Yt80

I’m currently considering a move back to the UK from Australia with my young family. My wife an I moved (both from Uk) here 9years ago, we have got married had kids bought property. But now the world is a different place.

has anyone got any insights into life back home, the move and what it means to do that during a global pandemic?

Even how you go about making the decision - what were the big considerations for you?

any thoughts observations or insights would be greatly received.

Thanks

Andy

brits1

​​​​​​Hi Andy , everyone's story is different in here our story was that after over 12 years in Australia we just wanted to return home, we'd made a good life in Australia but it just did not feel like home and although we were very well travelled both in aus and overseas we felt a bit like ground hog day at times, we missed Europe, history etc so we made a decision to move back to England, we knew we would have to look for work and at area's etc but we everything in our stride and treated going back like we did when we first arrived in Australia...as covid-19 we have certain restrictions, you can still buy or rent homes, still work and travel between counties students are back in school, gyms are open as are swimming pools etc ..... if you need to know anything else just ask. Good luck with your decision, I know it's not an easy one to make I would look at reasons for leaving and returning just with your own family in mind.

freebo

We're planning to do the same after 10 years in Aus, it was kind of in mind anyway but Covid has made us realise friends and family are more important than sunny weather.

Travel restrictions are obviously the biggest hurdle, we're tentatively planning to return mid-late 2021. Ideally we'd visit around April to look at houses but not sure when flying will become feasible.

We sold our house a bit faster than we planned to so are now in a rental but realistically I don't expect house prices to increase from here, in Aus or UK. We're planning to return to our old home area of Northumberland and also to "semi-retire" when we get back as we're in our early-mid 50's. It does appear that we can afford to retire earlier in the UK, mainly due to property prices.

So for us its a waiting game.

Yt80

thanks for the messages.
one thing I have been thinking more about is the financial and tax implications. Any ideas on selling property from the UK or is it better to sell whilst still resident in Aus?

what have been some of the biggest hurdles and challenges you faced being back in the UK.

weather implications are obvious and easy to think about perhaps harder to really know how you will be under less bright skies.

what about population density, crowds, crime, cost of living salaries etc?

any insights or reflections on these sorts of things would be awesome.

christmasoompa

That will all be very dependent on area, whereabouts are you thinking of moving to? And to a lesser extent, so will weather and not being under 'bright skies'. In the Thames Valley we've had barely a spot of rain since March and our (half acre) pond has completely dried up. The ducks are not impressed!

brits1

We sold and then rented in aus for 12 months which gave us time to go through our belongings, sort out uni for our sons and pet transport , we are in the peak District at the moment as we knew we did it want to be in suburbia but still be near a good high Street and a good drive to a city we did some homework on that from Australia but there is nothing like actually seeing an area in person. There are a lot of counties where space and countryside is on your doorstep .

brits1

we spent a few days in northumberand ljust before the lockdown and it's just so lovely you lucky things. Hope all goes well with your plans

freebo

You don't pay tax on your Primary Residence in Australia and no tax to take the money back to the UK so you can do it whenever you choose.

You might want to think about house prices, will they go up or down from here, in Aus I mean?