GeneJeanie

I'm thinking ot moving to Australa but been looking at rental property and the cost is crazy - everywhere!! Even without converting the $ to £... which I know is pointless but just can't help it!

Why is it so expensive? Is renting seen as just a stepping stone before buying? I haven't looked into buying but is it a lot cheaper to buy than to rent? That would be mortgage dependent I know, but in general does it work out much cheaper on a weekly/monthly basis to buy?

PunkDebutante

Renting is definitely expensive here but it seems to me, based on the numbers we have been given, that renting is actually cheaper than buying based on the repayments unless you have a huge wad of cash to throw at the mortgage.

xzibit

I was going to say...

If you think renting is expensive, try taking a look at mortgage repayments. Interest rates are high here, so you're paying more to cover the landlords repayments.

coolerkingcooler

Before we came, I figured that we could afford to rent a 'better' place than we would be able to afford to buy. That has been proven so true now and I know of many people who have been shocked when they start looking to buy.


Cooler

tartankoala

Supply is low, demand is high therefore rents are high.

Of course it all depends on what type of property you are looking at and in what area. And you have to factor in that your salary in Aus will (usually) be higher than a UK equivalent position.

isgraham

Unless you are moving from London in which case your salary may well be lower.

eddie007

We both work fulltime... when we were renting we saved a HUGE wad of money... salaries are different and living cost are too... we brought, but have started frm scratch due to all the factors over the last 5 years... housing market crash, exchange rate crash.... etc etc etc

Renting IS the affordable option... if either of us wasnt workin we'd bestuffed

jad n rich

Depends where you look. With rates and water included, you could rent a nice family home 24klm from brisbane CBD and have every facility from beach to qlds biggest shopping centre within 5/15 mins. Redcliffe/woody point $300 upwards. You would probably pay double for that for beach/distance in Victoria or Sydney admittedly.

Amazulu

Is rent high though in reality? A 4x2 in a decent area can be had for about $1600 a month (GBP1K or less, depending on how you do your conversion) with no rates to pay (maybe a bit of water).

What would an equivalent house in the UK rent for?

PaulandNic

As others have said, if you're a cashed up Pom with heaps to put down, you'll be right, but take on a 90% mortgage and you'll see!

I'm in the process of losing my house and the mortgage with rates is $1000 pw ($460k interest only mortgage)

The house 4 doors down is for rent now, $400pw and i'll be looking to rent it once I can get rid of my house! ...

Don't even think about cost of groceries etc ...

As I've said many a time on here. If you come for the sun, you'll be happy as we are, but apart from that the country has a lot to answer for!

PaulandNic

Aha! ... here's my situation.

Missus works for a company for 2.5 years ... all good. New boss comes in with a hate for Poms, and she's gone in 6 weeks ... no real reason.

Unfair dismissal claim goin in any day, and they'll lose, but don't go looking for job security here as it don't exist! No rights like in ole Blighty.

If they don't like ya, you go and there's naf all you can do about it.

Trevski

Welcome to Australia (its getting a very expensive place to live) around us (brisbane) a good sized four bed low set will cost you approx $420 a week so about $1600/1700 a month, compared to uk were in the country side you can get a very large house for £850 per month , which on todays rates would be approx $1250 per month

Amazulu

But remember there are many ways to compare COL. Many on BE have their own opinions of real exchange rates - actual (1.5), 2, 2.5, 3, each to their own. Also the Australian rent would include rates but the UK house would not include council tax.

Affordability is more important than exchange rates in this case.

Bix

From my experience a 4x2 in the UK was not the norm anyway. Far more likely to be a 3x1.

Size of houses are generally larger here too so it's difficult to compare like with like.

spartacus

You're comparing apples to pears though surely . . . a four bed house in a state capital to a very large house in the 'country' . . . I'd rather be having to find $1700 a month here than 850 pounds there, any day.