Help and advice about moving to NZ!
Jul 21st 2003, 9:33 am
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: London
Posts: 7
Help and advice about moving to NZ!
Hi everyone.
What a great site - just what we needed to find at this moment in time. Any advice or tips on moving to NZ would be greatly appreciated. Our situation is this:
Residency visas being put into our passports now. We are selling our house at the moment and will be moving in with family for a few months while we buy a small flat in the UK to rent out (rent will cover financial commitments we have here). We move out of the house in Aug and will have to put our stuff into storage in the UK. When we've bought the flat, some furniture will go from storage into it, and the rest will be shipped out to NZ. It will have to be stored in NZ for a couple of months until we buy there (staying with friends to start with). When the flat is all sorted then we head for sunny Auckland (Oct/Nov time??)
Can anyone help us with:
Good companies who do packing/removals plus storage in the UK and NZ? What insurance is included/should we take out?
Bank accounts in NZ? Keeping one in the UK or opening an offshore one (rent £ would go in here and then be used to pay commitments)? Tax implications of all of this?
What do we have to do with the Inland Revenue before we go? Is there anyone out there who is still keeping their UK personal pensions plan going?
Phew!! Basically it is all of the financial side plus removals side that we would like help with from those who have already been through it. Anything would be useful.
Thank you!
IJS
What a great site - just what we needed to find at this moment in time. Any advice or tips on moving to NZ would be greatly appreciated. Our situation is this:
Residency visas being put into our passports now. We are selling our house at the moment and will be moving in with family for a few months while we buy a small flat in the UK to rent out (rent will cover financial commitments we have here). We move out of the house in Aug and will have to put our stuff into storage in the UK. When we've bought the flat, some furniture will go from storage into it, and the rest will be shipped out to NZ. It will have to be stored in NZ for a couple of months until we buy there (staying with friends to start with). When the flat is all sorted then we head for sunny Auckland (Oct/Nov time??)
Can anyone help us with:
Good companies who do packing/removals plus storage in the UK and NZ? What insurance is included/should we take out?
Bank accounts in NZ? Keeping one in the UK or opening an offshore one (rent £ would go in here and then be used to pay commitments)? Tax implications of all of this?
What do we have to do with the Inland Revenue before we go? Is there anyone out there who is still keeping their UK personal pensions plan going?
Phew!! Basically it is all of the financial side plus removals side that we would like help with from those who have already been through it. Anything would be useful.
Thank you!
IJS
Jul 21st 2003, 10:02 am
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: Auckland
Posts: 161
Hi there
I moved to Auckland about a year ago and the questions you raise are the same ones we faced last year. Here;s my take on things:
1) removals - we used Pickfords to pack up our house, store in the UK for a month, ship to NZ and then store in NZ for a month before we found a place to live. Cost from memory was about 3500 pounds. They were not the cheapest but the service was superb and would use them again. A lot has been posted about removals on this site so do a serach on removals and check out what has been posted.
2) Banks - we opened up an account with ASB before we left and kept a First Direct account going for the collection of rent for the property in the UK that we left behind. This works fine for us and as long as your profits don't exceed your personal allowance you don'y pay any tax.
3) You need to contact the IR and fill out a form to let them know you are leaving the country. They rebate any tax due to you. You'll also need to contact the IR to ket them know about your rental property otherwise tax can be deducted from your rent by your manageming agents. Check out the IR website for full details on this.
4) Pension - I was told that you need to be a UK resident to be able to pay into a UK pension scheme. I've frozen my pension and started a few investements over here in NZ to make sure I'm still saving.
On the financial side of things getting professional advice is very worthwhile. Before I left I met with an accountant for 2 hours and fired all my questions at him. He charged about 150 pounds but it was money well spent.
I moved to Auckland about a year ago and the questions you raise are the same ones we faced last year. Here;s my take on things:
1) removals - we used Pickfords to pack up our house, store in the UK for a month, ship to NZ and then store in NZ for a month before we found a place to live. Cost from memory was about 3500 pounds. They were not the cheapest but the service was superb and would use them again. A lot has been posted about removals on this site so do a serach on removals and check out what has been posted.
2) Banks - we opened up an account with ASB before we left and kept a First Direct account going for the collection of rent for the property in the UK that we left behind. This works fine for us and as long as your profits don't exceed your personal allowance you don'y pay any tax.
3) You need to contact the IR and fill out a form to let them know you are leaving the country. They rebate any tax due to you. You'll also need to contact the IR to ket them know about your rental property otherwise tax can be deducted from your rent by your manageming agents. Check out the IR website for full details on this.
4) Pension - I was told that you need to be a UK resident to be able to pay into a UK pension scheme. I've frozen my pension and started a few investements over here in NZ to make sure I'm still saving.
On the financial side of things getting professional advice is very worthwhile. Before I left I met with an accountant for 2 hours and fired all my questions at him. He charged about 150 pounds but it was money well spent.
Jul 21st 2003, 10:19 am
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Hawkes Bay
Posts: 359
Good questions. I'll look out for the answers. Off to Wellington in September.
Removals - I searched all the threads and choose Bishops Move (£3200 + 2.8% insurance), Masons (£2900 + 2.65%), and Whites (£2550 + 3%). This was for moving a large house, no kids stuff, no wardrobes. 20 footer. Masons are coming back with another quote.
Again ASB come out good with consumers ratings. Look out for the charges of Kiwi Banks. You can open a sterling account with them and exchange when (!!!) the time is right. See www.consumer.org.nz. Maybe worth joining for a few month - not expensive for lots of info.
Interesting you are buying a UK rental, not Kiwi. Why? It's a thought with the poor exchange rate. However I can only afford a Kiwi family home and a flat rental there. Couldn't afford in Hants. Maybe look into buying in Scotland for the in-laws to keep an eye on.
