Move to France/Europe - would you?

[RiderGirl]

I don't want to go into too many details, but if you realised that you could move to Europe with no visa requirements (we particularly like France), would you? DH just realised he can get a German passport so we could go. It would mean we could actually own a property rather than rent. I've a close relative there who loves it. No hope whatsoever of ever owning a property or retiring before 68 while we are in the UK and there has to be more to life than this!

Yeah, I’d be off faster than a bullet from a gun.

Depends on two things mainly

Do I have a strong network of friends and family here that I’d be very sad to leave?

Could I have a much better quality of life there than here? (Having researched this thoroughly).

If I had no strong network and my quality of life would be much better I’d definitely move. Otherwise it would be a much harder decision.

That would depend on where in France..

I'm not sure I could. I mean I love travel, and languages, and different countries, but the thought of having to deal with bureaucracy and medical appointments in a language which is not my own and in a culture I've not grown up with is quite an undertaking.

no way. All countries have their problems and the fantasy that France/Germany etc are utopia compared to the UK is just that: a fantasy.

Germany- no chance. France- slightly better chance but not much more.

Yes, but choose a courteous village.

Not an overly strong network, we've got family in UK but for various reasons we're not massively close and don't see them often . Not a massive network of friends either.

I think quality of life is not bad in France. My dad lives there (moved before Brexit), he's had several serious health issues since he's been there and as someone who works for the NHS I can only say his health care has been outstanding - attentive, thorough and prompt, he's had several big operations and several stays in ICU.

Yes I’d definitely consider France, though I’d be looking at Northern areas due to the impact of climate change.

Well, do you speak good French? Can you work there?

I'm under no illusion that it would be hard. But the alternative of living in the UK, probably in the same house, slogging it out in my job until I die is very depressing.

I've got a fairly reasonable grasp of French and would be willing to take lessons. With DH passport we'd have no restrictions on working. We'd talked about it in the past but didn't think it would ever be an option.

We have had a home in France since the early noughties.

It's harder now due to visa requirements. However, on balance some things are more frustrating such as general bureaucracy and some things are much better, for example: transport and healthcare.

Some costs are lower some are higher. On balance I'd say France is marginally more expensive, food is much more expensive. I would add that property purchase is cheaper but that isn't relevant for our situation. Overall, for the majority, I'd say that quality of life is better in France.

If France were our main residence, we would still, overall, pay more tax than in the UK, so overall it isn't a runner but under this government, that could change.

Both myself and DH speak some French but not good enough to deal with bureaucracy so would be a steep learning curve. He does have relatives and I have one friend who live in france but they are nowhere near each other. I personally would not. But we are also older and have adult children, what age are you ?

I lived in France for 2 years and go back for around 6 weeks each year.... yes they have problems but their probs are nothing compared to ours.

The roads work/in excellent repair, the health service is fantastic and integrated, trains are cheap.

Energy & Housing far cheaper, away from Paris....

Even Le Pens RN is more left wing than Farages Reform.....

Not a utopia but to pretend its anything like as run down as the UK is also wrong.

Personally, no. My husband has a European passport, but we have no interest in moving from the UK full time and permanently. We love to travel and now the children are young adults might find ways to spend more of our time away from the UK (eg we are renting a house in France for a month this year, but spending half our time working remotely, and we may build on that in the future) but we wouldn't move. I think that living somewhere you don't speak the language is very challenging, and you can easily feel quite isolated. Even without the language barrier, I wouldn't want to move far away from friends and family in the UK. I love my job and I love the village where I live. To be fair, we wouldn't want to move at all, never mind to another country.

Your circumstances are presumably different. For one thing, you don't own a house. But there are parts of the UK which are relatively cheap and would probably be easier to move to. If you are talkin about cheap property in France, you are probably talking about rural locations. Have you thought about what that would actually be like? Do you speak French? How would you feel about the language barrier? What sort of connections and social networks and family do you have at home that you would be leaving behind? How do you feel about that? Would you be moving kids with you? I'd consider it pre-kids, or with very young kids, but it is a big ask for older kids.

Yes, I know you’d have no visa restrictions, but what I’m asking is whether your skills/experience are in demand and whether you both have good enough French to function in a Francophone workplace?

We're very early 40s. One grown up DD and one about to go into yr 11.

My dad doesn't speak spectacular French but he bought his house and has managed fine with the bureaucracy side of things. He's got a lovely house in the north Dordogne with a massive but manageable garden, in a nice village with fantastic transport links (train station, on a main "N" road, 1/2 HR from airport). He paid under £50k a few years ago and it hasn't needed a huge amount doing to it.

But he’s presumably not working in France, though?

no way. All countries have their problems and the fantasy that France/Germany etc are utopia compared to the UK is just that: a fantas

Who said anything about utopia?!

I agree with @minipie

We don't own a house here no. The parts of the UK that are very cheap are not places we'd ever want to move to! We were born and brought up in the south west of England. I can't say I love my job (NHS), or the town that we live in but saying that there's nowhere else in the UK that would appeal more as I don't think any of it seems any better!

No, moved there to retire/die! Given dying a very good go a few times but thankfully is very much still doing well.

I think I'd consider it if it were just me and DH. I'd have to think more carefully if school aged kids were involved (which it would in our case). I'm not keen on switching school systems and uprooting from friends, I think dcs need stability. DH wouldn't like the idea though as he isn't confident with languages.

I think global warming would put me off moving to many European countries. We’re heading north.