Emigrating to the UK

The answer to question 4 is to just tell them you are from the US (if they don't grasp from your accent). This will lead to many women falling at your feet.

Sorry I can't help with the other questions, although Wiltshire et al are beautiful places.

quote:

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if a fella wanted to move to the UK

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I'd advise you to see a counselor, or read threads from those wanting to emigrate from here to elsewhere

To attempt an answer to your questions.

1) Roughly the same as the GDP of a small country.
2) Don't know, but expect they'd be delighted to relieve you of as much of your hard earned as possible
3) See 2)
4) Don't know, but I'm with Richard re the accent. In all honesty 2) and 3) probably still apply too.
5) Don't know, but Birmingham and Bradford aren't a million miles away. Lets face it, nowhere is in this tiny little place.

Regards,
Steve.

1. Check the Web for details as there are wild variations but prices are roughly the same as a Boston, New York, Chigargo etc.

2. Yes, but if you are returning to the U.S. you might like to keep them with a U.S. institution and have them invested in Euro/UK stocks. Exchange rate is BAD for the U.S. right now and your going to be filing for U.S. taxes while your away. May as well be with someone that understands them.

3. Tax at source, no tax relief on mortgage/property tax etc, 17.5% Sales Tax, gas at $8 a gallon Plus! etc etc

4. What a Great day for sticking your Tickling Stick through the letter box and shouting, 'Look out Mrs. Aliens have landed!!!'

5. Pretty much all of them!

My 2 cents worth.....

Andy

Also note that the Local Authorities here have the power to confiscate said small Naim hi-fi if your neighbours the other side of the wafer-thin walls take exception to the noises coming from it, and this does not just apply to night time.

You have been warned.



Regards,

Steve.

Mr. Toy:

Are you speaking from bitter experience?
I just make sure my US neighbors are terrified of me by playing Motorhead at full wick when I move in to a new gaff...

Our major highways tend to be smaller than Texas Farm Roads, however the UK highways tend to emulate parking lots with the traffic moving at a stately 5mph (on a good day) this is to maximise fuel consumption and so maximise tax payments to the government.

In Hampshire small towns you would be hard pressed to find apartments so be prepared to pay 300 to 400 K £ or more for a small bungalow (single floor building)

Remember it will take about 3 generations of BHAZENs before you will be treated in any other way than an "incomer" and then you will still be accused of denying the locals of affordable housing

Otherwise "Welcome to the UK - now speak English" and hand over your money


Some of this said with tongue possibly in cheek

Derek

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Bhazen,

Some useful links to get you started on the property search:

Primelocation.co.uk

and

Rightmove.co.uk

Once you've narrowed down the areas you want to live in, you can see what the 'hood and your neighbours are likely to like with this site:

Upmystreet.com (needs a full postcode (zip code))

Good luck,

Steve

TO checkout UK tax rules see

Inland Revenue

Immigration and visiting rules are at

UK Immigration stuff

Derek

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Hey, now! as we Yankees say...

Thank you all so much for the serious replies (and useful links) to what was a serious/wistful enquiry (or is that inquiry? I can never recall....); it appears that rural England is a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, and beyond my (likely) future means, regrettably. I was partic shocked by the cost of flats...just for comparison, my paid-for, 650 sq. ft. flat with a view of Lake Washington, Olympic Mtns. and swimming pool and easy 20 min. commute to my low-wage job in Seattle cost about 55,000 pounds...

I guess my future role will be as a sad, middle-aged Yank tourist, cycling round Wilts, Somerset or wherever, typical Hawaiian shirt on, beffudledly looking at an AA map at some village crossroads..."Come on where's that CAMRA-approved local..."

I live in Hampshire; it's got some bloody lovely bits and some cracking local brews. However, having enjoyed Seattle on a number of occasions, I can assure you that you are missing considerably less than you think. Apart from the dampness, I've always thought that Seattle ticks all the boxes and is one of the few US cities where I've seriously thought that I could live. The location of your place sounds perfect and the price makes me want to weep. The Pacific Northwest is also groaning with microbreweries. It might not be what you want to hear but you got it all there (current administration notwithstanding).

Yes, I am somewhat embarrassed by the current political climate...and I'm considered a conservative by my artsy Seattle scenester friends! I just have a deep longing to return to the England of my Edwardian grandparents (in their case rural Lincolnshire), which probably only exists as picture-postcard villages which get overrun thrice daily by tour coaches...

p.s. I like the grey & damp, which is why I loved my year in Britain in the mid-80's. If I only knew then what I know now about Naim gear, I would have stocked up on "chrome bumpers" as well!

p.p.s the beer's just not the same somehow...I remember a summer afternoon in a pub somewhere south of York where I had a pint of...Tetley's? Can't remember...anyway, cherished memory.

Bhazen

Where in Lincolnshire?

Derek

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I originally come from Hampshire and despite it producing Gales Ales there is no way I'd go back there to live-even if I could afford to.I went to university in Durham and that part of the world is lovely and much cheaper.Bhazen ,I suggest that you get yourself over here,have a good look around at the various parts of the country:it may be small but the variations are amazing.Doubtless the denizens of this site will offer sleeping and drinking facilities.Cheers Tony

Derek - if I recall alright, Cadney.

velofellow - I do plan on a trip in the (hopefully) near future, maybe taking a 2-3 month summer sabbatical, acquiring a railpass of some sort, and going to every lovely place I can! I know the North is underappreciated, and I'd like to, erm, appreciate it!

In thinking about it, I've realised that part of what I'm hankering for is a life that's considerably less in your face... modern US life and pop culture is so violent, take-no-prisoners, LOUD. I like thoughfulness and consideration. Found it in 99% of the people I met along the way in Britain.

[This message was edited by bhazen on Mon 12 July 2004 at 21:52.]

Just to clarify, my views on Hampshire and SW England in comparison to the Pacific NW can be applied to the UK in general. Luckily almost everywhere in the UK has it's charms but IMO, they are all at least matched by those of Washington, Oregon and BC. In many respects the UK is now a much more bearable place to live than during the mid-80s, so yes, a 3 month jaunt would be a good idea.

The UK is fairly congested especially compared to rural US and apart from the odd remote village, is now fairly in your face, but I suppose it's all relative. Rural France sounds like it would tick more of your boxes.

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Originally posted by bigmick:
Rural France sounds like it would tick more of your boxes.

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...No offence to the French, I like Provence in partic, but they're not British!

This is what happens in Hampshire
Mass evacuation

Derek

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...ahhh, but look at those deciduous trees!

(I'm so sick of Douglas Firs )

Suggested headline for the Hampshire Story

- Darwin Award Contestant fails - causes misery for hundreds


We will be locked down until about 6pm tonight

Derek

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Yes, one is rarely more than an arm's length from a silly person in Hampshire, though again I'm sure that this applies anywhere in the UK and certainly the US. I know that this is a bit parochial and mundane, but am I wrong in thinking it an over-reaction to close a motorway for 24 hours for the emergency services to contain a domestic garage fire and secure an oxyacetylene cylinder? It's the 24 hours bit that particularly surprises me.

The 24 hours is on the advice of BOC and the firebrigade to allow the cylinders to cool - the burning garage is supposed to have collapsed on top of the cylinders.

The fire brigade do go for caution to limit potential liability - Hampshire Fire Brigade "got burnt" at the computer office (Digital I think) in Basingstoke in the early 90s they were sued and paid millions of pounds for not acting in a more appropriate manner by the owners of the property.

The fire brigade has had fatalities from premature movement of cooling cylinders

Derek

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[This message was edited by Derek Wright on Wed 14 July 2004 at 11:59.]