Thinking of moving to Cyprus

Soldato
Joined
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I moved back to the UK around 2013/2014. I feel the quality of life here has really gone downhill for the middle classes.

The cost of living is out of control.
I am not incentivized to work more, after £100k adjusted income you pay 62% tax.
A £100k income give a take home pay of £5.6k which sounds like a lot but really it does not go far after paying childcare/school fees/ mortgage or rent.


Schools are overcrowded and really not that good, so many feel they are pushed into paying for private school which is £18k to £25k PA. VAT is soon to be added on top

Healthcare is shocking, so we need to pay for health insurance

The weather is not idea.

So Cyprus, school fees are around £7k pa, Health insurance is around the same as the uk, Rent for a 3 bed house close to the beach £1300 pcm.
restaurants and cafes around half of the uk cost, live in home help £600 pcm (not saying I would have this)

Flights to the uk are quite cheap.

So I was thinking, 2 days per week remote work in Cy, fly to the uk once per month to work 4 or 5 days. Ok my income would be half of what it is now but I would pay less tax, much lower living costs and work a lot less but get to enjoy life a little more than the rat race we have here.

Does anyone else just feel this is not the ideal place to live anymore ?

It would not be until summer 2025 but its looking more and more like a good idea.
 
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Im lucky as my kid is in a much cheaper school and still young so only about £11k but it gets a lot more expensive as they get older. I know we could go to public school but im willing to go without other stuff for a good school.

to be honest if I rent my house the rental income is enough to cover lot of our costs out there. I know im lucky to have a good job and have food on the table but I just feel like life is slipping by.
 
Sorry got really busy and have not been back here



Its still an early thought and by no means will definitely happen but im looking into it and it may not be for ever maybe until kid is done school who know.


not been cyprus for around 8 years but it was expensive once the euro ruined it.
Its still very cheap compared to the uk.

I guess the main thing is eligibility to move there? I know a guy on here, i forget his name moved to Crete/Corfu (guy who used to live in Vietnam) but i'm not sure how Cyprus operates as it's split i think between Greeze and Turkey. I recall you lived in Prague years ago, so not worth considering something around there? Imagine there's some stunning lakes in the Czech Republic and might be able to use any language skills previously picked up.

Tax could be a bit weird if you're living in one place but working in the UK, probably need some advice on that.

Other factors would be career opportunities for your children? Unsure what it's actually like in Cyprus but i imagine prospects are much better in the UK career wise.
My partner and kid have EU passports

so not such an issue, It would not be forever and we would end up moving back to the uk for uni, I just feel as a child my kid will have a better

childhood there and the schools are not bad.

Sounds like you live beyond your means.
yes and no, we dont spend lots but at the same time, I am educated, I work hard so does my partner and I just feel middle-class life should be better than this.

Cyprus is a place you retire to with a secure income, not a place you move to thinking you can make an easy living compared to the U.K.

I dont know, think your kid and play on the beach, live in a house with a pool and go to a good school. It feels like a good family place to me.

I would not be looking to generate income there. I would just do a little remote work and fly back for a few days a month of work in the uk. Also I have a decent house and a flat in Zone 2 which would give decent income.

I have a friend who moved there 2 years ago, they just moved back this month actually and is glad to be back. South Wales no less, they can't be coming back for the weather!
really, did they not like it out there?

I have a lot of friends there which probably would help.

Best things Dr House has done based on GD internet advice:

1. Moved to St Albans (didn't work out)
2. Bought an M6 (didn't work out)
3. Bought an amazing property which I think he designed? (didn't work out)
4. Got married (didn't work out)
5. Decided to post 12 month late pay requests because he wasn't being paid (actually, this did work out when everyone was like "how can they pay you if they don't know you worked?")

I look forward to hearing great advice which Dr House will probably act on and then look even further forward to the resulting "guys, it didn't work out" thread.

1 looked at a houses in St Albans but decided to move closer to my parents and bought a 6bed house in south london,
2 yep bought a M6, did not love it, but also bought a I8, GT4, 911 (well around 6 of them), 335i (x2), Macan, cayenne, Z4 35is, Panamera (x3) and a couple of more exotics, What do you drive?
3 i did not buy it, i built and designed it, 6400sq, and sold it because it was where my ex wife was from and i had no connection to the area.
4 well **** happens, got a new partner and a kid now so did nto work out too badly
5 took them to court and got paid, they knew i worked but did not want to pay me because i put in my time sheets a few months late.

