ColinD2

Hi there,
My name is Colin and this is my first posting to this forum. Hopefully not the last!

My partner Elaine and I are looking to visit to Australia on a e600 tourist visa for 12 months from March 2018. I have a few basic questions which I wondered if anybody here could help with.

While we are in Australia we will not be allowed to work (we're 55 and 52), but we will have an income from two houses we will be renting out back in the UK, plus savings.

The plan is to rent for the first 6 months in Queensland, then tour around for 6 months, probably in the south east hopefully taking in New Zealand as well.

How likely is it that we will be able to rent Australia? My house in the UK is already rented, and the tenants had to go through some rigerous checks before they moved in, such as employment history and references from previous landlords. In Australia we will have no employment history, in fact we'll both be unemployed and neither of us have rented before so we will have no references from previous landords. Will this be a problem? Surely we can't be the first people to have considered renting for 6 months? However I've so far emailed 5 different rental agents in Australia and as yet not had a single reply.

Can anybody suggest a good area in Queensland to rent? We've researched it a lot over the past 6 months, and it appears that the MacKay area fits our requirements pretty well, but we're open to suggestions.

How essential is medical insurance? I believe that there is a reciprical agreement with the UK and given that we're both currently in good health, how essential is the extra insurance?

Finally, we're thinking of applying for the visa in September (leaving in March). Is this enough time generally to get the visa?

Thanks a lot for any help,

Much appreciated.

Regards

Colin

spouse of scouse

Hi Colin, welcome to BE.

It's my understanding that comprehensive private health insurance is a requirement for this visa, and you may be asked to provide proof that you've obtained this.

Hopefully others will be along to help with your other questions.

Pollyana

Hi,
No rental agency is likely to touch you until you get here, but there's a reasonable chance of getting a 6 month let even on a tourist visa. Make sure you bring certified copies of your passports and visas (easier than trying to get them done when you're here! They might want proof that you have the cash to pay for 6 months as you aren't able to work so you might need bank account print outs too. Each agency can have different requirements so try several once you arrive.

rammygirl

most letting agents are dealing with longer term unfurnished property. A few short term furnished lets are available in some areas through estate agents.
Better to consider air B and B and holiday lets and ask about long term rates.

As a U.K. Citizen you should be covered by Medicare reciprocal but check. If so you should be OK I would still consider holiday insurance though to cover all eventualities.

Dreamy

Get insurance (travel perhaps? Don't know what the time limits there are on that) that will pay for you to be repatriated in the event of a serious accident/illness/death.

ColinD2

Thanks everybody for the replies so far, any further advice greatly appreciated. Given that our plan is to spend 6 months in one place and then tour around for the last 6 months, can anybody suggest a cost effective way of doing this if renting proves problematic?

verystormy

Where we lived in WA, we had a couple who stayed for 6 months every year in the house next door. It was a holiday let and they negotiated a long term deal which obviously worked for them.


Yes you should have insurance as although you are entitled to reciprocal this wont cover everything, particularly in the event of needing repatriation.

CAH58

I know some states (ACT) in order to rent a house, you must first view the property before putting an application in. The agents will not even allow you to rent a property without viewing it first. Not sure about QLD though, might be worth checking if they have the same rules there. Hope it all goes well for you.

Pollyana

Same in queensland, certainly with agencies, they won't rent unseen.

carcajou

In WA, I don't know if it is actually not allowed, but the rental agencies heavily, heavily discourage it and I don't think most of them would allow it, even if they could.

OP, as with most things in life cash is king and if you can pay your 6 months in advance (or even something like 3) I would imagine you can find a 6 month rental somewhere.

Dorothy

I would think it's a matter of the rental agent wanting to actually see who they're renting to. I know when we rented the agent had 3 other couples besides us interested in the house. I think we made the best impression (neat clothing, the partner drives a nice car, no neck tatts, etc) of the people viewing so we were successful. I know I wouldn't hand over the keys to my house for 6 months to someone I've never seen in person (or had my agent meet in person).

rammygirl

Yes but most of those rentals are unfurnished. You can rent an air B and B or holiday let without needing the references etc. though I would say you might want to see a place in person before committing to a 6 month rental!

You cannot trust pictures which may be years old. My son needed a place for three months in Canberra and decided to stay in a hostel until he found somewhere. He was glad he did as he saw a lot of dodgy places which looked fine on line..........

You could also consider two three month lets as that might be easier.

louie

We rented a mostly-furnished place in Adelaide for a fixed period of just under six months when we first arrived. We had no jobs (still don't) and are in our fifties too. We do have permanent residence though, but I don't recall anyone asking about that. It was no problem at all to arrange. Furnished is less common than unfurnished but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find something to suit in a reasonably large town.

Talking of which, you ask about areas of Queensland that would suit you, but you don't say what your requirements are. What are they?

Oh and Polly suggests getting certified copies of documents before you leave the UK. I'd say the opposite - wait until you get here as most shopping centres or council offices have a time a JP will be present and happy to certify copy documents for free. IME much easier and cheaper than in the UK.

Pollyana

I just meant it would save them running around trying to find a shopping centre with a JP and understand the system here if they had the paperwork at the ready. Worked for me, and was easier than constantly getting buses to the nearest centre with a JP. Every job I went for I had paperwork ready and with me.
Maybe things have changed now, I feel like I'm out of touch with everything these days!

bakedbean

You need to be both UK citizen and UK resident. If your "permanent" address is outside UK, you don't get the reciprocal.