Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 1:35pm
It depends very much on the value/age/cost cost of your furniture, any emotional attachment to it, style & size (will it fit with the size / type of property you intend to buy?), etc. versus replacement costs. If you have furniture that has seen better days and you expect to replace in the next few years anyway, or a 5 year old plus washing machine, etc. then why spend money bringing it with you, only to replace it soon?
It will cost you around £2,000 to move furniture, plus, say £500 for 6 months storage, so you could offset that against the cost of replacements. Bear in mind that second-hand furniture will only sell for about 25% of the cost of new on Ebay, Gumtree, etc, unless you're really lucky.
There isn't the same range of self-storage options in Spain as the UK, but the prices are comparable / a little cheaper:
https://www.storagesolutions.es/our-services
There are shops you will recognise - DFS, Ikea, etc. along with others that you won't and prices are similar to the UK. You might consider it nice to start your new life in Spain with new furniture, purposely bought to fit in with your new property - and you have 6 months to choose it?
Car - it's easier to buy and drive a Spanish registered car, but the used market isn't as developed in Spain and prices are higher - mainly because company car fleets are almost non-existent, so these don't filter into the second-hand market; and there is a tradition of handing used cars down to family members until they run into the ground. There will be lots of high-mileage, small, ex-hire cars - but these may not suit.
If you have a 'nice', expensive car in the UK, then bear in mind what money you would receive in selling it (and the market will be strange as there will be a glut of pre-registered 'new' cars that dealers will be desperate to sell following the Covid lockdown). Then that type of car would be costly to replace with an equivalent, if that's what you want.
Your LHD options in the UK will also be minimal, so, if you can afford to do so, and you don't want to keep your UK car, I would suggest flying over and buying a Spanish-registered car, then drive it back to collect dog, etc. for the move; and leave your UK car with a friend or relative to sell when you can.
Hope this helps!
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