Bulgaria: home of rose oil, numerous resorts on the Black Sea, some of the world’s finest Byzantine preserved architecture – and somewhere in the region of 5,000 Britons.
The Balkan state, nestled at the edge of the former Eastern Bloc, is welcoming an influx of British expats attracted by its low cost of living, cheap property prices and the promise of Slavic sun.
Results from the 2021 Bulgarian census show there were 4,484 British citizens living in the country, up from 2,605 in 2011.
Many are fleeing sky-high mortgages and spiralling interest rates in the UK – and snapping up dirt-cheap ramshackle properties to turn into their dream homes.
So enthusiastic are some buyers that they’re buying plots and homes on eBay, often unseen, and knuckling down to restore them for far less than it would cost to renovate a similar property in Britain.
And they’re moving out there despite it being the European Union‘s poorest state – with the lowest GDP per head of around £11,857, less than a third of the UK’s – which is also in the throes of political turmoil.
Three rounds of attempting to form a coalition government last autumn eventually saw the right-leaning GERB and ITN parties form an uneasy alliance with the BSP – United Left. The election was marred by allegations of voter intimidation and fraud.
The spectre of Delyan Peevski, a heavily sanctioned oligarch accused of operating like a mafioso, still looms large despite his failure to win a spot in government.
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Donna Hardy, from Scunthorpe, moved to Bulgaria last year and bought a huge house with land for just under £22,000
Jordan Vye pictured with daughter Fae outside their Bulgarian farmhouse
Britons have been moving to Bulgaria in increasing numbers in recent years to snap up bargain properties – like this £8,000 three-bed home primed for renovation
Welsh couple Maxwell and Leah Jones, who have snapped up the house pictured above, with their two kids Lorenzo and Indy
The inside of the house in Bulgaria – which the couple purchased without even viewing
Peevski has been sanctioned in the UK and US over allegations of bribing government officials and embezzling state funds, while also leaning on the courts and the security services to protect himself from public scrutiny.
But despite being known as a ‘mafia state’ by many due to claims of political corruption, the allure of cheap homes, a low cost of living and sun by the Black Sea has been too much for expats to resist.
Gemma Stevenson moved to the country in 2007 and set up Bulgarian Property Experts to help other Britons find their perfect home.
Corresponding with MailOnline by email, she said people were drawn to the country by its low cost of living across property, food, bills and transport – as well as its breathtaking landscapes and enviable weather.
‘Whether you’re renting or buying, the prices are significantly lower than in most Western European countries,’ she said.
There are other draws: a low crime rate in rural communities outside of major cities – where the Foreign Office warns that pickpockets can run rife – and, inevitably, some things that Britons can only dream of.
‘It has more than 300 days of sunshine a year, particularly in the south,’ she notes – far more than back home.
And there’s also its position on the continent, at the furthest reaches of the European Union, bordering on Greece and Turkey, which are both accessible by road or dirt-cheap trains.
An overnight couchette on the Sofia-Istanbul Express can run to as little as 30 Euros.
But Ms Stevenson says there is also a culture of Bulgarians being a welcoming people – one that can take Britons by surprise at first, before drawing them in.
She moved with her daughter Sky – who is now studying at a university in the northern city of Veliko Tarnovo – and has become engaged to electrician Georgi, with whom she has had another daughter, Katrina.
In her experience, the country could not have been more accommodating as she developed her business and built relationships with local councils and lawyers.
‘The local village people take young families under their wing and even if they can not speak with you in the same language, they will go out of their way to make you feel at home,’ she recalled.
‘They bring you homemade chutneys, preserves or wine and rakia (fruit brandy) for you to try. [In the] summer months, you will have neighbours dropping by with bags of fruit and vegetables to fill your fridges, all homegrown in the garden.
‘You could not ask for a more welcoming nation.’
Britons are increasingly moving to Bulgaria seeking cheaper homes, with coastal towns on the Black Sea such as Nessebar seen as attractive
While Scunthorpe native Donna admits her house is ‘very run down’, she has been sharing constant updates on its condition and giving people an insight into Bulgarian life
Bulgarian Property Experts’ listings serve as a microcosm of why Britons move: a three-bed home in Popovo, a village in the north-east of Bulgaria, costs as little as 15,000 Euros (£12,000) and is primed for renovation.
A fully renovated three-bed, three-bath house, which also boasts two kitchens and a 32 square metre swimming pool is just 143,000 Euros (£120,000) – barely enough for a suburban terraced house in the average British town.
Among them are Maxwell and Leah Jones, aged 38 and 29, who bought a house outright for £8,000 without even viewing it after growing tired of trying to get a foot on the property ladder in Britain.
The couple bought their three-bed home in Popovo, in the north-east, for less than 3 per cent of the £300,000 cost of a similar sized home in their home town of Prestatyn, Wales.
They flew out in May to see it and plan to move there full time by the end of the year after investing an estimated £15-20,000 in bringing it up to scratch.
With monthly living costs thought to be around £300, or £680 for a ‘comfortable’ living standard, they plan to raise and homeschool children Lorenzo and Indy there as they integrate themselves fully into Bulgarian life. Handily, Maxwell is a joiner.
