I’ve rung two doctors’ surgeries but they both say that they have closed

I’ve rung two doctors’ surgeries, but they both say that they have closed their books.”Local primary school head-teacher Peter Coleman says that Constanza may be in for a long wait for school places at least. He has been head of his school for 17 years and has witnessed the increasing demand for school places that new developments bring. “When they built a development of three- and four-bedroom units nearby a few years ago, they made no extra provision for places. Local schools were just expected to absorb them and it became extremely difficult.”Coleman predicts that things will worsen and, while the outlook is grim for primary places, by secondary the situation is dire: “This year has been horrendous, the worst ever. Out of 90 11-year-olds in my school, 50 are still unplaced.” He blames what he calls the “clear dysfunction” between the local authority’s planning department and education service: “They obviously don’t talk to each other.”But while local authorities and the government go down the high-density route in a bid to regenerate our cities, it is, ironically, this very lack of strategic planning that persuades many to leave for pastures new.

I’ve lost count of the numbers of friends and acquaintances who’ve gone because of a dearth of schools. And when they go, they take their much-needed skills with them.Those who opt to stay in London and move into the catchment area of any half-decent school may find themselves compromising on space and paying a premium. Hamptons International’s Carl Davenport is based in the Dulwich office and has many clients who are moving in order to be nearer particular schools “I’m constantly amazed at how rigid people are over schools. They are prepared to concede on price and in terms of space but a school is a ‘must have’.” Davenport has watched prices creep up over the years and has known buyers pay £100,000 extra to get into certain roads. But he warns that even these buyers may find themselves taking risks, as catchment areas shrink, especially where new developments have placed greater demands. “It’s always a gamble, but it’s one that more and more buyers find that they have to take.”.

THE PROBLEM

THE PROBLEM
“We are keen surfers and mountain bikers and, for the last year, have been looking to buy a second home in Cornwall where we can spend long weekends and holidays. We haven’t been able to find anything suitable and are tired of viewing tiny overpriced cottages and spending hours in motorway jams on a Friday night.”Recently we have started to think about maybe buying somewhere abroad, but we are not sure if we could get anything suitable for our budget. We’ve heard that the Western Algarve in Portugal has good surfing beaches, although we’ve never been there, having always associated this area with a more elderly set, which prefers golf to surfing.”We’d like to know if it is possible to buy somewhere off the beaten track – definitely not on a development, which is our idea of hell – which is easily accessible to an airport which has budget airline flights so that we can go there often and cheaply. We’d like to be not too far away from restaurants and bars, as we would like some social activity.

We don’t mind buying a house which needs some work doing on it. Can you help?CAROLINE’S ADVICEJane and Nigel are wrong about the Western Algarve This beautiful area is not just for golf lovers. The most important thing that anyone planning to come to this region should realise is that there are two distinct Algarves.East of Lagos are the large villa developments centred around golf courses. But west of Lagos is the most south-westerly tip of Europe, with a huge Atlantic coast of rugged cliffs, wild sandy beaches and world-class surfing.