Doubts about moving to Sri Lanka

Hi Everyone,

I am starting this topic hoping that somebody with local knowledge and experience can very kindly advise on some important questions we have before making a decision on whether or not it would be possible for us to relocate to Sri Lanka.

We are a small family, myself (Italian), my wife (British) and our 2 year old son (British Passport), planning to move from London, UK to Sri Lanka for a change of lifestyle.

We have traveled once  to Sri Lanka before and loved the country but of course relocating there would be a big thing. Our idea is to go to Galle, rent a property for 6-12 months, see how we like life there and also figure out what we can do in terms of work / generating income.
I have been trying to gather information online on how easy it is to get long term visas, possibly setting up a business or buying property/land as a foreigner. But from what I understand, accordingly to official government regulations it would be almost impossible for us to live there for over 6 months, as we may not have the USD 250,000+ required for investors visas, or know a trustworthy local to set up a company or buy a property with.

We would greatly appreciate if you could share you knowledge or personal experience if you were in a similar situation as us on how we could go about building a life there despite the restrictions.

Thank you.
Kind regards,
Nando