AliG

PS I think Non-Doms refers to people living in UK but being treated as if they are outside of the UK with respect to Income earned abroad - so strictly speaking, the change to IHT for Brits abroad its not a change in the treatment of Non-Doms but a change to the treatment of UK Domiciled Brits living abroad that is being introduced in parallel.

The Telegraph says (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/inheritance/british-expats-benefit-inheritance-tax-break-non-dom-scrap/#:~:text=As part of a swathe,IHT on their estates globally.): "Tens of thousands of British expatriates could see their inheritance tax bills cut under government plans to reform the non-dom regime. As part of a swathe of reforms to the current tax rules, the estates of Britons living abroad may no longer be charged UK inheritance tax (IHT) on assets outside of the country. Currently individuals who are UK domiciled – the UK is their home country – but resident abroad, are charged IHT on their estates globally. However, under plans to move to a ‘residence-based regime’ from April 2025, expatriates who have lived outside of the UK for 10 years or more will only need to pay IHT on assets in the UK."

Hi - any idea on timing? i.e. what part of the year would you be heading off/returning. And which suburb?

This (rightly) says that Toowong is out of catchment for Indooroopilly State School - but it might be worth clarifying that it does sit within the catchment for Indooroopilly state High School (ie year 7 and up) according to the Brisbane Education Map: https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/ This may be obvious to people already living in Aus/Bris - but it wasn't for me as someone researching from abroad...

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Bumping an old thread because I was looking at first time buyer stamp duty concession and came to the conclusion that i wouldn't get the concession as i have owner property abroad - but it sounds like others have had different experiences? Heres what QLD gov website says: To be eligible for a first home concession when you buy or acquire a home, you must: be legally acquiring the property as an individual have never claimed the first home vacant land concession have never held an interest in another residence anywhere in Australia or overseas be at least 18 years of age (we explain below when we may waive this requirement) move into it with your personal belongings and live there on a daily basis within 1 year of settlement (this time cannot be extended) not dispose (sell, transfer, lease or otherwise grant exclusive possession) of all or part of the property before you move in be paying market value if the residence is valued between $500,001 and $549,999.

Thanks EJMAc -that all aligns with what I have heard elsewhere. Its good to hear that your brother in law found a way to make it work. Ive got my head around doing something a bit different - its just figuring out what!

Trains - Helensvale to Brisbane Central is under an hour - but my wife is not massively keen on the north end of the GC. Train from Nerang is 1 hour 10 (plus however long to get to and from stations at each end) - I think Varsity Lakes is over 1hr 20... Driving - We have a relative that drives to the city from Hope Island (again, north GC) and it drives him nuts - enough to put me off. I reckon I could cope with the GC to Brisbane commute as a temporary thing but not ideal with young kids - So if we do end living in the Gold Coast i'll need to find a job or retraining opportunity there. I had a look on Seek.com and there seem to be plenty of engineering jobs (theres a bit of crossover with Building Surveying) on the GC - but most require minimum years of experience/qualifications...

Thanks all - interesting points. I do know Brisbane and Gold Coast a bit - we've done a few trips staying with family in gold coast over the years (and have seen how much it has changed). While on these trips we've visited Brisbane CBD for day trips and caught up with friends in their suburban homes. I grew up in suburban outer Greater London but spent a lot of summer with my grandparents on the Kent coast - neither of these places had a lot of culture or diversity! But for the last 15 years we have lived closer to the city which is plenty more diverse, vibrant and walkable. I totally get that Brisbane and Gold Coast are not going to be London - in an ideal world we'd end up somewhere with shops and cafes walkable, and/or some bike routes - but I get that these kinds of places can come at a premium and might be outside our price range. Now we have kids re are resigned to doing a lot more driving and this is something we do in London what with all the after school activities...

Thanks - a few million AUD would be nice (!) but it’s probably less than half of that. timing and property predictions are definitely a consideration but ultimately they are lower down the list as mostly outside my control - not only can you guess how prices may move in Brisbane vs Gold Cost but how they might move in UK and what the exchange rate will do before we are ready to transfer cash etc All that said, we’re inclined not to hang around as UK economy feeling more than a bit shaky right now.

