the turner family

We are looking to emigrate to NZ soon, and have read alot of comments about food being expensive. I decided to check this out for myself and thought I might share the results with you....

We live in Spain and we did our weekly shop today at Carrefour (a big Hypermarket chain). I did the same shop with Tescos Online and the same again with Woolworths NZ Online. UK was the most expensive, followed by NZ, followed by Spain, but there was not much in it really.

95 items - including fresh meat, fruit & veg, cleaning products, snacks and other usual shopping items for a family of four. We don't buy all branded or all store's own products, it's a mixture of both.

Tescos = £133 / $346 / €190
Woolworths = £124 / $322 / €177
Carrefour = £117 / $305 / €168

So those of you who moan about the cost of food in NZ should have a look at what they are buying (or move to Spain!)

I hope my research will be of interest - please let me know if you have any comments!

Andrea

ukkiwi

I agree its not more expensive in NZ doing a direct comparison like this - however if your earning less in NZ then shopping and other outgoings take a higher percentage of your salary.

the turner family

I agree with your point, but my husband's wages in Gibraltar are at present slightly lower than what he will be getting in Auckland.

We are using gross pay as a reference as we don't know how the NZ and Gibraltar tax systems compare.

UK salaries are higher, but look at the cost of property and petrol compared to NZ! It's all swings and roundabouts really.

ukkiwi

Yes - i think everyone needs to research for themselves and make a decision based on that.

POM IN NZ

A local paper here in NZ recently did a comparison that 'demonstrated' that real prices in NZ are higher than the UK. This is because wages and salaries here are very low compared to UK and Europe.
Even petrol is cheaper in terms of average earnings in UK than here.
People visiting from UK are spending UK wages and therefore everything including housing appears to be extremely cheap. Once local earnings are being spent, the illusion disappears.
Most things are probably more expensive here although it is hard to compare as quality varies a lot. For example, many houses here are very low quality wooden boxes which could not be built in Europe due to their lack of thermal efficiency. The climate may be warmer but the houses can be freezing cold in Winter.

kiwijetpilot

Apart from rates/council tax. In the UK, out in the countryside north of Edinburgh in a very small village with no public amenities, we paid GBP1880 per year (about NZD4950). My rates here on the Kapiti Coast, 30 miles north of Wellington, are NZD1284.00 - that is nearly a quarter of what I paid in the UK. If you factor in the stuff that we pay extra for here (like rubbish collection), my UK Council Tax is still over three times more expensive than my NZ rates.

My NZ power bill is very small compared to what it cost to heat my Scottish house - we spent over 800 pounds on heating fuel (Calor gas) alone, the last year we were there (2003). Electricity cost us over 900 pounds for the year. That works out to roughly NZD4500 for the year, or NZD375 per month. My average power bill here on the Kapiti Coast is NZD188.00 - less than half what it cost in the UK - and that is for a house half as big again as my UK house.

Those are just two examples, there are others.

First of all, they aren't low quality - why do you say that?. Secondly, there is precisely the same level of insulation - even the same type of insulation - in my NZ house as there was in my Scottish house. The ONLY difference in construction between the two, is that my UK house had a brick outer layer, and my NZ house has a fibre concrete external layer. Oh, and the wooden framing in my UK house was substantially lighter (jncluding roof trusses).

It is interesting to note that the modern NZ house design is derived from designs common in Scandinavia. Gets pretty cold there.

The only significant difference between insulation in my NZ house and my Scottish house, is that the NZ house doesn't have lagged pipes. Not necessary here.

Finally, if I pumped the amount of heat into my NZ house that I did in my Scottish house, I would have to spend the winter with my windows open. Last winter, our heating totalled 3KW (including all rooms), and I never wanted more heating.

the turner family

Thanks for some positve news!!

As we have said before we are making a living here and we are not looking to become rich in NZ just get along ok with enough left to go out once in a while.

From what we have seen on the property market there seems to be lots of choice of houses and if you really want a brick one you can get one.
I personally don't have a problem with a wood construction.

Thanks again.

Matt and Andrea

deedee

I agree, we own a villa(wooden house) thats near on a hundred years old.We are also along way down South Island, so its apparently cold.We have not been cold yet, its heated, insulated and is very cheap to run.
As for things been expensive, i'd still say like for like its a little cheaper here in NZ.It would be hard living on the average wage of 35k$ but i would consider it harder on the average wage in the UK in almost any city/town!
We have done many convertions to see if we are "finacially worse" here in NZ and from the thousands of invoices we've had and the amounts of dollars we've laid out, i know we'd be far worse off in Blighty.
One thing we can't take into consideration is peoples freebies from the UK they take into the equation...income support, child benefit and all the other things.Some people claim everything, some claim not a thing.There is nothing in NZ to claim,it keeps it simple.

