London leavers: 'We left renting in Dalston for a derelict house in Hastings we got for £200k at auction'

Exchanging London for the south coast was very much not part of Holly Murdoch’s life plan.

Settled happily in the capital, it took a relationship breakup (happily only temporary), a house in serious need of some TLC, and the promise of a new life by the sea to uproot Holly from her career in marketing and public relations and her flat in Dalston.

Today home is a Victorian house in Hastings, and she has found herself learning the pub trade and developing a new circle of friends.

“People here are open to meeting new people, and there is much more of a sense of community here than I ever felt in Dalston,” said Holly.

Before the pandemic Holly, 40, and her boyfriend Joseph Ryan, 41, were sharing a one bedroom £1,400pcm flat.

Joseph was running a stable of four pubs, including Howl at the Moon in Hoxton, and The Bear in Camberwell.

The pandemic was a tough time for the pub industry, his landlords The Wellington Pub Company, run by billionaire brothers David and Simon Reubin, notoriously charged many of their tenant landlords full rent for the duration, and he began feeling disenchanted.

“Then Joseph and I broke up and when we were broken up a friend sent him the details of this house in Hastings which was for sale at auction,” said Holly.

The three bedroom house was in a sad state. “It was derelict,” said Holly. “There was a tree growing through the back wall of the house, the roots were coming through the wall and the top came out through a bedroom window.”

Its condition meant that Joseph was able to pick the property up for £200,000 in 2021. His plan was not to live there but to take advantage of the pandemic inspired race for space by doing it up and then renting it out.

Then he and Holly got back together, and plans changed. During a visit to Holly’s family, who live nearby, they decided to move down and renovate the property for themselves.

“It felt like a really fun, exciting thing to do together,” said Holly.

The next decision was for Joseph to get rid of three of his pubs (he still has Howl and the Moon), and to invest in a freehold pub in Hastings, The Seadog.

Holly quit her job and is now working on raising the pub’s profile and preparing for it to open its six upstairs rooms as a hotel.

After a stint staying with Holly’s godmother, and seven months living above the pub, the couple were able to move into their renovated home in September 2022, having spent around £160,000 on the work.

“It had no hot water and no kitchen at the time, but we were so happy to be able to move out of the pub,” said Holly.

When not working the couple are loving their new, more outdoorsy way of life. They spend their downtime playing tennis, horse riding, sailing, and walking their two dogs, Luna and Roxy.

“Hastings is a really quirky little town,” said Holly.

“There is a huge arts scene here, which we love, and most of the people we meet who are DFL [down from London] are from Hackney, New Cross, and Peckham. That is who it attracts.”

The hospitality scene is really booming, and there is some really good nightlife too. I don’t know whether I would have wanted to live here in my twenties, but we moved in our late thirties, and it is perfect for us. We also love being close to London — on the train you can be at London Bridge in an hour and a half.”