Hi Everyone, Not sure I know exactly what my question is... Sometimes it helpful just to write down all the bits that potentially influence your thinking and see if anyone had any relevant experience or thoughts to share... Our quandary relates to a potential career change and how that might influence where we live as/when we make the move: CURRENT SITUATION Me (M43 UK citizen) and my Aussie wife are planning to move to Aus in the next year or so with our 2 kids (who are 5 & 7) I am planning to apply shortly for a spouse visa and as far as I can see we tick all the boxes - I married an Aussie 15 years + our 2 kids have dual nationality with both UK and Aussie passports. We would have preferred to hold on to our place in London as a rental - but the more we look into the finances and practicalities of holding UK property (and the implications for options when we arrive to Aus) - we're now thinking we'll sell and take the money with us to (hopefully) buy somewhere outright in Aus. My wife's family are in Gold Coast, but most of her friends are in Brisbane. CAREER I am a RICS chartered building surveyor - working with commercial property (offices, industrial, retail etc). During my career Ive worked for consultancy firms of varying sizes including stints at big ones such as Cushman & Wakefield and Deloitte. Over the last 7 years my work has been quite specialist: mostly dilapidations (landlord and tenant arguing about how much it'll cost to fix the place up at the end of the lease) - As far as i can see this is not really a thing in Aus - they do have some 'make good' requirements in some leases, but it sounds like landlords and tenants typically deal with these in house without using external consultants - in UK there are specialist surveyors like me doing nothing but dilapidations negotiations. I'm either going to have to find someone who will hire me based on transferable skills, and/or do some kind of re-training: I quite like the idea of some kind of sustainability related consulting but I suspect my 'general interest' in the subject won't cut it when applying for jobs. I find the whole idea of a career change/retain equal parts daunting and exciting. Fun to daydream of a career change! - but anything that jeopardises the family income requires careful consideration. Retraining would probably cost a bit and limit my income for a while - not ideal but not insurmountable if we have bought a house in Aus (avoiding mortgage payments), my wife works full time and we dip into savings. My wife is an occupational therapist and it seems she'd be in high demand - I suspect she'd prefer not to work or work part time but she acknowledges this might not be viable! GOLD COAST VS BRISBANE My wife's family are based in gold coast and are just about to retire. They're great with the kids and would love it if we moved to gold coast. They are in Nerang but will move to a new apartment by the beach within a year, keeping their Nerang house as a rental. We like the idea of the lifestyle and family support, and upon arrival to Aus we have the opportunity to rent a nice house in Nerang from the parents, knowing they wouldn't screw us on the price. Drawbacks of GC are high house prices, only one or two friends living that way, and we worry about limited work/career change opportunities for me. Wondered about commuting but not so keen on the more northern bits of GC with train stations, and driving would drive me insane. The obvious alternative to GC is Brisbane. My wife went to uni here and has lots of friends (some of whom I know) with similarly aged kids, though they are dotted around the city. If we went for Brisbane I imagine career change / retraining opportunities might be greater, and we could still visit family at the weekend. On one hand, we are used to a cosmopolitan life in London and do notice that Brisbane is probably a closer match than GC - That said, one of the attractions of emigrating was living somewhere a bit different and I imagine GC might tick this box better than Brisbane? So what do we do, take advantage of the family support in Gold Coast and have a go a job hunting from there (but with the steady financial drip of having to pay rent), or do we go straight to Brisbane, buy somewhere outright and increase career prospects - but stick with the city lifestyle... Any thoughts / experience appreciated. PS apologies for long rambling post!

Hi, Trying to figure out if it is worth my (Aussie) wife paying the NI contributions... She's been in UK paying NI for about 17 years. She recently (last year) got UK citizenship and a UK passport. We're planning to move to Aus next year with our 2 kids - no particular plans to return to UK but its a possibility depending on how we get on over there. So a couple of questions are: a) does the 17 years pre-citizenship count towards qualification for state pension or only the contributions post citizenship? hopefully it does in which case: b) is it worth paying contributions for another 13 years (or more) to get to the magic 30 years? but c) It looks like you can only top up years that you dint contribute and the system is changing as of Apr 2023 (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/) so (if topping up 13 years makes sense) can she top up for years before she came to the UK (and before she was registered for NI) or is that too cheeky? I suspect we might need a chat with a financial advisor to consider this and a range of other points (which we probably don't even know about!)

Thanks I suspected that might the the case - And I'm guessing you need the paperwork in place to get the car on the boat (rather than submitting the application while the car is on its way)?

