# Wanting to go back to UK



## Katlady (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi. We have been living in Spain for the past 6 years in a small village inear Jaen in Andalucia. We came here because my stepson and his family moved here to be near to his mother in law and, as we were retired and missed the kids, we came too. However, I am now getting more and more depressed every day with the lack of any kind of social life, friends etc and we do not have a car anymore as my husband had a small stroke a couple of years ago. We seem to have very little contact with the family these days unless they want something (they don't seem to be able to pick up the phone to find out if we are OK or make the 5 minute journey from their house to our flat). There is no form of entertainment here, no restaurants and all the bars seem to be frequented by the old men of the village and there are no other English people here either - the only other English person has now moved away. I am, as I said, getting more and more depressed each day with the situation and am now under the care of the local Mental Health Unit in the nearest town. We both feel that we would be better off moving back to the UK but we know it is difficult to relocate back there although we don't mind where we live. We also have a flat full of furniture that we could sell but there is no second hand market here to speak of and apart from not knowing if there are any house clearance companies that would be willing to travel here as most of the removers etc seem to be on the coast, we could also do with any advice anyone could offer regarding how to go about finding somewhere to live and if we would perhaps be entitled to any kind of benefits under UK law now as we have been non-resident in the UK for this long. Thanks.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Katlady said:


> Hi. We have been living in Spain for the past 6 years in a small village inear Jaen in Andalucia. We came here because my stepson and his family moved here to be near to his mother in law and, as we were retired and missed the kids, we came too. However, I am now getting more and more depressed every day with the lack of any kind of social life, friends etc and we do not have a car anymore as my husband had a small stroke a couple of years ago. We seem to have very little contact with the family these days unless they want something (they don't seem to be able to pick up the phone to find out if we are OK or make the 5 minute journey from their house to our flat). There is no form of entertainment here, no restaurants and all the bars seem to be frequented by the old men of the village and there are no other English people here either - the only other English person has now moved away. I am, as I said, getting more and more depressed each day with the situation and am now under the care of the local Mental Health Unit in the nearest town. We both feel that we would be better off moving back to the UK but we know it is difficult to relocate back there although we don't mind where we live. We also have a flat full of furniture that we could sell but there is no second hand market here to speak of and apart from not knowing if there are any house clearance companies that would be willing to travel here as most of the removers etc seem to be on the coast, we could also do with any advice anyone could offer regarding how to go about finding somewhere to live and if we would perhaps be entitled to any kind of benefits under UK law now as we have been non-resident in the UK for this long. Thanks.


What a shame it hasn't worked out.

I'm not sure how well you will be off in the UK, but at least you'll be able to understand what's happenning around you, and will hopefully find it easier to make new friends or get back in touch with old ones.
One place you could start off your search for info would be the
International Pension Centre on +44 191 218 7777. If they can't help you make sure they give you a contact who will be able to.

Like I say, I'm not sure if you will be better off in the UK. Maybe you could try sorting things out with the family here? There is a member of my own family in the UK who I have no contact with what so ever, and he doesn't visit the family even though both my parents are ill. What I mean is, these things don't just happen because you are abroad...


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

You will continue to receive your State Retirement Pension but I'm not sure about what else as most previously-existing benefits have been subsumed into the new Universal Benefit.

If you have no UK property to return to you will most probably have to rent privately as social housing is in short supply.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

I think you have found yourself in a very sad situation but would you not consider moving to one of the areas in Spain where you could find Brits? After six years here you may find it more difficult to adjust to a British lifestyle. I am sure some of the people on this forum who know Spain much better than I do will soon be on and able to tell you where to start looking.
The best of luck.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

If you are both UK citizens, once you are permanently resident you will be eligible for any benefits the same as other UK citizens. Presume you already get your Old Age pension.

It might take time to re-establish yourselves but you have only been gone 6 years so the UK will not have changed that much.

If you are prepared to live anywhere in the UK then chose a place that you think would suit you, and look on the web for rental properties. You might not want to get rid of all your furniture as you will need it in the UK. 

Any friends/family still in the UK who would be prepared to put you up for a few weeks until you got a rental property?

