Heading back to England from NZ
Mar 11th 2019, 5:45 am
#1
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Joined: May 2017
Posts: 10
Heading back to England from NZ
Hiya. Our situation
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary
as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....
I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary
as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
Mar 11th 2019, 7:21 am
#2
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Joined: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 4,211
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Hiya. Our situation
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....
I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary
as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
Shrewsbury is a lovely county town, we have visited a few times and was going to move there at one stage but then my dad needed someone to care for him so we needed to stay close to him and the move never happened.
It's a very nice and green area and (sorry pressed the button too soon) the river has plenty of activities for all ages, you have Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool for major cities all accessible by train or car but you do have everything you need anyway Shropshire anyway. Chester and Wolverhampton are also close by as is Telford, Homes are much less expensive than a lot of the areas around major cities. We rented without any problems when we arrived in the uk we just needed to pay a bond and a months deposit up front, we also had references from Australia and the Uk.
Schools are very good in Shrewsbury, your younger children will not have any real problems adjusting as the UK is use to having children coming from overseas. Ages 14-16 students start studying for their GCSEs so hopefully your 14 year old should be okay if they start this September, your 16 year old can start college in September as well just bring all their education history and they/you can then decided what college courses they need to study and at what level.
We transferred money through Ozforex it was simple to do so, we use to transfer when the pound was weaker so we received better rates. If you do not have a bank account in the UK new found the whole process to open a British hsbc account while in Australia also easy.
Bring all your children's vaccinations records as well.
What is your line of work?
I hope this has helped you a little , good luck with the house sale. All the best
ps no real cons to this area....we really did think it was a lovely place area to live.
Last edited by brits1; Mar 11th 2019 at 7:48 am.
Mar 11th 2019, 6:41 pm
#3
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Athens GA
Posts: 2,134
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
For transferring cash check out Transferwise, but also check with your bank and ask for the dealer rate. On larger sums like that they can be competitive.
If you want to do more research this is helpful: https://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/m...-UK/140000-NZD
If you want to do more research this is helpful: https://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/m...-UK/140000-NZD
Mar 11th 2019, 8:50 pm
#4
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Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Was Torbay, NZ now North Yorkshire UK
Posts: 813
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Hiya. Our situation
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....
I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
I'm British. Met my kiwi wife in the UK. We have lived here in NZ together for 20 years. We have 3 kids 5, 14, 16 all born in NZ. All my family are in southern England, all my wife's family are in NZ. We are bored with life in New Zealand and after the last trip to UK have decided to move back. At first the idea was exciting, but after renovating house for 4 months it goes on the market tomorrow! Shits getting real and scary
as soon as house sells we are off. All the family have British and NZ passports so if it turns to crap we could come back....I have a few questions to anyone that's done it please . We are not heading to Sussex as it's very expensive housing there. After online research we are going to try Shropshire, maybe outskirts of Shrewsbury.
1) anyone live in Shropshire? Pros/cons?
2) what's best way to transfer money back ? Probably around £140,000
3) we probably can't afford a house as no initial job for mortgage. How hard is it to get a rental with no UK references?
4) how does school.admissions work? I know new year starts I'm September so we don't want to hang around. My son has left school but my 14year old daughter only just started high school here. She's my biggest worry. I think my 5 year old should be ok.
Any tips people can offer would be great. I don't have a trade as such, so that's a worry finding work.
Many thanks Steve.
when we returned with our son he would have gone into year 9 which meant picking options. My husband met with the teachers and asked if we could put our son back to year 8. Definitely the right choice for us.
Mar 12th 2019, 4:26 am
#5
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Joined: May 2017
Posts: 10
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Great replies so far thanks ! That's quite reasuring brits1 thanks .
I'll look into those money transfer sites you have both mentioned.
Also, that's a good tip to have our daughter drop down a year. From what I gather schooling is a bit more advanced in the UK then it is in NZ.
I'll look into those money transfer sites you have both mentioned.
Also, that's a good tip to have our daughter drop down a year. From what I gather schooling is a bit more advanced in the UK then it is in NZ.
Mar 12th 2019, 7:21 am
#6
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Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Your daughter would be going in to Yr 9 or Yr 10 depending on when her birthday is. I have a 14 year old in Yr 9 and she’s already started her GCSE’s (she chose them Easter of Yr 8), some schools do them over 3 years rather than 2. Be aware that most schools/councils won’t let you just choose to drop her down a year, but if she’s got a birthday on the cusp of the year (I.e. will be one of the youngest) and they’ve already started GCSE’s, they may consider those circumstances enough for her to move down.
Unfortunately, unless you are going with a private school, you can’t apply for schools until you’ve got your address sorted, but it would be worth speaking to the council now to find out which schools may have space. Hopefully you aren’t moving back to an over subscribed area like ours so you’ll find a school you’re happy with.
Best of luck.
Unfortunately, unless you are going with a private school, you can’t apply for schools until you’ve got your address sorted, but it would be worth speaking to the council now to find out which schools may have space. Hopefully you aren’t moving back to an over subscribed area like ours so you’ll find a school you’re happy with.