I think a lot of people are thinking of moving to another country, me included.
I feel just like you, I have no motivation to do anything in this country and what I pay for I get very poor returns.

Yes , the NHS = crap, and I just don't see why I should stay here. Everything is expensive and everything is of low quality.

I have been slowly deciding the country, As you say 60% of tax is just so much.

I have told my boss I wanted double pay or I am moving. MS have offered me a job at
a new location near Bayswater. I am negotiating my contract with my current boss and MS. I have told them I like to work remotely in southern Europe see if they offer what I want.

I think Cyprus has low tax.

This is the issue, if you are in the 100 to 150k income range life is just not that good here, I am lucky to be where I am but just feel like things could and should be better.

e: to add

6. Went to Gibraltar (didn't work out)
7. Bought a Cayenne (didn't work out)
8. Stored a pram in a cycle shed (didn't work out)
9. Had a joint bank account emptied by his ex (didn't work out)
10. Considered moving to Birmingham (didn't work out)

He's basically an apex godking by this stage.
6 Gib, went for a interview there many years ago and was not ideal due to my professional development needs and how they ran the departmnet
7 kept the Catenne in the family for about 4 years
8 well its got wheels and we have 4 or 5 huge cycle rooms in the basement with not too many bikes, now the building has one of the basement storerooms for this purpose
9 well divorce is messy, but I worked out ok in the end.
10 did move to Birmingham due to NHS just sending us anywhere they want but it was only a year.

Don't forget his most recent practical advice to a man looking for a regular priced kitchen. Dr House suggested a bespoke artisanal cabinet maker who has a £50k buy-in just for units.
BS,

The DIY Kitchens around 10k for a good size kitchen
wwwhandmadekitchensofchristchurch.co.uk - they have a 50% sale 3 times a year, fully bespoke and a 1200 unit costs the same as a 600 unit so if you are smart withe the design you can get a amazing bespoke kitchen for 30% than DIY ktichen and still less the Wren kitchen

Siematic, well thats more but the have a very good contract range.
You get your residency after 5 years, or you can buy a house for €300k and get residency straight away.
Then you can work for a Cypriot employer, if you wanted to.
But, any children not born there would need to- buy a house for €300k - or work for a non Cypriot employer(unless they have more than 50% non eu/Cypriot? Employees), when they turn 18.
Or something along those lines

The girls both have EU passports so not a huge issue.
I'm desperate to move out. There's not much for me here. Just difficult getting an opportunity really and moving a whole life.

Feel like living here is a big waste when I like the outdoors but hate the UK climate.

I would be happy with colder or warmer. Not this constant gloom and overcrowded country.


Doesn't help that standard of living is going down unless you can severely out earn the downturn.

Agree, The weather is a big part of what I dont like here, I love to be outside but not a fan of wet damp weather, Prague was nice because we had super cold but bright winters and really good summers.

Think it was Cyprus a couple of years back a journalist exposed some government corrruption and ended up being blown up in her car. (or Malta maybe?)
that was not Cy but belive me there is a lot of underworld crime there.

You don't need to speak Turkish. Greek does help though, certainly breaks down barriers.

Things are quite bureaucratic there unless you know how to play the system.

Cost of living is good there. The food is amazing. Driving standards are awful. Good healthcare. Things are slow don't expect things to happen quickly. Things like Amazon will feel like a luxury because it doesn't really work there.

Happy to give you some ideas and tips as a semi local if you want @Dr House

I'm also planning my escape if I can.

Thanks, will keep it in mind. Deryneia is where I have in mind due to friends, school and my friends having kids the same age as mine.

Dr.House are you British, or are you an EU citizen? Post Brexit this is very important as it impacts the ease with which you can emigrate and find work within the EU.
sadly I had the option of a Czech passport but never thought about brexit lol By my partner and child have a EU passport
That was definitely Malta.

Cyprus is not a place I would move to. I had a girlfriend from there though she was from the Turkish part; which highlights one of the reasons I wouldn't want to make it my home. That and when I was there last year I came across far too many rude Russians!

