over 45 visa chances?

[InnerVoice]

6 minutes ago, Parley said:

Are houses expensive in Cairns. I thought they would be cheap?

At least a lot cheaper than the capital cities.

It varies greatly depending on suburbs. There are some suburbs you definitely wouldn't want to live in because of the crime rate, even though they have some beautiful properties. The median house price on Clifton Beach is currently $825,000, but even our area isn't without it's social problems these days.

[Daffyduck]

7 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Whether you find the cost of living cheap or expensive will depend greatly on your income and lifestyle. We all have different salaries and spending habits so while one person may find a place cheap, another will find it expensive. What I've noted from this thread is that if I ignored my housing costs, my monthly outgoings in both countries would be roughly about the same. My energy bill is zero, my grocery bill is twice as much as it would be in the UK, and other costs are pretty similar so it balances out overall.

Unfortunately, I can't ignore my housing costs. My mortgage is currently 45% of our total outgoings, and by this time next year it will have increased to 55% as our fixed rate will have ended. That's unsustainable in the long term given that I'll need to keep working until I'm 83 to pay it off. If I was back in the UK my mortgage would be zero because I have enough equity in my Australian home to buy a similar home in (regional) UK outright.

Forget climate change and AI, affordable housing is the challenge of our time - not just in Australia, but in all developed nations where population growth is exceeding the rate at which new homes can be built.

Agree 100% re housing affordability, it's a crisis that many (Most? All?) developed countries are failing miserably to deal with. Australia does seem slightly further down that road than some places in the UK but it was becoming very similar. There are 3 bed semis going in my old area for over  A$700k, it's not sustainable.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Daffyduck said:

 There are 3 bed semis going in my old area for over  A$700k, it's not sustainable.

Where's that?  Where I live in Melbourne, a small 3 bed semi would cost you $1.5 million.   Where I used to live in Sydney, $2 million.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Marisawright

[Toots]

1 hour ago, Daffyduck said:

 

Same, I'm old enough to remember Glasgow in the 90's before they cleaned it up and made it somewhere you actually wanted to spend time, sad to see it sliding rapidly backwards. Used to spend many a night out in town in the 2000's, lot's of good memories of the Garage, Cat House, Shack etc. (even went into Bonkers one time!), nothing but empty units, junkies and homeless now. Almost couldn't believe how busy Rundle Mall was when we got here, reminded me of Buchanan street back in it's good days.

The tax thing is great, I always get a laugh when my Aussie colleagues complain about tax rates here. Try 42% tax plus NII and your pension coming out of salary rather than being on top!

I'm old enough to remember Glasgow long before the 90's.  When I was in my teens it had a terrible reputation all over Scotland for razor gangs, violence and unsolved murders.  I never lived in Glasgow but everyone was aware of its reputation.  I worked in Balloch for 6 months in 1970 and used to go into Glasgow shopping and on nights out with my pals.  I liked the city and there were some really great folk there.  Can't say we ever came across any trouble at all.  Maybe we were lucky.  I've visited Glasgow since then a few times and liked the atmosphere of the place so I'm sorry it's gone downhill over the years.

[Parley]

1 hour ago, Daffyduck said:

Agree 100% re housing affordability, it's a crisis that many (Most? All?) developed countries are failing miserably to deal with. Australia does seem slightly further down that road than some places in the UK but it was becoming very similar. There are 3 bed semis going in my old area for over  A$700k, it's not sustainable.

To be honest. $700K is a very affordable home.

Most would be paying over a million in capital cities.

[Parley]

I've only been to Glasgow once for a few days on a work trip in about 2004.

The most memorable thing for me was a lady drinking from a can of soft drink and then aggressively throwing it down on the footpath. For some reason that stuck with me. On a busy street with shops most people would look for a bin but not her and she was happy for everyone to see.

[Toots]

2 minutes ago, Parley said:

I've only been to Glasgow once for a few days on a work trip in about 2004.

The most memorable thing for me was a lady drinking from a can of soft drink and then aggressively throwing it down on the footpath. For some reason that stuck with me. On a busy street with shops most people would look for a bin but not her and she was happy for everyone to see.

She was probably "aff her heid" on drugs.  

Don't tell me it doesn't happen here too.

[Parley]

17 minutes ago, Toots said:

She was probably "aff her heid" on drugs.  

Don't tell me it doesn't happen here too.

Not where i live anyway. Some of the dodgy inner suburbs where the druggies hang out - probably.

[Toots]

1 minute ago, Parley said:

Not where i live anyway. Some of the dodgy inner suburbs where the druggies hang out - probably.

I dare say you wouldn't see it in the more salubrious suburbs of Glasgow either.

[Daffyduck]

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Where's that?  Where I live in Melbourne, a small 3 bed semi would cost you $1.5 million.   Where I used to live in Sydney, $2 million.

Newton Mearns, just outside Glasgow. West of Scotland has never been known as somewhere with sky high property prices so $700k for a 3 bed semi there is still considered very expensive compared to a few years ago for that part of the world. Compared to what my budget would have bought me in Glasgow Vs here in Adelaide, it's worlds apart. Got a nice big house with pool on a quarter acre plot, something I would never have been able to afford before. 

 

Long of the short is the houses all across the developed world are becoming unaffordable for the average person. Unfortunately I can't see an end to it.