Best of luck.
Mar 12th 2019, 7:38 am
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2009
Location: Nelson, NZ
Posts: 37
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
I don't have any useful answers to your questions I'm afraid. However, I would be really interested to hear any updates you post when you get back to the UK, particularly in relation to how your older kids settle.
We're also in NZ and on the cusp of making a decision to move back to UK. We have two girls (14 and 11) so our biggest concern is how they will settle socially and academically. We're a little concerned that they may be a little behind academically. We're looking to move to Scotland, for a variety of reasons but partly because it seems the school system is more like the NZ system which hopefully will make it easier for them to settle into school life.
Wishing you very good luck and if you get time when you get home I would love to hear how it's going
We're also in NZ and on the cusp of making a decision to move back to UK. We have two girls (14 and 11) so our biggest concern is how they will settle socially and academically. We're a little concerned that they may be a little behind academically. We're looking to move to Scotland, for a variety of reasons but partly because it seems the school system is more like the NZ system which hopefully will make it easier for them to settle into school life.
Wishing you very good luck and if you get time when you get home I would love to hear how it's going
Mar 12th 2019, 9:15 am
#8
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Joined: May 2017
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Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Your daughter would be going in to Yr 9 or Yr 10 depending on when her birthday is. I have a 14 year old in Yr 9 and she’s already started her GCSE’s (she chose them Easter of Yr 8), some schools do them over 3 years rather than 2. Be aware that most schools/councils won’t let you just choose to drop her down a year, but if she’s got a birthday on the cusp of the year (I.e. will be one of the youngest) and they’ve already started GCSE’s, they may consider those circumstances enough for her to move down.
Unfortunately, unless you are going with a private school, you can’t apply for schools until you’ve got your address sorted, but it would be worth speaking to the council now to find out which schools may have space. Hopefully you aren’t moving back to an over subscribed area like ours so you’ll find a school you’re happy with.
Best of luck.
Unfortunately, unless you are going with a private school, you can’t apply for schools until you’ve got your address sorted, but it would be worth speaking to the council now to find out which schools may have space. Hopefully you aren’t moving back to an over subscribed area like ours so you’ll find a school you’re happy with.
Best of luck.
Mar 12th 2019, 9:23 am
#9
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Re: Heading back to England from NZ
This 'over subscribed' thing will take some getting used to. Here you automatically just get into the local school.
Mar 12th 2019, 11:39 am
#10
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Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Mar 12th 2019, 8:18 pm
#11
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Posts: 813
Re: Heading back to England from NZ
I don't have any useful answers to your questions I'm afraid. However, I would be really interested to hear any updates you post when you get back to the UK, particularly in relation to how your older kids settle.
We're also in NZ and on the cusp of making a decision to move back to UK. We have two girls (14 and 11) so our biggest concern is how they will settle socially and academically. We're a little concerned that they may be a little behind academically. We're looking to move to Scotland, for a variety of reasons but partly because it seems the school system is more like the NZ system which hopefully will make it easier for them to settle into school life.
Wishing you very good luck and if you get time when you get home I would love to hear how it's going
We're also in NZ and on the cusp of making a decision to move back to UK. We have two girls (14 and 11) so our biggest concern is how they will settle socially and academically. We're a little concerned that they may be a little behind academically. We're looking to move to Scotland, for a variety of reasons but partly because it seems the school system is more like the NZ system which hopefully will make it easier for them to settle into school life.
Wishing you very good luck and if you get time when you get home I would love to hear how it's going
our youngest, I messaged the school from NZ and asked them about places. I explained our situation. When my husband and son got back they made an appointment with the school and asked them if he could go back a year. It was no problem. He has also just repeated a year for other reasons. We have had no problems with it and it’s been right for us.
Apr 2nd 2019, 4:19 pm
#12
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Re: Heading back to England from NZ
Regarding school places I would contact the schools direct for information on space they will be able to tell you for example if they know a student is going to be leaving soon whereas LA will probably only know when they have actually left. Also, if you have any medical/academic etc. reasons why you think a particular (oversubscribed) school would be best for your child you can put in an appeal for a place - this does have to be done in the UK.
Depending on the area and year group you may not run into over subscription issues even at the good schools, it does vary by location with rural areas tending to have more spaces.
If you are moving to an area with Grammar school/s and think it might be suitable bear in mind that some GS do not need you to have a UK address when applying (because they do not have a specific catchment area) so you could ask about taking the 13+ or whatever test they set for In Year admissions and if your child qualifies you could apply before you move. Some GS will allow the test to be sat abroad if the student's current school will agree to administer it.
Good luck!
Depending on the area and year group you may not run into over subscription issues even at the good schools, it does vary by location with rural areas tending to have more spaces.
If you are moving to an area with Grammar school/s and think it might be suitable bear in mind that some GS do not need you to have a UK address when applying (because they do not have a specific catchment area) so you could ask about taking the 13+ or whatever test they set for In Year admissions and if your child qualifies you could apply before you move. Some GS will allow the test to be sat abroad if the student's current school will agree to administer it.
Good luck!
