DaisyNZ

Has this been done a million times. If so, point me in the right direction.

I'm really looking forward to going back to the UK in a couple of years after 11 years in New Zealand. We have 2 children. Could those of you who have successfully done the move and are enjoying being back tell me why it has worked for you. Are the things you missed still as good? Are the schools better? Are there any houses in the UK still in the kiwi house price bracket (we would like to go north, even the Highlands maybe)? Etc etc. Anything about moving from Oz/NZ back to the UK would be great, from people who are pleased they did it. I just want to start getting all the info together in my head so we can start to plan. Thanks.

dotty

Try this website for UK property www.rightmove.co.uk/ this one covers all areas.

Got some school info back yesterday, email from recently returned pals, suggests they think a few years in OZ has put their son back and its a bit of a problem as hes supposed to be going to UK highschool and is nowhere near ready. They are considering Tutors or holding him back in primary for an extra year which he is not delighted about. Interesting point tho is other Uk people we know are in similar situation going back next year, they have demanded their grade 4 boy skip grade 5 and go into grade 6 to get him ready. Took quite a fight but after some test they won and half way through the year he has moved up.
Dont let it put you off, just be prepared for a big difference depending on the kids age tho.

Ceri

also try this link http://www.themovechannel.co.uk

They have heaps of real estate links on their site. I have found it quite useful.

I do not know the prices in Scotland, but I was looking for smallholdings in Wales and found a few bargains. Would you believe I came across one for 195,000 (Pounds) 5 and a half acres , stables and out buildings, 5 bed house ... there are still bargains out there in rural places.

cheers

scotch03

If you are only looking for the good storys then you will miss out on the bad ones - make sure you get a ballance of both so you can make the best decision.

Good Luck.

DaisyNZ

I think I've read enough negative stuff about the UK on this website to give me a balanced view. I know all the bad stuff, I've visited lots of times, we have been worried about all that for so long that we've not actually taken the plunge yet. But we are not going to let the negatives stop us going to give it a try. What we need now is some encouraging experiences to help along the way. There are no rose tinted glasses here but thanks for the thought.

DaisyNZ

Thanks Dotty and Ceri for that, I will browse the sites. Great to know there are some rural bargains, it's just what we will be looking for, Wales is certainly an option. Interesting about the schools, I wonder if it's the same over here in NZ?

Rosy

OK... I'll try.

We've been back in the UK for just over 6 weeks now, and it has been HUGELY stressful. All 4 of us (me, hubbie and 2 kids) having to live at my Mums until we found a house - she lives 200 miles away from where we wanted to settle - not easy. Have hopefully now found a house and if everything goes to plan should move in end of next week. Starting again in the UK has been 10 times harder than emigrating to Oz.

However, I am so glad we did.

I liked Australia very much, but so much of it was wrong for us - poor schooling, crass government bureacracy for us with our own business, most Queenslanders seeming as if they were on permanent Valium injections etc. etc. Making the decision to return to the UK was very difficult.

Our children have this week started school at a "Beacon" junior school, with eldest being enrolled for Excellent high school for next Sept. They're so pleased to be back with friends.

All our friends have been so pleased to see us - not one has said "you've failed" (although we ourselves didn't see ourselves as failures for having tried Oz and returned).

The traffic IS horrendous compared to Brisbane, the houses ARE shoeboxes compared with Brisbane, BUT (big BUT there), the people here are so much more friendly and ALIVE!!!

Flights go to all over Europe from our local Airport (Southampton) from as little as £8.99!!!

There is so much choice consumer-wise it's incredible after the dross you find in the Queensland shops.


Yep, we definitely made the right move back here!!!

I consider ours to be a "success" story...

fried_emu

On a purely financial level, ours is a success story. We would never have achieved in Canada what we have achieved here in such a stort time.

Fried

peppi

Rosy dont want to be a bore..but could you tell me of your experiences of the government bureacrasy as regards running your own business...thinking of emigrating to Perth and really only want to work for ourselves(dont want to rely on getting an ozzy to give me a job) so am interested in your comments/advice

muppetking

Daisy I have posted many a point about the NZ ed system and why I feel it is inferior to the English. Just do a search to find them
When you return to the UK (we won't be far behind) check your local schools Ofsted report to get a good idea of how it is performing etc. We will be taking our young children back to England because it offers so much more. I don't believe that just because they could surf occassionally or ski a couple of times a month here makes them better people or provides them with 'opportunities'. NZ is isolated whichever way you look at it and it isn't rocket science to see why SO many Kiwis feel the need to travel to the UK and OZ.

Scarlett G

Daisy, you could also try www.vebra.co.uk and www.assertahomes.co.uk . Good luck

joebloggs

We moved back to Scotland last year after five years in Perth. We haven't regretted it for one second. Not of course that there aren't things that we miss..the weather and beaches etc, but the point is we took the decision to come back and we feel it was the right one for us.
We've really enjoyed being back home. There's a wealth of things to do, the coutryside is beautiful, we live and work amongst incredible historic buildings, we see our families all the time, we can go out to the best pubs in the world....you get the idea why we came back.
the main dificulty we had was affording a house, since we wanted to live in Edinburgh, which has seen big house price increases these last few years. If all we wanted out of life was a bigger house we would have stayed in Perth....we don't though, we want more than Perth has to offer, we wanted good jobs that pay well, a multitude of options for holidays, the festivals and all those other things that we have here. And I suppose ultimately we wanted to be back home in scotland.
Anyway you get the drift. Best of luck with the move back.

mumomonty

What don't you like about NZ?

DaisyNZ

I love NZ, it is wonderful. I will miss it very much. There are things I don't like but only little gripes like you would have in any country. I'm going back to spend time at home, I left when I was 22 and just married, simply because my hubby was from here so we came for a trip. It's time for me to spend time back there.

mumomonty

Hi Daisy, thanks for replying.

I am a horse and dog lover. Maybe you can answer my question. i love to get out and ride each day before work.
Re my dog, I love walking. Are there footpaths in NZ. That's one of the things I missed in Oz and am now contemplating a jump over the ditch.

Hope it all goes well for you.