To be so worried that we now can’t move to Australia?

[Blanketwars]

I’m so upset about this. Because of the bloody disastrous economy, it’s looking less and less likely we will be able to move to Australia next year like we had always planned. My visa runs out end next year. We had wanted to rent out our house and go over - but if house prices tank, we’ll never have enough equity to get a BTL mortgage. We bought a reno and it’s not nearly in a state to put it on the market and sell now.
I’m just so sad all the time and DP is being understanding and trying to encourage me about it saying wait and see but I’m just not handling it very well.

For context, I lived there for 4 years (and didn’t stay for one more year and get my citizenship like an absolute fucking eejit) but my plan was always to go back. Then I met DP (who’s wonderful, and agreed to come with me) then Covid happened, then we had DS. But we still had time. But now the bloody worlds imploding and it’s slipping away and I’m gutted.

The only obstacle here is you. You bought the house as it is, so why wouldn’t somebody else, just put it on the market and see what happens.

Speaking from experience, I moved to Australia but kept my house in the UK. It turned out to be an anchor rather than a safety net. We didn’t sell and bring the money over because back the housing market wasn’t good and then the FX rate was awful too, like 1.4 and we were living in Sydney and wouldn’t have been able to buy there without getting a massive mortgage. So in the end we came back, albeit in our case with a passport (which you can get after four years btw).

We probably should have just hit the bullet and gone for it. If you want this then you need to make it happen.

You have made a series of choices that delayed your return to Australia. You bought a reno. You didn’t get on and do it up during covid. You had a baby. If you look at what you do have it isn’t so bad and like other posters have said you still could go anyway. Your negativity is the biggest problem whether you decide to stay here or get your shoulder to the wheel and make the move happen.

If it's a permanent move obviously you sell it. Who'd rent an unsalable house? Any house can be sold at the right price - if you can't sell it's because you're asking more than it's worth.

Honestly that sounds like a convenient excuse you're making to yourself not to emigrate, although subconsciously.

The world isn't imploding, for heaven's sake . Just sell and move if you want to, stop making excuses.

@purplethings that is a beautiful sentiment. I’m going to take a leaf out of your book. 😊🌈🍀

@purplethings
@ImustLearn2Cook

I thought that earlier too, I am definitely going to remember it and use it when required.

You can't blame the economy for your poor life choices!

If the house isn't in a state to sell I hope you not renting it. Yabu. Just sell the house and go if you want.

This is very wise, and it’s the attitude I now take to not being able to have children. I have had opportunities I might not otherwise have had.

I don't think house prices will fall very much in general, given how few are being built.

I think your plan may be best waiting a couple of years more or so, much as I can see your disappointment. Not much help to you, but the consequences of the 'fiscal event' and matters such as energy prices are going to cause far worse to millions of people.

But OP if your ideal scenario were to happen and you moved to Oz, what would you do if your UK tenants stopped paying the rent and refused to leave / trashed the place?

Why are you so keen on keeping a UK property? Why wouldn't you just sell it as it is and sever the links here?

OP has said they have a year left to make the move. I am going to guess the have a permanent residency visa possibly skilled migrant (as I had). You have five years to make the move, if you don’t move by that time it is very hard to get that end date extended. Although possibly there was a covid related extension but could be OP has already used that.

I agree with those that say if you (all) wanted this you'd have made it happen (still could).

The housing market has been buoyant for at least two years. You could have sold it as a fixer upper probably for more than you paid and if you wanted to keep a hand in bought a dedicated rental property in an area with high demand.

Being a landlord from so far away is not an easy choice though.

If you want to do it put your house on the market and see what happens.

While current government decisions have accelerated things, these were long term trends. We've all been talking about the housing market 'peak'. It can't possibly keep rising at the rates of the last few years and interest rates were already on an upward trejectory. Covid put them back down again.

Is your husband as on board with this as you are? Time to really start making decisions

Just sell the house and go, surely if you're planning to move to Aus, you don't want to have to deal with tenants from the other side of the world?

Thanks for all the input, mad busy day today so sorry I haven’t been back on.

The plan was to spend the next year finishing the house and then rent it out, so it would be in a rentable condition by the time we moved. Obviously I know it needs to be in a certain condition before renting it.

Thanks to everyone saying to get a consent to let for a few years, I honestly thought there was more of a time limit than that. Can I ask do you have to have a certain loan to value before you can get a consent to let?

And yes, we could sell it with some jobs still needing doing. Would need to start that process well in advance of the move though, so I suppose I was worrying about what we could get done before starting that process. I would think it needs to be in a certain condition otherwise we wouldn’t get enough value added to make up for what we’ve spent on it, iyswim?

With our property we got consent to let renewed every year. I think it was £90 or something.

We had very little equity

Have you actually confirmed the conditions of your visa?
DSis was on a spousal visa skilled migration (I think) and left AUS to come back to the UK to nurse our DM. Covid happened and she never got back but has been told by immigration that the permanent residency is never cancelled as such but that she would need to reapply for her visa (not the whole process just the visa ) and would probably be given a year which would then be extended.

I am not 100% sure but it is worth double checking with AUS immigration.

@CalicoAnnie it seems your dsis activated her visa if she left Aus to return to the UK. OP hasn't activated hers yet, so the easiest thing to do would be to enter Aus before it expires.

No one said you have to stay after you've activated, but if you come then go, and don't return again, that will be it for this visa.

A spousal (actually it is partner) visa and a skilled migrant visa are two different things, but you can also be a “dependent” on your partners skilled migrant visa which is a third thing. Anyway, they pretty much all work the same way once you have them.

They are permanent but only come with travel rights for five years, so you can only clear immigration within the first five years, although if you stay in Australia you can stay as long as you want. But after the five years, you need to apply for a residents return visa if you want to come and go from Australia. You are right this is not as involved a process as the original application would have been.

However you do have to have ties to Australia in order to qualify for the Residents return visa. It sounds like your friend had ties as she left for a particular reason and maybe had a job / home / family back in Australia?

This might not apply to OP or indeed to anyone that has secured a skilled migrant visa but just hasn’t managed to find the right time to move. As I mentioned upthread, they might have relaxed the rules in view of covid, but I haven’t looked into that more closely so just a thought.

OP said she has a year left on her visa, not that she hasn’t activated it yet. I am reading that it is an activated visa with one more of five years left.

Posted to soon…

but if she does mean that it is inactivated, then yes she should definitely go on holiday to do that and then she has more time.

My world would implode if I moved to Australia 😆

Look on the bright side, if you are normally this dramatic you can have a new career as an actor.

@Aprilx yes, that sounds about right and you have explained it so much better than me 🙂 Op does say she lived in AUS for 4 years so possibly needs a residents return visa. It also sounds like since she has been back in the UK she has married and had a baby so they probably need visas too. OP - can you contact a migration agent for advice?