Nugget_Oz

Interesting because I was comparing more at the lower end and second hand level. Of course cars like Mercs, BMWs etc. are a lot dearer in Oz. However, I think if you look at the conversion of Euro/GBP for a car like the Festiva they're comparable as opposed to somewhere like the US where all cars are consistently 20-30% cheaper.

bensyd

As a rough point of reference a new BMW 535 is around £42k, in Australia the same car is $130k. At the current exchange rate the car costs about half in the UK as in Australia.

In the second hand market Europe is even better value. A 530d MY 2007 would sell for £15500 through a private seller, and in Australia Red Book gives a price guide of between $65-71k.

At the bottom of the market the gap probably narrows, but why buy a Festiva when you can get a BMW/Audi/Merc for not much more!

Nugget_Oz

Well the current 535 is around $55K on the road in the US. Talk about a huge difference. Not only that a 3 year old Rangie is about $30K. It's amazing how much more it costs in Oz. I mean I had a look when I was last back and the Commodore these days is $40K for the base model. I mean for that price in the US you would be in Merc or BMW.

bensyd

I agree. And the government has made it incredibly hard to import a car yourself, under the guise of safety of course.

ozzie

Opening bank accounts is not hard in Australia. You just need to make up 100 points of identification - and it doesn't have to be Australian issued ID (passport + licence + proof of address would suffice).

International removals - I used Anglo Pacific and can't recommend them highly enough (contrary to what other people have said). My fridge was unfortunately) damaged in transit - I thought it would be a lengthly process to claim. They paid me for in 48 hours and even paid for the engineer who came out, checked it and said it no longer worked. You always hope not to have problems, but when you do, the way a company handles problems really shows how good they are.

Rental accommodation is a nightmare. There's a less than 1% vacancy rate in many parts of Sydney. That said, as a young family you will be a preferred candidate over sharers. If you have some rental history from the UK you should bring this. I had none - but they were happy once I provided details of significant funds in bank accounts in Aus.

A car - take a look at carsales.com.au to see what you can get. Cars are more expensive here than in Europe, but they also hold their value much more than they do in Europe, so you'll get more back when you come to sell.

Definitely go with Telstra for your mobile (I know someone above recommended against this) - they have by far the best network and are now only very slightly more expensive. You'll regret it if you don't pay the extra.

To transfer money I always use www.ukforex.com - much much better rates than the bank and they tell you the instant spot rate (rather than using the rate at closing on the day).

Final point is that you really shouldn't be having to organise this at all yourself. I was provided with a relocation consultant who did everything for me when I moved from the UK to Sydney. Your company should do the same, and you should insist on it.

ozzie

My company uses these relocation consultants:

http://www.resaust.com.au/

jpatokal

Getting credit cards can be a pain though. Pick your bank well, since anybody else is unlikely to give you one for a while... ANZ's CC department has an expat-friendly rep and I had an ANZ CC in Singapore for years, and they still sent me a rejection letter when I applied for a plain-vanilla non-Gold/Plat Qantas FF card... and then before I could even complain, I got another letter with the cards enclosed.

I'll second this, the system is geared entirely in favor of the landlord and it's a real pain to get your foot in the door. We considered ourselves extremely lucky to get the first property we applied for, which was also the only one we liked after viewing a dozen, and it still took a month to sort out everything and provide the ridiculous amounts of documentation the landlord wanted. Previous landlords, employer references, salary letters from HR, bank accounts, savings, you name it.

Been here for close to a year now, and I've yet to find a spot where my Vodafone doesn't work? Sure, you might need Telstra if you're planning to regularly go bush out in Whoop-Whoop, but let's face it, most of us don't. (And if you really get out in the Outback, there'll be no coverage unless you bring along a satphone...) But do steer clear of the fly-by-night virtual operators like Gotalk etc, they may sound cheap but service is terrible.

ozzie

My first landlord even aasked for packing slips and other proof that I was returning from the UK with a house full of furniture. I think he thought I would fill the house with backpackers or something.

