Guest Carl Thomas Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Hi, I have been living in Melbourne for the past 7 years. I have an Australian wife and a 2 year old son. We both have jobs in Oz however we are finding it impossible to secure any future ie buying a home due to the ever incresing costs of living over here. My son has a British passport which we arranged last year so thats not a problem and my wife has a visa to stay in the uk as her grandfather was British. My parents have kindly offered for us to stay with them untill we get up and running which is nice. The plan is that i go to the UK first to try and secure a job then i will fly back and bring the whole family over(including our dog, which i know is expensive) any suggestions? I will not have a bank account set up in my name so any advice on how i might go about this would be fantastic It will be a big move i know, but i feel this is our best opption to have a go at securing our future. Any advise, tips or people's experiances who have done the same thing would be great. Many Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proview220 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 My advice is think hard before you return, you say you been in oz for 7 yr, well the uk has changed so much in that time, the country is on its ass! property is also more expensive than 7 yr ago. what advise have your family given you??? good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proview220 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 By the way welcome to poms in oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would say that you appear to have wonderful family support which would be such a bonus. Good luck to you and I hope your dreams come to fruition ... have you tried HSBC Banking who have branches here and the UK? Susie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carl Thomas Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 My advice is think hard before you return, you say you been in oz for 7 yr, well the uk has changed so much in that time, the country is on its ass! property is also more expensive than 7 yr ago. what advise have your family given you??? good luck Hi, Thanks for your post, we have thought about this long and hard, we also have my Parents backing. We are aware of the situation over there (uk) however we feel that we have reached a dead end here and are willing to give it a shot. We just cant raise enough $$ to pay of a homeloan and our rent is forever increasing. Our main concerns are getting a job (i will be willing to do anything to start with but have a background in call center managment). My wife is a registered Nurse and we are just starting the process of her registration for the UK. Also a little concerned on opening a bank acc as i have no credit history in the uk. Thanks once again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carl Thomas Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would say that you appear to have wonderful family support which would be such a bonus. Good luck to you and I hope your dreams come to fruition ... have you tried HSBC Banking who have branches here and the UK? Susie x Hi Susie, Thanks for your reply, i will go into a local HSBC branch to see if they can help out. Much Appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Hi Susie, Thanks for your reply, i will go into a local HSBC branch to see if they can help out. Much Appreciated. I should have said welcome to Poms in Oz Carl... there is much support on Moving Back to the UK... Members share their experiences and I think you will find it invaluable. Exciting times for you! Enjoy! love Susie x http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/international/move-os Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Great Escape Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Hi There, First time poster... and I hope I am not being too rude as, Carl I am going to piggy back off your post I hope you don't mind! I too am having the same dilemma that you are. I read in a post that credit history may present a problem in being able to secure a mortgage within 12 months of returning home. I haven't lived in the UK for quite a number of years however my husband still has a bank account there. Albeit only with a couple of quid in it, and hasn't worked in the UK for 3 years so no regular payments going into it... Does anyone know if that will suffice to retain some kind of credit history over there? Thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Good luck, sounds like a great plan. I hope it all works out for you! It certainly looks like home ownership is more do-able in UK, my son and his partner are just putting their foot on the ladder this weekend and what they are getting in London (near tube line) is well cheaper than anything they would get here. I have always kept my bank account open in UK, doesnt have much in it but there are a few direct debits and I put a load in when I go for a visit (the Co-op bank) and they have been good to me. I dont think it should be too much hassle to get a bank account with someone - both my sons have done it in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life on easy street Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Property is now expensive in both the U.K and Australia. With the exception of some parts of northern U.K. In Buckinghamshire a typical house is 10 times the average wage according to local newspapers. My calculations make it at least 8 times for a house in need of extensive repairs (one classed as uninhabitable). In the 1990,s a simalar house needing extensive repairs (one classed as uninhabitable) was close to 3 times the average wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stovies Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Hi, The plan is that i go to the UK first to try and secure a job then i will fly back and bring the whole family over(including our dog, which i know is expensive) any suggestions? I would just like to say that it might be wise to get your dog organised now. It will have to have a rabies injection, then a month later, a blood test and then 6 months after that, it will be able to travel over to UK without quarantine (it's called a Pets Passport). We are going through this at the moment and I wish we had got our act together sooner as I fly back to Scotland, with the children,next month... my husband is going to hang on here in his job for a while and will be able to keep our dog with him for the 6 month period rather than her having to go into kennels. Very best of luck with everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 A great many people successfully move to the UK, it is very affordable now which is a bonus. Don't believe the doom mongerers, I was in the UK a few months ago and while there is no denying times will be tougher for awhile until the Government sort out the damage left by the last lot things generally are fine. Housesd are cheaper than they have been for a long time and there are still jobs in all but the worst affected areas. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest 47403 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi There, First time poster... and I hope I am not being too rude as, Carl I am going to piggy back off your post I hope you don't mind! I too am having the same dilemma that you are. I read in a post that credit history may present a problem in being able to secure a mortgage within 12 months of returning home. I haven't lived in the UK for quite a number of years however my husband still has a bank account there. Albeit only with a couple of quid in it, and hasn't worked in the UK for 3 years so no regular payments going into it... Does anyone know if that will suffice to retain some kind of credit history over there? Thanks in advance!! You will only get a mortgage once you are able to show you have been working back in the UK for at least 12 months and have between a 25 and 40% deposit. If your hubby has a good credit rating from when he was here before it would go some way to helping credit ratings generally account for your last 6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cricketbackinengland Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I too would not listen to any negative comments, your main assets to propel you forwards are your health and your mental ability to be flexible. As long as these are sound, you can pretty much achieve anything. I can say this because I've done it. We came back to the UK in August 2009 and my business is now growing reasonably well. It has been tough but you just have to be sensible and weather the conditions. Things are improving slowly so don't be put off. Get your timing right though and make sure you have enough money to survive on before you head back. The first 12 months of getting established can be more expensive than you realise simply because you have to pay more upfront ie, bond and rent in advance. If you don't have a credit rating, you might be asked to pay 6 months bond and rent in advance. A lot of the nicer rentals are in the hands of agents and they all want bank references. The one thing I will say is that it makes no difference if house prices are unaffordable. The banks are not lending money to get a mortgage. In order for houses to start selling again, prices must come down to meet what banks will lend. Originally it was 5 times your salary. Now it's only 3 times so nothing is moving including us. We're looking at buying but it's not the right time yet because what we can borrow does not match what sellers currently are asking. Good luck and stay positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest 47403 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I'm sorry but there are 2 posts there telling people to ignore the negatives! That's awful advice to give someone making these sort of decisions. You have to consider every positive and negative that will impact you whichever decision you make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 A great many people successfully move to the UK, it is very affordable now which is a bonus. Don't believe the doom mongerers, I was in the UK a few months ago and while there is no denying times will be tougher for awhile until the Government sort out the damage left by the last lot things generally are fine. Housesd are cheaper than they have been for a long time and there are still jobs in all but the worst affected areas.Good luck. Yes houses are cheaper but its no help if you don't have a large deposit as you wont get a mortgage. Yes there are jobs in most areas if you dont mind selling double glazing, or pestering people in supermarkets to buy utilities. Good jobs, real jobs are disappearing fast. Even so called 'jobs for life' are vanishing on a daily basis. My own sister is being made redundent from the local authority (family welfare dept.) Maybe Chris the 'doom mongers' are the very people the recession has hit the most. If you have lost your job, or are about to lose your job, or your home are you likely to come on here and tell people its ok? that things are still rosy in the uk when you know damn well it isn't. No of course you wont. I understand you vsited the UK a 'few months ago' and I can see why you think everything is still normal here. People who are lucky enough to still have their jobs are probably