Don

If you know that to be true for your NZ house, fine.

It isn't true for most NZ houses. The typical NZ house is of a much inferior build quality compared to the typical UK house. Ie we are talking about the specification of the materials here and building regs.

I think it mainly comes down to the cost of materials and the NZers' ability to pay for good quality stuff.

NZers will come out with all sorts of guff about earthquake dangers etc but the reality is the housing stock is mostly jerry built on the cheap.

deedee

I'd say there was a period in NZ when some houses were built right.It must have been a short one because like you say most are not.
I would also point out, a build in the UK is on the whole pretty dire, as is a new build here.The days of quality for the sake of the job are long gone (unless you have unlimited funds) and it matters not where you are in NZ or the UK,its all about profit!
I have seen some fantastic homes for structural quality, but i can't recall seeing any built in the last 20 years the cheaper side of a million pounds.
Before we came to NZ we watched a new build scheme happen in Scotland.I could have cried, they were such poor quality.The price of labour and materials is the blame,and the desire to make as much booty from someone as is humanly possible.

Gill and Rob

It has been stated that house rates are a lot lower in NZ than the UK we find this to be very true. Another important charge we find to be a lot lower in NZ is the cost of motor insurance.

Robert

Deb+Chris

Matt and Andrea...

I was once like you... wanting the positive news to gee us up etc. but let's get realistic... Don is right.. the house quality in NZ is nothing like the UK I'm afraid. We would regularly watch the curtains blowing in our house which was depressing we just could not get the house warm) We are now back in the UK and hardly have the central heating on but the house is solid, well insulated and double glazed... we are warm!!! and it's great!!

There's nothing worse than feeling cold all the time so it's very important to get the right house. We viewed our house in Dunedin with a Kiwi builder friend and another kiwi couple who were adamant our house was fabulous. Kiwi's don't know the meaning of the word!! our mates (ex-pats)were also freezing their socks off... be very careful and definately lay money aside to heat a place in fine style cos the kiwi way doesn't wash with us spoilt brits!!!!!

Deb+Chris

Yeah but you get treble the money in wages in the UK!! ha ha ha.

the turner family

Come on! Treble the money!!! Who are you kidding.

I am an auto electrician and have a job offer in Auckland at NZ$25 per hour.

At present I am working in Gibraltar in a simliar role and getting about £8 P/H

If you could find me a similar job in England paying NZ$75 (£30) I would be amazed

kiwijetpilot

First of all, there is no evidence to suggest that build quality here is worse than the UK - both have altered for the worse over the years. We have seen housing estates in the UK that were atrociously built. Money now defines how a house is planned and constructed. Many houses I have lived in, in the UK, were dire. Dry rot, rising damp, window frames that last a few years and then rot before your eyes, rendering that cracks in the first decent freeze, sub-sized framing and roof trusses (in a country where you can get a load of snow on your roof!), mould, roof tiles that crack and fall off, inferior-quality exterior timber that warps and cracks after two summers, double glazing that fails and condensates between the layers, the list goes on. I have had all the above problems in UK houses.

As for the building code allowing inferior building - please give examples. I have worked with houses under both codes, and I see little difference. Apart, of course, from the UK building code allowing a breathtaking lack of studs in a partition wall, and allowing the timber in those walls to be 3/4 the size of the timber you find in a NZ wall.

My kiwi house has great windows that have rubber seals - no leaks there. Pretty much standard on any house built in the last 30 years. It is warm - we haven't had a heater on since October. As with anything, if you choose carefully and get a proper inspection done, you will end up with a good, snug, warm house. Independent inspectors are plentiful. Oh and the cost of conveyancing compared to the UK.... waaaay cheaper.

What you read above is one persons experience of one house. Be wary.

Also, if you value warmth above all else, try not to live in the coldest part of the country!

So to sum up - yes, if you don't choose carefully, don't get the house inspected, and don't check for basic stuff like draughty windows etc - you can buy a dud (just like in the UK, or anywhere else for that matter). If you choose a warm, sunny house in good order - it won't leak, it won't be draughty, you will be warm (if you turn the heating on), and you will absolutely have more internal and external space for your money.

It is also worth noting that there are plenty of newer houses here with double glazing and central heating, and you can install excellent heating systems for relatively low prices. The choice is yours.