House Hunters Wayne and Lisa in Corfu
Attracting the Rothschild family, singer James Blunt and former PM David meron, northeast Corfu enjoys a certain cachet. Every summer its multi-million pound villas within easy reach of the pretty harbour of Kassiopi rent out for several thousand.
Wayne and Lisa from Leeds fell for its charm over 10 years ago, got married on the island in 2021 and decided to buy a home in their’ happy place.
For their budget of £145,000 they managed to get cracking property in nearby Arcaravi – with some help from Laura Hamilton and the production team A Place in the Sun – which viewers will have seen in a recent episode. But the two-bedroom detached house with a covered terrace that was Property 5 now looks very different as the couple report two years later. It’s clear from the outside it’s had a facelift - painted from top to bottom with pretty Santorini Blue shutters, the windows triple glazed.
“Inside we have converted the lounge into a third bedroom, installed air conditioning and we’ve been working on getting our swimming pool…” says Wayne, who shares four children with Lisa in their blended family. The swimming pool is currently a 4x9 metre hole to the side if their home. But it’s taken two years to get to this point after a lot of patience and some knockbacks, he says.
“We bought it because there was space to have a pool but soon realised that there was no way to have a pool where we thought we would because the land was way too steep. The structural engineers said we’d have to have it on the drive.
“One structural engineer told us having a pool was not possible, another just disappeared and in the end we approached our solicitor in Corfu Town and thankfully introduced us to a fantastic young engineer who helped us get permission for a pool,” he says. He says their estate agent, Roula Rouva, was also very helpful.
Before the planning department accepted the pool, they had to legalise other aspects of the property including the veranda. “We are now building the biggest pool we were allowed and also plan an outside toilet and shower, BBQ, pizza oven and small bar,” says Lisa.
By next spring it should be looking pretty impressive for potential renters as they intend to let it out to pay for the €35k pool and €25k for the rest of the improvements. Wayne points out that they got charged less per square metre to build the pool by a local Greek than a British building firm. “Things work very slowly in Greece but we have had to just go with it and realise that in the end we are getting our pool and we’ve made great progress,” says Wayne.
They have grown to love Archaravi, which is the major working town of the north coast, it remains busier in winter than the tourist resorts like Kassiopi where you can’t even ‘buy a cup of coffee’ suggests Lisa. They’ve been out five or six times a year – though a lack of direct flights to Corfu in the winter from the UK is a bit frustrating. Plus the fact that labourers down tools for August (and have siestas!).
“If you are thinking of a Greek renovation plan you need to be patient but also find the right people,” says Wayne. “We have put in CCTV so we can see what the builders are doing – because we cannot visit all the time. At least we can see if they start doing something we are not sure about. Also, get yourself a good accountant who can help you register for the right taxes.”
And of course, as far as their longed-for swimming pool – don’t take no for an answer.
