Hi Guys Many thanks to those of you replying with information. I certainly have much to consider and will do that before popping up with the odd questions here and there :-)
I had some personal e-mails too where people expressed an interest in the basic living conditions here in the UK so, I thought this group might be a good place to do just that. I hope some of you find the information useful. Firstly, I confess to knowing nothing about immigration into the UK (not off to a good start are we). Here's one web-site link that might help : http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?pageID=39 and here's another : https://www.immigrationexpert.com/uk/immigration_uk.asp?try=Cookie&fid=10003 6 I haven't used either of these sites and cannot comment on how useful they are - I just googled for them. I can say that we had an immigration policy that favoured those coming in with IT skills (not sure if that's still the case). General Overview of the IT Econonmy ----------------------------------- In terms of work, the IT industry in the UK has been depressed for a long time now. I returned to the UK from working in the US for 6 years, about 1.5 years ago. Job market was depressing. Those few jobs that were around were being jumped on by people willing to work for much less money. The grass shoots of recovery are starting to appear though and I am getting job offers from the strangest of companies who harvested my CV when I first started looking 1.5 years ago. I do some training work for Web Tech Training (formerly the Database Programmers Retreat) and they're noticing an up-turn in the industry too so the forecast is good. Salaries -------- Salary wise, an Analyst Programmer in a mainstream programming language can look at something like �35K in the provinces or $40K in London. Senior execs are looking at about �60-70K in the provinces and �70-90K in London. These are averages and there are jobs paying more if you look around. Taxes ----- As to the standard of living. Oh dear. Britons are very highly taxed. Though our direct taxation seems almost cuddly for how the way the percentages ramp up, it's mostly indirect taxation (or stealth taxes as they have become known) that eat into your pocket. For example, sales tax (VAT as we call it) is 17.5% and that gets applied to pretty much everything. National Insurance (tax by any other name) has just increased recently too and sucks another 6% or so out of your wage packet (even more if you're a business owner). Cars ---- Petrol costs approx NZ$2.60 a litre. About 75% of that is made up of taxes and duty. New cars cost about 20% more than their equivalent in mainland Europe though special deals and offers are everywhere. So much so that the second-hand car market is depressed. Car tax is about �150 a year. Health & Medical ---------------- Britain is rightly proud of its National Health Service. However, be warned that there are moves afoot to start charging non-residents for medical care. This is in an effort to stop something called health tourism whereby people from other countries will come to the UK with an ailment with the intention of getting free medical treatment. Housing ------- Council tax (as it's known) averages out at about �2,000 a year (and these are after tax as well - in other words, there is no tax relief on your council tax payments) dependent upon the size of your property and the area you live in. Right now, the South of the country is being hit with even higher council tax bills to help pay for depressed areas in the North of the country (not a very popular move). The cost of houses is astronomical and there is general acceptance that the housing market is set for a 'redress' anytime now. Pundits argue about how to avoid a crash in the market (as has happened a number of times before) but only time will tell. Cautious predictions are that 20% will be wiped off property values. A standard 4 bed house in the South West goes for about �250K (say NZ$725K - yes, I do mean seven hundred and twenty five thousand for a standard family box). London is more expensive, but prices tend to get a little cheaper as you go further North with odd pockets of higher prices (say place like Edinburgh which is very hip and trendy right now). Mortgages are very affordable and are one of the reasons why the housing market is so buoyant. Expect to pay about 5% though the Bank has been forcing up rates recently. Renting tends to reflect the cost of housing (as you would expect). A 4 bed house in the South West will rent for between �800 and $1,000 a month (that's NZ$2,320 - NZ$2,900) Loans and the Cost of Living ---------------------------- The bank has been keeping the cost of borrowing down and this has allowed the UK to ride out a world-wide depression. As well as keeping mortgages low, it has kept other loans low too. You can borrow from banks at around 6.5-9.5% APR. Be cautious of credit card and store loan sharks though (and there are LOTS of them around). Stores will advertise that you can have the latest widget for �x per month and it's only when you read the small print that you see the interest rate is at something like 19.9%! The low cost of borrowing means that the cost of living has also been kept down. This has helped give the perception that Britain has ridden out the depression, though the IT job place gives a different impression. Well, I've prattled on long enough. I hope that the foregoing is of use to someone. -- Derek Davidson http://www.enterpriseblue.com For the world's EASIEST Help Desk Software Now Verified for Windows Server 2003 _______________________________________________ Offtopic mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ns3.123.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/offtopic
