Cindyf67

We are still deliberating as a family whether to take the plunge and come to NZ for a "better" life. I feel the cold so heating and a warm home is really important to me - are most homes warm? I have read so many conflicting views. The cost of living is also frightening me. My partner is a HGV driver/trainer and I'm a legal secretary (The PR will be through this). I'm pretty scared we won't be able to live properly. I work in London and life's tough financially as we have a 3 year old so we're used to that, but GP's fees, food shopping and utility bills seem very high in NZ . I love my job but worry for my daughter in the long term staying in the UK. Would people say life is better in NZ for a family and as our daughter grows up. Sorry to ask so many questions. I sit here reading the forum of a night and there so many different answers!

MrsFychan

in general unless you buy off plan, build your own or a house built within the last few years they will not come insulated on the inside walls and most may just have a gas heater if there is piped gas, electric heaters or heat pumps. I am struggling with the standard of housing here and the coldness of the houses but cannot afford to fit heating, we had the bed room walls insulated and the windows in them double glazed but still gets cold and have to wipe the windows down some mornings because of condensation - house built 2000. only a gas fire in the main living room. Cost to fit heating will be around $20K+ from what I have read which is way above any sort of budget we have.
But hey you may find one with double glazing and heat in most rooms but I am sure that will be reflected in the cost.

bourbon-biscuit

I still think the only decent way to heat old Kiwi homes is via a massive wood burner. The heat chucked out from them soaks into the fabric of the building and is very drying. Gas heaters create damp and loads of them are unflued (!!!); heat pumps are great in a new, properly insulated home with well fitting windows and where they are an appropriate size and placement for the area being heated but that description does not reflect the majority of NZ's housing stock, especially average and below stock. I live in the Waikato and our fairly new heat pump that I have had serviced (no, the LL does not have to pay for this) still struggles when it's really cold here because the Waikato is damp and the outdoor unit of the pump is not in the optimum position, neither is the indoor unit.
We are at the end of a long winter so many of us in crap houses will be feeling sour about winter in NZ - in a few more weeks we begin to forget Summer is much longer than the UK and in most places much warmer too.

Justcol

My first thought on reading your post was, move away from London,
find a nice rural area and stay in the UK.
You don't want to come all this way with doubt's, its a recipe for disaster

Snap Shot

Our house was built in 1970. We paid to have the windows and doors replaced with double glazed windows and doors.
We also have a heatpump in the loft void which heats the bedrooms and the airing cupboard via vents in the ceiling.
A downstairs heat pump heats the dining room of the lounge diner. We have a gas fire that we switch on in the evening when we switch the downstairs heat pump off.
The heat pumps are on timers. We paid for the heatpumps to be installed.
Should we ever get back to Britain, heating and double glazing will be pretty much standard. So, that'll save a fair bit of money straight off the bat so to speak.
Oh and we paid for another layer of Pink Batts roof insulation in the loft void and some more insulation under the floor joists.
BTW, we live on the lower north island of NZ.

Bo-Jangles

No, most homes are not warm and those that are have generally had expat money spent on them to make it so. I think people need to bear that in mind always that you have to be prepared to invest the effort and dollars to make your house as comfortable as possible.

We have done the underfloor and roof insulation plus added in heat pumps - that's about as much as we can do without a major investment in a reconstruction job of ripping out windows and walls to add double glazing or wall insulation.

We've probably spent close to $20k in doing that and have to suck it up when the power bill arrives and still would hardly call our house warm and 'comfortable' - we still wear multiple layers indoors, hardly ever without a fleece, jumpers or cardigans at hand. Trips to the bathroom and showering in winter months still require a brave face, warm dressing gowns, slippers and socks.

Of course, you may get lucky and find one that's already been done to a high spec with underfloor heating and such like, but you still have to pay the power bill at the end of the month and in many cases that is what ultimately makes it prohibitive.

Justcol

Gas heated warm blown air central heating, with Multiple outlets
In every room throughout the house. The place is always
warm and cosy but in winter the bills are 600+ a month

garethwm

Dont be put off. Believe it or not, most people here arent shivering in a corner over a bar heater in winter. You and your child can and most likely will stay warm. The ease with which you achieve this depends on the house and the area you move to. If you get into a house built since 1978, it will at least have outside wall insulation, plus i think roof insulation. In my experience, many of the older houses are also upgraded with same. Not sure when the rules changed to include under floor insulation. Also, if you feel the cold, living in Dunedin is massively different to living in Auckland. Im living in Auckland, it is 8 pm, and I am indeed wearing just a short sleeved shirt in early spring. GP visits average out at about $40 for adults but are free for children. For groceries, I advise doing your own trial shop at countdown.co.nz. Just multiply everything by 0.42 to get the UK equivalent price. This is something you can find out factually instead of just relying on opinion. Although as Col said, if you have doubts, then perhaps youre better off with the status quo. No one can tell you where you will be better off because we dont know you or your circumstances.

bourbon-biscuit

That might give you an indication of the price if you buy in GBP while living in UK but it won't tell you what proportion of your household budget groceries when living in NZ it will cost you compared with now. That's what you really need to know.

garethwm

Thats true. Im assuming they will know their NZ salary before they arrive plus their likely rent etc, all of which they can also compare with their current income and costs by multiplying by .42. But in her question she asked about groceries

Justcol

That comparison only works if they come over and earn the exact equivalent salary.

There are many many threads and discussions on here about NZ salaries and cost of living
I would say they are a good place to start for

bourbon-biscuit

Where did you get 0.42 from?

Snap Shot

0.42 is how much Sterling 1NZD would buy presently.

Cindyf67

Thank you all for your honest comments. It's a big move for us if we do it 😯 My sister will be moving to Australia in the next couple of years and if we don't take the plunge in the next 18 months we will find it hard to move. My niece is in Wellington (she loves it), but is living with friends. I would of course have her living with us if we moved to Wellington. The winters are very grey in the UK, and I worry what future my daughter will have here as were bursting at the seams. I love my job and have great family and friends. The heating and insulation does frighten me after reading!! The cost is huge!! We pay £120 per month to heat a 4 bedroom house it's only 10 years old and fully insulated but I still get cold!! The food I know is expensive and that was really good info for the calculation - thank you. im going to sit down and work it all out. I am not sure what HGV drivers earn but have been told I would have a salary of around $60,000 NZ dollars. But looking on a previous post it seems $150,000 is needed to live comfortably? Such great, helpful people on here. I'm so glad I found this forum. Thanks all 👍🏻.

jmh

Well, I moved from London to Auckland. I'm glad I did and wouldn't move back (have no children to think of though). Having said that, I would give serious consideration about moving to another part of the UK. The money you save by not moving could give you a much better quality of life than you have now.

In my case my income is about the same and costs are similar. You have to learn to shop differently than you are used to in the UK. My own experience is the heating bill is about the same, however it might be more the further south you go (i.e where it's colder).

I noticed the lack of central heating the first two winters, but am acclimatised now. That's not to say I'm cold, just that I can wait the 5 minutes needed for the heat pump to heat the room up. I have a 1990's built house which has no double glazing but is insulated. It's surprisingly warm most of the time.