‘It was exactly like it looked online,’ he said earlier this month.
‘We were due to buy a house in the UK but it became hard to put all this money out and still be paying it off for 25 years.
‘We looked at the price in Bulgaria and it became a no brainer.’
‘Now we’re mortgage-free. There is a lot to do – it’s a shell but we are up for a challenge.’
He will fly out in two months to re-wire the house before the rest of the family joins him before the year is out. They will then live off the land, keeping animals and growing fruit and vegetables.
Last year, Scunthorpe native Donna Hardy moved out to Veliko Tarnovo – the university city where estate agent Gemma’s daughter is studying – and bought a huge house for some 26,000 Euros (£21,900).
The estate included a barn, several outbuildings and an acre of land – all for less than it would cost to buy a family hatchback in Britain.
Bulgaria is in a state of political instability following a number of elections and accusations of vote rigging and corruption, many centred around sanctioned oligarch and MP Delyan Peevski
Lewis and Jordan ditched Britain for Bulgaria in 2022, buying a dilapidated farmhouse for £7,000 where they will raise children Fae and Leo
The pair had been inspired by Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild – and found themselves appearing on the show earlier this year
Taking to TikTok to share her experience of moving overseas, she admitted the house was ‘very run down’ but was ready to get her hands dirty – and has, in the months since, documented the journey on social media.
Posting an update to her near-50,000 followers last week, she revealed her almost unbelievably low cost of living.
‘This is my property. For my electric, this month, I paid 66 lev… which works up around about £31 for the month,’ she said.
‘For my water, this month, I paid 22 lev, which works out around nine, ten pounds, give or take.’
Ms Hardy’s home does not have a connection to Bulgaria’s domestic gas network, which remains in its infancy in rural areas.
But she does buy gas bottles – refilling two gargantuan, waist-height gas bottles that can hold around 19kg of fuel each.
‘To fill the gas bottle, up here in Bulgaria, costs you just short of 100 Lev, which works out at around £42 in English money,’ she said.
‘We’ve had that bottle since we’ve come out here, and we haven’t used all of them, so we haven’t had to fill up yet.’
Refilling a smaller 13kg bottle in Britain costs around £50, depending on supplier.
The stories come thick and fast: of Jordan and Lewis Vye, who packed up their life in Bournemouth and bought a dilapidated farmhouse in what they called their own ‘pound shop version of Escape to the Chateau’.
They purchased it unseen for just £7,000 in June 2022 after speaking to a friend who had bought another property for £3,000.
Realising they were unlikely to ever be able to afford a mortgage, they hit the road with their caravan.
Sharing their journey on YouTube under the name From Bournemouth to Bulgaria, the Vyes are still restoring their home – but recently hosted TV’s Ben Fogle.
His series New Lives in the Wild had inspired them as he visited people who had dived into a whole new lifestyle – and their journey came full circle as they appeared on the show in January.
Scottish delivery driver Rob Davies bought a house in Golyamo Krushevo – and liked it so much he bought two more
He snapped up this six-bed house for £3,000, before buying two more – each requiring substantial renovation
He purchased the houses on eBay, unseen – as an investment in his family’s long-term future
On the Channel 5 show, they admitted they had been in a cycle of drinking and partying to escape their unhappiness and stress while struggling to save.
But they say they have found peace raising their children among nature in Bulgaria.
Jordan said: ‘We’ve always kind of struggled to make ends meet. That really pushed us to come here because you’re 30 years old and you own two acres of land and a house, three buildings, outright, no mortgage.’
Lewis added: ‘I was doing things I shouldn’t have been doing far too regularly, and I think it feels like I’m in a better place when I’m here. When I’m here, that cycle is broken.
‘And I’m just a guy who’s renovating his house, who’s farming his land, who’s being a great dad, who’s being a great husband, and I’m closer to the person that I want to be here.’
And in 2023, Scottish delivery driver Rob Davies made headlines when he bought three homes in Golyamo Krushevo, Bulgaria on eBay for around £3,000 each – without ever seeing them in person.
As documented in Channel 4 programme Help! We Bought a Village, Mr Davies had a huge task on his hands: fitting bathrooms, kitchens, windows, and even carrying out wiring and plumbing.
‘I sent them a message saying I was interested, I want it, I think we paid a £200 deposit, got the keys and the rest is history,’ he said at the time.
‘It was basically four walls with a roof, but, it was ours. It felt amazing to actually go, we want a property, we can’t do that in the UK.’
There has been no word from him since – presumably, he’s still fixing them up now.
Living in Bulgaria, then, comes with a great deal of advantages, from the low cost of living to the wide availability of cheap, ready-to-renovate properties.
It’s not easy work and, even with lower labour and supply costs than in Britain, will doubtless require huge investment.
That being said, those who move out there find themselves more than happy to put in the work.
Estate agent Gemma adds: ‘It’s a country where you can enjoy the best of both worlds: a slower, more relaxed pace of life, reminding us of what the UK was 60 years ago, with the excitement of exploring new opportunities.’