Hi Iron Chef - a quick question on timing: I understand you have to have owned the car for 1 year - but is this at the point of shipping from UK or at the point of arrival to Aus? Im looking at moving to aus in just under a year - if I buy a car today, it won't be a year old at the time I leave the country (and would want to ship the car) but it would be a year old at the time it arrives in Aus.. Thanks in anticipation. PS A stock 2007 Jaguar XK coupe (2wd 4.2L auto) with 100,000km on the clock is <£12k ($26k) over here and in Aus $25-36k on redbook and $55-$60k on Carsales - I'm guessing that's gonna make sense to take to QLD?

This sounds like the best of both worlds. I suppose the only risk is that the visitor visa runs out before 309 granted - but that risk should be low if I apply for 309 ASAP. Thanks.

Thanks - its because the 309 applications are slowing down that we are considering the 820 for the greater flexibility on our exit date: uk housing market looking shakier by the day so were thinking of putting our house on the market sooner rather than later - 820 gives us the option to accept an offer and complete ASAP where as 309 means we either have to delay putting the house on the market (until visa granted) or explain circumstances to any potential purchasers... work wise my wife is an occupational therapist and already has job offers from old colleagues. Im a chartered surveyor which doesn't easily translate to Aus so i'll probably have to do some retraining whatever - so a delay might not be a prob. But I didnt know some big companies won't hire people on bridging visas so thats useful intel. In conclusion, its sounds like 820 route gives more flexibility on our UK exit but comes with conditions and risks at the other end...

Hi, I'm planning on doing a spouse visa application this year and had always assumed we'd do a 309 offshore app but I'm now wondering whether 820 onshore is a viable option... and what risks or pros/cons there may be... From everything I have read we tick all the boxes for a partner visa for me. I'm British and live in London with my Aussie wife of 10 years (and we owned a home together for 5 years before marriage) with our 2 x kids who were born in UK but will shortly have Aus passports by decent assuming their citizenship app goes though ok. I was going to wait until this is done before submitting a 309... We were doing a bit of timeline planning and a thought popped into my mind about applying onshore (to remove guesswork re timing). If we went down the onshore route, then as I understand it: - We can go to Aus whenever we like - I'd enter Aus on a 3 month visitor visa and rest of the family on their Aus passports. - I'd then apply onshore for an 820 onshore partner visa. - I can't work or access medicare initially but these kick in once the visitor visa expires and a temporary visa kicks in. From what I can see this gives us max flexibility on the timing of our move (ie we don't have to wait for the 309 to be approved) but introduces a slight risk that we get there and get set up and for some reason the visa isn't granted - to mitigate this wed use an immigration agent to check our docs before submitting. Does anyone have any thoughts on the above, or any tips? - please shout if I've got something wrong or am missing any pieces of the puzzle. And what do I say upon arrival in Aus when they ask the purpose of the visit! If it isnt viable then we can always stick with the 309 option - but if the 820 option is viable then it gives us more flexibility on timing...

Hi Iron Lady, My family are in the process of planning a future move to Aus in a year or so. Neither of my current 2 x cars stack up to take but I could swap one now in anticipation so weighing up options - I know I need to own any car for a year and that shipping costs and exchange rate may change in that time but I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following: 1. Is it possible to import electric cars to Aus (eg Tesla) or are there any particular restriction/considerations. 2. Is it possible to import a classic car that has been converted to electric? And any considerations. 3. Are there any particular cars you have spotted that make most sense - I spotted late model Jaguar XKR over here for c. £30k that seem to be on Carsales.au for AUD110k - 150k - does anything beat that!