doing very well. Prices are low, mortgages are cheap, life appears to go as normal (on the surface). It's only when you lose your livelyhood and you then discover that you cant even get a job at the local supermarket that reality hits. At our local supermarket there are a number of unemployed people working there for free. They are sent there by the benefit office for 'training'. They work 2 days a week unpaid for 12 weeks. Even if the shop had vacancies, they have no need to employ anyone as they are getting free labour from the unemployed so why pay for it. For anyone who is thinking of returning to the UK, good luck to you. I hope you fall on your feet but dont bank on it. Metoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I certainly didn't say ignore the negatives, I said don't listen to the doom mongerers who rarely say anything positive. I'm sorry but there are 2 posts there telling people to ignore the negatives! That's awful advice to give someone making these sort of decisions. You have to consider every positive and negative that will impact you whichever decision you make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrisDubBris Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I'm sorry but there are 2 posts there telling people to ignore the negatives! That's awful advice to give someone making these sort of decisions. You have to consider every positive and negative that will impact you whichever decision you make. The posts you mention are from two people that have posted nothing but justifications for their own moves back to the UK. That is fine of course but you won't see anything remotely objective from them. You have to take everyone's posts with a big pinch of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cricketbackinengland Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 To add another perspective, I was nearly crippled in a boat accident in Australia which ended my career at 46, my husband left me soon after, took all the money, then divorced me, I had no family and I was not entitled to any benefits. I had to take a low paid job doing whatever I could do to survive, retrain, refocus and rely on my own skills and incentives to pick myself up off the floor. I couldn't whine on about any of it, blame the government or the economy, I just had to get on with it. I eventually worked hard enough to return to England where I started a my own business and have never looked back since. Took me 4 years working 7 days a week for a pittance but I'm flying upwards now thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Count Zero Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi, I have been living in Melbourne for the past 7 years. I have an Australian wife and a 2 year old son. We both have jobs in Oz however we are finding it impossible to secure any future ie buying a home due to the ever incresing costs of living over here. My son has a British passport which we arranged last year so thats not a problem and my wife has a visa to stay in the uk as her grandfather was British. My parents have kindly offered for us to stay with them untill we get up and running which is nice. The plan is that i go to the UK first to try and secure a job then i will fly back and bring the whole family over(including our dog, which i know is expensive) any suggestions? I will not have a bank account set up in my name so any advice on how i might go about this would be fantastic It will be a big move i know, but i feel this is our best opption to have a go at securing our future. Any advise, tips or people's experiances who have done the same thing would be great. Many Thanks Yes house prices in many parts of the UK are much cheaper than Oz and set to drop much further according to the surveys worth taking notice of. However as a few have pointed out this is because the banks know prices are out of kilter and so will not lend as much money on a depreciating assets to customers that will be less and less able to meet the repayments due to lower wages, higher risk of unemployment and higher monthly outgoings. I think you are better off staying in Australia if it's just having a house you are concerned about. Home ownership is not all its cracked up to be especially when prices are about to fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawny Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi, I have been living in Melbourne for the past 7 years. I have an Australian wife and a 2 year old son. We both have jobs in Oz however we are finding it impossible to secure any future ie buying a home due to the ever incresing costs of living over here. My son has a British passport which we arranged last year so thats not a problem and my wife has a visa to stay in the uk as her grandfather was British. My parents have kindly offered for us to stay with them untill we get up and running which is nice. The plan is that i go to the UK first to try and secure a job then i will fly back and bring the whole family over(including our dog, which i know is expensive) any suggestions? I will not have a bank account set up in my name so any advice on how i might go about this would be fantastic It will be a big move i know, but i feel this is our best opption to have a go at securing our future. Any advise, tips or people's experiances who have done the same thing would be great. Many Thanks Hi Carl, just want to wish you all the very best with your future plans, We have been back in the uk almost 6 months now, happy and settled, Depending which bank you are using in oz, its possible to set this up whilst there and transfer some funds over, HSBC Is world wide, so maybe a trip in there would help, you can also pop onto