Lomandra

I am ideally moving to Yorkshire, that's the plan anyway as that's where my family are. The move isn't only because of family. Yes, my parents are getting older and not in good health and I want my child to grow up with family around. My brother and his wife have a 9 month old so it would be nice for my baby to have a cousin to play with, etc but a huge part is that I just don't enjoy living over here anymore. I really don't like how the country is going and I've been unhappy over here for years. My parents don't have the space - their house is like a hoarder's house- and certainly not enough room for me, let alone a baby. My Auntie has a tiny flat and whilst I've stayed with her a couple of weeks when I've been for visits I think it would be a lot to ask for her (and her husband) to let me and a newborn stay. I've been saying to her for ages now I'm unhappy here and want to move back and she repeatedly tells me I shouldn't so... I asked a friend about rentals earlier today who is over there and her husband has an estate agents and she said that it's a really bad time with finding rentals. I've had a look on right move though and there seem to be a few but I guess that they would have lots of people applying for the one place and a single mother on benefits isn't exactly going to be top pick!!! One of my thoughts today, I have so many going round my head, was that maybe I see if I can buy a small flat over there from Aus and then I'd have somewhere to live when I go over and a stable place for the first few months of baby. Has anyone bought a house in England from over here and was it doable?

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive plan! You mentioned things that I hadn't even considered but it's those practicalities and little things that I guess turn out to be big things if you don't do them. I will start looking into this, step by step and seeing if I can do it!

Thank you for all the replies. Ideally I do not want to have to rely on benefits. I’ve always worked and it is not what I would want however realistically I know I may have to for a little while. If it wasn’t for my age I would have moved back to the UK first before getting pregnant but I felt that I needed to do that first but now I realise that was probably the worst decision but I can’t do anything about that now. Unfortunately I don’t have the option of staying with family as they don’t have the room so I would need to get a rental asap after moving over and I’d want to be settled before the baby is born. Does anyone know of any websites which have the steps you needed to take in logical order spelt out so it’s really straightforward. It seems so overwhelming that I don’t know where to start but I’m so unhappy over here that I want to go as soon as possible.

No not at all you didnt cause offenders.

I've been reading about the habitual residency and that puts a huge spanner in the works. I am going to have to work out my finances and see if it's feasible. I'm desperate to move back to the UK and it's not an emotional, hormonal decision as I've been wanting to return for a few years now. The pregnancy has just made me realise I do not want to bring my child up in this country and away from family. I'm on my own over here, no family and only a handful of friends so would have no support and nobody for my child to grow up around. Memories at my grandparents and with aunts and uncles and cousins are some of my most treasured and I want my child to have that, especially since it won't have a father. Also, my father has gone back into hospital overnight and it just really makes it real how far away we are here when things happen. I don't want to miss out on family time. I've already missed 14 years of it.

The only male I've been involved with to get pregnant is my IVF doctor. lol

UPDATE - I'm still in Australia and still wanting to move back to the UK except I'm now pregnant. It was planned and there is no father so I will be doing it alone. I don't want my child to grow up in another country away from all its family and I believe it would have a better standard of education and the country is less divisive over there. I've tried to look into benefits I would be eligible for and I think it's about 300 pounds a week which doesn't seem much at all, especially when you factor in living, etc. I'm not sure even if I would be eligible as I've not lived there since 2009. I plan to ring them on Monday assuming I can ring an 0800 number from Australia and ask them but I just wondered if anyone had moved when pregnant or knew of eligibility for child benefits and the like after returning please? My thoughts are I could move over as late in pregnancy as I can and then get a rental set up before the birth, keep my things in storage and rent out my house just in case I do decide to move back. Then I could take my maternity leave from work and unpaid leave for a year whilst I give it a go in the UK and then see what happens.. I know my Aus maternity pay from work would get paid into my Aus account so financially that wouldn't be ideal as I'd lose money transferring it but I figure if I sell my car before I go - worst case $20,000 - then transfer that that would help and then UK child benefits as I wouldn't be able to get Aus and then after 6 - 9 months mat leave try to find a UK job and see how that works out for the next year before making the final decision. I know I need to make a decision and plans NOW given that I'm on a strict timeframe!

