Is the UK still worth moving to in 2024_ _ Am I leaving London_ (1)
Top move video
Transcript
00:00Earlier in the UK there was some kind of brain gain happening where everybody wanted to come
00:04and live here, work here, study here because of all the opportunities and the exciting lifestyle
00:09and quality of life was just better here but now there seems to be a shift. We see people
00:14talking about leaving so there's like a brain drain going on and as somebody who has lived
00:18in the UK, in London for the last seven years, what is my plan ahead? That's what I'm going to
00:23talk to you about today. As the cost of living crisis worsens in the United Kingdom, a new
00:27report has said that renters leaving the city are the highest rate in over a decade.
00:34Interest rates were hiked for the 11th time up to four and a quarter percent,
00:39the highest rate since 2008. An hour earlier he had stabbed two students to death,
00:45minutes later he stabbed a third victim, stole his van and mowed down three pedestrians.
00:57Hi my friends, my name is Meher and this is part two of the London series where I'm talking to you
01:02all about my experience of coming to the UK and living here all this while. So if you haven't
01:06seen part one of this video, please make sure you do watch that before you watch this video.
01:10So basically to just give you a recap, I came to London in the year 2016 for my MBA and I've
01:15been here mostly ever since but now that we are planning to apply for our permanent residency
01:20here in the UK, both my husband Shashank and I, we are now questioning where we see ourselves
01:25in the future. Do we see ourselves living here? Do we see ourselves owning a home here? Do we see
01:29ourselves starting a family and raising a family here? We don't know yet but I will share with you
01:34today why we are confused and why is actually this thought coming to our mind of leaving the
01:38country and not just our mind, there are millions of people having the same kind of thought process
01:42but why is that? Is coming to the UK still worth it? Let's talk about that now. So first and foremost
01:47the reason is that this city and this country in general has become very very expensive. So
01:52everybody came here for a good quality of life, a good standard of living and also being able to
01:57make more money and have a lavish, luxurious and comfortable life but because of the inflation,
02:02the upcoming recession and just many other factors everything here has become super expensive. So let
02:08me give you the example of our electricity and gas bill. Since January of this year,
02:12our electricity and gas bill has doubled or tripled in amount per month and that is because
02:16of many political reasons, Russia, Ukraine, war going on and many many other factors that I'm
02:21probably not aware of but because of that our monthly expenses have increased. Other than that
02:25we also have to pay rent, we also have to pay something called council tax which is like a
02:29neighborhood tax for all the facilities that are in the neighborhood such as roads, street lights,
02:33garbage collection etc. That is on top of all the other taxes that we already pay. Then there is
02:38also a rental crisis going on in the UK and because of that there are no houses available.
02:42So my husband and I currently live in a very big one bed one bath but we want to move to a bigger
02:47house now but because of lack of availability and lack of supply of good quality houses and just
02:52the rent being so high for even like mediocre properties, we are very confused as to where we
02:58want to live and where we can see ourselves growing in the future because we're both working
03:02from home. So we need a bigger space now but we are unable to move because we can't find anything
03:06nice in our budget. Even a meal is so expensive here, every time you go out you would end up
03:10spending 35 to 50 pounds on a meal depending upon where you go and that is the minimum if it's a
03:15good place. So rising rents, all these other costs such as electricity increasing, the basic cost of
03:20living such as groceries going up, like you can see here the cost of the basic items such as eggs,
03:26sugar, milk, potatoes has increased significantly in the last one year and it is just becoming very
03:31unaffordable for a person making a certain amount of money to be able to sustain the quality of
03:36life that they used to have. So now me and my partner Shashank we're just thinking whether
03:40it's worth it or not, how do we cut costs, how do we end up saving, how do we plan for our future,
03:44where should we invest, is this even the right place to be and that brings me on to the second
03:48thing which is the high volume of taxes. So what has happened in the last few years is that the
03:53salaries have not really increased as much as cost of living as well as the taxes being really high.