Hi, Im currently in London planning a move to Aus, but have considered relocating within London at various points in my life. Here are a few things to think about: 1. STAMP DUTY - This is relevant given the size of your budget: They changed how UK stamp duty is structured a few years back - it is now particularly steep on expensive homes. Its tapered but the rate goes up to 12% for the bit above £1.5million, so £2m works out at over £150k. Also, I think im right in saying that you'd have to add 3% if you kept your Aus property (as your UK property would be classed as a 2nd home). Stamp duty calculator here: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates 2. COMMUTE - 'reasonable commute' can mean different things to different people... - Do you want inner city hustle and bustle, outer ring leafy suburbs, or a commuter belt country retreat? - Lots of recent rail upgrades: 'Crossrail' is about to open to the public within this month or so running east to west. Thameslink has recently been upgraded for north/south link (incl Brighton). The 'Overground' is a big section or inner city rail taken over by the mayor and running with frequent metro style services... - Train fare rises are linked to inflation so long (distance) commutes can be pretty steep. You can get to Ashford (60 miles from London) in 37 mins but you'll pay for it. - Cycling becoming much more popular - some parts have much better infrastructure than others... 3. SCHOOLS - Im generalising but these days its actually hard to find an area of london without a good primary school - but catchments can be quite small which might matter if you have your heart set on a specific school. Secondary schools much more variance in quality. Private schools are more frequent in the other suburbs but there are still plenty closer in. Grammar schools are in high demand but only certain boroughs have them: https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/choosing-a-school/grammar-schools/local-authorities 4. CRIME - Crime map here: https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/london-crime-map-shows-londons-19654472 but I'd take the crime stats with a pinch of salt. With a healthy budget you'll probably buy somewhere reasonably affluent and crime stats will probably relatively low. The exception are busy inner city places (like islington) where you can get a bit more street crime - but its still pretty rare: eg Westminster is Londons most 'dangerous' borough but it also one of the most affluent and I've never felt unsafe... 5. BUILDING WORKS - I don't know how long it will last, but post pandemic and Brexit builders costs and wait times have gone sky high. Perhaps something to bear in mind if you might have fancied a dooer-upper. It can still be done but it might take longer and be less profitable than it once was. Good luck!

HSBC also do residential mortgages for overseas applicants - (i think they treat the property as not your primary residence ie a 2nd home). Its not clear whether this includes new purchases, or only remortages of properties owned already - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/non-uk-residents/ If it does cover purchases then Ben may be able to take out a residential mortgage from Aus for a property in UK - it would be a repayment mortgage rather than interest only, and (Aus) income requirement is quite high (£75,000) might be worth giving them a call. Alternative option might be for Ben to remortgage and release equity from any property owned in Aus to raise enough cash to send back to UK and buy somewhere outright...

HSBC looks like a viable option for overseas applications https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/non-uk-residents/ and rates are v. similar to regular UK BTL (but I'm at early stages of research...). HSBC are my current lender... so as you say, i should probably give them a buzz!

Im looking into this now and HSBC seem to offer something pretty close to a normal UK BTL for overseas applicants IF you meet the criteria... https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/non-uk-residents/

Hi, Hopefully I'm missing an obvious solution but I'm trying to figure out best route converting my current UK residential mortgage into a buy to let at the point I move to Aus, releasing some equity to help finance a future purchase in Aus: BTL mortgage application while in the UK - This would be my preference but from what I can see from lending criteria they want to see proof of income (which I will have for as long as I keep my UK job but won't have anything lined up in Aus) but also I'll need proof of me living at a different address (for a Buy to let application) of proof of where i am moving to (let to Buy application). I can perhaps stay at a relatives house temporarily but certainly wouldn't have a lease or own residential mortgage anywhere (which seems to be typical criteria as they dont want people taking BTL mortgage and then living in the same property). BTL mortgage application having arrived in Aus - If I wait until I am abroad and then approach say HSBC for a UK BTL then they need to see proof of income (which I won't have for a while). Meanwhile I can't let uk property under a residential mortgage but have to keep paying. Also - will i need proof of owning another property (in Aus) to facilitate a UK BTL mortgage - As I need the UK BTL mortgage to release some equity from the UK property to facilitate purchase of a property in Aus: Chicken, meet egg! Consent to Let - This is viable initially (as long as current mortgage company doesn't insist of seeing proof of a job lined up abroad, which I won't have): I'd obtain consent to let initially and then reapply for a BTL from Aus once I have a job and income history. but I could still come a cropper with the aforementioned chicken and egg issue... Consent to let lasts 2 years with HSBC and then I could be in trouble... Ideally I'd move out of current UK home in the month before travel (and stay with relatives), get a 5 year BTL mortgage (while still in the UK) and let the property before flying off to Aus. Hmm - apologies for rambling post - maybe i should just chat to a broker!

Funnily enough we have friends in Graceville so Oxley would definitely be somewhere we'd consider (if you're still going to be there in Aug/Sep?). In any case, this has been a useful prompt for me to get my own house in order so that its potentially ready for a swap.

Hi, Hmm - I hadn't thought about house swap... interesting... Which Suburb are you in? Were coming over at some point in Aug/September for 3.5 - 4 weeks for a wedding and to check out suburbs with a view to emigrating next year. Our place is in London, UK - also quite ordinary and without a pool! Which house swap site did you use? Alastair