I have an NHS Pension (final salary). I plan on sticking with it.
Roger
Removals - I searched all the threads and choose Bishops Move (£3200 + 2.8% insurance), Masons (£2900 + 2.65%), and Whites (£2550 + 3%). This was for moving a large house, no kids stuff, no wardrobes. 20 footer. Masons are coming back with another quote.
Again ASB come out good with consumers ratings. Look out for the charges of Kiwi Banks. You can open a sterling account with them and exchange when (!!!) the time is right. See www.consumer.org.nz. Maybe worth joining for a few month - not expensive for lots of info.
Interesting you are buying a UK rental, not Kiwi. Why? It's a thought with the poor exchange rate. However I can only afford a Kiwi family home and a flat rental there. Couldn't afford in Hants. Maybe look into buying in Scotland for the in-laws to keep an eye on.
I have an NHS Pension (final salary). I plan on sticking with it.
Roger
Jul 21st 2003, 11:05 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: Auckland
Posts: 161
Interesting point about NZ/UK property market.
Before we left we bought a 2 bed flat to rent out for 200k. Over the year we've been away the value (according to our estate agent) jumped to 265k and has now reduced to about 240k. Still a good return over the year but the feeling at the moment is that prices in London and not increasing and our money would be better elsewhere. The only problem is that investments in property are not liquid and you can't jump in and out of the market like you can do with shares.
On the North Shore in Auckland good rentals are hard to find and capital growth on good homes could be as high as 10% this year.
You need to ask yourself why are you getting a UK rental. At the moment you can put your money in a no risk term deposit and get 5/6% return here in NZ depending on the sum you invest.
My reason for keeping a UK rental was that I thought that property prices in the UK would continue to grow and that if I decided to return home I was still in the market. Not sure whether this thinking is still valid.
Before we left we bought a 2 bed flat to rent out for 200k. Over the year we've been away the value (according to our estate agent) jumped to 265k and has now reduced to about 240k. Still a good return over the year but the feeling at the moment is that prices in London and not increasing and our money would be better elsewhere. The only problem is that investments in property are not liquid and you can't jump in and out of the market like you can do with shares.
On the North Shore in Auckland good rentals are hard to find and capital growth on good homes could be as high as 10% this year.
You need to ask yourself why are you getting a UK rental. At the moment you can put your money in a no risk term deposit and get 5/6% return here in NZ depending on the sum you invest.
My reason for keeping a UK rental was that I thought that property prices in the UK would continue to grow and that if I decided to return home I was still in the market. Not sure whether this thinking is still valid.
Jul 22nd 2003, 7:26 am
#5
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: London
Posts: 7
Hi again!
Thank you both. It's been really interesting and useful reading your stories - the websites, bank details, IR info etc. will be a real help.
I've phoned up removals people (PSS, John Mason, Brittania) today explaining our situation (mentioned previously) and they are all able to help out. I am phoning Allied Pickfords and Bishops Move tomorrow so we'll see what quote and package they all come back with. Allied sound good from your message smithone, and a friend of mine used PSS and rated them too. Ours sounds like a similar situation to yours Roger in terms of amount to ship so it's been useful having a 'marker' as such with prices.
The reason that we are buying a UK rental is so that we are still on the UK property ladder if we get out to NZ and find it's not for us (which I doubt very much!). Also, we know straight away that the amount we would get from a UK rental is enough to cover the financial commitments that we have here. We don't know anything about the NZ rental market as yet so would feel 'safer' to do it here to start off with. Also, we have been told that by having a UK income (i.e. the flat), that allows us to still pay into a UK pension (although you have to prove the UK income to them every 5 years). We are arranging to see an accountant so we will get this confirmed. With regards to UK property prices, there have been question marks over the market, in particular London, for a while (although we were delighted with our house valuation!) but the primary reason for us buying the flat wouldn't be to see a big jump in value asap (of course, it would be fantastic if it did but it's not our main reason right at this moment). We are going to buy in Sheffield where the market is cheaper and having more of a spurt than London, plus mum in law can keep an eye on it. Maybe when we get out to NZ and find out more about the market there then things may change!
I'll keep you upated with progress. Looking foward to reading the IR website! Thanks again,
IJS
Thank you both. It's been really interesting and useful reading your stories - the websites, bank details, IR info etc. will be a real help.
I've phoned up removals people (PSS, John Mason, Brittania) today explaining our situation (mentioned previously) and they are all able to help out. I am phoning Allied Pickfords and Bishops Move tomorrow so we'll see what quote and package they all come back with. Allied sound good from your message smithone, and a friend of mine used PSS and rated them too. Ours sounds like a similar situation to yours Roger in terms of amount to ship so it's been useful having a 'marker' as such with prices.
The reason that we are buying a UK rental is so that we are still on the UK property ladder if we get out to NZ and find it's not for us (which I doubt very much!). Also, we know straight away that the amount we would get from a UK rental is enough to cover the financial commitments that we have here. We don't know anything about the NZ rental market as yet so would feel 'safer' to do it here to start off with. Also, we have been told that by having a UK income (i.e. the flat), that allows us to still pay into a UK pension (although you have to prove the UK income to them every 5 years). We are arranging to see an accountant so we will get this confirmed. With regards to UK property prices, there have been question marks over the market, in particular London, for a while (although we were delighted with our house valuation!) but the primary reason for us buying the flat wouldn't be to see a big jump in value asap (of course, it would be fantastic if it did but it's not our main reason right at this moment). We are going to buy in Sheffield where the market is cheaper and having more of a spurt than London, plus mum in law can keep an eye on it. Maybe when we get out to NZ and find out more about the market there then things may change!
I'll keep you upated with progress. Looking foward to reading the IR website! Thanks again,
IJS
