Very interested and grateful to hear views

[CaledonianDream]

Hi

I'd love to chat to people who have moved to Scotland from New Zealand or Australia.

We're a family of four (mum, dad & 2 kids (8 & 9) and two huge fluffy cats) 😊

My husband was born in Scotland but hasn't lived there for about 30 years. I am from New South Wales and have visited Scotland for long stints eight times (visited England and Scotland pre-and-post kids). I've also lived in New Zealand (for two years as an older teen) and briefly, Singapore.

I have a British passport and my husband is in the process of renewing his.

We've both felt, for a while that we prefer Scotland as a country. Even though we've lived in Australia for a long while and I was born here, we still feel alien and foreign. We feel we don't 'fit'. Australia does have fantastic things going for it but we melt in hot weather and don't go out in the sun (medical reasons). Funnily enough we do more in the outdoors in the UK with the kids and yes, actually do prefer cold weather. I am conscious that, although I've spent months at a time over eight visits to Scotland, I've not lived there. I know things are very different holidays vs working living.

We're on the cusp of do it or put it to bed forever. We're mid 40's and unfortunately don't own a house but have about £25000 in savings. We both work full time in senior human resources and hospitality on reasonably good wages. We love the idea of living on an island or rurally (we are realistic however).

I know the huge issue of our lack of finances and we would hopefully either have jobs lined up or at least interviews. We have a friend's house we could stay at for a month and a half. My husbands mum is in Scotland and my kids are very close to her (vid chat weekly). I have just a dad in NZ who's not interested in us. No other family.

We will pretty much go anywhere outside the big cities that has a good State primary, job/s and a rental (whilst we save over a year for extra deposit). I imagine we'll both work well into our 60's but do have superannuation/pensions.

I'd love to hear how Scotland really 'is' for those who have emigrated or moved back. Pros, Cons, what it's really like.

It's not just a feeling. For those who understand it's a gnawing ache that never goes away. I feel at home in Scotland and like a foreigner in Australia. I've tried everything to settle here but I just can't imagine life here forever. The kids are happy to leave Australia.

Really love to hear other's stories.

I know well a family who moved from Australia to Scotland, similar reasons. They were able to buy a house outright. They found as older people they were not able to get jobs at the senior level they had in Australia or even at a lower level and work up again. They both did get jobs but minimum wage. Their standard of living has dramatically slipped and they bitterly regret the move as time has passed. They also missed the weather despite not enjoying it all the time in Aus.

Thanks @Hairypaw
I had heard of similar stories. We're not expecting to walk into like for like, as I say, we are realistic. It's really good to hear of good/bad.

Are any of this family you know on mumsnet and would be happy to have a chat? Where did they end up moving to?

Or if anyone else is happy to share their story with me I'd be grateful. Such a hard decision

@CaledonianDream I’m Not in HR, but I can’t help but feel that HR roles are pretty easy to come by in the big cities at the moment. I’d probably aim to get jobs in Edinburgh and commute from Fife, especially if hybrid working is an option. I think you will love it, especially if you’re yearning for home, lots of jobs but cost of living is low compared to rest of UK so it should be doable. People speak very highly of Stirling also. What are your salary expectations?

Thanks @Hancocksmentalnft
It's good to hear about the jobs. I've been keeping an eye on myjobscotland and s1jobs and agree there seems to be quite a few in the HR sector. We were hoping to be more rural than Fife with a commute to the Capital but it's good to know this could be an option.

Hadn't considered Stirling but it's a good suggestion thanks.

We don't mind not staying in our career 'fields' just as long as we did have jobs and kids attended a good local school. Salary expectations are in the £20 - 30k range for full time. Hybrid or in office fine. Is this realistic do you think?

Any Aussie expats living in Scotland happy to comment?

Where is the Scottish grandparent located and the friend whose house you could temporarily borrow?
As a family of 4, we returned a decade ago to the UK and to Scotland (rather than England for employment reasons) after several years overseas including 5 years in NZ.
I do love living in Scotland and the only force pushing me away is political with the SNP and their Neverendum.
So I would maybe suggest you do not rule out going to live in England instead where at least the politics is slightly more stable despite Brexit etc.
Your budget is not particularly large for a family house purchase but if you are renting in Australia anyway, I suppose that isn't really relevant, as getting on the housing ladder would likely be beneficial long-term.

Sorry I misread budget as £250k for a house. Could you get jobs before moving here to make it less of a gamble?

If 25K is your house deposit, I'd avoid the Edinburgh area - you'd be lucky to get a house for under 400K - same with St Andrew's.

Depending on where family are, I'd consider Stirling/Trossachs, Ayrshire, Lanark, Kinross.

Wow, yes I would suggest if you have senior experience in HR you aim for more like 45-55k min, especially if you are going to end up close to Edinburgh but if you’re happy with lower I’m sure you will both walk into a job provided you have the sorts of qualifications they look for.One thing I would highly recommend is getting your LinkedIn very up to date and add on any recent training you’ve done. You are HR so I’m sure you know this but I guess LinkedIn isn’t popular everywhere but in the UK you will get approached about jobs all the time if you have a desirable profession.

I do think Edinburgh itself would be a stretch with 25k deposit, and St Andrews is very expensive also but places like Cupar in Fife should have some affordable properties and people seem to love the community around there and there are definitely more rural parts. Prices are going up fast in Fife.

Jobs wise you should also look at the goodmoves.org website (for charity jobs) and jobs.ac.uk (for higher education jobs). The latter has a lot of employees from abroad. I used to work in a university HR department. Can't help with the immigration advice though.

I'd suggest somewhere like Crieff or Dunblane for good schools, friendly community and good jobs in hospitality and HR. Crieff Hydro is a large local employer. Prices are much more reasonable than a city but its within an easy drive of both Glasgow and Edinburgh for cultural events, bigger shops etc.