JenSax

Hello! Found myself here as my husband and I are considering a move to NZ and would love to hear some thoughts on people who've done it and why it did/didn't work out, any advice!

My husband works in healthcare and can get a job which will enable him to apply for a skilled migrant visa, which would also include myself and the kids. We're in our late 20s with a just 1 year old and another due in August, but obviously due to the time it would take to get a visa etc we wouldn't expect to be in NZ until they were more like 3 and 18 mo. I officially work 1 day a week in a coffee shop here but don't anticipate working out there, at least to start.

It seems to make sense to make the move now, when the kids are small, before we have to start faffing around with schools etc. The current plan is we'd stay (and rent) for two years and then decide whether to buy or move back to the UK.

We moved across the UK four years ago, which was a great decision for us and we still love the town we live in, and if we didn't move we would be able to buy a nice house here in a year or two (I'm waiting on a house sale for some inheritance which would give us a great deposit). The hardest thing about where we are is we haven't made many friends, and living in a smaller town (by UK standards 55,000) there aren't as many choices of people to be friends with! We have one couple who we are very good friends with, but they will be moving for his work in a couple of years time. I wonder slightly if we're running away from things not being quite how we imagined them here, and NZ is a bit of a drastic change.

My biggest worry would be being farther from my mum. At the moment she lives too far to go there-and-back in a day, but I still manage to see her probably every 6 weeks or so. We already FaceTime regularly, and could manage to keep that up with some slight inconvenience in NZ, and she has just retired and has also inherited a fairly good amount of money, so would be able to visit us, perhaps yearly. I think my worry might be slightly more for her than for me, but I don't know how much I can let a big life decision be based around someone else's feelings. I would miss my siblings too, and it would be sad for my kids to grow up so far away from their cousins, but we live on opposite ends of the country from the sibling with kids at the moment and see each other rarely.

My husband is super excited about the possibility of moving, but is very adventurey and adaptable by nature so any big change will always get him excited (as long as it's affordable haha.) He has been suggesting moving for a long time, and I've only recently warmed up to the idea, but he wouldn't pressure me into it if I said no, so I don't feel obligated to say yes, I genuinely think it could be great.

We don't have much disposable income here, and might have a little more in NZ with his salary increase, although obviously we can only guesstimate how much the cost of living would affect that. Depending on my inheritance, we may be able to buy a small property here mortgage free and rent it out to supplement our income.

My husband has a reasonably good work / life balance and works pretty good hours here without a long commute, although would enjoy a job in a larger hospital with more specialties and drama. We're both very laid back, like going for country walks but aren't hardcore hikers (trickier with little people anyway) and LOVE living by the sea, but would appreciate more and quieter beaches in NZ.

NZ itself appeals because it is stunningly beautiful, the lifestyle is reported to be very relaxed, less materialistic, very family friendly and kids are allowed to stay kids for longer. One of my best friends lived in Dunedin for several years, and married a guy from there. They live in Aus at the moment but plan to go back to NZ and she only has positive things to say about it. (She's lived in the UK, Sudan, NZ, Aus, Phillippines and her family have lived in lots of other countries too - they're big on living abroad! - so she does have lots of places to compare it to.)

I feel slightly like we've opened Pandora's box and if we don't at least try to go to NZ now, we'll spend our lives wondering "what if". Worst case scenario, we move, have a really rough couple of years, and move back to the UK with less money but more life experience. But I don't know if that's a slightly blasé way of looking at it.

What do you think, more experienced people of the forum?

Should we consider the big move across the world, stay where we are, or look at moving to a different part of the UK instead?

Jen

jarv5116

what part of the UK do you currently live and where in NZ do you plan on moving?

what's your combined salary in uk and nz?

JenSax

Weymouth in Dorset in the UK. If we left here but stayed in the UK we'd probably move further west.

In NZ we're looking at Hawke's Bay or Wellington, but are flexible.

Combined salary here is about £29,000, in NZ with just my husband's salary we'd guess $65 - 70,000. We don't pay for childcare here as my husband has the kids when I'm at work but he would likely work an extra day with shorter shifts in NZ so if I worked we would have to pay for childcare, and jobs I'm qualified for are probably around minimum wage so definitely not worth the cost of childcare for 2 kids.

Justcol

65k isn't a lot to live on down here.
its not impossible but with two kids, rent, food, utilities, vehicle costs, insurance, it's not going to leave much to spare.

MrsFychan

where are you getting information on shorter shifts? really doubt that
on that salary I cannot see you being able to buy a property for many years.
we had a plan of 5 years and see how we felt. had some money left in the UK to enable that but due to circumstances and cost of living in NZ that is all but depleted and we cannot afford at this time to move back or anywhere else.

