Sulac

I am obviously out of touch.....!!

That would be 3.99% which is quite a hike from 2.69%....

Hi We left England two years ago and rented our house out. Time has come to renew our mortgage as it goes back to base rate as from 1st September (3.99%). We currently have it at 2.69% with Halifax. We have consent to lease at present but have been told they have no products available with this option and would have to go onto a buy to let mortgage which the Halifax Adviser reckons would be higher than 3.99% As we have a fairly sizable mortgage we'd like to keep our repayments down to a minimum. Anyone been in this situation or know of any good Mortgage Advisers in the UK who ma offer good mortgage rates with consent to lease? Any help appreciated Sulac:biglaugh:

No we are on PR here....so what do you suggest?

Hi there guys, It's that time of year when we have to submit our tax return. We have a house in England which we are renting out and one of the questions the accountant has asked is whether we have any rental properties. Do we need to declare this if it is in the Uk and we have declared it back there? Sorry still fairly new to Oz.:cool: Regards Sally

OMG - it's complicated - have just bought a house and we need to get a private building surveyor contractor to look at a dodgy covered patio area which needs a Building Approval Certificate. The lovely people at Stirling Council said they would send me a list of names and ...errr...it came out at 760 pages long as a pdf attachment. Wasn't quite expecting that - does any one know some good recommendations for a Private Building Surveying Contractor - it's a relatively small job near Carine? Thanks one and all Sulac

Yes No one mentioned it to us either and feel slightly aggrieved. As someone said to me today "In Australia it is all about the money" and at this moment in time I really agree...

Hi there is no Speech Therapist who will come to the school, although he did get this in England. His teacher and GP have said this ECP scheme is a great option and I didn't mind making teh shortfall....but when it came out at $340 for five sessions was a bit stunned (and that is just the shortfall) Do you think it will be the case that even though he is a 7 year old he will still have to wait a year to be seen if I sign up privately? Cheers Sulac

Okay so today was not a good day. We are on a permanent resident status and today I learnt that as we didn't take up any private health insurance within a year of receiving our medicare card we are now liable for another 30% on private health insurance costs (ie a loading) - ten year loading if we take out private health insurance. Is this common knowledge - and how come we missed this? But we are being advised to take our private health insurance as my husband will get heavily penalised in his end of year tax return if he doesn't (apparently although not sure why) This is our dilemma - 7 year old son has been referred by a GP to see a speech therapist. Apparently under an EPC agreement , my son can see a Speech Therapist for five sessions immediately but there will be a shortfall or gap which we will have to fund ourselves. Rang the Speech Therapist today and it appears the shortfall for five sessions is $340 which is more than I expected. So then I think....hhmmm I should just sign up for private health insurance and get son seen that way. If I took out private health insurance tomorrow could he be seen fairly soon? Would I have to pay anything (other than private health insurance costs) and would i be capped on a limit to his speech therapy, ie amount of seesions or costs incurred...or maybe even if I did take out private health insurance I would have to wait until I could access speech therapy services.... If anyone can shed any light that would be fab. this private health care cover thing is driving me nuts!!!!:arghh: Sulac

Gosh didn't realise you were all so knowledgeable. Shall pass on all these details. Thank you very much - I didn't realise there was so much choice out there!

Thanks for that - sounds a good deal, but what is the cheapest way to ring from England to Australia. Any idea you folk living in the UK?

Thanks Terry - we do skype over the computer, great invention skype (the inventor Niklas Zennstrom has obviously done well as my friend's husband is his skipper on his private yacht which is 72 feet long!!) but at 86, My Father says he now prefers to pick up the phone. I have managed to get cheap calls to England for $2.30 per half hour which I think is pretty good, but he'd like to be able to call me as well.

Hi there Can you help? I am living in Perth in WA. I am trying to explain to my Father in England how to dial Australia cheaply as I know there are some cheap pre-dialing numbers/prefix numbers to keep call costs down. Trouble is some of these pre-dialing prefixes listed on the internet don't seem to work anymore. He has been dialing me from a BT phone line and it is outrageously expensive. As my father is in his eighties he is slightly confused. Can anyone offer any advice on dialing Australia from England with these pre-fix numbers. Has anyone used a prefix dialing code so that it tried and tested and works? All your help is appreciated. Sulac :yes:

Hi there Thought I'd let you know about a course I am doing online that fits in well with kids and school run. Disillusioned at not getting a job since landing in Oz - decided to go back to studying and found a course in Business Administration through TrainSmart Australia in Perth on Adelaide Terrace. Doing six months study but can do most of my work on the internet with just a few days in the college doing face to face training. You get allocated a one to one trainer - in my case a teacher called Alexis. Thought it fitted in really well other commitments - kids etc and the course is approved by the Ozzie government. Hoping to finish it soon and then securing a great job in 2015! Bring it on.....

