St George Six

Hmm it is always good to check in and see excited people on here beginning a new adventure. We have been here five years now and have had great time, but may live in Oz for a bit or UK England before we hang our travelling days up. I have to say though this year has for us seen an amazing amount of Uk people leaving NZ to move back. By far the most we have ever seen in 5 years and these are people that have been in NZ 1-10 years. We live in Wellington so large population of UK people and I have lost count of the numbers leaving this year. So I am wondering what the percentages are as a WHOLE, it seems there are more leaving at the moment that coming and that not counting those going to Oz. Anyway it is not all bad here and that true of UK, and maybe I just noticing those leaving more these days.

techieguy

I believe 1 in 4 Brits return to the UK, which is quite high really...

I would be interested to know how many Brits leave NZ for somewhere else.

I know that Kiwis in the UK, when they leave will often go to Australia and not their homeland...Most I worked with and knew in London had no intention of going home..

Looks like Australia is going to grow!

CAN2NZ

The last stats I saw was that 9% of Brits move back in the first five years. Asians and North Americans have a high return rate. Recently I saw something like 20% of those leaving on long term departures are new New Zealanders.

luvwelly

I'm sure I've read that the return rates are really high among retired Brits buying properties in other EU countries those wanting to 'Escape to the sun' ...as their health deteriorates they return for access to family, free NHS and lack of language barrier.

Jules Europe

Most Brits that return from EU countries are normally either family or work related reasons, health only comes into it if they want to be near their family. You will find that the quality of free NHS here in Spain is far superior to what you would find in the UK and the same has been said of France as well. As for language barriers You can now go to many parts of either Spain and France and hear only English spoken so language barriers are not much of a problem.

Find it a mystery why so many Brits want to leave NZ after moving there, the only thing I can think of is the vast distance they are from the UK.

Patrick2007

Jules i think the mystery is that the cost of living and healthcare,dentistry,quality of houses compared to the U.K.doesnt help. I agree u may get a better quality of NHS in Spain,France etc but in N.Z.its zero. Private. I for one have been to Spain many times recently and unless u stay within the confines of an expat community the average Spainard makes no attempt whatsoever to learn english. The expats are moving to Aus for better wages,housing etc. I think they get more for there money over there.

Jules Europe

Hi Patrick so what your saying is the cost of all these things are a lot more expensive than was anticipated for most Brits? I can certaintly see the attraction of Aus though a great climate (if you like the heat) and no language barriers. Don`t agree with the concept that the average Spaniard should learn English as it should be the other way around given that it is their country. By the way spoke to a NZ guy recently who seemed to think property in NZ was very reasonable in relation to much of Europe???

Patrick2007

Hi Jules, most certainly the cost involved is a shock to a lot of expats as some of the previous posts on here will show. What i mean regards Spain etc is that i was in Tenerife last month,a region which is very dependent on tourism etc. The place is dying literally,i know someone who has lived there 17 years,and thanks to the Euro what will happen in the next 5 years God only knows. The locals there couldnt string a sentence together in English. I honestly thought it would have been a second language to them. What with them depending on tourism etc. The N.Z. guy Jules i dont know where abouts in Europe he was Romania? and the former Yugoslavia well yes i agree with him,U.K. no chance.....

Jules Europe

Big problem here in Spain at the moment is the collapse of the pound in relation to the Euro. Less British tourists and less Brits buying property and investing here. Given that Brits are the biggest investers for either tourism and property here in Spain it has hit the local economy hard. Agree with you locals in touristy areas should know English because that is how many make their living.

I think the NZ guy was referring that he had actually found a bargain property in NZ and maybe it was misinterpreted by me as meaning property was well priced there.

I see that you are from Liverpool, for example how do property prices there compare to NZ?

Patrick2007

[QUOTE=Jules Europe;6762324]Big problem here in Spain at the moment is the collapse of the pound in relation to the Euro. Less British tourists and less Brits buying property and investing here. Given that Brits are the biggest investers for either tourism and property here in Spain it has hit the local economy hard. Agree with you locals in touristy areas should know English because that is how many make their living.

I think the NZ guy was referring that he had actually found a bargain property in NZ and maybe it was misinterpreted by me as meaning property was well priced there.

I see that you are from Liverpool, for example how do property prices there compare to NZ?[/QUOTE
I can only speak for Auckland Jules and i reckon it is well overpriced property wise. But the market here has dropped like a brick,put it this way u would be giving your house away now for a sale. One lad in work had too drop his by thousands. Now if u had savings and were buying well its happy days. Not sure if it has hit Auckland as bad yet,speaking to my mate a fortnight ago and its on its way.

Jules Europe

compare to NZ?[/QUOTE
I can only speak for Auckland Jules and i reckon it is well overpriced property wise. But the market here has dropped like a brick,put it this way u would be giving your house away now for a sale. One lad in work had too drop his by thousands. Now if u had savings and were buying well its happy days. Not sure if it has hit Auckland as bad yet,speaking to my mate a fortnight ago and its on its way.[/QUOTE]

Problem with the UK is that the credit crunch is here for the next couple of years and may get even worse. If you have got the funds its a great time to buy, bargains galore for buyers and even better if your money is in euros becuase there is a chance the pound may even reach parity with the Euro. Problem with NZ and property prices there, is the island mentality of little space hence expensive prices. Go to USA or Canada and you will find cheap houses galore for much of the country.

crap coffee

If you/I have Cancer or if anything so serious, well - sadly it's time to leave NZ - definitely.

my parents are getting very old and they do not want to stay here any longer as they do not feel secure/safe enough - public health care system in nz

but if you want to go to private practice, it's ridiculoulsly expensive (still they are not the best doc in the world, either), so what's the point seeing them really? If you have all that money, if you go to overseas you can get much better quality medical treatment for sure.

small population means lack of great/properly trained specialists (with more than enough experience) who can trust and you've got no choice. It's scary in fact.

lack of other stuff (shopping/crap housing etc) is okay but lack of doctor means it's something - a serious issue to think about

Last time I been to overseas, sorted out two problems of myself. I was able to meet the specialists straight away there (a dermatologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist, Gynecologist and a dentist). whereas Welly hospital specialists refused to see me (due to looooooooong queue, and they don't seem to take "serious ear inflammation" too seriously) :curse:- terrible!

The other thing is the dentists here are terriblest ever! Due to lack of clinial experince in general. No one could provide decent information about my problem teeth here, because ......they bloody do not know.......... :curse: but got an answer from the overseas dentist! sh!t

I am still young (I've got some major problems with my health, though - at least it's not cancer@!) so I am not particulary thinking about the future yet - but when I get older, I don't know what to do - I have no idea where to go........don't think I'd have a lot of money when I get older unlike my parents ...........so going to America or Japan or somewhere etc it seems a bit impossible for me. My parents still do. But they don't go back to the UK for medical treatment.

Jules Europe

Never realised the NHS situation in NZ was so serious and in such a bad way. NZ is often promoted as one of the best countries in the world to live in so all this comes as something of a surprise really.

crap coffee

What worries me is that You Are Not Allowed to go and see the specialist unless you've got significant symptoms or whatever. Your GP do not refer you to a specialist until you get sick as dog :curse: When you already feel/have symptoms (for instance, Stomach/Colorectal Cancer) It's almost time to go to heaven. too late!

no prevention here!

How many people in NZ can afford to go to the specialist for just check up regulary? It's almost impossible. When you get older, you don't wanna spend over $2000 every year for Endoscopy (just for check up) at private practice -

Patrick2007

This is an excellent post and one future Expats NEED to read. The Government there should be ashamed. As for the Dentist situation appalling