If OP does insist on moving somewhere like that then I'd much rather move to Crete as it's nearer, the whole island is Greek and it's easier to get farther away from the mass tourist areas.
Cy was because I have a lot more connections and friends there, plus flights are much cheaper and more frequent.

Isn't Cyprus full of Russians with all those cheap residency rules?
it is but only in a few small areas.

Are you sure about NZ? You're going to be pretty isolated there. Plus Mags will be perched in a tree with binoculars, peeking through your bedroom window! :o
I have amazing job prospects in Nz but its too isolated with very poor quality expensive housing, plus the weather is just like the uk.

Australia is much better but I am so close to my dad and he is in his 60's now and dont want to nto see him often.

Still can't get past OP complaining about paying tax and complaining about poor schools and healthcare.

It's almost as though the quality of the latter depends in some way on the former!
dude, im ok with paying taxes, but when you are past the 50% mark it feels a little too much and then when you combine it with poor services and the press full of stories of billions being stolen by friends of the politicians its a little more irrtating.

50% tax and good public services I could live with.
We used to live happier lives, often with a lot less. I think it's an interesting topic and a complex one, with many factors. I don't think it is just the UK that suffers with a decline in happiness, but in the UK we feel it more because the cost of living is so high. We are just squeezed so hard in the rat race.

I think back to times when I moved into my first house. I had a TV, a Christmas tree and a single brown sofa and could barely pay rent. That was my lounge. No curtains. But we were happy. We had hope to the future.

Life has got so much more complicated. The stresses of living a modern UK life takes its toll. I think we are also always going to see a lot of negativity from the typical forum goers on OCUK. The average age tends to be older, and we have first hand experience of how times of old were easier, happier etc. This skewes the view a bit.

- Going out anywhere, doing anything, just costs so much.
- Less disposable income to do anything anyway.
- We are over populated and running out of space. Everything is busy. You have to book to do anything, which means you have to plan, which feels stressful and too formal. You can't just do things on a whim anymore.
- The UK is built around roads to really get anywhere (outside of London). They are in a dire state and capacity is an issue.
- Socializing is at an all time low due to tech/internet and the above cost issues of leaving the house. A nasty cycle.
- Parenting skills/ideologies are allowing kids to grow up entitled and not knowing how to behave, affecting school and hence education
- A shift towards a society where free speech is becoming less and less free
- Cut backs to the police has meant irrepairable damage to society and what people are allowed to get away with. Crime is up.
- Anger in people. Everyone seems to be on the edge of pulling out an axe and losing it.
- The high street is dying in the majority of towns which feels like a big loss to the UK itentity
- We have become reliant on imports for everything
- We pay monopolistic corporate animals for all our subs and services, and don't tend to buy local, because local businesses can't compete. Bad cycle again.
- The wealth divide to the super rich grows more by the day
- The housing market

good summary really,
It'

As a Medical Doctor you'd have a lot of opportunity there but I don't know enough about the industry to know if you'll need to do any courses etc to convert or demonstrate capability. It's an EU country so will follow EU guidance (which is helpful as.it means you can move around the EU easily to do the same thing).

GPs are always busy there but far more efficient and effective than the UK. Healthcare in Cyprus is great. If ever I have a niggle whilst I'm out there I always go and they sort me right out. You get x-ray results same day and you actually keep a copy of it too. You can pretty much on a whim see any specialist from an ENT to a midwife to an Osteopath same day pretty much. Medical doctors can earn well over €400k in Cyprus depending on experience and seniority.

Yes my friends are doing so so well out there but I dont speak greek so chances are I would not work there.


OP my 2 cents;

The UK and the NHS is in a dire state but the grass isn't greener on the other side.

Stop locuming. Doesn't have great prospects with the way things are going (PAs/de-skilling/opportunities) you will find with no post grad training under your belt, you'll struggle to get decent work abroad (few assumptions there).

Locuming has its place but you need to commit to an area you enjoy and passionate about. Start training. Consultants just got a great pay rise.....
I do Agree, I do a mix of work, NHS locum, private UCC and I was a leadership fellow until recently. Thats the only thing that would hold me back as I could get my CCT (via caesar) in about 2.5 years now which would give me much better prospects.
 
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