celine_uk

Wondering how others handled the stress of selling up and moving back to the UK… im finding this move so much more stressful as I suppose I went to Canada with nothing and Im leaving with a lot more… the amount of things to think about is overwhelming.

So after 20 years of being away and only ever living back in the Uk for 6 months 10 years ago, my partner and I have decided to move to Scotland… im from Newcastle but I don’t think I want to live there but Scotland seems to be good place for us.. we are looking in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow…. Either place seems good for us and house prices compared to Toronto are reasonable….

I spent months preparing to send my unmarried partners visa application for my spouse… and last week it was finally approved!!! . That in itself is amazing….

We are fixing our house in Toronto getting it ready to list and sell….

My next big hurdle is finding a place to live…. Im not keen on buying considering I don’t know areas and I don’t want to say right this is where I want to live to quickly…… we have no job and 2 small poodles…. But savings that will help us get by..

My question is how did others manage this all and also was it difficult to find rental with no income and 2 dogs…. I can easily pay upfront 6 months to a years rent to secure a place…. Or should bite the bullet and buy ( we won’t need a mortgage )

Any help or insight would be appreciated all I can remember is this website 20 years ago was helpful and again so many other times, so I am thankful!

dean350

If its any help I am in the same position. You are just a little further than me as I am still waiting for my spouse's visa to come through. Two things that helped me are to make a spreadsheet list of all the things you need to do to make the move. Its satisfying to steadily tick them off. Rentals, especially with pets and no income may not be easy. I did an awful lot of thinking about where we wanted to live in the UK and narrowed it down to a specific area of one city - if you can do that it will help you a lot otherwise you can be overwhelmed by choices. We then bought a house over the internet, which is not for everyone I admit, but at least it means we have somewhere to go when we arrive and can just walk in the door and set ourselves up. Having rented said house out for three years and seen the hoops tenants have to jump through I am glad I wont be renting.

Pollyana

Thats exactly how I did it, a huge spreadsheet, with different colours, and moving things to a second sheet as they were done. Second spreadsheet to keep track of the packing & shipping for the TOR.
I've been back a year today and although it was daunting starting the planning, if you attack it steadily it gets easier one you get into it.

Regarding rentals - I have no dogs, but had no income either, just savings. I just emailed local estate agents, outlining my situation and asking if they were willing to rent to me before I got home. Lots of positive replies, they could see I could pay rent upfront if necessary and I did manage to get a flat before arrival. I'm sure the fact I'd approached them all beforehand helped as they knew it was going to be an unusual situation.

A year on, I"ve never felt more settled, so stick with it, its worth it.

brits1

Hi, I think most of us have felt like this with a move let alone an overseas move. We moved back to a new area, we first stayed with my DF and I had a good “look” around first but I was tied to certain universities due to our two sons, we rented (we had our mini poodle with us) in a new area and my DH was working overseas, I contacted a few estate agents in the new area and explained fully our situation, they were all really good and no problem with our poodle (we paid a pet bond) if it was me I would definitely rent first especially if you do not know the area, maybe a holiday rental would be more suitable for a short term “fix” or can you not stay with friends or relatives for a short while? You may find you enjoy Newcastle or other cities nearby ish or Durham or York a lot has changed in the past 10 years. Good luck and all will “work out in the wash”

dunroving

I returned after 23 years away, with a dog, to a rental. As you say, it's a lot more stressful than when you first leave. I don't recall ever asking myself if I was doing the right thing, or worrying about anything back in 1983 when I left the UK. That's the resilience and optimism of youth for you - plus you have so little belongings at that time of life, that returning would be as easy as leaving.

Of all the things you mentioned, I think renting rather than buying is the biggest piece of advice I'd give. After 4 months of being back, I realised the job I'd taken was very different than what was sold to me, and I really disliked living where I was. If you can pay cash upfront, plus a pet deposit, I think you'll find a rental place. It may not be your perfect home, but hey, it's just a rental. The inconvenience of moving house twice (into a rental, and then into your own home) pales in comparison to realising you don't like the part of Scotland you've moved to and have to sell a house to move elsewhere.

