johnaross Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 After two stays of 28 years in Australia, 18 years since we last came to Oz, we are seriously thinking about a move back to the UK. Reasons, primarily I suppose because we are still at heart British and still like some aspects of life in the UK such as the uniquely British system of public pathways for great walking, the UK newspapers (did I really say that), pubs (if any left after the no smoking bans - not that we smoke but cannot see why others cannot), historical culture and the sheer diversity of it in the UK, football without an oval ball etc etc. Two major problems. I am retired with no pension because my wife earns too much and if we leave Oz we would only have the small portion of UK pension I qualify for plus hopefully a small job for my wife who is also approaching retirement age. So we go from current financial security with good house on the Gold Coast (well Banora Point NSW). When we sell we would have enough for a small house in England and just a bit saved which would then be diminished by living expenses. The decision is we had better have another look at England, which we have not seen for 6 years, and check out the reality of life in the UK at the moment. To do that I was thinking a home swap with someone in the UK for a period of 4 or 5 weeks between mid March and June next year would give us a cheaper and more realistic way of trying out the UK life. Hopefully, there is someone with the reverse problem and thinking of moving to Australia and would like to try it for a short time before they commit to a move. Then we would be killing two birds with one stone. If anyone is interested in the home swap idea please PM me to discuss. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest16631 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 ..........a great idea........there are a few websites dedicated to this ..........one is aussiehouseswap.com.au and lots of others .........just use google...............I know of one family who did this .............just for a holiday and were very pleased with the results..........another poster used a short term let.............another possibility..............good luck ,hope it works out............tink x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnaross Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 ..........a great idea........there are a few websites dedicated to this ..........one is aussiehouseswap.com.au and lots of others ...tink x Thanks for the reply Tink. I am about to try the housewswap sites but thought I would see if someone with a mutually coinciding interest was interested rather than a holiday maker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I wonder if you might get a bit more interest in another section of the forum? If I understand correctly you've got a house in Oz you're interested in letting out / swapping so maybe look at posting in another area? If only I was useful enough to be able to suggest which one..... Great idea though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 My friends are house swappers and they use an agency, I would suggest an agency because my friends want to swap to a similar property to the one they live in. Also similar cars etc. With the agency you can check people out properly, after all we are all strangers on PIO so the backing of an agency that handles these things is quite useful. My friends have been to UK, Switzerland, France, Arizona, and the people they have swapped with have been of a similar age to them. They are retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnaross Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Good point Petals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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