catandpaul

Hi

I'm a new member here and really just looking for some advice to help me make a difficult decision... My family and I are considering a move back to the UK after 5 years in Christchurch, NZ. Is it really as bad as everyone would have us believe in the UK? ie recession, job cuts etc. What are the conditions of unemployment benefit if we were to return? We are not looking to claim benefit but obviously need some kind of safety net should we decide to go back.

We love NZ but find that after being unable to sell our property in the UK, it now makes more financial sense to return, on the proviso of course that we can find work!

Any thoughts, advice, opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Mummy in the foothills

Many on here have moved back and found work and some took a while to find work, depends where you will be and what you do.
Sounds like your family back home are ready too much daily Mail.
You can look here for whats available and what it pays.
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/home...8320b0a3&pid=2
http://www.cv-library.co.uk/
If you already have a house, that's one hurdle that's overcome, maybe feel about with old friends and work colleagues to see what is available in their businesses.

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to BE.

As you are enjoying NZ & ChCh it's such a shame that you are now considering having to return.

I read you have been resident in NZ for the past 5 years . Have you gained your NZ citizenship ?

All the best & I hope that a buyer pops up for your UK house.

catandpaul

Hi thanks for your responses, my husband has just gained his citizenship and I'm in the process. Both babies were born here. We have thought that perhaps we return for a period of say 5 years just to get our finances in order!? To sell now would be at a loss and with the current exchange rate it just wouldn't give us the start that we had initially hoped for! Also housing in Christchurch post quake is at a premium and in short supply. Bad timing on all counts I think!

Stormer999

Hi peeps sorry to hear of your plight.You obviously have your concerns about returning and a lot of people are going to give you net links that will not reflect the real work availability of your line. Have you not any friends left in your house area that you can ask as agency adds are totally false on the internet. How about the local papers from your house town? most have online versions nowdays. More important than is there work is, is there work at a sensible rate of pay!?
As Bevs says best of luck for a buyer we have our house back there but the situation for takers is somewhat dire.....

Bevm

If you're hoping that in 5 years your UK property will have substantially risen in value, I think that's a big gamble. You say the price you can get now isn't what you'd hoped for, but it's probably what it's worth, and will be for a while. As you seem to want to stay in NZ that might be the best thing, then work with what you have toward what you want there.

Most of the developed world is in economic difficulty, not just the UK, all built on debt and printing money, but NZ might be one of the better places as it bit the bullet a while back.

Bev

Pistolpete2

I would think that what has been said here is very good counsel.

The Daily Mail may be full of trashy often gloom and doom articles but one only has to spend time reading the other more serious daily newspapers which have proper financial sections including the Financial Times to realise how very dire the current economic predicament in the UK and Europe is. A predicament which has precious little chance of disappearing any time soon if only because European governments and central banks have little left at their disposal to tackle fundamental structural problems in any meaningful way even if they could come to a collective decision as to what to do, which they can't for lack of talent and political reasons.

The UK seems equally devoid of ideas, no matter how much banging on the table goes on and the much anticipated job cuts in the public sector have hardly even started yet due to the profound existing weakness. As Bevm has said, printing money is the only game in town, including in the US, though they call it something else over there (Operation Twist).

NZ, as with other resource-driven countries such as Canada and Australia, does appear to have a reasonable short term future as well as a long-term one and the unfortunate, for some, strength of the NZ dollar is a sign of the country's relative potential for growth from here while the Euro and Sterling show continued weakness (last Friday aside).

chris955

We have been back for a few months now, we are in our own house, we are just starting up our business and enjoying every moment. My answer to your question is NO it is nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe. The Daily Mail has a lot to answer for.

Sally Redux

It seems a bit crazy to go back though if you don't really want to. Surely it would be cheaper to cut the asking price on your house.

brits1

We are happy to be in the U.K, any one person can find a fault with anything if they really want to espcially if they are unhappy themselves. We have been home for 2 years now and no its certainly nothing like we thought it "sounded" like while we were in Australia (the UK sounded so dire lol) but then again we take things as WE find them rather than someone else's thoughts. If I was happy where I was then I would not move just for the sake of a house sale....I would lower the price of our home and move on, sometimes you have to sacrifice some things, it's very unusual that we can always "have everything our own way" wish we could lol.....good luck

catandpaul

Thank you so much for all your valuable comments. I suppose I'm not painting the whole picture as I haven't even mentioned the emotional pull ie ageing parents, old friends, family support with 2 under twos etc etc!! Obviously that is something only I can make a decision on but I am trying not to let my heart rule my head and therefore looking at it more from a financial perspective.
We have weighed up the cost of living back in the UK (provided we have work of course) and the cost of living out here with a mortgage bolstered by what we could realistically make on our UK property and it is cheaper by far to return to the UK! The idea would be to return for a shorter period maybe pay off the mortgage quicker (we have about 7 years left) and then come back to NZ in a better financial position. Also hoping that in that time the Christchurch housing situation would have improved along with its damaged infrastructure. My fear is that it would be difficult to leave again now we have children!?
I sound like I have made my decision already but I tend to play Devils advocate to whatever the general consensus is! lol

brits1

The best laid plans .....the trouble if you do come back home is that your children might develope stronger bonds with family and friends (as you might) by the time you might start thinking of moving back to NZ which would make things a lot harder on you all....if all that was the case and you still wanted to return to NZ then like everything else in life you might not have it all plain sailing in other directions (not financially now but emotionally) but if you want something to happen then we usually tend to find away around "problems" to get there in the end....it is much harder sometimes when you have young children and no direct family support, in the end its really down to what is best for you, your children and your OH, the rest is a bonus. Good luck, take care:

J.JsOH

No, things in UK are not really that bad, just not as good as they were financially for some due to recent inflation, recession, job cuts, austerity, benefits cuts. It is a good time to buy a house if you have the cash, not so good for selling apparently but in contrast many houses around me seem to sell quickly while others stagnate for a long while.

dunroving

You can always sell a house quickly if you ask for the right price. Most people who have problems selling at the moment are just asking too much/expecting to sell at 2007 values.

Returnee

According to a BBC Panorama documentary: 'Britain today is suffering the longest peacetime slump in decades. Our economy is in a double-dip recession for the first time since 1975. Panorama asks whether Britain is ready and able to cope with a new age of austerity with surprising echoes of the 1970s.'