[Daffyduck]

58 minutes ago, Toots said:

I dare say you wouldn't see it in the more salubrious suburbs of Glasgow either.

Newton Mearns still had a young team, used to see them swaggering down the street with their bottle of Buckie in hand.

[Daffyduck]

1 hour ago, Parley said:

To be honest. $700K is a very affordable home.

Most would be paying over a million in capital cities.

Fair point though Glasgow is far smaller than most of the capitals, it's about half that of Adelaide and the average income is about $45k PA less than Melbourne/Sydney. Suppose when you factor the difference in average salaries the $700k works out equivalent to $1.2m. 

Either way, I don't think it'll be too long before the UK is following the same curve as Australia and most people will end up being priced out the market all together, either that and it'll be like Canada where you'll start seeing lenders offering 90 year mortgages (I wish that was a joke).

[Toots]

20 minutes ago, Daffyduck said:

Newton Mearns still had a young team, used to see them swaggering down the street with their bottle of Buckie in hand.

I was thinking more of leafy Bearsden.  it used to be one of the more posh suburbs of Glasgow but who knows these day  .............  the druggies and drunks may have infiltrated there too. 

[Daffyduck]

2 minutes ago, Toots said:

I was thinking more of leafy Bearsden.  it used to be one of the more posh suburbs of Glasgow but who knows these day  .............  the druggies and drunks may have infiltrated there too. 

Still posh, comparatively speaking of course. You know when you're in the nicer parts of Glasgow when they've got a Waitrose.

[welljock]

5 hours ago, Daffyduck said:

Newton Mearns still had a young team, used to see them swaggering down the street with their bottle of Buckie in hand.

It would have been Dom Pérignon or a nice bottle of Cab Sav. Can't believe you never went to Clatty Pats.

[Cheery Thistle]

11 hours ago, Parley said:

To be honest. $700K is a very affordable home.

Most would be paying over a million in capital cities.

Yes. It’s affordable on Australian salaries!!

[Cheery Thistle]

13 hours ago, Daffyduck said:

 

Same, I'm old enough to remember Glasgow in the 90's before they cleaned it up and made it somewhere you actually wanted to spend time, sad to see it sliding rapidly backwards. Used to spend many a night out in town in the 2000's, lot's of good memories of the Garage, Cat House, Shack etc. (even went into Bonkers one time!), nothing but empty units, junkies and homeless now. Almost couldn't believe how busy Rundle Mall was when we got here, reminded me of Buchanan street back in it's good days.

The tax thing is great, I always get a laugh when my Aussie colleagues complain about tax rates here. Try 42% tax plus NII and your pension coming out of salary rather than being on top!

The Tunnel and The Arches, Moskito and Booly Mardy’s and a lot of the places in Merchant City. It’s all changed now, but Merchant City is still quite nice and OK for a night out. Bath St is dire now though. 
Don’t start me on the tax. Council has just closed 3 of our pools/leisure centres but are proposing a £700 per year council tax increase, alongside £43million of cuts over the next 5 years. That’s on top of huge cuts over the past 5 years already. Where will it all end? 

https://news.westlothian.gov.uk/article/79328/Council-disagree-with-proposals-on-Council-Tax?fbclid=IwAR0U6a1t8D5lUVsI5SW0n_9ifVnfcgb0Q8_7RLRyhMd2Et9feyPSQoGMVMA_aem_AaXlilbssjEjhFoxQcTiiqdA50S_Np26ad7mQ3Bg8qtHJiQ7c_SP6SVXOTKUdIIPsvA
 

[Daffyduck]

13 hours ago, welljock said:

It would have been Dom Pérignon or a nice bottle of Cab Sav. Can't believe you never went to Clatty Pats.

The West end might as well have been another planet when I was younger, don't think I even went to Ashton Lane until I was in my mid 20's.

[Daffyduck]

8 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

The Tunnel and The Arches, Moskito and Booly Mardy’s and a lot of the places in Merchant City. It’s all changed now, but Merchant City is still quite nice and OK for a night out. Bath St is dire now though. 
Don’t start me on the tax. Council has just closed 3 of our pools/leisure centres but are proposing a £700 per year council tax increase, alongside £43million of cuts over the next 5 years. That’s on top of huge cuts over the past 5 years already. Where will it all end? 

https://news.westlothian.gov.uk/article/79328/Council-disagree-with-proposals-on-Council-Tax?fbclid=IwAR0U6a1t8D5lUVsI5SW0n_9ifVnfcgb0Q8_7RLRyhMd2Et9feyPSQoGMVMA_aem_AaXlilbssjEjhFoxQcTiiqdA50S_Np26ad7mQ3Bg8qtHJiQ7c_SP6SVXOTKUdIIPsvA
 

Thought even the Merchant City was going downhill, all started when they closed Boudoir.

Same all over Scotland, our council tax was sitting at 2.5k before we left and the council kept dreaming up ways to add in additional charges. Best one was when they started charging you if there was any grass in your food waste bin.... Swimming pools closing, libraries the same, roads and pavements a sate but still charging full whack.

Still seems like there's plenty of money for hair brained schemes though, the cycle lanes appearing all over Scotland for a start, then Glasgow council restricting the biggest motorway in the country to 30mph. 

Glad I left.