British expats will face ‘shock’ moving to Australia but £10 Pom scheme ‘revived interest’
GMB: Susanna asks if Australia is desperate for Britons
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Southern Australia recently announced a new scheme for 18-30 to visit the country for just £10 return. After a long pandemic, the scheme has got some Britons thinking about relocating.
Christopher Nye, editor at Property Guides, told Express.co.uk: “The return of the ‘Ten Pound Pom’ scheme may be a marketing initiative from the South Australia tourist board to drum up interest in the area for young backpackers, but the fact that Australia suddenly appears to want us to come is a welcome change after Covid lockdowns.
“It has certainly revived interest in Australia as a destination. Most families moving to Australia will need closer to £10,000 to complete the visa processes and pay for flights, removals and setting up a home.
“One shock for families moving to Australia in search of a better life is the price of homes.
“They were expensive before the pandemic and they’re even more expensive now. Prices in parts of Australia, as they say Down Under, ‘gone troppo’ or absolutely mad.”
Australia is one of the UK’s most popular destinations for expats but Britons will need to save a lot of money first.
Christopher said: “Looking at the rise in prices over the past year, they divide between those that have truly flown and those that have risen at a fractionally more sensible rate.
“In the former category are Hobart up by 30 percent, Canberra by 29 percent, Brisbane by 28 percent and Sydney by 27 percent.”
Christopher also highlighted Adelaide and Melbourne as two destinations that had risen in price by over 20 percent.
He added: “Slightly lower were Perth at 16 percent and Darwin rising by 13 percent. How does that translate to the actual prices you’ll pay?
“Official data from the Australian Government shows the average price of a home across the country on $920,000 (£525,000).
“The most expensive homes are in New South Wales averaging C$1.2M (£681,000), then Australian Capital Territory at very close to C$1million (£566,000) and Victoria at C$956,000 (£541,845).”
Christopher said: “Popular with British buyers, and having only just unlocked after the severest lockdown last month, Western Australia is relatively unaffordable at C$614,000 (£348,000), the same as South Australia.
“So for affordability Western Australia, with average homes at £348,00 at least in the same ballpark as south-east England, offers the best option.”
Western Australia is a popular destination for British expats even if it’s not one of the country’s top tourist spots.
He added: “Perth also offers the easiest and shortest travel option, with direct non-stop flights from the UK.
“However, the news this week is that Qantas is buying new planes capable of flying non-stop to Sydney too.”
Qantas has said it intends to start operating the flights from 2025 and the journey will take around 25 hours.
Its CEO, Alan Joyce, said: “It’s the last frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance.”
Not for the faint of heart, the journey would become the world’s longest flight if it goes ahead.
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