Dean - I also worked in FMCG supply chain in the UK for a while.
Clearly there will be more jobs in cities, but where I live in the countryside (between Miskolc & Nyiregyhaza) there are a number of large factories so if you're looking for supply chain jobs it would depend on the area.
It also depends how far you would commute to go to work. Alternatively, if you could do self employed consulting, you could live anywhere (esp if it was mainly online). Good luck.

Really good thread this one.. I am 45 and English my wife is 30 and Hungary with our new borne son we are currently looking at moving over and purchasing a house in zalakaros.. I don't intend to work, anybody know this area and what there may be to do for a retired housefather

If you're planning to bring alot of your UK electrical stuff make sure you buy some good quality adaptors with the correct Amps. Most travel adaptors are for maximum 10 amps so using something which needs 13 amps might cause problems. I maybe talking out of my a$$ on this as I'm no an electrician or knowledgeable enough what's safe to use.
Do take out removals insurance. You will be surprised how valuable all your stuff is. Itemise the expensive stuff in numbered boxes with a valuation for insurance purposes.
Sorry if I've gone off point. (Very tired because someone woke me up late last night and I thought something had happened. It was just the dog barking its head off to be let outside for a poo. . I'd let him out only fifteen minutes earlier!!!).

Sorry to disagree with this one but once you have imported your electrical goods I would recommend changing the plugs for the Hungarian type rather than using adapters. Any kit with molded plugs can have the plugs cut off and local standard plugs simply fitted. Adapters introduce an extra potential failure point and a new plug is probably cheaper than an adapter. The only exception would be where some devices have a power supply contained within the plug e.g. some baby alarms or phone chargers, here there is no choice but an adapter.

Oops - I remember you mentioning this. I'm dead tired today! I will check with a local Hungarian friend for help on changing the plugs.

As already mentioned just change the plugs. Things like PC, printer, modem etc. that are close together can go on a 4 gang extension meaning you just need to change 1 plug.

As for itemising everything, as of Jan 1, you will be coming from outside the EU now so iirc you will need to itemise everything plus have the UK value and HUF value listed as it will be an unaccompanied personal import which should be declared to Hungarian tax people.Everything must be used and have been in your possession for 6 months.

However, once your goods clear French customs they will be in the EU and nobody will check at borders between Calais and your house.


The days of chucking everything in a van and blasting off down the road have gone now.

Multiplug gangway lead - I never thought of that! I've brought several over here so will look into getting the main three pin plug changed to two pin.

I'm not so sure about that. My furniture etc arrived from South Africa via Hamburg and had to be cleared by the Hungarian customs when it arrived in Budapest.

Re electric connection - we've discussed that before:
Look out for a three wire system - old houses often miss this. Just look;
The cables should have three wires not just two.
And also think about an FI-switch ie RCD - if possible for the whole house.
Electric installations here are often a kind of nightmare so get an expert to look at them.
A general hint:
Try to make friends with a neighbour who can suggest good and reliable handymen to you.

So there you have it, just to complicate things further everything has to go through Budapest.

Who would have thought that losing freedom of movement would be a vote winner?

Sachina - last time I visited you I thought I was in Africa!

IMO the vote winning aspect of loosing freedom of movement was very much in the direction of the UK i.e. to stop all the 'Europeans' coming to the UK with very little said about the inability of the Brits to easily go to the rest of Europe

You are spot on. One thing which one of my long time friends said was he was fed up with Europeans in his area but hey, he has a farming background, so guess who did all the crop picking? Eastern europeans!!!! Brits wouldn't do this back breaking work! On top his girlfriend is a Fillipino living in Japan. He wants her to move to UK! He's 63! He has not seen her for atleast a year due to the pandemic and restrictions on flying.

Where did you expect one's belonging to be checked? Until it gets to it's final destination which is Hungary, it's only in transit and of no interest to any other member country of the EU.

If you expected anything different after the UK left the EU, then you're naive my friend.

Very true! Quite a few of my UK friends are envious about us moving here. We were lucky the transitional end period was 31/12/2020. I had to grit my teeth and lose quite a few thousand pounds on the sale of my UK house to ensure it was sold and we could finally complete our relocation to Hungary. It's been a bonus the HUF to GBP is very favourable, on top we've bought a house within the budget we had targeted.