scandinavianlass

Hi,

Seven years ago my husband and I decided to move to Norway, we hadn't been married long and the housing market in the UK was going crazy. He had spent some time over here and already spoke the language (although he is British too) so we thought we'd give it a go and give it 12 months.
We came over here with our car filled with our belongings on the ferry, we now own a house, have 3 children, a dog, cat and chickens!

Despite all the benefits of being in such a beautiful country I still have niggles and miss the UK. It has got particularly bad over the last few months, and so now I've started doing some serious research into what life could be like if we were to move back. The truth is though that after living so long abroad I don't really know what life would be like in the UK.

We all have British passports so no issues there, I'm not totally sure what employment would be like as by watching the news things look fairly dire but my husband and I are well qualified so I think between us we would be ok.

I'm just so scared of going back and then regretting it! It was so easy when we first moved over here, we just had ourselves to think about. Now we have three young children to consider as well.

If we did move back we're thinking of probably heading to Devon as we have some family there. The ideal situation would be to find some land to buy that we could build a house on and have a small holding. We'd have a budget of probably around £200k so perhaps I'm insane to think that would be possible.

There are pros to being in Norway but the main cons that are making me want to move back to the UK are that I'm finding it hard to make good friends, I feel fairly isolated as a result and I'm just so sick and tired of being seen as 'the foreigner'. I've been quite shocked by the reaction of some people here to foreigners and you do quite often feel like a second class citizen. My qualifications aren't recognised as they don't have anything similar over here which has meant I've gone from having a great career in the UK to doing bits of work like teaching English, and effectively retraining myself so that I could begin my own online business.

I think if we did go back to the UK life would be hard financially for the first year or so but then we'd be ok.

Family think we would be mad to consider it, but as others say they only see the holiday lifestyle. Maybe I've just got a bad case of 'the grass is always greener'. Boy would I love a crystal ball right now!!

So my question is to those who have moved back to the UK - do you have any regrets? What was your main motivation to move back? Would you do anything differently?

Thank you!

Sally Redux

Is there any way your husband could find employment in the UK from Norway? That would relieve the major worry.

I can relate to not liking the feeling of being the foreigner. I love the anonymity and normality when I go back to visit.

Hotscot

Even though it may seem like a long time to you it has only been 7 years.
The UK will generally be the way you left it.

I've been in the US for 14 years but I go back to Scotland every year, and also tour the UK. Still seems the same to me.

Only caveat...I sometimes hear murmurings of large Muslim populations in parts of London but I don't know if that's any sort of issue.

Pulaski

The prospects for you being able to "find some land to buy that we could build a house on" are slim to none. Between planning permission and green belt restrictions, the scope for finding land for a new build is extremely limited, and £200k is not much of a budget for a family home anywhere in the UK. Any attractive country homes/ cottages are likely to cost substantially more than your budget, especially in a retirement and holiday area like Devon.

I'm not sure what more to say, but you might want to rethink, perhaps even whether you want to return to the UK at this time.

I'm sure it is, but IMO the problem is that we expats have often "moved on", and are not the people we were when we left. Just because Britain hasn't changed (much) doesn't mean we can necessarily slot right back in like we'd never been away.

scandinavianlass

Thanks for all the replies.
Yes one of us would definitely have to secure employment before we moved back.
Budget wise I've been looking at property prices in the areas we would probably consider living in and £200k seems pretty realistic. I've got a friend in planning in the UK so they are going to advise me further on being able to buy some land but I have seen some within our price range so I don't think it is impossible - although tight definitely.

I agree that it isn't always about how much the UK has moved on but how much we have changed. Here in Norway it is a pretty slow pace of life, so I do think there will be a bit of a culture shock for us going back initially.

Lots for us to think and talk about!

Sally Redux

Good luck. As you have family in the area, they can probably advise about land.

scandinavianlass

Thanks Sally, I love the quote in your signature.

Sally Redux

chris955

It isnt that hard to find building blocks, we considered it ourselves until we found the house we bought. There have been a few programmes on lately and 200k is sufficient to buy a block and build a house.
We have had absolutely no regrets, we are loving it, our young kids are loving it and although we all miss aspects of Australia not enough to want to go back.
As has been said the UK really hasnt changed much, we were away 12 years and it was still the country we remembered. Everywhere changes of course but the changes we have seen have been minimal.

windsong

Hopefully, if you do decide to move back, you will take the pets - and chickens - with you.

scandinavianlass

Thanks Chris955, can I ask did you both want to move back from Australia or was one more on board than the other? That's the main problem we have, I'm the one really longing to go back to the UK, my husband although isn't 100% happy here feels it offers us more than the UK.

Yes windsong, we would definitely be taking our cat and dog back to the UK with us if we move. The chickens we'd give to a friend of ours that also has a small holding over here as I think it would be too stressful for them to move.

chris955

Yes we were both fully behind the move, even our kids who were Brisbane born and bred were really enthusiastic and I should add still are. There is a strange perception with some about the UK that is has nothing to offer or it is going down the pan etc. There are plenty of opportunities here.

scandinavianlass

Thanks Chris, I think I need to try and get hubby on board with the idea! His main worry is whether we can afford the same kind of lifestyle, although Norway is perceived to be a very expensive place to live (rightly so!) we live in quite a rural part and our house was cheap by UK standards. If we could afford to buy a small holding or a plot of land that we could build our own place on I'm sure he would be more into the idea.
Also our older two boys are bilingual, and hubby speaks the language fluently so I think he kind of feels like we would be giving up by moving back. Whereas I see it more that we have had a great experience living here and and we can take that experience and have a great life in the UK.

Pombat

We moved back in 2012 after 13 years away. Our children ( aged 14 and 12 when we came back) had never really lived here so it was a major change for them. Having said that, they have settled really well, and are thriving at school with nice new friends. Apart from missing the sunshine a tiny bit, we have no regrets at all. Our view is that our time abroad was a fantastic experience which we would not have missed for the world, but we are delighted to be back home. Yes, there have been some changes, and yes, we have also changed, but fundamentally we feel very much at home and are glad we made the move.

bigglesworth

The Government says it wants to help self builders - and make it easier. (Although the sticking point I believe is usually local councils, rather than central Government.)

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/d...lf-build-surge