Everything you need to know about moving to NZ

We are always interested in how our clients get on in their new life in New Zealand – most people settle well and love it here, but not everyone. A small proportion of people do end up going back to the UK, a hard decision financially as well as emotionally.

The New Zealand Government is also interested in how migrants get by in their first few years, and commissions a fair bit of research to find out. You can find it on the Department of Immigration and the Department of Labour websites.

Of particular interest to prospective migrants from the UK is the annual Settlement Experiences of Skilled Migrants report, which attempts to find out how migrants are going after one year in New Zealand. 277 migrants from UK and Ireland took part in the 2007 survey. We’ve picked out some of the results that we found interesting in the hope that it may give you a better idea of what your first year in New Zealand may be like.

Satisfaction:

88% of the survey respondents from the UK and Ireland were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with living in New Zealand – even better, only 2% identified themselves as “very dissatisfied” with living in New Zealand. 86% would recommend New Zealand to others as a place to come and live.

Also:

• Only 8% of respondents from the UK and Ireland were dissatisfied with their jobs.
• Only 5% of respondents from the UK and Ireland dissatisfied with their housing; dissatisfaction mainly due to cost and heating/dampness.
• Only 4% of respondents from the UK and Ireland dissatisfied with their children’s’ schools.

Cost of Living

One of the statistics mentioned in the survey that we found interesting was that 84% of migrants from the UK and Ireland felt that they had enough or more than enough money to live on while they were in the UK, while only 68% felt that their NZ income was enough (or more than enough) to live on.

It certainly pays to be realistic when you are planning to emigrate about the work you will be able to get and what you will be paid, and about the cost of living in New Zealand.

Likes:

The top aspects of New Zealand that respondents from the UK and Ireland most liked were:

1. Climate, environment (87%)
2. Friendly people, relaxed pace of life (77%)
3. Recreation and leisure activities (58%)
4. Small population (58%)
5. Can achieve desired lifestyle (50%)
6. Safety from crime and violence (48%)
7. Education system (35%)

Dislikes:

The top aspects of New Zealand that respondents from the UK and Ireland most disliked were:

1. Cost of health services (46%)
2. High tax rates or difficult to understand tax system (45%)
3. Distance of NZ from home and family (42%)
4. Poor public transport (38%)
5. Poor quality or cost of housing (36%)

While the likes were pretty much what we would expect being migrants ourselves, the dislikes pretty much were too. Going to the GP will cost you, which must be a bit of a shock when you are used to seeing a doctor free of charge – the “silver lining” to this in our experience is that we have found it easier to make an appointment with our New Zealand GP. Click here for more information on the health system in NZ , complete with estimated costs.

We’ve tried to address the confusion about the tax system in our own small way by putting plenty of tax information on our website specifically focused on Brits in New Zealand. We don’t think that you pay more tax in the NZ than in the UK, or that the tax system is more complicated – just different.

The distance between NZ and the UK is something that won’t change anytime soon, and it is understandable that everybody misses home. We do assure you though that this will ease somewhat as you settle in – in the meantime, take every opportunity you can in New Zealand to try new things and meet new people.

We’ll leave public transport to regional and national government organisations, who to their credit are making every effort to get it right. Personally, we spend a lot less time in traffic jams in New Zealand than we did in the UK, which is good.

We certainly understand the comment about poor quality housing, which we assume to be mostly about the lack of central heating in NZ homes – please see our article for other things you need to know about NZ houses.

In Conclusion

The upshot of the survey seems to be that migrants from the UK and Ireland like life in NZ, but that there are some things that annoy them or that they just did not expect. Life in New Zealand does not suit everybody, and some migrants do return home – for diverse, complicated, human reasons. But the vast majority of Brits do find what they are looking for in New Zealand, as we ourselves have.

We do think that getting the financial details sorted out can really help you to make a success of your new life, and we do everything in our power to help our clients make the right decisions. Please contact us to find out how we can help you.