'We left our one-bed UK flat for three-bed Crete villa and save £300 a month'

'We left our one-bed UK flat for three-bed Crete villa and save £300 a month'Danielle and Russell Grant ditched the UK's high cost of living for a three-bed villa in CreteCommentsMoneySteven Smith Content Editor09:22, 20 Apr 2026Updated 09:25, 20 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesDanielle Grant and her daughter in Greece(Image: Danielle Grant/SWNS)A couple fed up with Britain's dreary weather have swapped the UK for sun-drenched Greece, and are now paying £300 a month less for a three-bedroom villa with a pool than they were for their one-bed flat back home. Danielle Grant, 35, and her husband Russell, 40, were smitten with Crete after a holiday on the Greek island, and took the plunge to up sticks and move there in November 2024, when their daughter, one, was just three months old.‌The pair now enjoy a sprawling villa complete with a roof terrace for just £850 a month, a significant saving compared to the £1,150 a month they forked out for their one-bed property in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. They say the "family-oriented" locals welcomed them with open arms from the moment they arrived.‌As both work in digital marketing and can operate entirely online, the couple were able to secure digital nomad visas, spending their days grafting from their sun-soaked terrace. Their driving motivation for the move was to give their daughter the best possible start in life, and they have no intention of ever heading back to the UK.‌View 4 ImagesDanielle Grant and her husband Russell with their daughter in Greece(Image: Danielle Grant/SWNS)Danielle said: "We no longer felt safe in the UK, we were sick of the rat race and the weather. Our jobs weren't location-dependent, so we thought why stay in the UK when we can travel the world and live life to the full."After visiting Crete on holiday about five years ago, we fell in love with the culture, the lifestyle and the people. They are so family-orientated and they just make you feel really at home, we didn&#x...