If I had my time again I would move within the UK.

scrubbedexpat094

The working week here is 40 hours as opposed to 37.5 hrs in the UK. Therefore shifts are longer. $65 - 70k is not a great salary for a family of 4. My OH started on $90k back in 2005 which sounded amazing to us back home, in reality it was a struggle given the lifestyle we had in the UK. So add on childcare, trips back to the UK, cost of living in NZ and it's highly unlikely you'll be better off here.
The UK has stunningly beautiful scenery too, as do many other countries. Kiwis are no less materialistic than other nationalities, a number of my friends have boats, nice cars etc. I bought my car in 2007 from new, OH has a 2nd hand one, no idea how friends afford boat, we can't.

I had a friend who tempted me over, she's a very positive, optomistic type. I'm more of a realist. I wish with all my heart that I hadn't listened to her, she isn't me, we have a very different outlook on life. We had a great life living in Burton on Trent, how I wished we had stayed in the region and just moved house.
Maybe NZ would be a good move for you if the pull is great enough, come for a couple of years to see if it would work for you. BUT don't burn your bridges back home.

escapedtonz

You'll really struggle on a salary of $65-70k for a family of 4 no matter where you base yourself. Worse if you went to Wellington in comparison with Hawkes Bay.
I started in Wellington on a salary of $95k (family of 3 at the time) and we had a huge pot of cash to set ourselves up but it doesn't go far when you are paying out the bond for a rental, a couple cars, pieces of furniture and an appliance or two for the rental etc. We mullered through $40k in the blink of an eye and once settled in to Wellington life it was quickly evident we couldn't sustain it on a single wage so the mrs had to go back part time which made all the difference. Luckily we managed to keep our heads above water until she got a job so didn't get in to needing finance but we pretty much used all of that set up fund in those first couple years in Wellington.
Just dont underestimate how expensive it is to live here.
Would be good to know what your partner does in a hospital setting for work as I may be able to give more advice on hours pay shifts as the mrs is a nurse. She looked in to working in a hospital setting again initially (she was an ICU senior sister in the UK) but after a bit of research the shifts were just as long without the bonus of possibly doing shorter shifts / nights although the pay was slightly better.
In the end she got a job as a practice nurse in a local GP surgery on the top pay band as any other health worker with her experience as she's on the MECA contract which is used across NZ.
Have a look on an NZ salary calculator online to see how far that salary would go. Your highest expense will be rent and you're looking at minimum $500 a week / $1000 per fortnight (plus bills) for a family property which is a huge chunk out of the fortnightly salary.

hallie_day

NZ itself appeals because it is stunningly beautiful, the lifestyle is reported to be very relaxed, less materialistic, very family friendly and kids are allowed to stay kids for longer. One of my best friends lived in Dunedin for several years, and married a guy from there. They live in Aus at the moment but plan to go back to NZ and she only has positive things to say about it. (She's lived in the UK, Sudan, NZ, Aus, Phillippines and her family have lived in lots of other countries too - they're big on living abroad! - so she does have lots of places to compare it to.)

Disclaimer - I didn't want to move here, and I'm fairly miserable (actually, down right depressed now Coronavirus has ruined my trip home and elevated my worries about my frail parents)

We moved from Tooting, SW London to Auckland and I can categorically say that the lifestyle is anything but relaxed and less materialistic, and my experience of kids being kids for longer is the opposite - my 10 year old has become much more 'teenagery' in the last 6 months and kids spend at least the same amount on screens if allowed. While there is more opportunity for organised sport (it's obsessive), I find there is less free play - kids certainly aren't playing out in the street here.
In my experience the education they are receiving is about 3 years behind the UK - my 7 year old can do my 10 year old's maths - a particular issue if you ever want to slot back into the UK system. It means that, in our area, Chinese families (who seem to care more about education) either go private or have tutors EVERY NIGHT after year 3.

The cost of living is bonkers - a couple of examples:
We are not extravagent, but the £100 pw budget that fed us all in London (Lidl), has now increased to $250 (and we are pretty frugal).
Buildings and contents insurance for a same size, and similar value house in London was £400, here it is $2500
Running everything off electricity as their is no gas
We have to run two cars because of a lack of public transport and sports commitments spread throughout the North Shore.

It's also quite hard to find work as the 'partner' rather than the one whose job gets you the visa, and wages are lower, hours longer than at home.

