Young family hoping to move to Adelaide from Leeds, UK

Hello everyone!

My husband and I have spent the last few months discussing a possible move to Australia. After much research, we feel Adelaide would be the best option for us as we're looking to move away from 'city life'. We would like to live somewhere with good access to city & beach (up to 20mins) with a real community feel. Hoping to throw myself in to everything going on!

We're both 30 and have a 3 year old daughter. I am a qualified secondary teacher and my husband is a carpenter/joiner. Having run his own business for 10 years, he wants a change. He loves the trade but thinking of working more for a company/site work, building friendships etc. Do you think there are opportunities for him in Adelaide? I'm concerned by some of the negative posts around no jobs! We have seen quite a few suitable on seek.com so hoping that in a years time the opportunities will still be around!

Would welcome/appreciate any advice!

Hi Naomi,

I can almost guarantee that there will be opportunities for your family, especially coming from Leeds.

Adelaide is quite a unique city in that it is small, green and really really nice!

You are both young enough to adapt here and well qualified in what you do, so Australia will be lucky

to have you!!

If anything, as your family grows, you may find it boring here, however, once you make a circle of friends it

won't be boring!

My partner and I are from the North of England and find problems with our accent (but don't let that put you off!!!).

We have both found work.....only the very rich seem to be full-time housewives/husbands as it is expensive to

live here.....it is a lovely place though and when you bump into tourists you realise how lucky we are to live here.

My advice would be...if you have the opportunity to come here, then do it. Remember, you can always go back to England

if it doesn't work out for you.

Lastly, the building industry is booming over here so there should be plenty of carpentry work.

Thank you so much for your reply. It really has made me feel much more at ease!

Hi Naomi,

 

I can almost guarantee that there will be opportunities for your family, especially coming from Leeds.

Adelaide is quite a unique city in that it is small, green and really really nice!

You are both young enough to adapt here and well qualified in what you do, so Australia will be lucky

to have you!!

If anything, as your family grows, you may find it boring here, however, once you make a circle of friends it

won't be boring!

My partner and I are from the North of England and find problems with our accent (but don't let that put you off!!!).

We have both found work.....only the very rich seem to be full-time housewives/husbands as it is expensive to

live here.....it is a lovely place though and when you bump into tourists you realise how lucky we are to live here.

 

My advice would be...if you have the opportunity to come here, then do it. Remember, you can always go back to England

if it doesn't work out for you.

 

Lastly, the building industry is booming over here so there should be plenty of carpentry work.

Hello and welcome to the forum

I know in high school teachers in science and maths are in demand, not sure about other areas of teaching.

What visa are you considering applying for and who would be the main applicant?

As has been said, Adelaide is a lovely city, smaller than what many are used to city wise and the central area is pretty compact. The suburbs sprawl on for miles however. You'd have lots of options for areas to live depending on where work is found. I am still not quite reconciled with everything being within the area or bust IYKWIM. Its a lot of space between here and SA's next largest town/city Mt Gambier with a population of about 26,000 and its a good 5 hour drive away. I do in some ways miss the closeness of other cities and towns to visit for whatever reason but have adjusted to how Adelaide is and works.

Some lines of work seem to be harder to find employment in than others. Also some people can find work within a short time, others it takes longer. Ensure you have a good amount in savings and budget well. The first 6 months could be tough going. Also in teaching it often seems to be starting off with supply work and slowly schools and teachers get to know you, 1 year contracts are more normal too and permanent posts seem few and far between.

Make use of the forum to ask any questions We'll do our best to answer.

Welcome!

The building industry is booming here right now. There are properties being demolished in my local area and multiple homes being built on the blocks.

There are also new signs for very large housing developments in the Port Noarlunga / Noarlunga corridor along the expanded rail link to Seaford so that will provide lots of work in the future. Easy transport links means that you can get places pretty quickly.

Jobs in manufacturing are an issue in Adelaide but not in the building trade.

I was in Leeds 10 days ago. The traffic was horrendous! We were visiting my father in law who lives in Batley and we went through to the Leeds market and the Royal Armories for the day. There has been so many Yorkshire people move here in the past few years and dare I say many more will likely make the move due to possible economic fallout from the Brexit vote.(but that's another issue!) It's been 15 years since my last visit..and the changes and expansion in Leeds are amazing.

Have you been here before?

Are you planning to come on a reccie and have a look around and get a feel for the place?

We are trying to get my father in law out here for a visit but will likely have to fetch him!

All the best with your plans / move...there's wealth of info on here...

Thank you all for your replies.

We have never visited and unable to visit prior to moving, so are just hoping to bite the bullet and go for it! Life's for living!

I have set my sights on Port Noarlunga as an area I'd love to relocate to! Fantastic news on the construction front! Think we're going to come over on my partner as the main visa applicant and hope to get work ASAP for him. Then I'm thinking of some contract/supply teaching before I apply for positions starting academic year Jan 2018. I am also qualified to teach in Early Years and have seen more jobs advertised in this sector, so might be an option for me.

I was hoping to get a sponsorship visa for my husband and fast track over but haven't located any companies in Adelaide who do that for carpenters....yet! So it looks like we'll have to go through 189 visa in the hope to be over Aug/Sept next year?

Maim thinking of 2 weeks rental in Adelaide central so we can travel to all the suburbs and get a feel for places. Then, hopefully decide on a longer term rental in the southern areas (short drive to beach etc).

Does this sound like a sensible plan? Sorry, I'm just trying to do the best research I can in advance!

Really grateful for everyone's advice 

Welcome!

The building industry is booming here right now. There are properties being demolished in my local area and multiple homes being built on the blocks.

