I stop the UK for a North African nation – the climate is terrific, the wine is reasonable and it is not as racist as Britain

‘The weather in Morocco is terrific, the wine is cheap – and there’s no undercurrent of racism here, like in the UK.’

So says British-born architect Philip Brebner, who has been running Riad Porte Royale, a B&B he owns in Marrakech, for the last 20 years, alongside writing books, with his newest novel, Shadows of Marrakech out now.

It was a ‘moment of madness’ in 2004 while accompanying his wife on a work trip, that saw Philip buy the property in the town’s old quarter, the Medina.

At the time, the Marrakech riad was ‘rundown and dilapidated’, as the couple ‘didn’t have much money’, but they decided to renovate it before opening it as a guest house in 2006, and Philip has never looked back.

He says: ‘Marrakech is a really lovely place to be and a wonderful location. It’s a bit of an oasis, and it’s just got everything.

‘In the city, all the buildings are pink, so it just feels really magical and charming.

‘You also have the Agafay Stone Desert very nearby, and you can see the Atlas Mountains from the city, where you can go skiing if there is enough snow. And then, if you go over the Atlas, you have wonderful gorges, a dune desert and oases.

‘And, of course, it’s sunny most of the time!’

Philip says it’s much easier for Brits to buy property in Morocco now than when he purchased his riad – thanks to a surge in locals speaking English as a second language instead of French.

He explains: ‘Even though a lot of buying property is done with the notary in French or Arabic, most people now are speaking English.

‘There were very few estate agents here 20 years ago, and now there are at least four or five English estate agents here, who will basically take care of everything for you.

‘They’ll show you the property, they’ll take you through everything at the notary. They’ll then help with the renovation, and it’s so much easier now.’

Expats moving to Marrakech can choose to live in the old Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, surrounded by ‘colourful souks, wonderful monuments, mosques and the Atlas’.

Describing it, Philip says: ‘You really feel alive when you go there.

‘You’re walking down through a street market, and you have the metallic smell of blood from the butcher, and the smell of vegetables or fruit by the side of the road.

‘You go into the most fantastic restaurants with wonderful Moroccan tiles and decoration, or little restaurants, which may be on the roof of a building with lovely views across the city.’

Philip says buyers can expect to spend around £100,000, on an unrenovated courtyard house in the Medina, or up to £1 million for a refurbished property, depending on the size – ‘probably averaging £450,000’.

The new town Gueliz, ‘just outside the Medina’, is another option to settle in, where ‘incredibly modern flats, finished in marble, maybe set around a communal pool’ generally cost between £100,000 and £250,000.

Philip adds: ‘This whole area is very modern, arranged around avenues and wide pavements, and orange trees lining the boulevard.

‘I think what people would find surprising about Marrakech is how incredibly sophisticated the new town is, and how cosmopolitan it is.

‘You’ve got lots of shops you would find in the UK there, like Zara, and Carrefour supermarkets, which are a big brand in Europe.

‘It’s very dynamic as well – there’s always new restaurants opening up.’

When it comes to the cost of living, Philip says Morocco is much cheaper than the UK, and ‘water and electricity is inexpensive’.

‘Eating locally and shopping in local markets is very cheap indeed,’ he adds – although you can expect to spend slightly more if you dine in Marrakech’s ‘tourist restaurants’ or shop in the supermarkets rather than the souks.

‘Wine is also cheaper in Morocco than in the UK’, Philip says, adding that alcohol can be freely purchased in Gueliz, although off-licences are prohibited in the old Medina, and there are buying restrictions throughout Marrakech during Ramadan.

Although healthcare in Morocco isn’t free, Philip says it’s just as good as the UK’s NHS.

He says: ‘Healthcare is excellent because most of the doctors have gone abroad to be trained in France and come back, so there are a lot of private clinics and private hospitals – and the prices are quite reasonable.

‘One of my staff had a motorbike accident and went to a private clinic. He needed four pins put into his knee, and they did the most fantastic job. He was given the most fantastic physiotherapy and follow-up.’

The ‘fluid’ and ‘easygoing’ way of life in Morocco is something else Philip loves.

‘The British are nice, but the people in Morocco are very nice and very friendly,’ he adds. ‘Everybody in Morocco is very easy-going, so they don’t mind if you’re European, or whatever your religion is.

‘Marrakech, particularly, has always been a big melting pot of people from Africa, Europe, from the desert, so when you’re there, there is a feeling of everything being very easygoing.

‘In some parts of Britain, as we all know, there’s still some undercurrent of racism and you don’t really feel that in Morocco. For instance, you could be in Marrakech and be black, and nobody gives a second thought, or be European, and nobody’s going to care.’

The only problem for Philip? He has to leave Morocco every 90 days and return to Porto, Portugal, where he now lives for the rest of the year because he’s not an official citizen.

He explains: ‘After moving to Morocco, you will need to obtain a residence permit (carte de séjour) to stay for longer than 90 days, but navigating Moroccan bureaucracy can be a slow and stressful process, which requires patience and persistence.

‘So many expats, like myself, prefer to leave after 90 days then return after a short period which can be just a weekend trip to Europe or elsewhere, and then stay another 90 days and so on.’

Philip’s book Shadows of Marrakech is out now in paperback, available to buy from Amazon and most bookshops.