HSBC UK web site, as that gives you help setting up a bank account from over seas, Regarding bringing your dog over, i would call jetpets, as they will be able to give you the help regarding rabies jab etc regarding petpassport, We used this company and can not fault them at all. If you are planing on returning sooner than later, its important to speak to your vet and get the rabies Jab sorted, You can split quarantine between Australia and uk, as we did, our boys had 3 months in oz and three months here! At a cost for uk quarantine , also seems that uk quarantine kennels are very far and few between, and this is something else you need to sort for yourself, just to add more stress to the move! Regarding mortgages, you can get different information from different lenders, We have found if you return to your original mortgage lender the terms are slightly different, my o/h is sub contracted and has returned to his old company for work, The bank only requires 3 month pay slips 6 if self employed! So worth asking around, Depending what your line of work is, and whereabouts you are returning to, There are jobs out there, We are down south and everything seems to be just fine, people are upbeat, and not all doom and gloom, still plenty of property being sold and some really good bargains to be had, Hope this helps a little Dawn x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pegasus 90 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi, I have been living in Melbourne for the past 7 years. I have an Australian wife and a 2 year old son. We both have jobs in Oz however we are finding it impossible to secure any future ie buying a home due to the ever incresing costs of living over here. My son has a British passport which we arranged last year so thats not a problem and my wife has a visa to stay in the uk as her grandfather was British. My parents have kindly offered for us to stay with them untill we get up and running which is nice. The plan is that i go to the UK first to try and secure a job then i will fly back and bring the whole family over(including our dog, which i know is expensive) any suggestions? I will not have a bank account set up in my name so any advice on how i might go about this would be fantastic It will be a big move i know, but i feel this is our best opption to have a go at securing our future. Any advise, tips or people's experiances who have done the same thing would be great. Many Thanks Hi Carl, I spent 10 years in Australia and returned to the U.K in June last year, so you could say I know exactly what you are proposing!. As far as bank accounts are concerned, all you need is a U.K address and a British passport. I wont go into the reasons as to why we returned but more to give you my own view on how life changes. I am in a middle management position and was fortunate enough to secure my job before returning. I earn relatively good money by U.K standards, but it is still about $20k less than I earned in Oz for the same job. I find that some things are cheaper, mainly the large $ items and clothes, but in general there is not much difference on a week to week basis. There is however a lot greater choice I will admit. My wife works full time and earns less than she did in her part time job in Australia (even allowing for exchange rate fluctuations). A previous post advised about the mortgage situation and I agree with that ; we lived here for 30 years before leaving in 2000, and we were homeowners, but once we returned we found that we had disappeared off all systems. The only way we secured a mortgage offer was purely down to the fact that we had a reasonable sized deposit (over 50%). One of the things that struck us initially was how low wages are in general. We have seen call centre and office admin positions for 12 – 13’000 pound pa, which pretty much was on offer when I left at the end of 1999!. I believe that over population and the recession has helped companies keep salaries extremely low. I have 14 staff working for me and I can tell you that only two people are on more than 20k, most are on 14 – 16k. There have been no pay rises for three years and staffing levels have been reduced by 30%. It really is tough going at the moment, and I have to stop myself sometimes to make allowances for these people who have had to live through this recession, as I haven’t had to. I appreciate that instances can change depending on where you are etc. We are based in the West Kent/ South E.London area and may not reflect everywhere. It is misleading to try to make a direct financial comparison as some things are dearer or cheaper at both locations. However based on our income; our monthly outgoings are far greater as a percentage of our income that it was in Australia. Bottom line; we were financially better off in Aus. Now please don’t think I am being a doom mongerer and trying to convince you to change your mind. No one could have convinced us 12 months ago to not come back, but I’ll give you my honest and open opinion. Nevertheless there is some fantastic things to do & see in U.K I know that when emotion comes into it, we all lose site of logic. All I would say is don’t burn you bridges and leave the door open for whatever the future holds. Best of luck for the future. P90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Also I would apply for Oz citizenship before you leave if you don't already have it. I strongly believe you should hold the same passports as your child if possible. Does your wife have British citizenship or a visa to come to the UK? They can take a while to process. We came back to UK but are planning on going back to Oz. Kept our UK bank accounts whilst in Oz and still have our