Will you like living in New Zealand?

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 New Zealand Immigration website.

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 who entered New Zealand under the Skilled Migrant and Business immigration categories are going after one year in New Zealand. Around 230 migrants from UK and Ireland took part in the 2008 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 or so in New Zealand may be like.

• Satisfaction
• Likes
• Dislikes
• How many Brits leave New Zealand?
• In Conclusion

Satisfaction:

91% of the survey respondents from the UK and Ireland were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with living in New Zealand – even better, only 1% identified themselves as “very dissatisfied” with living in New Zealand (leaving only 7% feeling ambivalent!).

Furthermore, around 97% of migrants from the UK and Ireland would recommend New Zealand to others as a place to come and live – 57% with enthusiasm, and 40% with reservations.

Some interesting statistics from the 2007 SEFS survey were:

• 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 was mainly due to cost and heating/dampness.
• Only 4% of respondents from the UK and Ireland dissatisfied with their children's schools.

Likes:

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

1. Natural beauty (94%)
2. Relaxed pace of life (84%)
3. Climate (78%)
4. Friendly people (74%)
5. Clean and green environment (73%)
6. Recreation and leisure activities (73%)

Dislikes:

The top dislikes from the 2008 survey were unfortunately not listed by country of origin, but top dislikes for people from the UK and Ireland from the 2007 SEFS survey 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. Check our article for more information on the public 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 what you need to know about New Zealand houses.

How many Brits leave New Zealand?

Considering how expensive it is to emigrate to New Zealand from the UK, and the amount of determination and effort it requires, you won't be too surprised to hear that most migrants from the UK do stay in New Zealand. NZ Immigration research suggests that just 16% of 90,354 migrants from the UK who were granted permanent residence in New Zealand between 2002-2008 have since left. When you consider that some of these migrants would not have intended to stay, and that some perhaps had to return for unforeseeable reasons such as family illness, 16% is not too bad!

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.

For more the results of more New Zealand Immigration research of interest to Brits thinking of emigrating to New Zealand, check our article on New Zealand Settlement Statistics.

Broadbase International will work with you every step of the way to help you make a confident start to your new life in New Zealand. Please contact us if you have any questions about the financial side of life in New Zealand, and don't forget to order your free copy of our comprehensive New Zealand Guide.