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Post by mangetout on Apr 7, 2022 12:24:53 GMT 1
So you're a wind up merchant. Admirable. Who? Not you. The comment is about ilovelife. |
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Post by houpla on Apr 7, 2022 13:29:01 GMT 1
I could just about envisage moving to a francophone country with a better climate, South Kensington ? The way the cost of living is going, I was thinking more along the lines of Morocco  |
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Post by houpla on Apr 7, 2022 13:48:58 GMT 1
So when users talk about UK, are we looking at one homogeneous mass? Are we saying that London, Enniskillen, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Kirkcaldy, Chipping Norton, Donaghadee, Truro, Port Talbot, Portree, Rathlin, Matlock etc all share the same characteristics? I know a bigoted airhead like albf needs these prejudices to justify his puerile posts but surely not everyone pictures the UK so narrowly? But it is not just the landscape that influences a decision. It is the government of the country, as in control and the everyday factors that affect most of the population. Personally, I have kept somewhere in the UK, but would not want to live in that location in my later years and unfortunately, I don't think I could cope living on my own, if I had to, where we live now in France. I think it is the familiarity of the UK, when we are on our last legs that would draw us back. Hopefully, not for a few years yet. Absolutely right, LL. For a lot of the people I know who've decided to go back, it came down simply to trying to buy to be as near to family as possible within the constraints of their budget. Language difficulties and health/ ageing issues seem to be the other major factors in the decision to go back. I suppose they're linked, really. Then there are those who haven't been back for so many years, it's Britain in it's diverse entirety that would seem alien. |
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Post by omegal on Apr 7, 2022 14:20:52 GMT 1
Not one of those lists again.  Thoses expat lists are just dumb. Really dumb if they don't mention where one lives as the best place, seems so unfair to believe one lives in the best part of France, when France itself doesn't even make the list of best country to live in....... |
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Post by mangetout on Apr 7, 2022 14:24:57 GMT 1
We are selling up and will probably go back to the UK. The estate agent is due to value our house next week. We are getting to the point where I can't look after the house and garden, my husband is too weak to offer assistance and we don’t know how much longer he's got. Even if we downsized considerably within France and I was alone, I don't think I want to end my days in a French care home. We aren't drawn back by family, being childless. But I am drawn back by familiarity. Plus I need to move whilst I've got the physical strength to do so. Not easy to do alone when you're nearly 70.
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Post by traveller on Apr 7, 2022 14:45:44 GMT 1
We are selling up and will probably go back to the UK. The estate agent is due to value our house next week. We are getting to the point where I can't look after the house and garden, my husband is too weak to offer assistance and we don’t know how much longer he's got. Even if we downsized considerably within France and I was alone, I don't think I want to end my days in a French care home. We aren't drawn back by family, being childless. But I am drawn back by familiarity. Plus I need to move whilst I've got the physical strength to do so. Not easy to do alone when you're nearly 70. That can’t have been an easy decision but I admire you for being so realistic and clear in your intentions and I wish you well. I was just this minute researching the possibility of adding an extension to my home here in UK to provide a downstairs toilet, when really the best option would be to move but it has to be a joint decision and we’re not there yet. |
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Post by jackie on Apr 7, 2022 18:07:42 GMT 1
But it is not just the landscape that influences a decision. It is the government of the country, as in control and the everyday factors that affect most of the population. Personally, I have kept somewhere in the UK, but would not want to live in that location in my later years and unfortunately, I don't think I could cope living on my own, if I had to, where we live now in France. I think it is the familiarity of the UK, when we are on our last legs that would draw us back. Hopefully, not for a few years yet. Absolutely right, LL. For a lot of the people I know who've decided to go back, it came down simply to trying to buy to be as near to family as possible within the constraints of their budget. Language difficulties and health/ ageing issues seem to be the other major factors in the decision to go back. I suppose they're linked, really. Then there are those who haven't been back for so many years, it's Britain in it's diverse entirety that would seem alien. I think you would have have to left Britain a really long time ago to find it’s ‘diverse entirety’ alien. I understand there are remote pockets that have been less affected by immigration over the years, pretty similar to France, due to work opportunities. I grew up in a home counties town in the sixties and seventies and it was pretty diverse then. Italians, Irish, Poles and other Eastern Europeans who settled after the war, and a Caribbean and Sikh community. |
