After spending the past 24 years or so in Canada we are considering a move back across the pond.

There seems to be pro's and cons with both.. Anyone made such a leap?

The main concern is access to affordable excellent healthcare which we do get here in Canada.
Apart from that, we want somewhere that would give us a better quality of life to pursue the things we enjoy, which in turn I feel will help my husband over some of his health issues..
We love art, museums, Cathedrals, history, culture, countryside, photography.. We are foodies, (not the fish & chips and pint down the local types) more, country pubs in the UK or Tapa's and locally owned restaurants rather than touristy ones in Spain.

Cost of living will play a part, It was easy moving to Canada, far more bang for your buck.. Moving back to the UK the opposite will be true..

Thoughts anyone

From what I've heard and been able to figure out, day to day living expenses are actually cheaper in the UK now. When we moved to Canada it was a lot cheaper here, not so much now. House prices are generally more there, but it depends on where you are now and where you want to go too. Someone moving to Norfolk from Vancouver would have a better time than someone moving from Saskatchewan to London for example. I've done a couple of pretend shops at Tesco online and got more there than I do in Superstore for the same money.

When you say affordable healthcare, does the NHS free care not appeal? Subsidised prescriptions too. there are waiting lists, yes, as there are in Canada. You can pay for private care, which is usually provided by the same doctors anyway, and I've seen that the NHS will also sometimes pay for people to go to the private facilities if their need is urgent enough and the waiting list too long.

Plenty of opportunities for foodies too, lots of farmer's markets, boutique style cafes and restaurants and the like. More in urban areas for obvious reasons, although my parents live in a reasonably small village, which is close to a couple of excellent pubs, and has a couple of locally owned restaurants as well as a fish and chip shop, and a local for a pint.

We plan on moving back in a couple of years, from the USA, and have no worries about the NHS. Over the last few years we have seen parents and friends and relatives get excellent treatment for a variety of serious ailments including a heart valve replacement and a kidney transplant, as well as treatment for cancer.
These friends and relatives live in Cheshire, Durham and N. Yorkshire.

In 2011 we rented a house for 11 months as a trial period to see if moving back was for us and we loved it. It was also very affordable. This was in N Yokshire.

Recently I have been investigating the tax situation and using an online UK tax estimator put our numbers through and compared them to what we paid here in 2012. This is income tax I'm talking about, Federal income tax as we have no State income tax in Texas. I estimated that we would have paid about $2,500 more tax in the UK. Given that this year we have spent $7,800 on Healthcare in the USA I feel that it isn't too bad.

I realize that there are a lot more indirect taxes in the UK such as VAT and high taxes on gasoline which is why we did the trial run in 2011 to see how we would cope. We used the buses a lot, great services where we were, and when we do move back and start paying taxes we'll also have free bus passes.

We are in a rural town north of Toronto right now and have been in Canada for 11 years - returning home to he UK in March - living on the coast in Northumberland. Three years ago I went to Spain to look at moving there from Canada...my sister lives in Spain (and co-incidentally is also moving back to the UK in Spring 14).
UK for us is the #1 choice. It is cheaper than Canada...I reckon around 20%cheaper living in the North East UK vs Toronto, and Spain is no longer inexpensive since the euro became currency (in my opinion). Healthcare might be OK in Spain, but if you can't communicate your problem in Spanish you could be in for an interesting hospital visit.
So, UK bound end of March! Good luck with your own decision.....

Can't comment on Spain, but know the UK very well, due to going back and forth over the last few years. I can confirm that, generally, the cost of living is cheaper in the UK nowadays, if you don't include housing, though it depends on your lifestyle and where you live.

Food is much cheaper, clothing is cheaper, insurance is cheaper. Energy is more expensive. Housing depends on what you want and where. It's become surprisingly cheap in some areas, such as the West Country, and unbelievably expensive in London and the South-East.

As far as health care is concerned, we've discussed dentistry on another thread, and you know my views! I'm less positive about the NHS versus healthcare in Canada. My GP in Alberta is much better than any GP I had in the last 15 years I lived in the UK. I was very unhappy about the quality of hospital care my father received during his last illness in 2005, and just in the last couple of weeks I've had to make a complaint to my mother's surgery in Sussex about the way they are treating her. So I can't say everything is hunkydory with the NHS. But, on the other hand I don't have any concerns that would put me off moving back.