There are also new signs for very large housing developments in the Port Noarlunga / Noarlunga corridor along the expanded rail link to Seaford so that will provide lots of work in the future. Easy transport links means that you can get places pretty quickly.

 

Jobs in manufacturing are an issue in Adelaide but not in the building trade.

 

I was in Leeds 10 days ago. The traffic was horrendous! We were visiting my father in law who lives in Batley and we went through to the Leeds market and the Royal Armories for the day. There has been so many Yorkshire people move here in the past few years and dare I say many more will likely make the move due to possible economic fallout from the Brexit vote.(but that's another issue!) It's been 15 years since my last visit..and the changes and expansion in Leeds are amazing.

Have you been here before?

Are you planning to come on a reccie and have a look around and get a feel for the place?

We are trying to get my father in law out here for a visit but will likely have to fetch him!

All the best with your plans / move...there's wealth of info on here...

Hi,

Agree with other posters - lots of building going on and carpenters seem to be very busy :-)

Re: teaching. What is(are) your subject specialist area(s)? As another poster mentioned, same as UK, Maths, Science etc high school teachers in more demand than other subject areas. If you're Early Years qualified too then you are right when you state there are, relatively speaking, quite a few of these jobs being advertised recently.

I teach primary here, so happy to offer any advice that may be of use to you.

Best of luck with your move :-)

Maim thinking of 2 weeks rental in Adelaide central so we can travel to all the suburbs and get a feel for places. Then, hopefully decide on a longer term rental in the southern areas (short drive to beach etc).

 

Does this sound like a sensible plan? Sorry, I'm just trying to do the best research I can in advance!

 

Really grateful for everyone's advice 

TBH if you hope/want to settle in the southern suburbs, I don't see the need to rent central for a short term let when you first arrive. Getting around the CBD or central metropolitan area is easy enough without a car as trams, trains and buses will work well but then if you want to go further afield, a car will be needed to go check out the southern suburbs or anywhere else. Using public transport will be time consuming and in warmer weather can be hard going with younger kids not used to heat or standing around in it waiting for a bus etc. So I'd just start off somewhere in the south and book a short term fully furnished in or near areas that appeal and go out from there. That's just IMHO and all that

Also, think about what short drive to the beach means to you. I say this as we live about 10-15 minutes drive from easy access to various beaches but are actually living up in the foothills. If you want an actual beachside suburb you can look on Google maps to see which ones they are but there are lots of suburbs slightly inland heading down south but still within easy access to the beach via car. It also gives you more choice in other aspects, ie other options for schools that tick your boxes, facilities, sports clubs, commutes, local shops etc. If you want to be 5 minutes away, then beachside suburb, if you don't mind 10-15, you've a heap more options slightly inland open to you also. If you don't mind a bit more, even more again

I agree with this.

In addition...when do you plan to arrive?

Two weeks is a very short period of time to book a furnished rental. It puts you under pressure to accept a suburb and property that's perhaps not your first choice if you had a little longer time with which to choose. Certain periods of the year can be very difficult to secure unfurnished rentals. The end of the year...December / early Jan may see a lot of public holidays, limited work time for property agents and stock may be in shorter supply compared to other times.

Many people do secure a rental in 2 weeks but there are often so many broken leases (rentals are typically 12 months) that I often wonder at the initial wisdom of perhaps having too little time to make a better choice? I have a family with me at the moment. Booked for 10 days. They have requested another month but I only have a week at one property and another week at another property. If this was December to March I wouldn't have any spare properties to offer them extra time as these months are booked solid a long time in advance and they would have to move to a hotel, caravan park etc... Two weeks is pushing it at times and you should get a discount for booking a longer stay....

TBH if you hope/want to settle in the southern suburbs, I don't see the need to rent central for a short term let when you first arrive. Getting around the CBD or central metropolitan area is easy enough without a car as trams, trains and buses will work well but then if you want to go further afield, a car will be needed to go check out the southern suburbs or anywhere else. Using public transport will be time consuming and in warmer weather can be hard going with younger kids not used to heat or standing around in it waiting for a bus etc. So I'd just start off somewhere in the south and book a short term fully furnished in or near areas that appeal and go out from there. That's just IMHO and all that

 

Also, think about what short drive to the beach means to you. I say this as we live about 10-15 minutes drive from easy access to various beaches but are actually living up in the foothills. If you want an actual beachside suburb you can look on Google maps to see which ones they are but there are lots of suburbs slightly inland heading down south but still within easy access to the beach via car. It also gives you more choice in other aspects, ie other options for schools that tick your boxes, facilities, sports clubs, commutes, local shops etc. If you want to be 5 minutes away, then beachside suburb, if you don't mind 10-15, you've a heap more options slightly inland open to you also. If you don't mind a bit more, even more again

Hi Naomi

Sorry but I have to let you know some of the information in some of the replies on your post are incorrect regarding the building industry. The building industry is not booming but quite the opposite is just moving along at a steady pass well below were it should be. I know of 4 trades leaving to return to the UK as there is more work and the wages are better. I came as a carpenter & Joiner in Nov 2007 and found it hard to find the work I did in the UK heand this was when the industry was booming. I have since moved into site management for a local building company so I get to see most of the trades on my site and quite a few from the UK so get to hear their stories and troubles. My advise to your husband would be to get he's building licence and ABN Tax number so he can go self employed as he will have more freedom to move around and negotiate a wage he wants. Working for a local firms the hourly rate varies from $23 P/H to $30 P/H which will be ok for a while he finds a job he likes. Most carpenters I have spoken to move around at first as they struggle to find a job they like so move around Ive only met 4 lads who said they loved their jobs from the start.