Moving... Australia to the UK

[s8n]

Hi Guys..

My partner & I are thinking of relocating to the UK in Jan05.. We are both under 30 and apparently can obtain the under 30 visa of which gives us the ability to live & work in the UK for 2 years? In which time I'd assume you can apply for residency and so on?

Im in the IT industry (data telcoms with cisco) and Amy is a Town Planner (is that the correct term of there?), We are unsure where we'd move to at this stage..

I'm more looking into the financial side of things, at what sort of per year figure combined do you need to live well ? That is drive a nice car, be able to travel and go out.. (M3 would be nice!! or RS4) , travel around europe.. have no troubles finding a nice place with car space to live that isn't in the sticks...

We are just a bit sick of Sydney, and really want a change..Our priority is to see Europe, secondary live easy and afford our nice luxuries and save some money for either real estate there, or back home..

Can anyone give me more information, places to look to accomdation, job search engines, rough cost of living? Any info is great!

I would assume myself to be worth 40-45000 in your market with my parnter around 30,35000 pa?

Bored Aussies looking for a change!!!

Ps: i love cold weather, rain and snow! Amy hates it

[Paul-RS]

its tax tax tax here then they tax you on that too. [img]images/graemlins/soapbox.gif[/img]

if IT is 40-45K im in the wrong profession! Im going to retrain.

UK is not a cheap place to live. [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[s8n]

Ill spend the next few months researching [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Thanks mate!

[Joshie]

Depends on your savings.

I'd say that to live in an average house in the south of England, drive decent car and be able to go out you'd need to earn £80K pa minimum, IMO. Just to put this in perspective a doctor earns about £66K per year.

Here are the facts:
Average house prices in the south east £250K. £25K down and a 90% mortgage would cost you about £1450 to repay. Have a look here. Typically you'd also need to earn £60K and your wife £30K to qualify for this level of loan.

Other significant outgoings per month would be council tax £120, Food £500, utilities £100, household insurance £40, car repayment £600, insurance and car tax £100, fuel £300.

So take home on £80K is about £4000 per month after tax.

Add up the above and not counting clothes, eating out or travel that leaves you with = £790 per month which isn't a huge amount.

Don't wan't to be negative, just don't expect to be well off here in the UK, especially if you want to get on the housing ladder here.

Good luck.

[Iain]

Move Up North !!! [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

Theres a few of us on this site! aka pie eaters!

[s8n]

We don't want to buy a house... We want to rent for a few years, travel around before deciding if its europe, australia or elsewhere we want to settle down..

I would assume us to earn about 70k PA

When you say decent car, whats decent?

Based on housing ive seen, 250k doesnt get you much [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Then again, that money in AUD doesnt get you much either in Sydney..

I think the majority of positions in my area are in London, so I don't want to be too far from there...

[runrowsam]

Only piece of advice is be careful about where you live if you're to be working in London. The motorways are great if you need to commute, and those extra miles out of the city make the house prices go down very quickly. You just have to be thorough in your research, and find a nice quiet little suburb with good motorway access.

Good luck mate,

Rock on
Sam [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[peterb]

Based on housing ive seen, 250k doesnt get you much

Indeed. In the Reading area (London 30 mins by train, 45 miles on M4), that might get you a small four bedroomed detached. You'd be better off finding a job somewhere away from London.

[s8n]

Based on housing ive seen, 250k doesnt get you much

Indeed. In the Reading area (London 30 mins by train, 45 miles on M4), that might get you a small four bedroomed detached. You'd be better off finding a job somewhere away from London.

Not intrested in buying but.. There is only 2 of us, so 4 bedroom's is just overkill. We only need a place with 1bedroom, the usual other bits and pieces (dining, bathroom,kitchen)! Furnished would be great..

Ill look into the positions and see where they seem to be going, then decide on location from there..

More intrested in what I need to earn to live decent, rather then accomdation. That will determine what I can save, spend and most importantly determine what jobs I should be applying for as to not underpay myself..

Your market is different to ours.

Thanks for the help guys!!

[S3MUD]

My girlfriend and I live in the outskirts of Reading in a town called Wokingham/Winnersh. Currently looking to make our first house purchase.

If you were looking to rent in and around Reading you would really need to be spending about 1000 pounds a month to live in a half decent house/apartment not including tax, food and utilities as mentioned above.

Cost of living here must also be twice as high as Aus?

Are you sure you really want to give up all that sun, sea and surf for dingy old England?

It is guaranteed to rain every time you wash your car here!

Grass is always greener etc etc...

[img]images/graemlins/s3addict.gif[/img]
Bren.

[s8n]

Well, a change is good in my book.. Yes its sunny, and hot and there surf but I'd like to see what the rest of the world is like and it puts me in a central position to travel the rest of the world whilst still allowing me to earn good money doing what I love (comms)

I'm very eager to do it! And I love the cold weather (as does my S3)

[img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ChrisB]

Move Up North !!!

'Oop Norf' is certainly cheaper, but you won't find as much in the IT industry (certainly not Cisco stuff) as you would in central London or the M4 corridor.

You might find an IT/Datacomms job around Leeds/Manchester area possibly, the wages will seem very low compared to London & the South, but the cost of living is cheaper.

[S4_SAT]

scotland is nice now.loads of great roads and cold weather,rains someimes though [img]images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img][img]images/graemlins/piss.gif[/img]

[s8n]

Yeah, it seems most of the decent paying jobs for me where located in London...

Ill look around more...

I have to be central to RS246.com meets but!!

[img]images/graemlins/jump.gif[/img]

[peterb]

I have to be central to RS246.com meets but!!

Reading/Wokingham area it is, then. Easy access to Windsor.