Actually it's all a bit confusing and contradictory really when we see and read all the various reports on TV and in the press about the cost of living here in the UK and the spending power of the average consumer here.

First we hear about "so many people finding it very difficult to make ends meet with prices rising faster than incomes" and then we read today's headlines in our newspapers - Friday 27 Dec 2013 - the day after the traditional Boxing Day opening of the Sales with "bargains galore for all" in which "unofficial" reports state that on Boxing Day alone all over the country over £27 billions was spent by the public at large on online shopping alone, and record long queues outside all of our High Street stores in which many £millions more passing through the tills.

Prior to Christmas itself you could see practically every trolley in the supermarkets overflowing with foodstuffs and a wide range of other goods of all descriptions, in the larger stores especially.

Either the majority of people are living beyond their means on some kind of "what the hell...it's Christmas and tomorrow and its reckoning may never come" or else the words "Austerity Britain" are all a bit of a con mooted by the Opposition...assisted by the BBC and the Guardian.

I agree with you on the Guardian. That paper has been talking up "starving Britain" with very little evidence. Some of their columnists seem to have lost touch with reality -- just before Christmas, Zoe Williams suggested reintroducing rationing.

But true or not, the op was asking about cost of living, not income to cost of living ratios. If you are retired, you know what your income is, and it will be the same in Canada or the UK.

Incidentally, I don't think the figures given on the site Numbeo are anything like accurate. They suggest cost of living is far higher in UK than Canada. But to give an example of my own: Tescos offer margarine at £2 a kilo (CAD 3.51). Save on Foods in Alberta sell Becel marge at $4.99 (and that is a weekly special). That's the kind of difference I notice when I'm food shopping in Edmo and the UK.

Having lived in Canada since 1967, now retired we find the COL in Canada to be getting too expensive, especially the property taxes & utilities and the fact that you have to depend on a car for almost everything as well as the extreme weather changes winter to summer

We've looked at this 10 ways to Sunday & have come up with one option that might suit some.

A move back to the UK either to familiar surroundings or in our case the not so familiar NW coast of Northern Ireland. Rent a furnished apartment for less than £500/mth (incl council tax) for approx 6 months. With the HRT out of the way, settling in with all the necessary bits & bobs - banking, NHS, and any other social benefits. A move to Malta, where living is easy, relatively inexpensive (<500 euro/mth for a rented 2 bedroom maisonette), relatively close enough by flight or ferry believe it or not to just about anywhere EU. Great climate, safe, good healthcare & with most UK benefits are exportable. Then once or twice a year hop a plane to Canada to see the kids.

We figured COL in Malta including renting all in would be around 1200-1500 euro mth

It's about personal choices (excluding if you have family still in the UK), the lifestyle you want or dream about (the adjustment), safety & health as well of course the 'best bang for your buck'.

COL comparisons

http://www.numbeo.com/LivingCost/cos...ayCurrency=USD

http://www.maltasupermarket.com/

You didn't mention that Malta has INCOME TAX, after all somebody has to pay for the excellent healthcare system.

http://www.legal-malta.com/taking-up-residence-in-malta

this must be roughly correct and suggests a tax rate of 25% at the margin (15% if you are frugal) to meet moderate cost of living:

http://www.pwc.com/en_MT/mt/tax-rate...dates_2012.pdf

tax kicks in much earlier on the income scale, though at a lower initial rate, for individuals than in the UK.

As always, things could be easier if not deemed resident for tax purposes but if an EU citizen carrying an EHIC card one should still be able to gain access to healthcare even when not resident - i.e. not living in Malta for more than six months in the year which is the requirement for an Ordinary Residence permit

This gives some of the finer details, incl the Malta Retirement Scheme which will benefit slightly higher flyers due to its minimum tax payment requirement, though specifically touts Gozo:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/5e9df...#axzz27CAjC1nC

Being the FT, the properties discussed are not at the affordable end.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond, we would move to England in a heartbeat if we could afford the same standard of living and medical care as we get here.