Wow weren't expecting so many responses this has been a huge help will check these websites out. Thanks once again. Sulac

Thanks LadyRainicorn - have checked out the van website and my jaw dropped to the floor (£3K plus for four weeks) can't seem to get on to the Autos website at present but this advice is appreciated. Maybe we should buy a cheap one on ebay and sell it on after four weeks.

Hi we are back to the Uk at Christmas - land mid December for four weeks - thinking of hiring a car but we would need a 7 seater as we are a family of six - so am anticipating it may be jolly expensive. Anyone know any cut price car rental places? We are based in South of England, Crawley so something near there ideally. Any help appreciated

hi thanks for your comments. I think the word "greedy" springs to mind. We offered them $850 for six months but they declined but said we could have it for an extra three months at $1K a week ie an extension (!!!!) - no good to us though as we are away for five weeks over Christmas, so we are going to look elsewhere. They are overseas in Canada so maybe they are unaware of the downturn in the rental market. Maggie I am sorry I can't help you with this - best to start a new thread as you will pick up more interest and you will find you will receive more comments. Good luck in your search.

Any 4 or 5 bed short term accommodation available in North Beach or surrounds from the 25th October to the 13th December 2014? Any help - contacts appreciated Cheers Sulac

Hi Wellers and Whitehead have asked for that and they said no. So now exploring other options. We signed up when rental market was hot ......but it has really cooled and I think $1K a week is top whack. Wish they would agree to month by month.

Hi all I have a dilemma - can anyone help? I have been paying a whopping $1K a week for a rental property in North Beach. The one year agreement is up and its time to decide what to do. Problem is we wanted to buy but the sale of our house in England hasn't reached exchange and completion even though sale was agreed mid July. Unlike in England where you can just carry on renting and give a months notice we have to tie ourselves in to another contract. I really don't want to pay $1K a week and tie myself in for a year - especially as hopefully money should be here from sale of our house in 6 weeks or so. Likewise I don't want to pay for removals to go somewhere wlse which may be for relatively short term. I have heard the rental market has dipped with lots around compared to this time last year and opportunity to negotiate leases. How easy is it to break lease if I tie myself in again and would it be preferable to do 6 months or 12 months - the owners will not agree to periodical have already asked. Would it be cheeky to try to get price reduced by 10 or 15%? If I break lease what are the costs incurred to me? Any help and advice appreciated. Sulac:nah:

Am I out of touch .....went to book myself in for a hair cut and the hairdresser tapped away on her calculator and said total treatment with conditioner and root colour:chatterbox: would be $310 dollars - errr no thanks. Now my 14 year old daughter has a party she is going to on Saturday night and wants her hair cut Saturday morning. Really don't want to spend the earth as she is only a teenager - anyone know of any reasonable hairdressers (maybe walk in ones) that could do a wash and cut for reasonable price for teenage girl in above areas ..... Cheers Sulac

Thanks for all your comments - in actual fact it hasn't been as bad as I feared because I am starting early so miss most traffic and I get discount on public car parking!

Yes a very good post Brown Sauce which I can relate to a lot. We arrived in Perth six months ago and had to battle with a dozen other families to get a long term rental. We had a budget of $750 a week in mind and have ended up paying $1,000 a week (!!) so we will definitely have to move to a cheaper rent after our years tenancy has ended. I have helped out in the school canteen and although the volunteers were friendly I didn't rate the food as very healthy! I am amazed at the cost of living -when I tell people you can buy a can of baked beans in England for the equivalent of 40 cents - they can't believe it. My children seem very settled and happy at their schools and love friends popping in and out of their house. My husband found work quickly and now seems to be enjoying it. I was looking for part time work which doesn't seem that readily available. I applied for 72 jobs on Seek before I struck lucky but my new job - although a good position with a decent salary is full time which is something I didn't really want. I have a tendency to look back on life in the Uk with rose tinted glasses especially when this weekend my friends were posting about the glorious weather they've had. I had great friends in the UK, a good social network and a lovely house, but I hated the terrible winters (always felt I was living for the Summer) We were hit badly by the recession - husband's work was scratchy and patchy and there was always the threat of redundancy at my work - I did in the end leave with a redundancy package so the economic climate in Britain was very real and grim for us. My oldest has just turned 13 and started Secondary School so I want to give life in Oz a fair shot. I think you just must go with your heart - good luck with your decision making.

I am well aware of the notorious Perth traffic. But what is it like if you go early - say I had to be in central Perth (Riverside area) for either 6am start or 7 am start would I miss the traffic then? I am heading in from the Reid Highway Balcatta way and heading south. Any idea how long it would take to get in for those two start times? Any guidance appreciated. :biggrin: