Assanah

I agree. People should be really and truly made aware how dire the housing situation in Auckland is. And to say that you want to escape the UK is all nice and fine but do you really want to be trapped in an OK house somewhere in a typical (in my view lifeless and boring) Auckland suburb far away from the city center, from the Waitakere Ranges, and maybe even from the beaches? Many Auckland suburbs are just streets and more streets of houses and in between you will find shopping malls - typical Los Angles style. The nice suburbs are near the beaches and/or offer a variety of restaurants, bars, galleries etc. And these suburbs are usually expensive.

jmh

Get down that beach and dig for pipis and tuatuas. Plenty of kai if you know where to look.

christmasoompa

I've no idea what 'old ground' you're going over, it's certainly not something I've commented on before as I'm not in NZ, nor have any intention of being so!

I was simply floating around the forums and wanted to say that I agree with Bo-janges, and disagree that his statement is 'an exaggeration', as it applies to the vast majority of areas within an hours commute of London.

garethwm

Well, thats Stephen Jones dream shattered. Whos next? Lol.

garethwm

Stephen, I reckon you shouldnt emigrate to NZ to escape the UK. Do it only if there are things about NZ that attract you. Otherwise youll find some of the things you dont like about the UK repeating themselves here. Having said that, depending on what your expectations are, I think you, your wife and child will be fine on 95k in Auckland. Thats more than the average family income in Aucks and there doesnt appear to be a mass exodus of people. Youll be fine. What is your current UK salary? Rent for a while first, i reckon.

Ex Aucklander

Have you considered other locations in New Zealand. Look on Seek.co.nz & Trademe.co.nz which has Jobs section.

Woodlea

I forgot how tiny houses are in the UK, no chance of falling out of bed in the 3rd bedroom!!

christmasoompa

Depends on the house, that's in one of the most expensive parts of the UK, so stands to reason it'll be small for that money. It would be a garage in London for the same amount.

Plenty of big bedrooms in the UK though, just perhaps not in the Chilterns unless you've got a mill to spare.

Bo-Jangles

Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance.

Stephen Jones has been around this forum for as long as I have and also recently came to NZ on a recce; so one would assume he's pretty well qualified in Enzedology and now ready to take it to another level with some revision, before embarking on the final PhD research project.

He's already intimated that he hasn't really got the means to afford a home in Auckland and therefore people are doing him a favour in highlighting the hardships he will likely face. Which is rather more useful to the decision making process than the snippy 'I'm alright Jack' comments and cheering on from the side-lines from people that have no experience of living in Auckland in a 'low-rent' kind of area, far-less tried to manage that on a salary of less than $100k. I doesn't exactly tick many boxes on the immigration list of ideals for 'Living the Dream'.

Clearly its an itch that Stephen needs to scratch; it's been rather an epic journey thus far and regardless of what anyone says I can't see him slinging the towel in at this stage. He will no doubt want to 'suck it and see' and perhaps now is not the time to start having concerns about the cost of living or prices of the housing.

Snap Shot

You noticed that too did you ?

marblep

Agreed jmh. Times have changed. I think everyone has to also consider that Auckland's population growth has been phenomenal over the past few decades. I know London's has too - but London has been doing that for centuries. Auckland, only for decades. They're still trying to figure the housing situation out.

Stephen Jones

Thanks for all the comments.
I have lots to think over.

I've been made an offer but Mrs J. and I are still mulling it all over.

bourbon-biscuit

Under $100k for a family in Auckland is at best touch-n-go. What sort of lifestyle do you have now? On that sort of salary all your hobbies and activities will need to be free or very low cost, overseas hols will not really be possible, buying a home will be difficult or impossible and you will need to budget carefully to manage your income. Not impossible, but fairly far from most people's idea of living the dream. OTOH, if you're desperate to give it a crack, are up for the challenge of living very frugally (in NZ this means being cold in winter, eating seasonally and shopping around a lot, cooking everything from scratch and buying your clothes from op shops) and have a longer term plan that improves your prospects, it could be quite doable


Stop it, davros; you are sounding foolish. I lived in the UK for seven months last year and I loved it. I found things generally a little cheaper but you are spouting absolute nonsense. You cannot feed yourself for an entire week on 14.50GBP - I know you have spent more than that in the week, either on other shopping trips or meals out or because your kitchen was already stocked or you ate at other people's homes, etc. I am a careful and competent cook and minder of the family budget and we spent at least 100GBP per week to feed a family of four, often more. The quality of the food (with the exception of seasonal fresh stuff and meat) was much higher in the UK, imo, and the choice was giddying but it was not as cheap as you are asserting. Bad form, davros, bad form

A Rush And A Push

I have to admit - I'm dying to know what food Davros bought for £14.50 to last for a week. Not having a go - I'm genuinely curious. I think I may have too much time on my hands.

Sally Redux

Whatever it is, he looks great on it.