In the U.K we lived in a upscale part of Bristol in a 4 Bed Detached home, if we were to return we would no longer be able to afford this as house prices in England especially Bristol have gone through the roof..... Sad to say eh 24 years in Canada and feeling you've gone backwards despite hard work for which my husbands health suffered as a consequence..

I am flip flopping like crazy.. Canada = Superb affordable healthcare.... HUGE staying factor..

Britain ... NHS .. 'Cheap healthcare' mediocre care hit and miss depending on location..
Close to family and friends... Which is important to me given hubbies on going health concerns..

Spain... Healthcare ?
Housing... Cheap if you rent and on par now with Canada if you buy..

Food.. Canada is no longer the cheap place it was.. Prices going up everywhere due to QE resulting in inflation (yes I know the governments say inflations under control... It isn't)

Utilities.. Canada is cheap compared to U.K and Spain..

Cars.. Petrol/Gas way cheaper in Canada...
Insurance... Costs much more in Canada..

Property Taxes/ Rates anyone ?

Quality of life... I think being closer to England even if it is Spain will result in a better quality of life which in return will mean a healthier life...

The OR is almost immediate & with the EHIC card for those under 65... good point Pete

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...it-expats.html

On the basis we're talking about under 65 semi-retirement & not working in Malta - Tax is on income earned in Malta and that money brought in the year after it was earned outside is not taxable nor is there capital gains.

If folks had too much money or income outside of Malta, then again one wouldn't suggest keeping the money in the lowest tax based country then doing what one has to to ....

big grin from me on that post above

rent not buy ever in Malta which it seems most Brit expats do, cos you wouldn't want to get caught in the buy high resell low like in Spain, Portugal, Greece or Cyprus.

As for an ex-pat return to the UK to buy a permanent home & live life out till the sun sets on ones Empire dying days ... that would not be my cuppa tea.

Good luck to the OP with the decision choice

Our city tax in Edmo is about the same as we would be paying in council tax in the UK. But obviously, there are regional variations.
We are paying less income tax in Alberta than we would be in the UK, but not a lot less.
Sales tax in Alberta is much less than VAT in the UK, but I don't think that is important because prices for most goods are higher in Canada than in the UK, even including the tax. If you are comparing prices of goods on the internet, it is important to remember that UK prices will be inclusive of VAT, while Canadian prices quoted are usually not inclusive of sales tax.
Despite my negative comments about the NHS earlier, I'm not sure I have more confidence in Canadian healthcare overall.
I prefer my Canadian GP, and that's partly because, unlike an NHS GP, she does not act as a guardian to resources, and has no hesitation about ordering blood tests and other screening. Both I and my husband have benefitted from this.
But whether hospital care is better here or in the UK, is more difficult to guage. I've had bad sinus pain almost continuously since I've been in Canada, and I would have liked to have seen an ENT specialist, but I was told the wait would be 18 months. There have been stories in the newspapers about waiting lists, shortages of beds, and poor conditions on hospital wards, comparable to the complaints about the NHS in the UK. I have no idea which is better or worse overall.

And for us, I would prefer the NHS in a heartbeat. We have difficulty even getting a family doctor here. The one we used to have we found to be terribly wasteful (wanting to rerun tests monthly even when they came back normal every time), and not very good at listening, or learning. Much preferred to try and get me on antidepressants every time than either support me, or tell me where I could get support, for breastfeeding. But then, most of the formula companies give handouts to family docs here along with their samples.

Midwives here are not the norm for pregnancy/childbirth, and if you want one it can be a bit of a gamble as to whether you even get one or have to go with an OB with very limited options regarding your care and birth. Not applicable to the OP I know, but it's something I've encountered.

We never had any issues with any treatment or referrals needed in the UK, and never had an unreasonable wait for anything that was urgent. I also liked having the option of seeing the practice nurse in the UK for more minor ailments.

Don't get me wrong, I've encountered some fantastic doctors here, but not enough to make me prefer it.

http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/_dow...tanding_ct.pdf

http://www.mycounciltax.org.uk/content/index

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

You need to add wages and jobs. Wages I've found are higher in Canada but jobs are quite hard to come by in both.