I left Britain to buy my dream home in Bulgaria for £21,500 – now I have my forever family home with a huge garden

A woman has revealed how she left Britain to buy her dream home in Bulgaria.

Donna Hardy, 43, and her family moved this year from Scunthorpe in Britain to a large house near Veliko Tarnavo in northern Bulgaria.

The mother-of-three claims she paid just €26,000 (£21,000) for the property, which includes a smaller house at the back, a ‘huge’ barn, several outbuildings and around an acre of land.

She described her new home as “very run down” but said she and her family are “so happy with it.”

In one video which has racked up more than 1.5 million views, Donna took to TikTok to show off her sprawling new estate.

She said: ‘We paid €26,000 for this house but not only did we get this house, around the house there is another little mini house, there is a huge barn, we have outbuildings and we also have the garage and a hectares of land. country.

‘At the moment, as you can see, we are still unpacking a lot of stuff.’

Donna’s daughter Elise even bought the property next door for £21,000 and a smaller property for £7,000.

As of January 2024, the average house price in Britain is £282,200, rising to £518,000 in London.

By comparison, Bulgaria’s central north has an average asking price of €26,574 Move 2 Bulgariamaking it one of the cheapest areas in Europe to live.

Houses are even for sale on eBay, where Donna’s daughter Elise found her home. Donna bought her own house through a real estate agency.

Viewers in Britain were amazed that Donna had managed to buy such a big house for her money.

The mother-of-three claims she paid just €26,000 (£21,000) for the property, which includes a smaller house at the back, a ‘huge’ barn, several outbuildings and around an acre of land.

Donna has been sharing videos of the sprawling estate on her TikTok account

Donna and her family describe the property as ‘derelict’ and have already started renovations, enlisting help from local builders

They wrote: ‘Wow! That’s cheap! In Bristol, England, £26,000 gets you the gate!!’;

‘Definitely a bargain, well done for leaving England, I applaud you’;

‘Funny, I’m Bulgarian, I bought a house in London for crazy money… should have stayed on my toes. I regret all my life choices’;

‘Living the Dream’;

‘I got my house in Bulgaria in 2018, and as an English man I can honestly tell you that this is the right move, and the people there are nice.’

However, another said: ‘Bulgaria is cheap to buy yes, but there isn’t much there and when it’s freezing in winter!’

Donna and her family describe the property as ‘derelict’ and have already started renovations, enlisting help from local builders.

Viewers in Britain were amazed that Donna had managed to buy such a big house for her money

She said: ‘The house we have is a big house, we also have a mini house.

‘We have a nice big barn and a large amount of land. So we are quite satisfied with the price we paid.’

They have started tiling in one room, while the living room is almost finished with a cozy fireplace, sofa and storage space.

Donna says she hopes the ‘mini house’ at the back will provide a cozy atmosphere for her 12-year-old daughter when the work is completed.

She said she and her family are currently living there on a Type D visa, granted to those who want to enter the country to settle there for a long period of time.

It comes as many Britons decide to leave Britain for Australia and head Down Under in search of better wages, friendlier people and a more relaxed lifestyle.

A new study shows that life expectancy in Australia is two years longer than in Britain, published in BMJ Open.

Evidence revealing the benefits of living in Australia may be new, but Brits have long claimed that making the move has improved their mental wellbeing.