Retiring to Live in Melliaha

Hi peter & molly,

Welcome to Expat.com

Please note that your topic is now available on the Malta forum. This will help you to obtain more precise feedback from the members.

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com team

Welcome Peter and Molly to Malta
                  Your profile says you are in Sliema ( on your boat?).
We live in Mellieha and love it, for us it has the right mix of bars, restaurants without being to over crowded.
You will get lots of advice from fellow forum members but my  advice would be do not buy a house in Malta until you have lived here for more than 3 years. 

Reasons are ... over priced, poorly constructed, noise pollution, slow resale, rental properties are cheap, etc.

Just my opinion of course.

Good luck,

Terry

welcome - i too live in Mellieha and its the right place for us while we live here - Malta isnt our final resting place for sure - but Mellieha is IMHO a great place to live for all the reasons Tearnet has identified and id agree with him on property too,.

its a bit hilly so if mobility is an issue you may wish to spend time here first and judge

a good mix of cafes bars restaurant and the best beaches are all within 10-15mins - a large expat community who seem to all fare well and mix even better with our hosts. A great local council who seem to care what you think and do the right things to make the village look and feel good to ilve in

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Has been said previously, Mellieha is indeed a very nice place to live and maybe to settling down. I lived in Mellieha previously for about 4 months and to be honest, I did like it a lot for the reasons already mentioned by toon and ternet.

However, IMO there are only 2 things that may put some people off living in that area: 1- If you need to commute to the center of Malta or to places like Valletta, Sliema, etc., it might take you awhile to get there, especially when there's a lot of traffic on. 2- Even though the summer in Mellieha it's very nice, it gets crowded with tourists and other residents as Mellieha probably has one of the best sandy beaches in Malta. Also, to go and get out of Mellieha in the summer, it's not an easy task due to the high traffic in that season.
Nevertheless, if I didn't need to move due to my wife's need to commute to Attard everyday, I would probably still be happy living in Mellieha.

Good luck!

Antonio

Have you considered Gozo? As sailing people and if you prefer peace and quiet, I would suggest it.
If you are keeping your yacht, perhaps mooring would be less expensive too.

redmik wrote:

Have you considered Gozo? As sailing people and if you prefer peace and quiet, I would suggest it.
If you are keeping your yacht, perhaps mooring would be less expensive too.

Stop trying to poach all our new people!!

tearnet wrote:

redmik wrote:

Have you considered Gozo? As sailing people and if you prefer peace and quiet, I would suggest it.
If you are keeping your yacht, perhaps mooring would be less expensive too.

Stop trying to poach all our new people!!

Hello, My husband and I will be going to Malta in the next two weeks to start house hunting too. I am Maltese but have been in UK all my working life so this is a big change for me! I have very good friends who are in the yachting fraternity and would be happy to introduce you to them should you so wish.
Mellieha is lovely but by Maltese standards quite far away from things, so it depends what you want and where your boat is etc.
I would be happy to talk some more if you pm me.
Marisa

Hello Redmik, Personally I would love to get to know Gozo a little better before deciding on where to live but at the moment my husband is dead set against. Would love to meet up with you when we are over.

chinooks wrote:

Hello Redmik, Personally I would love to get to know Gozo a little better before deciding on where to live but at the moment my husband is dead set against. Would love to meet up with you when we are over.

Would look forward to meeting you. However, please note we do not have a car and we do not go to the mainland.
I agree with other advice do not buy, certainly not until a few years and you are certain you can have your money tied up for a long time.

Do you have expats meetings in Gozo? If you do, I will definitely come over with Mike. Coming over to Malta next week.........

chinooks wrote:

Do you have expats meetings in Gozo? If you do, I will definitely come over with Mike. Coming over to Malta next week.........

No meetings held here not of this group and I do not 'belong' to any other.

Dear  Expat.com Many thanks for fast set up and already reading useful replies , however when we tried to register the Site was obstructive . We offered our names and E address also a Password and rejected , hey we are kosh and have had our E address for 14 years . So this is frustrating as we wish to follow up with some of the Bloggers who offered us advice , help

Dear Expat.com
                              as I said delighted with response re Mellieha so could I also ask for pros and cons for retiring / buying in the St Pauls bay area  also , also if anybody would like to meet us from either Mellieha or St Pauls bay towns it would be a good way to glean the info we need in our quest to achieve the right place for us

peter & molly wrote:

Dear  Expat.com Many thanks for fast set up and already reading useful replies , however when we tried to register the Site was obstructive . We offered our names and E address also a Password and rejected , hey we are kosh and have had our E address for 14 years . So this is frustrating as we wish to follow up with some of the Bloggers who offered us advice , help

But..............you are here so something worked. Confused 
The advice remains the same, do NOT buy.

Hi Peter and Molly.

St. Paul's is a very busy area and in the Summer is even busier than Mellieha, it has a large expat community.

We live in Qawra which is a nice quiet part of St Paul's yet is only a short walk to the hustle and bustle of Bugibba if we need it.

Services are good and the bus station is very close so if you get on a bus at the terminal you are pretty much guaranteed a seat whereas 3 stops down the bus will be full in summer.

Rentals can be very cheap in the area especially at this time of year. I wouldn't buy in Malta until you've been here and in your chosen area for at least 6 months, at least.

We love it here and have already made good friends and have some lovely neighbours, the views are beautiful and on a good day with the wind behind me I can hit Gozo with a pea shooter.

There are pros and cons to every area, I knew Malta well before I moved and this was the place that ticked all the boxes and besides Malta is so small you need to go anywhere it isn't a problem.

The Sea is a huge part of life for us and St Paul's is close to the best beaches and some great water sports etc.

If you would like to meet up you are more than welcome to come over and I'll give you the low down on the area if you would like.

Jay.

to Jay hearing you and your saying almost all the right things ( heck knew maltese from schooldays and first visited with NAVY  in 70s ). Would gladly accept your offer to meet up and chat . We arrive 28th and have an Apartment booked in Sliema so anytime afterbeginning of Feb good at this time don t know our Maltese mobile number
                                                       yours sincerely Peter & Molly

Hi guys have pm'd you my number just give us a shout when you arrive