The anticipation and anxiety of thinking about all the jobs you have to do usually exceeds by far the anxiety you feel when it's all happening. The anticipation is almost always worse than the reality.

durham_lad

We also moved back after 29 years away and decided to rent first before buying. It worked great because after a few months of renting we got to know exactly the areas of the town we wanted to live in and that is where we bought our house.

The local move was really easy compared to the relocation from the USA.

Helen1964

As a fellow landlord, I second this comment. I strongly suggest that - if, having spoken to letting agents in the area you’re interested in, it transpires that supply is very tight - you at least also look into the possibility of putting your stuff in storage and staying in Airbnb-style accommodation.
As a prelude to either finding a long-term rental or - in the best-case scenario - buying.

Personally, too, I would want to view - or have a friend or family member view - any long-term rental before committing myself. Some of the rental properties I’ve seen are in a pretty grim state.

One possible disadvantage of Airbnb as compared with long-term rental is that with the former, you wouldn’t have utility bills as proof of address. Although you may be able to find workarounds for this (eg get your Mum to add your name to her electricity account).
Another possible disadvantage of course is that Airbnbs in the area you’re considering are extremely expensive because of tourism/ business travel but a few minutes on the Internet will tell you whether that’s the case.

Best of luck!

jjmb

I am tagging on this post as we are moving back to Scotland this summer and it's the accommodation issue that worrying us. We plan on using a AirBnb for the first few weeks and then get a rental before buying as we don't want to rush into making a purchase. But having looked on various sites, there doesn't seem to be many furnished places. We already know that our shipping will be about 3 months in transit, so we will not have any furniture or even basic stuff. As a landlord, what is the situation with furnished rentals?

durham_lad

I don’t know about Scotland but in the NE of England they are definitely much harder to come by. In 2022 our daughter’s partner moved here and was in an Airbnb for a couple of months before finding a furnished apartment to rent.

SkiBoySpouse

We are moving back but we have the advantage of already owning our property but it's been let out for the past 15 years, and needs some serious renovation work. We also will have the 12 weeks or so of shipping from West Coast USA until we are reunited with our items. We have arranged an airbnb for six months, so no worries about utilities, council tax, furniture etc. Our renovation works should be complete around the time our items arrive and clear customs. We tried to find long-term let, furnished, but it was impossible, so we went the airbnb route.

Helen1964

Long-term furnished rentals do exist but, as you’ve already seen, they tend to be few and far between.
So you’ll probably need an Airbnb for about 3 months until your furniture arrives and hopefully by that time you’ll have found an unfurnished rental.

coolcat

We are moving back next year, most likely to Scotland. Been in Canada 18 years. Couldn’t agree more that it seems way more stressful going back this way than it did coming out here. Transporting a dog into the UK makes my head spin! We bought o e with us 18 years ago and it wasn’t this hard. I think the Air BnB route is probably best so you don’t end up somewhere you don’t like in a long term rental or purchase. We did it coming out this way and it gave us peace of mind to know we had at least a month to find a longer term rental.

I don't know if having a temporary address such as an Air BnB is a barrier to registering with a doctor? Does anyone know?

Very thankful for this site. Used it when we moved to Canada. Never thought I would be asking questions about moving back home lol. 🇬🇧

C.2s

Two part answer:

1. Officially (according to NHS website).you don't need an address to register with the NHS. There are after all various groups of people who don't have an address.

2. Unfortunately lots of GP surgeries ask for evidence of your address, which would generally speaking require it to be somewhere that you receive a bill or bank statements or have your driving licence linked to... and most AirBnBs won't allow you to do that. The GPs tend to do this out of a jobsworth "what we've always done" attitude or something slightly more justifiable about serving a geographical area in order to not exceed a maximum number of patients... might be possible to overcome this argument but not easy to convince Doctors' Receptionists.

Pollyana

How would the doctor know it was an Airbnb unless you tell them? Just give them the address of the place, they wouldn't know whether its your own place or a short term let.

C.2s

They ask for proof of your address in the form of bill, bank statement, driving licence or some other form of evidence.

As I said in my previous comment, they should not really insist on this but they do. It's a well known problem that immigrants face. Google "GP registration proof of address UK" . The top answer is from the NHS saying it is not obligatory. Scroll down a bit and you'll see all the other results are about GPs continuing to insist it is obligatory.