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Post by houpla on Apr 7, 2022 19:42:57 GMT 1
Absolutely right, LL. For a lot of the people I know who've decided to go back, it came down simply to trying to buy to be as near to family as possible within the constraints of their budget. Language difficulties and health/ ageing issues seem to be the other major factors in the decision to go back. I suppose they're linked, really. Then there are those who haven't been back for so many years, it's Britain in it's diverse entirety that would seem alien. I think you would have have to left Britain a really long time ago to find it’s ‘diverse entirety’ alien. I understand there are remote pockets that have been less affected by immigration over the years, pretty similar to France, due to work opportunities. I grew up in a home counties town in the sixties and seventies and it was pretty diverse then. Italians, Irish, Poles and other Eastern Europeans who settled after the war, and a Caribbean and Sikh community. I did, but I wasn't referring to 'immigrants' making it seem alien Goodness knows, the little town I moved from had the same mix that you mention, with an entire Hindu quartier and latterly a very high eastern european quotient, but they weren't a problem. The lowlives and chavs were, however. Has it got better? I've no idea, not having been back for a long time. |
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Post by jackie on Apr 7, 2022 21:18:29 GMT 1
Just interested to know what you meant by diverse entirety seeming alien then? Sorry if I’m not getting it.....
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Post by houpla on Apr 7, 2022 21:27:13 GMT 1
It was just a passing reference to another poster's view that Britain isn't a homogeneous mass  |
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Post by Debra on Apr 9, 2022 13:49:16 GMT 1
I'm still back and forth on the idea. I sold my ex home there and felt relieved to get rid of the mortgage - and then felt a bit panicky at not having anywhere there and that this could mean that I might be outpriced and never be able to afford to go back. I've seen many in that position over the years. My solution was to buy a couple of small houses to let so I have the income but also could go back to one of them if I ever want to go back there. I'd be leaving family here though if I left, offspring and parents and brother, which is difficult. I'll probably end up going back to the lifestyle of living between the two once my boys have all flown the nest, if I can afford it.
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Post by tim17 on Apr 9, 2022 16:11:44 GMT 1
Before Brexit our ideal would have been splitting our time but with FOM now gone having a second home here is not really any option anymore and with the children now spread all over France a move back to the UK before we're priced out is the most sensible choice although the thought of dealing with the NHS and a Tory government does make it a risk.
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Post by limousinlady on Apr 9, 2022 17:12:13 GMT 1
Before Brexit our ideal would have been splitting our time but with FOM now gone having a second home here is not really any option anymore and with the children now spread all over France a move back to the UK before we're priced out is the most sensible choice although the thought of dealing with the NHS and a Tory government does make it a risk. I think if my family were in France and were settled, I wouldn't consider going back to the UK in the future. However, at the moment, I have one son in the UK, one in Germany and one in Gran Canaria, my partner has two children in the UK. Who knows where we will end up. |
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Post by Debra on Apr 9, 2022 18:07:59 GMT 1
Before Brexit our ideal would have been splitting our time but with FOM now gone having a second home here is not really any option anymore and with the children now spread all over France a move back to the UK before we're priced out is the most sensible choice although the thought of dealing with the NHS and a Tory government does make it a risk. I think I'd do it the other way around and have the UK house classed as my second home and that way I don't lose my rights to live in France and there is no limit to how much time I can spend in the UK, so FOM doesn't come into it - I just need to spend enough time in France to retain my rights under the withdrawal treaty. |
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ibis
Banned Member
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Post by ibis on Apr 9, 2022 19:42:31 GMT 1
Before Brexit our ideal would have been splitting our time but with FOM now gone having a second home here is not really any option anymore and with the children now spread all over France a move back to the UK before we're priced out is the most sensible choice although the thought of dealing with the NHS and a Tory government does make it a risk. I think I'd do it the other way around and have the UK house classed as my second home and that way I don't lose my rights to live in France and there is no limit to how much time I can spend in the UK. Do you have French citizenship?
I thought under the withdrawal agreement there was a time limit you can be away from your immigrated country to be able to get a long term visa. Maybe it is just Spain but I would think it relates to the whole of the EU.
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