I messaged Alan Collett who said a member of his team would contact me today which they haven't so I'm hoping I'll hear from them tomorrow. Hopefully that will clear up some of my questions. It just seems 'too hard' to do it and I just wish I'd never moved to this country! The thought of having to reestablish in the UK is not a good thought. Seems a daunting prospect when I am comfortable here with my house and job and knowing I'd be going to a tiny house and badly paid job barely scraping by isn't great. I don't have anything here to stay for or enjoy being here anymore so I have to force myself to do it! I think it's harder making the decision to move as I'm doing it as a single woman now. Why is it so hard to make decisions as an adult!

Thanks for the reply Johnny. Why does that add another complexity if I was to rent it out? I had thought that was the safer option so I would have somewhere to return to if I did decide to. I am going to look into taking unpaid leave but I am not sure they will approve it even though it's an option according to the leave policy but I think it's at their discretion. I was so pleased when I bought my first home a few years ago but now I wish I hadn't as it's more ties and adds more problems into the mix. I should likely be able to sell for at least $100,000 more than I paid (it's not an expensive house) which would allow me some money to take over but I don't want to be spending all my money or lose my house when as a single woman it's security for me that I'll have somewhere to live

Thank you for your reply Marisa If I could get a job that paid the equivalent or even close to what I get here I'd be on the plane as we speak! My brother lived out here for a couple of years. He and his wife are both doctors so were raking it in and have time off and go away whenever they wanted and lived in a lovely area etc but she is very close for her family and wanted to return to the UK. Whilst I earn a liveable wage that is a bit above the average from what I see it certainly isn't comparable to what they'd have earned so what I spend my free time doing is very different to what they would have been able to do! I am thinking at the earliest six months to a year to save but it's time I am missing out on with my niece the longer I'm here. Can you recommend any financial advisers that have knowledge of both? I had never even considered paying NI contributions whilst over here. I think I'd just assumed that people automatically get the pension at a certain age. I would still have a small amount of super but still not enough to live on so would need a pension at this stage. I feel I need to move back this year - at least a trial year to see if I do like it. It's been so long since I've lived over there and I haven't spent much time back since that whilst it's very familiar it is all very different.

I'm 42, single, unfortunately no kids and moved to Australia with my (now ex) partner in 2009. I fell into a well paid job five or so years ago and own my own home here however I really want to return to the UK. My family has never been particularly close apart from my Auntie but my niece was born in October and after spending time there over Christmas it really reinforced how much I hate it and feel alone here. I'd been feeling that way for some years but I think this really highlighted it. I have no family here and a couple of good friends but nothing that is enough to keep me here. The problem is the cost of living in the UK and the very low wages. My job equivalent in the UK pays only £23,000 to start where as here it is an awful lot higher and financially I can't see how I could make it work when I'd have to pay rent and other living expenses out of that. My job is quite niche and whilst I have a degree I'm not really trained for anything else so would likely be in some close to minimum wage job over there. My brother suggested moving back for a year to see how I like it. He would be living here if it wasn't for his wife who won't be so far away from his family and says I'll hate the dark nights, no beaches, high cost of living etc but for me it's the pull of my family and my new niece and missing out on events. I missed his wedding due to covid lockdown among other things. I have a cat who I would want to return with me which makes things harder too, not to mention it seems I'd end up having to pay tax in two countries in that year so financially that would be a hit too. This is all assuming my work would allow me a year's leave without pay and to work in the UK. If not then there is another quandary of whether to quit a job that I would prob struggle to get back into if I did return. Ultimately my job is the only thing keeping me here and the salary and having so much disposable income compared to what I would in the UK where I'd struggle to make ends meet. I just feel stuck and trapped here. Reading some other posts it seems that there is a mixture of people who have returned and loved it and people who hated it and come back. It's such a big decision and I worry that whatever I do it'll be the wrong one!