessarily difficult.
If you have a road bike then you're on the route of www.ridetothesun.co.uk - June 22nd next year 👍

Assuming your house is 120-150 sq metres, getting towards £1k/sq metre these days is impressive going for a self-build.
I don’t think D&G have an exclusivity on incompetent planners - Argyll & Bute could give them a run for their money.

Glad to hear of a reasonable build budget. What size house is that?

10m x 9m external. Larger than our old house, which was 8x8. 4 bed, , 3 doubles 1 ensuite one single, large bathroom (nothing extravagant, well, a separate shower and bath are extravagant to us!). frame cost is looking like £60k, brick cladding, £15kish, floor screed around £5k, UFH around £6k, ASHP heating system, inc. MVHR, roughly £8k ( I could get Octopus etc to do the ASHP for less than £3k, but from reports of their work, I’d rather pay £2k more and do it myself). Roof £12k, windows and doors £12k, stairs, £6k, bathrooms £9k, plastering £5k, kitchen £10k. That's the £150k. Some of those prices are including contingencies, so we could get under the £150k with a bit spare. I’ve not included some bits, as I’ll be doing a lot myself, so things like electrics and plumbing will be parts only, and I already have a lot of those bits ready from previous work.

Hey OP. Just dredging up the thread and wondering how things are going? My wife and I are gradually nearing the point when we are going to give up work, go travelling for a while and then potentially jump ship from Somerset to either Dumfries and Galloway or possibly slightly South along the Solway Coast. I have a slightly annoying requirement to be able to play squash, go kitesurfing and mountain biking within easy distance, and my wife’s more interested in art, books, the outdoor and maybe a bit of surfing from time to time.

Looking at either further West (Kirkcudbright / Wigtown) or maybe like I said the Solway Coast alternatively, although Dumfries area not off the table too.

Anyway interested as to how you’re finding it - and of course how the build went? Hope you’re enjoying the move.

Andrew

@andylc Moved up to Kirkcudbright from Berkshire 3 years ago.PM me if needs.

If you’re in Annan, pop into Tammys munchbox for a breakfast/ roll etc.

It’s on the high street.
full disclosure, Tammy is my sister.

Thanks for asking, yes all good, not living in the new house yet, the new date is the end of March, which is looking quite probable. It wont be finsihed then, but it’ll be liveable. I’ve just come in for a late dinner, I’ve started fitting the kitchen today, its been watertight for around 4 months now, but my work has got in the way, so I’ve not done anywhere near as much work on the house as I wanted. Upstairs is still just a shell really, the insulation is nearly finished, I’ve got most of the plasterboards here, so that will get done in the next few weeks, I have actually finished the small bedroom, we gave up our storage unit last week (£90/month), so have a lot of boxes around, hence I started getting that room finished, then that will be storage for the junk we’ve accumulated.
I think one week for each room, and one week to commision the ASHP will be enough, that will take me to the end of February, then it’ll be sorting all the other things that need doing. It’s not easy as it’s me on my own doing it all, carrying the plasterboards upstairs is a major feat, I’ve got it perfected now, but it’s taken a while to get it reasonably easy. Oh, and fitting the stairs alone was an experience too, but they are now secure, and I’m pretty pleased with them.
As for the area, cannot complain at all. Biking, beaches,decent folk, good dog walks, good places to visit.