Oz bank accounts and credit card in UK. I would say do not close Oz bank accounts it is easy to run them on line and most of the call centres work 24 hours if you do ever need to speak to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cricketbackinengland Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 You're getting some wise words on here Carl. Just to add to the posters offering such good advice, here's what we did to enable us to return. Firstly, I had always kept my HSBC bank account here in England so when my new Australian husband needed to open an account here, he could not do it from over there. We had to open Australian accounts with HSBC, then they introduced him to the UK HSBC bank. In other words, they opened the account from Australia. It's really easy to to do, all you need to do is open an HSBC bank account over there and tell them you also need an account in the UK. You then transfer your money between accounts as an international direct transfer, which you can do online. We originally came to England as a huge leap of faith but also because regardless of everyone saying how stupid we were, England is my home, I never wanted to leave and I actually love it warts and all. So it was my blind determination to get back home that got us here. Being a business person, I also knew we could not return empty handed so we arrived back with an initial sum of 43,000 pounds to last us until I sold my house over there and my husband cashed in his super. I brought back with me a business plan which had been developed in Australia but was better suited to the UK for it's growth on the basis that their are more skilled workers here, commercial leases are much less risky and better regulated and because there are 60 million people here. The plan was to live small while we got the business up and running. We found no real obstacles in all honesty and our money lasted. We invested around 20,000 in the business, opened a small shop (tiny overheads), started the mail order side, bought a good second hand car for cash, had disasters renting because of cash strapped landlords so we ended up moving 4 times in 8 months which cost money. In the end, I managed to sell my house on the Gold Coast (for the asking price) and with some of that money and being fed up of renting, we bought a luxury narrowboat intending to fulfil a dream and cruise Britains waterways in our spare time. We only intended to stay on it through summer but we're still installed between the boat and the shop. The reason being, we don't want to jump into the property market just yet. We have the deposit but I feel it's just the wrong time to buy. We have survived brilliantly well though because by living small for now means the money we saved was reinvested into the business helping it weather the economic crisis and grow at the same time. We have no borrowing, no debt, no credit cards, no loans and although our assets are small, we own them outright. The business, even after just 14 months of trading, is now a saleable asset. The boat is also a valuable asset, my husband at 56 has been offered 6 jobs in total because he jumped through a lot of hoops and met the criteria required. We trudged around car boot sales to buy curtains and odd bits to furnish rented property because there was no point buying new things for somewhere you might only spend six months living there. Now we still go to car boot sales for books, CD's and just for fun. If you've a child, you can find fantastic bargains. I bought a brand new little girls dress for a friends baby for 50 pence. A lot of hard up parents can be found trying to earn a few extra pounds so it's easy to clothe and buy toys for a child that have hardly been used. There are also farmers markets where you buy fresh food and live to a good standard and stay healthy. OK, it can be tough at times but if you're resourceful and prepared to compromise, you can build the kind of life you want. We have but I really do believe we've done it because we kept control of our money, we preserved our capital and kept our living costs down a minimum. Have to say though, our boat lifestyle is absolutely lovely, it's not been at all difficult even in the winter. We do have a flat with the shop but we prefer the boat. It's like a floating apartment. I was very determined to come home and nothing, but nothing would stop me, recession or not. There was nothing terribly wrong with Oz, I just wanted to come home. Our lives are comfortable so we tend to just appreciate all the positives and keep looking forwards. It's a work in progress, we're not there yet but the journey is very rewarding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janieco Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi all, iam intending to return to the U.K. early next year with my daughter 18yrs old and who will be taking a gap year, and my son who will be 8 yrs old. Iam 46 and have not been to the U.K. for 26 years :eek: I have always vowed that when i have the money to return, i will be going home. Well iam financially able to return ie buy a home and have money left over.......iam terrified at the thought of taking my little boy over there as he is very close to my parents who will stay in Oz. I have never settled here and feel like i have been waiting to get home for so long now, that i have to do it soon or i will miss my chance. I do have a lot of family there that iam close to but still feel its a daunting task to organise all this. Can any body else relate to this situation, the thought of spending the rest of my life in Oz is just to much to bear :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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