To leave UK due to weather and cost of living

[Blossompink]

We are absolutely fed up of this constant cold, wet and dreary weather and are seriously thinking it's time to leave the UK. It's not just the weather which is making us miserable but also the cost of living is just ridiculous simply trying to keep the house warm and do simple tasks like drying clothes outside.

We are late 50's, no mortgage, have some savings, but would probably need to have an holiday let type set up to bring some money in or a small business.

AIBU to have had enough of life in the UK and want to move elsewhere?

Some people really struggle with winter and long for a life in the sun, but in reality it can be lonely, expensive, bureaucratic. My inlaws moved to France and were really proud about their 'large house' in a rural area where they were going to do B&B or gites.

They moaned about everything. The large house had so many problems and getting the French trades out was not easy for them. And the bureaucracy was insane - they had a mayor who slowly made decisions. Language was a massive barrier and family did not visit enough and this was in the days of Ryanair £1 to fly out.

Weather was nice, but my god did they moan about everything else including THEY MISSED THE RAIN!!

They were back home twenty months later and we dont talk about it now 😂

Bye OP, all the best.

This sounds more realistic

I did this. I was sick of the weather and moved to Western Australia,it was the best thing I ever did. I was in my 40s too. So ignore the naysayers, do your research, and see what is possible. You might find it's not feasible, but you might find a way. You only get one life, why spend it in the pissing rain if you don't have to!

YANBU to have had enough and want something different but, realistically, where could you move? Do you have multiple citizenships? If not, as others have said, moving anywhere in Europe is going to be difficult. You'll need a relevant visa and private health insurance. Your visa would need to cover you for however long that particular country's rules state in regards to then applying for some form of permanent residency.

Are you both still working? If so, do you work for international companies that offer secondment or transfer opportunities? That would be the route I would investigate, if you only have British citizenship and you don't have enough cash and proof of ongoing income to meet the entry criteria for many other countries.

You are quite young so I’d recommend teaching England abroad. Rent out your UK property with an agency for less hassle and do a TEFL course together somewhere you’d like to live and find teaching work. TEFL teaching is far less demanding than other types of teaching and in some countries such as Vietnam or China can be very lucrative. There are also VISA programs for language teaching assistants in some EU countries that I’d look into.

I think the min income level for you to move to Spain is now €27k.

If you can cover that and afford your health insurance, you should be ok.

When did late 50s become "quite young"?
And TEFL teaching in Vietnam "lucrative"?

I don't blame the OP for wanting to leave at all but I doubt she wants to teach EFL. It's one of the most boring jobs in the world and rarely well paid.

Rules for Brits living in Spain after Brexit (2023) (housinganywhere.com)
Retiring in Spain as a British citizen's still possible after Brexit. But sadly at a higher cost.
“

Until Brexit, British citizens needed to prove they had at least €5,538 per year to become a resident in Spain. After Brexit, they need to show at least €27,792.96 per year.

”To start the process of retiring in Spain as a British citizen, you need to apply for a non-lucrative visa. Since you cannot work on this visa – not even remote work– you’ll need to show proof of sufficient financial means for your duration of stay.

We moved to the south of France and it was the best decision we ever made. Life is absolutely wonderful here, just a slower pace of life generally. We go to markets, potter round vide greniers and enjoy the smaller things much more. Integration was reasonably simple and the weather is fantastic almost all year round. It gets a bit too hot for a few weeks in the summer, so we go out mostly in the evenings and run the AC during the day.

I consider a few weeks of being too hot to be infinitely better than 10+ months of cold, grey weather every year!!

Although we did move before Brexit so we didn't need visas or anything like that.

U could Rent out your place at the moment and go on long holiday let’s abroad for weeks at a time
im from Cyprus plenty ex pats there who are happy but most moved before brexit and cost of living is quite high there now I’m hearing

If you need year round sunshine I'd say go for it, but beware of Spain as they have lots of issues at the moment with droughts, locals uprising, low wages and very high youth unemployment. Whether that will affect you, I don't know but Spain would be bottom of my list.

Absolutely right you only get one life, but I'd hate to be so far away on the other side of the world. Plus the spiders yikes! Give me a few months of winter frosts, few months of spring rain and a few months of English summer and I'm a happy bunny.

The motorhome idea is very much what my DH and I are hoping to do when we retire. Though we’re unlikely to retire much before 70 so who knows whether the idea will still be appealing when we’re that bit older!

Portugal has withdrawn the property purchase golden visa and Spain is about to follow suit. Greece has increased the minimum spend to 400k. The Portgueses D7 visa is for retired people, but you need an independent income above 35,000 euros per couple. Over 28K pp or 35k pa for a couple is fairly standard in most of the EU.

The Times suggested Mauritius this morning; the property buy-in is $400k (I am presuming US$).

Mauritius looks like a lovely place but I’d be concerned that the effects of climate change will be felt much sooner (and more dramatically) there than in Northern Europe.

Hi @Unicornhunter2 did you move to Spain, or somewhere else? Am contemplating the same, and researching ideas. Do you speak the language, if not English (assuming English is your first language!). Thanks!

How about Belize, OP?

https://www.belizetourismboard.org/programs-events/retirement-program/#1490201890385-f63f29b6-c71c

Mexico?

https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/mexico/

Argentina?

https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/argentina/#:~:text=You%20can%20retire%20in%20Argentina,live%20there%20for%20your%20retirement.

Uruguay?

https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/uruguay/

It would take a lot of rain for the grass to be greener than in the UK, so that's probably not what the OP is after. 😂

Colombia?

https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/colombia/

Just take regular holidays, it’s so much more exciting than committing to one place.

Yeah,.just lie down under the heated clothes airer and pretend you're on a beach in Hawaii! 😎

(Point taken though, I'll probably get one myself next winter.)