Don't underestimate the impact of family and homesickness - I really didn't appreciate what I had at home until I arrived.
The time difference makes it difficult to have decent communication unless you are very organised, especially with older people, and when you really need to hear a friendly voice, your friends will undoubtedly be sleeping.
And Coronavirus has sent me into a spiral. I am just so far away from my vulnerable parents and have no way of helping them.
Coronavirus may also have a bigger impact on the economy than elsewhere as well - it pretty much seems that everyone runs their own small business so god only knows how they will survive once it hits here properly. In about a week I'm guessing :-(

I've said before, take my opinion with a pinch of salt as I didn't want to come (and Auckland vs Hawkes Bay etc), but even I'm surprised at just how much I dislike it.

I met another mum on Saturday who moved from Amsterdam at the same time as us, and she said 'NZ is like a beautiful woman with little between her ears' which pretty much sums it up.

JenSax

Husband is an ODP in the UK, which will make him an Anaesthetic Tech in NZ. In the UK they're the same pay band as a nurse on the NHS banding system. Here he does 4x 10 hr days a week, but he thinks in NZ he'll do his 40 hours spread over 5 days rather than 4.

I'm waiting on a house sale to inherit a significant amount of money, and if we stayed in the UK we'd use it as a 40-50% deposit on a house, but thinking if we moved perhaps we'd buy a small property here mortgage free and rent it out to give us a little extra income, which would give us an extra £550 / $1100 a month, although we haven't done investigation yet into how that would work logistically. It would also leave us with approx $40k spare for the move etc. But with all the coronavirus / economy uncertainty, that has all become a bit uncertain.


It seems the general consensus would be perhaps wait until we were more financially stable and earning more?

Moses2013

A significant amount of money in the UK might not go far in NZ and it's not just about money. The general advice is also not to move to a country you've never been to. You say NZ itself appeals because it is stunningly beautiful, the lifestyle is reported to be very relaxed, less materialistic, very family friendly and kids are allowed to stay kids for longer. I've said it to others before and you just might as well move to Cantabria and live the simple life if those are the reasons. At least you can still get a low cost flight back to the UK and a stone cottage won't cost 300k.

hallie_day

We have a property in the UK that we rent out, and there are pros and cons - nice to have property there and it does provide an income, but once you factor in letting agents (we currently manage it ourselves but that won't work long term), income tax, maintenance, insurance and property landlord cover (eg Homeserve) we've come to realise that we can only realistically count on half what we expected. Some months it's the entire amount, but better to err on the side of caution. Amongst all my other worries, it's suddenly dawned on me that our tenants run a couple of convenience stores so may be impacted by the Coronavirus and not able to pay rent (or it could go the other way as the community lean on them and they'll be loaded!!).

Either way, I would definitely stay safe with the people I love, and not consider such a move until after Coronavirus.

jarv5116

yeah the 70k a year would be a struggle for a family of 4.
Think long and hard about immigration it's not as easy as jumping on a plane and jumping back if you dont like it.
It would probs cost about 25 to 30k to get over here and get set up with cars and houses and moving all your belongs here then if you dont like it it be getting home costs it's a very expensive mistake to make.
Managing property over the otherside of the world isn't easy either I just sold my house last week.
NZ is good I enjoy it. its been good to me and the wife and we have better lifestyle in NZ than we did in the uk. But it doesnt work out like that for everyone. I can defo see why a very high % of people go home.
there is plus and negatives to every country as I have realised living in NZ. When you live somewhere it's totally different from holidays.
If you have to work 50 or 60 hours in the UK to have a nice lifestyle you will have todo the exact same here.
Its very difficult to compare things. You either like it or you dont. If you had to compare everything it would drive you insane. I think that's why alot of people struggle here try to compare everything all the time.

Genesis

To the OP, given what you have said I would stay where you are, if only for your original comments in your first post. The grass is always greener as they say. Add to that the advice from everyone else..........I think you can probably see the writing on the wall.

Genesis

F
A very good post, my sentiments entirely, been here in NZ 15 years. I would heed this advice. So, so much has changed in 15 years.

escapedtonz

Really good prospects here for ODP's. Very much short of the skill and lacking in trainees coming in to the occupation so I'd say any DHB would be keen if your hubster has the qualifications and experience and he's started the ball rolling for registration etc.
You still have the salary hurdle though but as you say if you have an inheritance to bring that may make all the difference.
One issue you may not be aware of is you cannot purchase a property here unless you are an NZ resident. That rule came in to force late 2018 to stop overseas investors buying up housing stock and making house prices go even higher putting the average house price out of reach for the everyday Kiwi. Assuming hubster lands a job with a DHB and gets a Work To Residency visa till be at least 2-3 years till you get Resident Visas and be able to purchase a property.