Where is the best place to live? The good & bad as we are relocating from Australia

windermerefamily

We have been visiting now for hte past seven years and our children love it, we do earn a good wage here, have a hugh house with hugh gardens, but that is not really what we like, we like to travel... We want something smaller and less maintance than what we have now, as as to working for hubby he is now looking at starting to retire and enjoy life as we have worked so hard to get where we are today. I know that a lot of people do not like living in england but we have friends also who have moved from here to there and love it. To us it is a completly different world to what we are use to and over the past seven years are children today are still wanting to move and have england as a base and travel the world also.
We are starting to do reasearch a lot more in detail now as the time is getting closer we choose 2014 as our oldest two will hae finished school year 10 here and if they want to go on further they can overseas or to study, currently they go to good private schools here and get very high marks.
We are a very close knit family and both of our parents are no longer around and we all like challenges in our lives, we have travelled many parts of the world with the children, rich and very poor countries and it is amazing that the kids really much prefer the poor countries as even tho they don't have much they hae each other and don't need materialise things to be happy, ours are not into the latest trends at all. We have also told our two oldest if for any reason that they do not really like living in England after two years they are welcome to move anywhere in the world they like and we will help them to set up (they will be old enough to live on there own then) but neither of them have plans to leave home both want to study and undertake their dreams of becoming a chef and opening his own restuarant and doctor and specialising in cancer treatment. They are both very bright children and take to the work with their eyes open, so do we, a place called home is really only what you make of it.

PasturesNew

Where do your friends live?

Do you have all the necessary rights etc to work here OK? I know there are some rules that say some people from Aus can, but I don't know them in detail. I know I have a friend who wants to come here and isn't allowed (beyond being a visitor).

windermerefamily

Adj thanks for a positive reply, yes i agree with you 100% as i said in my post above it is WHAT YOU MAKE OF A PLACE. Everywhere is a mess finance wise and government wise and we as little people can only do so much regarding these, but there is much more that we can do to make it a great place. I am coming over in April for 2 and half weeks by my self to visit my girlfriend who lives in rowley regis so will have to get up and have a look at the places that you have said if i can find a bus tour to that area as i will not be driving while i am there. I love the country areas and little villages we originally came from a place like this here and there were only about 150 people in the town and it was brilliant but way to far away from a big city area about 3hours so that is the only reason we moved otherwise we would probably still be there.

windermerefamily

We have friends in rowley regis and reading, and yes we can get the work visas and our immigration officer is currently filing all these details now. My mother and her family all lived in England and migrated out here so I am entitled to get british citizenship and move over and my hubby can come over as a spouse and so can our children, we also have enough funds to support our selves while we are there. Hubby can only come over for four years and then has to apply to stay permantely and has to have a job within one year of arriving and hold down a job for three years.

PasturesNew

windermerefamily wrote: »

hold down a job for three years.

I've not managed that ever ... so far. I always want to stay forever, but then they close, downsize, get bought out, relocate ....

adj_2

Completely agree with you windermerefamily. We live in a modest home with a small garden, we choose to live modestly and try to place more emphasis and what money we have on things we consider more important. Love your principles and beliefs and the fact that your children have been brought up to be so open minded, hard working and positive. The fact that they relish this big life change is fantastic. I hope that my daughter grows up to have the same ideals and principles. Our aim is to stay in our modest but comfortable home, in a safe and secure environment and use what extra money we have to give her opportunities such as seeing the world, studying etc etc. Before having my daughter, my aim was to climb up the property ladder, buy a more expensive car etc etc. Now I just look at what we have and wonder, what else do we really NEED to spend money on? If you are in a position to make such an exciting move, do it. You're children will gain so much from the challenge, broaden their horizons further and will thank you in the future. Good luck!

Bufger

windermerefamily wrote: »

We are relocating to England to live permantely at the end of 2014, and are now starting to look at places to live.
Please tell us where is the best place to live and why and what is there.
This is about us married layed back couple with 4 kids who will be then 17 DS, 7 DS, 5 DD, 15DD (and yes all want to move also). We love living in country towns but close to big centres, love driving, gardening, entertaining at home.
Also need to consider unis and tafe's as DS 17 wants to be a chef and DD 15 wants to be a doctor but both would like to try and work for at least a year first when we get there to get some money behind them. Schooling for the little ones also.
DH has three trades, air conditioning, auto mechanical and auto electrician and as been involved in a lot of rail maintance work so would like work in this field also, I would like work anywhere doing anything not fussed always been a SAHM.
Throw your ideas at us please.

For the auto trade you need to look around the midlands area as thats where its most prominent. You should probably look at places of work for your husband first as that will be the primary income and thats the one you need to secure before anything else is possible.

Try looking at Royal Leamington Spa, its not far away from Coventry and Birmingham (both big cities with great shopping and amusements) but its not as hectic as a city and there is alot less crime there (data from the police regional crime reports). There are also a few big manufacturing companies based around that area - Jaguar Land Rover being the biggest. They also make Spyker le mans cars in coventry now as of this year and they have loads of smaller supplier companies for these firms. Both cities also have plenty of Repair Garages if he prefers car maintenance rather than manufacture.

As for universities there is Coventry, University of Central England, Aston University etc etc. And there are obviously loads of schools around.

I wouldnt just pick a nice scenic place. if you want it to work you'll need to think practical.

dander

I reckon the first consideration needs to be work - most of your other half's trades sound pretty flexible, but the rail maintenance work, I guess, might be a bit more limited in where that's available, so it might be worth investigating where companies that do that are based. With kids the age of yours, I definitely think it would be worth living in a reasonably active area where they'll be able to find entertainment and social activities and have a decent level of public transport to give them some independence.

If you've got friends in Reading - that broad area isn't a bad place to consider at all. Reading itself is virtually a city, but in Berkshire/Hampshire/Oxfordshire there are lots of nice smaller towns and villages and the transport links into London are excellent, which is fantastic for teenagers. Of course the downside is property prices.

It depends a lot though on what appeals to you about England - if you are interested in the history and heritage side of things, then you might prefer to head for somewhere more scenic to get more of a "old country" kind of a feel. Personally, I'm a southerner, so I don't know much about what northern areas are like, but places I love are the Cotswolds, Derbyshire and Suffolk.

Jonbvn

Wow, some of the posters are so negative. Having lived and worked in some 3rd world hell holes as well as some absolutely wonderful places, I can assure you that the UK is no where near as bad as some people will have you believe. Of course there are numerous pros and cons for the UK and Oz.

Some that spring to mind:

UK Pros:
In Europe - you can be in a completely foreign country within 2 hours.
No insects/animals will kill you.
Weather - we get 4 seaons (this is a pro and a con).
Pubs - no where else has pubs like us. I think nearly every London pub is staffed by an Aussie/Kiwi.
Long summer nights - not dark until after 10pm.
Never been a better time to trade your Aussie $ into sterling.

UK Cons:
High cost of property.
Properties and land much smaller than Aus.
Cost of living - I hear Aus could be catching up with the UK?

Some people only see the negative, and others the positive. Be sure you understand that you haven't been wearing you holiday rose tinted glasses. Some places are great for holidays - but living there permanently is completely different.

Don't burn your bridges!

Kyrae

I live in the North East and like it here! You've got a couple of universities in Newcastle, nice countryside further up in Northumberland and out towards Hexham, and a decent amount of work available in the Newcastle area. Or York is a lovely area, not sure what the job front is like but there's a railway museum there and seems to be lots of railway related companies there.

For railway work it might be worth checking out these sites to see which areas the most jobs are based in:
http://www.railwaypeople.com/
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/117.aspx

Good luck