03:58So let's say you come here from another country which is a developing country, you want to move
04:02to a developed country which is fair enough that's what the thought process was for many people and
04:06then you think okay I want to make a lot of money. For example you think you want to make 50 lakh
04:10rupees in INR that is about 50,000 pounds. Now that is a lot of money maybe you think okay I'll
04:15double my salary or triple my salary but again because of cost of living as well as the high
04:19percentage of tax which is about 40 to 50 percent the higher your income the more you're taxed so
04:24there isn't even enough incentive to make more money. So let's say you are earning 50,000 pounds
04:28which is 50 lakh rupees but at the end after national insurance after all the taxes you're
04:32going to get about 3,000 pounds in your pocket every month you're going to spend at least 50
04:37of that in your rent and after that you'll have to think of maybe repaying your education loan
04:42you'll also have to think of going out traveling even traveling has become expensive now. So one
04:47of the reasons for me to move to the UK to move to London was that I'm going to be in Europe and
04:51I'm going to be able to travel everywhere. Now even traveling to Europe has become very expensive
04:55it was actually affordable to do three four five trips a year but now it has become unaffordable to
04:59do that. Something that we also have paid for previously is the NHS which is the national
05:03healthcare system over here which is a part of the visa fee that we paid so every healthcare
05:08facility for us is free like let's say I want to go and meet a doctor I won't have to pay if I'm
05:13going to a public hospital but if I go to a private practitioner yes I'll have to pay but
05:17luckily insurance would cover some some bit of that but because the healthcare system is so
05:21overloaded we've also paid a cost for it during the time we were moving here along with our visas
05:25actually we have already spent so many pounds so much money to be here to study here to live here
05:31you're pumping up the economy by going out and contributing to getting the basic necessities
05:36at home for example getting a cleaner getting a cook all these are also pumping the money back
05:41into the economy but everything is expensive maybe in India you can get a cook for let's say
05:4510,000 rupees a month here you will have to spend 100 to 120 pounds to get the cook to come to you
05:50maybe two to three times a month so do you see the difference right there the basic necessities
05:54the luxuries that everybody needs the working professional needs it's just a little bit too
05:59expensive and to that point is connected the high cost of being able to buy a house in this
06:05country in this city so like I said the cost of living has increased and of course when you're
06:10a couple that has been married for almost five years like we have the next step for us is to
06:15invest in a property that will be our home but because of mortgage prices increasing there is
06:20high interest rates right now people are not able to buy the homes that they wish to buy without
06:26any financial backing or financial help from their families from their parents so getting a
06:30mortgage has become very expensive it's very difficult to climb onto the property ladder now
06:35and honestly that is the next step for any young couple is to be able to buy a home to live in and
06:41not keep paying rent all their lives and that's the thought process that Shashank and I really
06:45have is that we want to be in a city we want to be in a place where we can afford to actually have
06:50a home that's ours and build a life together with a future family over there so that is definitely
06:54one of the reasons why planning a future in the city is becoming a little bit difficult to do if
06:59not impossible the next three reasons that I want to talk to you about are personal to me they're
07:04not related to what's going on in the economy as such they're more so to do with who am I as a
07:08person and what I wish to have and gain out of this life that I have the first and foremost is
07:14that I moved to London when it was that point in my life that point in my career when I was in my
07:1920s when I wanted to be independent when I wanted to be completely self-reliant get out of my
07:24comfort zone and explore the world but now because of the pandemic and realizing that we only have
07:30one life and just feeling grateful for having family and friends and my childhood friends and
07:35people back home who I left many years ago I just feel the distance now so earlier special occasions
07:42I used to really miss but now I feel like when my family really needs me and me and my partner
07:47Shashank are not there I feel really bad so for me I don't know if it's actually worth it or not
07:52so because I've entered a new phase of my life that I want to be around my loved ones
