MikeW Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 'Four million expats want to come home as savings and income plunge along with the pound'. Here's the extract: Almost 4million Brits living abroad are planning a mass return to home shores after seeing their savings and income stripped by the plunging values of the pound and their property. The dramatic slump has slashed their income by a third and has turned Brits into the paupers of Europe. Fears over job security and falling property prices are also giving expats second thoughts, according to research from foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp. Some 845,000 Brits living in Spain and France have suffered an 8 per cent drop in house prices in the year to August 2009 alone. This wiped €30,000 off the average property on the Costa del Sol. Sterling has slumped from over €1.50 to £1 in January 2007 to close to parity, taking a terrible toll on the estimated 5.5million British expats, and particularly the 1.1million pensioners living abroad. Moneycorp research shows that 70 per cent of all expats are now considering returning to the UK. A retired couple living in Spain, for example, both drawing a full state pension of £95.25 per week, will have seen their combined monthly income - on their pension alone - drop by €396 over three years, from €1,263 to €867. The warning signs that hundreds of thousands of Brits may be ready to return to the UK started when the credit crunch began in 2008. That year, the number of expats returning home jumped by a fifth on the previous 12 months. The number of British homeowners downsizing or selling up and sending money back to the UK doubled last year, foreign currency specialist HiFX reports. It has seen an 180 per cent increase in the number of euro to sterling transactions and an 11 per cent increase in the number of U.S. dollar to sterling transactions in the past six months, compared to last year. More people over 65 than any other age group are repatriating. Mark Bodega from HiFX says: 'The pound's fall to historic lows in recent months has meant the cost of living or running a holiday home on the continent has risen to unaffordable levels for many people.' A weak property market is also proving to be a nightmare for many of the estimated 1.5million Brits who own homes abroad. Many are being forced to sell their property at a loss, particularly in countries like Spain. The weak pound has proved a blessing for those who receive an income in euros, for example from renting a property. Sterling's slump means they will get far more pounds for their euros. Brennon Nicholas, managing director at estate agency Cluttons Spain says: 'We have seen an increase in the number of people coming to us who are struggling because their pensions and savings do not stretch as far as they used to. They're selling up because of the favourable exchange rate but the market is extremely tough and there is a lack of buyers.' Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK. They've been hit by a declining pound and falling interest rates. One in five expats claims a sterling pension, with more than a quarter of Brits living in Spain (28 per cent) and a third of British expats in Germany relying on this as their core source of income, according to Moneycorp. More than half a million pensioners living in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand suffer a further blow because their state pensions don't rise each year in line with inflation. Only those living in the European Economic Area and countries with reciprocal agreements in place with the UK, such as the U.S. and Jamaica, are protected against inflation. Yesterday, these pensioners lost their fight in the European Court of Human Rights to prove this pension freeze violates anti-discrimination rules. Tim Finch, head of migration at think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research says: 'The weakness of the pound will mean more people will lose jobs and find it harder to live overseas and come home. This is likely to be a growing trend over the next few years. 'Generally, the big wave of lifestyle emigration where people got their place in the sun for a better life was a reflection of the boom years when you had high house prices and decent pensions.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgperry Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Haven't read the article but something about this seems odd to me. 4 million Brits choosing to move for money reasons - to where life was cheaper and they could live like kings on the pound. Doesn't say much for their loyalty, and now they choose to come home when the going gets tough. Doesn't sound much like loyalty to their new homelands either. Strange human behaviour, but I guess fairly common these days ..... or maybe its just me. Are people motivated by anything other than money anymore?? As we've said often on this forum, if you are choosing to move to Oz you definitely don't do it for financial reasons. I wonder if people fully appreciate that before they go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 Yup - like you say, you move overseas for lifestyle, not to make profit etc. The weak pound does make it more difficult to move overseas, but for people already living abroad I can't see how it makes any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruella2949 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I was wondering the same as MikeW too. How does a weak pound cause people to struggle abroad? I havent even noticed a weak pound an I LIVE in the UK!!! The only bit I can see as difficult is for people that have retired and have frozen pensions here....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgperry Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 and not quite sure how a weak pound overseas affects the job prospects of expats living there?? Wouldn't local jobs be paid in local currencies?? The article doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 The examples given were an expat being paid in £s and pensioners receiving pension in £s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aldo Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Haven't read the article but something about this seems odd to me. 4 million Brits choosing to move for money reasons - to where life was cheaper and they could live like kings on the pound. Doesn't say much for their loyalty, and now they choose to come home when the going gets tough. Doesn't sound much like loyalty to their new homelands either. Strange human behaviour, but I guess fairly common these days ..... or maybe its just me. Are people motivated by anything other than money anymore?? As we've said often on this forum, if you are choosing to move to Oz you definitely don't do it for financial reasons. I wonder if people fully appreciate that before they go. Never read so much tosh in my life!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clan mac Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I totally agree with you Aldo, what a load of old tosh! Clan Mac x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro Developer Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Never read so much tosh in my life!! Oh c'mon. Your just being cynical now. Of course it's true. The DM probably phoned all 4 million of them to supplement the integrity of the article. Besides, where would they get the 4 million figure from? Pluck it from midair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest honeybee24 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 What a load of rubbish, If they are struggling in oz and coming back to uk they are going to have a shock because it will be even harder for them back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz2008 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 We live and work in France and have done for the last 8 years. We have seen loads of people struggle over the past year or so and many of them have gone back to the UK!!! Many people rely on an income from the UK or their savings which doesn't stretch that far now, all down to the lousy exchange rate. The others who work here and get paid in euros are suffering because their clients are mainly English, and the English are not spending their money now. They just cant afford to! I would say the houses are cheaper here in France, but thats it! The cost of living is definitely more expensive than England. I suppose when the going gets tough, its easier to go back to familiar grounds... Not for us though!!! I would much rather stick it out here than go back to blighty. Tasha :wubclub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro Developer Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 What a load of rubbish, If they are struggling in oz and coming back to uk they are going to have a shock because it will be even harder for them back home. I think we'd better tell them they can't come home. We've replaced them with Eastern European and Muslim folk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest honeybee24 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I think we'd better tell them they can't come home. We've replaced them with Eastern European and Muslim folk. Lol yes i think we should rofl :biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Finchy84 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Daily Mail article, enough said... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Oz is best Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I'm staying in Oz for good, I have heard of lots of Ping Pong Pommes going back to England, and all they seem to say is the benefits they can claim are brilliant. Its a sad state of affairs when the UK seems to offer more in the way of money to people who they want to lounge around all day, not working. Call me old fashioned but I'm not interested in cheap plastic celebs and their antics or the X Factor and the millions of work shy mum's and dad's that won't their multiple offspring to become a star! Perhaps that's why the UK has some massive problems/changes ahead of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykestykes Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Oh c'mon. Your just being cynical now. Of course it's true. The DM probably phoned all 4 million of them to supplement the integrity of the article. Besides, where would they get the 4 million figure from? Pluck it from midair? Just purely out of interest, I wonder - does any official body keep records of how many migrants return to the UK permanently? Is there even a way of accurately doing this? :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I too have read the article and if the numbers are correct the gov in UK must be a bit worried all those extra benefits to find, jobs to find, houses etc. Plus all the immigrants, the population will get to seventy odd thousand long before the forecast. :laugh: I appreciate people are/have lost money but a rolling stone gathers no moss so how do you then recoup the extra losses of moving back, dead money in my book. Boom and bust has been around since the beginning of time and lets face it life has been pretty good but there is always a rainy day and its pouring in UK at the minute. We weathered 15 percent interest rates on our mortgage but we just tightened the belt and stuck it out and it was worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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