‘We swapped ‘unsafe’ UK for sunny Spain and now save £1,000 a month’

Tim Sunderland and his fiancé Sally Biddall decided to leave their home in Fulham, London and move to Nerja, in Andalusia, southern Spain to work as digital nomads

Tim Sunderland and his fiancé Sally Biddal(Tim Sunderland / SWNS)

A couple say they’re “living the dream” and saving £1,000 a month after ditching the UK for Spain.

Tim Sunderland, 35, and his fiancé, Sally Biddall, 33, decided to leave their new build studio flat in Fulham, London, for Nerja, in Andalusia, southern Spain following a stabbing on their street.

The couple claim the cost-of-living crisis combined with a spate of local crimes in their area made their life in London “a chore”.

Having grown up in Hammersmith and Fulham, Londoner Tim felt “there was a lot of tension” in the capital – after his friend was mugged twice and lots of watches and phones in their area were stolen.

Tim – who runs a multi-asset brokerage Mitto Markets – decided to shut up shop in the UK in March – and now is a digital nomad.

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The couple have settled on the Costa del Sol(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This new lifestyle means he can roam around different countries with access to the internet his only requirement. He is able to run his company from a laptop while sitting on a sunny terrace with a sea view.

Tim can end up working from 8am until 9pm, an intense schedule which made him want to make the most of “precious resources – time and happiness”.

The couple claim living in Spain saves them £1,000 every month – and so far, they’ve saved themselves £3k by moving out of London. Tim insists they have “absolutely no regrets”.

“It doesn’t feel like a holiday from Monday to Friday. Me and my fiancée both run very full-on businesses and we’re entirely focussed on that,” Tim said.

“Taking on such a heavy work commitment like we have, it’s become completely necessary to take more care of our mental health – and living near the sea in a sunny country and away from a major city, it helps us keep perspective on life.

“Just the other night, I had a pint of local beer, large bottle of water and two tapas dishes which only came to €4.65”

Tim owns his flat in Fulham, but if he was renting his house it would cost at least £2,300-a-month whereas a like-for-like holiday apartment in Nerja costs just £1,700-a-month.

“We’re doing 90 days in Spain then 90 in Montenegro, then we will head back to Spain,” he said.

“It’s not as easy as it was to live in Spain as it was pre-Brexit. But there you can still get a visa if you can prove you are generating income in Spain and employing other people – so we are hopeful we will be able to get this.”

Tim and his partner, Sally – who runs a remote digital agency called Dandelion social – are currently renting a long-term Airbnb for 90 days in Nerja, costing around 60 euros per night.

Both Tim and Sally have other remote workers on their teams and Tim is planning to expand the business to employ more people.

“They will be allowed to work abroad too if they want, it’s only fair. The pay for a grad salary for someone living in London now is just unrealistic,” Tim said.

Some four million Brits changed their career last year for more flexible working arrangements, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).