07:56um when I want to be more involved I feel a little isolated and the flight that seemed to
08:02be only eight hours or nine hours long now seems like a very difficult thing to do especially
08:08spontaneously so I definitely now feel the distance and I don't know if I can continue
08:13living so far away for the next 20, 30, 40 years um so that's another thing that's going on and
08:20playing in my mind and making me realize what's really important and what needs to be a priority
08:26in the next decade or so of my life the next thing is actually related to what's going on in London
08:30right now so one of the reasons of moving here is literally off the list because I don't feel safe
08:35anymore as much as I used to I'm not saying that it's completely unsafe but it is much lower than
08:40what it used to be when I came here so I don't think I would walk on the street alone at 11 p.m
08:46or 12 a.m like I could be able to do in 2016 so that definitely plays on my mind especially
08:52thinking about the future thinking about having a family here thinking about where we want to
08:56live in the future so that we feel safe and secure and be in an environment that makes us feel like
09:02we're fine and we'll be fine and I can be home alone I can go out alone you know I don't want
09:06those kind of thoughts playing in my mind but now because the petty crime rates have really gone up
09:11that you can see here things like theft so people are losing their phones people are losing their
09:15Rolex watches their bags their wallets etc are getting stolen there's eve teasing I just don't
09:21feel as safe as I used to feel back in 2016 when I came here the crime rates have definitely
09:26increased and one of the plus points of being in London was the safety and that brings me on to
09:30the last point which is my friends that I'm an entrepreneur I do not have a corporate job anymore
09:35I used to be in in London in the UK because I wanted to be a part of the corporate hustle I
09:39wanted to be a part of the corporate culture understand it learn from it work with clients
09:44around the world but now I'm doing my own thing I'm a digital nomad I'm a digital entrepreneur
09:49what I'm doing sitting in London and paying for all these expenses sitting in London I could be
09:53doing from anywhere in the world at probably half the cost so it's just making me realize that a I
09:58want to be closer to home b I can do anything from anywhere I want so why am I stuck to this
10:04one location which is turning out to be a little bit too expensive for me and my partner so to
10:09conclude I don't know what the right answer is whether London is the right place to be or not
10:13whether we will be here one or two three four years from now I don't know the answers right now
10:18but I will say that no country is perfect no country will ever be perfect but you need to
10:22realize what is important to you what are your values and whether making those sacrifices is
10:28worth it at the end or not maybe right now a little bit pissed off or upset with London but
10:32maybe we'll go somewhere for a few years and then come back because we love this city so much I
10:37still love it so much I still keep reminding myself of the positives when I make my pros and cons list
10:42because I don't make a pros and cons list my friends by the way I'm making this pros and cons
10:46list and being super organized about what I want to do in my life because of this one tool that
10:50has literally changed my life and how I operate and how I plan things and that is notion it is
10:55a game changer it's absolutely for free if you want to get started on goal setting having all
11:00your thoughts your files your documents everything in one place make sure you are using this tool it
11:05will literally be a game changer it will change your life the link is below so my final advice
11:09for you would be that be really short as to why you want to move countries and why you want to
11:13come to the UK especially life abroad is not as glamorized as it's shown to be on social media
11:18there's a lot of things you need to figure out you need to work on and make an assessment whether
11:22you'll be saving as much earning as much living the life that you really wanted to live and
11:27envision for yourself so please make sure you're doing that yes London is a great place to be in
11:32your 20s the university experience was amazing I wouldn't replace it with anything else but what
11:36is the future is what one needs to start thinking about I hope this video was useful for you please
11:41don't forget to subscribe to this channel and share and like this video if you found it useful
11:46with somebody who is planning to come study here or live here or is confused at all and if you're
11:50liking these kind of conversations in different types of locations with me then let me know I'll
11:54make sure to keep that coming I'll be back soon with another heart to heart with you but until
11:59then keep smiling and dreaming big I hope to see you soon bye