Gems

PS, have you seen the price of private school fees in the UK

Ive paid them in the past and it was a struggle.

Gems

Amazulu

So true. The fees for my son at Guildford Grammar next year are about $8k. Friends send their children to a similar school in the Uk and pay about GBP10k.

renth

Private schooling would be out of the question in the UK. I wouldn't want to send my kids there even if I could afford it.

Gems

Its not necesary to go private for primary as most UK state primary schools are great.

However its when they get to High School age, and its a lot more difficult to find a school without problems eg bullying etc. My sister had to move her son 3 times in high school, due to bullying and other things.
We have kids ranging from 2 -16. Its when they get 12plus and you see problems. Thats one of the reasons we moved to Europe (prior to Australia)

Gems

haggis supper

Having just spent 6 out of the last 9 weeks in the UK on business, on 2 separate trips - staying mostly in Glasgow, with a few days in London, I've confirmed my view that we did the right thing moving to Australia.

I guess it depends on why you guys may want to return - quality of life, financial, emotional etc ?

I believe the UK is close to recession and the government doesn't appear to have a clue as to how to address it, indeed most of the drivers are beyond their control - sub prime/credit crunch and oil prices. Yes the exchange rate is good and house prices are falling but the UK papers have constantly been full of articles about the significant rises in utility bill costs and food prices. The papers said last week that inflation was running at about 3.5% yet the phone lines were swamped with folks saying they believed the actual impact was closer to 15%.

I also keep in touch with a few folk who work in the city in London and they say that the job market (and salaries) are the worst they have ever known. Nobody is recruiting, temps/contractors are not being taken on and many companies are continuing to pay staff who are not being used rather than lay them off as its cheaper.

My biggest concern though is crime. Violent crime (knife crime in particular) is out of control. Alcohol related crime/illnesses doubled in last 5 years. Perhaps its just me but I didn't feel particularly safe walking through Ayr, Glasgow or London late at night. Take a look at the Sky News website on any given day to see how serious it is.

I only had 2 nights out in London and on both I watched guys crowding into the same cubicles - enjoying a line of coke or two I was told. First time I've ever observed that, and god knows I've had plenty of nights out in London.

I realise that Melbourne has its fair share of problems, including crime and drugs. It just doesn't seem anywhere near as bad. Australia has some good points for me and some bad, and there are many things we miss about the UK. Aus is not nirvana but it genuinely seems to offer a better quality of life and for the time being our concerns about the UK are more than enough to keep us here.

As I said, depends on what the attraction of the UK is and whether this is enough for you.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

DrWho

Try sending them to a boarding school... Even the fairly average ones are knocking on GBP25k before extras... That's a big difference here, the private fees are much less....

renth

The wife wants to go back, not me I guess the answer is "emotional" then.

renth

Just done a search for similar sorts of jobs to what I'm doing. Jobs I think I'd stand a good chance of getting. They are all around 25 grand a year.

Not really worth commuting to London for though is it?

In fact, I've just done some sums, there is no way I can support a family of 5 on that! We could barely survive forget about holidays etc...

spartacus

Came across this earlier. Makes the point about Glasgow in particular.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7421534.stm

Lindsayc

We are in the u.k at the moment (off to Brisbane 31/8) - just like to say fuel prices are sky high at the moment which has a knock on effect to food prices, airfares etc.

Oh and our estate agent called us yesterday to say they'd gone bust! A relatively new business but they just haven't sold any houses! First time buyers not buying - have to think of your children's futures - will they be able to get on the housing market over here in 15 years time? The economy here is in a bad way.

Also crime etc - another 18 year old was stabbed to death at weekend.

You have to do what's right for all of you....

spartacus

And this doesn't make for a very good snapshot either:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/default.stm

TrickyTree

All the same in good old Bris Vegas fuel through the roof, first time buyers cant get close to buying a place, interest rate rises every other month, bloke beaten to within an inch of his life at the train station the list is the same mate.

We are also looking at heading back some time next year for me its the fact that im 34 but feel 64 here. Its just so SLOW I feel life is passing me by perhaps I will come back later in my life and all will be good but at this time in my life I dont think its for me I need some action and stimulation.

ozzieeagle

In relation to the Job and Housing market, your reporting an almost exact replica of what they are saying on the Palace boards. Now I know I go on about them a lot, but they do live in just about the wealthiest part of the UK, and fair chunk of them work in the city. I've never seen them report such bad times in the 9 years or more that I've been visiting those boards.

I'm off to the UK tomorrow, it's going to be interesting comparing the two countries this time around. One of the highlites will be on board a dedicated CPFC boat and disco trip on the Thames for 130 plus forumites


It's not all bleak though Renth, my cousins missus is probably the main passenger despatch supervisor at Gatwick, so I'll let you know the Job market from your perspective in her opinion

bcworld

Glasgow has has a knife culture since the 1930s....nothing has changed. That also doesn't change the fact that in IMO it's a fantastic city to live in.

Glasgow skews the figures for Scotland as a whole to make it one of, if not the, most violent country in Europe. England & Wales has broadly similar rates of violent crime to Australia.

Swerv-o

No, especially when you factor in the additional cost of living 'London Tax'.


S