The other key is that many properties will be open on Thursday and Saturday. You are in a much better position of you can make the Thursday viewing. Seriously though, a relocation consultant will do all of this for you. Moving a family is an absolute mission (I have some friends who've just moved back with two kids - I think they've spent the best part of 3 days just in the medicare office trying to get new cards). Your company should be giving you every help they can.

ozzie

There's a shop just off the Oxford Street mall in Bondi Junction that sells prawn cocktail crisps. It's in one of the malls between oxford street and spring street. The coles in Westfield Bondi Junction also has a UK section (though no prawn cocktail crisps) but lots of other UK essentials if you'd like them. Some with strange names due to competing trademarks in Aus. e.g. they call UK Marmite "My Mate" as there's another product by the same name in Aus.

matthandy

Brilliant, thank you!

JSC

This is great news for me as well! Now I just need to find a close substitute for Waitrose to keep my wife happy....

Thanks for all the advice, it's been a big help in knowing what I need to get done.

A few further questions that come to mind: I will be renting my flat out and using an agent, so are there any UK/Aus tax issues to be aware of? I know technically I need to inform my mortgage provider that I'm renting it out but they may use that as an excuse to push up the rates. Any views on the risks of not telling them?

It sounds like transferring cash back and forth isn't a problem as long as I have bank accounts with the same bank at both ends.

Finally any recommendations for mail forwarding services?

Cheers once again

bensyd

Thomas Dux. More expensive than Waitrose, but as there is one 2 minutes drive from my house it's hard to resist. Depending on where you are the two big chains (Woolworths and Coles) can be as good as Waitrose.


You will be considered a resident for tax purposes by the ATO and any income on your UK flat would be considered foreign source income and liable to tax in Australia. I'd suggest discussing with an accountant when you arrive. There is a tax treaty between the UK and Australia so you shouldn't be taxed twice.

See here: http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/co...tent/65779.htm

ozzie

As Ben said, Thomas Dux is probably closest. Australians don't tend to eat ready meals though (we either cook or go out) so there's not nearly the same range or quality in Australia. I simply wouldn't eat a ready meal here, but wouldn't hesitate to eat one from Waitrose or M & S. Fresh food (meat, fruit & veges) are generally of very high quality in the supermarkets and very fresh (fresh veges regularly last two weeks). There's also a good supply of greengrocers and butchers as they haven't all been pushed out by the chains like in the UK

I'm not a tax expert, but I know in the UK that there is a regulation that applies to estate agents who are letting out flats on behalf of overseas residents. The estate agents are required to withhold a percentage of the rent and pay it to Inland Revenue. You won't be taxed on it twice due to the double taxation treaty between Australia and the UK - BUT if you are on a higher tax rate in Australia then the UK you will need to pay "top up" tax here. e.g. if your rent is taxed at 20% in the UK and your marginal rate in Aus is 50%, you'll need to pay 40% to the Australian Tax Office. I suggest you see an accountant before you leave the UK as well as one in Aus. I can PM you a good (reasonably priced) recommendation in Sydney if you like.

I keep accounts with Citibank in Aus and the UK for this reason. Instantaneous transfers between the accounts. I believe HSBC can do the same. If you are moving larger sums of money though, I suggest you use UKforex.co.uk and ozforex.com.au (both the same company, and both owned by Macquarie Bank in Aus) which will always give you a much better exchange rate. Transfers take about 72 hours. They even call you to confirm the trade before finalising it.

Royal Mail did a great job on mine :-) It's also by the far the cheapest and allows you to change address details online.

Christopher

Thomas Dux is good, but they don't have many shops, so there might not be one near you.

It is my impression that people in Australia who want to shop "up-market" are more likely than people in Britain to get their meat from the butcher, their fish from the fishmonger, their fruit and vegetables from the greengrocer, and their fancy goods from the delicatessen. Of course, most food shopping is done at the supermarket (Coles, Woolworths, etc), but there seem to be more of the old-style, one-off shops remaining in Australia than there are in the UK.

Certainly, where my father lives in Sydney, there are some fabulous food shops: I could spend hours in the cheese shop there to start with!

number_6

I've noticed that food quality if much higher in Australia than in UK or US (or even France for that matter!). Foodies buy in the markets at "specialty shops", witness the (many) markets that thrive in Melbourne and to a lesser extent Sydney (an interesting difference). The butcher has lots of prepared food (e.g. chicken Kiev) that just needs to be cooked, which is the Aussie approach to ready meals. Supermarket quality varies from stellar to dismal, even within the same chain -- it seems to be very much up to the individual store, with "rich" suburbs having nicer supermarkets (surprise, surprise). As for cheese quality, it is competitive with France albeit with less range. Far better than the US, despite a much smaller market.