Alternatively, as someone else has said, move to a more cosmopolitan place in Spain with more expats and entertainment.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> What a shame it hasn't worked out.
> 
> I'm not sure how well you will be off in the UK, but at least you'll be able to understand what's happenning around you, and will hopefully find it easier to make new friends or get back in touch with old ones.
> One place you could start off your search for info would be the
> ...


Or you can e-mail them on: 
[email protected]

I have always found them to be very helpful

You could also try age concern in Spain.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Rather than give up on Spain, I would do what others have suggested, perhaps move to somewhere else in Spain with a bit more going on. There's plenty of places to rent and if you need to sell your place then you are also handy for that. I'm sure that if you moved to the UK now you would regret it the minute you landed (or docked).

If you had to rent in the UK, forget social housing as it's in short supply. You will end up having to privately rent, which costs a fortune. Added to that, even if you can afford it, you have to go through credit checks etc, so if you haven't lived in the UK for 6 years you will have no credit history and therefore potentially be turned down. All these property agencies now request credit checks and obviously deposits too, so I'm not sure how you're fixed from that point of view.

I really think you should think long and hard before moving back to the UK and you would be better off going somewhere where there are plenty of ex pats where you can make more friends. At the end of the day, if you do do that for, say, six months and that doesn't work out, then you won't really have lost anything and if you really did want to move back to the UK, you could. Six months isn't long and don't forget if you do go back to the UK you'll end up not only financially worse off but freezing cold too!


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

Yes, I do agree with you that the couple should try another part of Spain, perhaps Valencia, not that I know it but seems to be mentioned regularly on this forum. As you say rents here in many places are much more reasonable and generally speaking I find Brits much more outgoing and friendly once they have left their native shores. That could be because many are retired so now have more time on their hands and of course for much of the year the weather is better which also helps our spirits.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

There are of course two ways of looking at this

Firstly, you clearly aren't happy where you and so staying there is not an option. You maybe need somewhere with a stronger ex pat presence where maybe you can join some groups to interact with others. Places like Benidorm for instance are full of older british expats, and the ranks swell in the winter as they come to Spain from the UK on extended winter holidays. Benidorm gets a bad press, but for the older population in need of interaction it's a good choice .... and there's lots of property for rent cheaply. You have to decide if that kind of move will make you happy because clearly feeling cut off from family is not doing you any good, and you will be further away from them there

The other option is of course returning to the UK. We are relocating our centre of interests also, after being here for nearly 7 years. For us the relocation is simple because we have a property there.
As stated, sociual housing may not be too easy to get, so you would have to contemplate rental in area near your friends and / or what family you have there. In the suburbs of Birmingham at a cursory glance at Rightmove you can get a 1 bedroomed flat in Moseley for around £400 a month and I rented a 2 bedroom flat for my daughter some years ago near the centre of Solihull for £425 a month
That would be your main priority, getting a property. After that things would be relatively simple, such as registering with the doctor etc

At the end of the day its going to be what you feel most comfortable with, as there is absolutely no point in being in a situation where you are miserable or depressed. You should think hard and make the decision that will make your life better .... you're only here once and theres no point in wasting time just thinking about it


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

And I forgot to say ......... keep posting on here, it will give you some sense of support and help, which you will need whichever course of action you decide to take


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## Tilley (Jun 10, 2012)

It's very difficult when you move to be near family, but as that family gets older and moves on (emotionally and in its development) they seem to need you less and less. But I think this is often down to the individuals involved and may have happen whereever folk are domiciled.

There seems to be some merit in the arguments that trying a different area of Spain with more ex-pats may lead you to being less lonely. At least you have each other, so to get into the swing of things in a new area you could go out for meals and events together in the hopes of starting a new social life.

Do you have a propery in the UK that you can go back to ? If not you may end up renting in a completely different area to where your UK friends are anyway.

To give an idea of prices I rented a one bedroomed flat for my Daughter a couple of years ago in Bath and it was £600 a week, plus bills which seemed OK to me, although I'm not sure but it's possible Bath isn't the cheapest in the world to rent in. I'm a bit clueless as live in the South East where rents are holding up quite well.

I would think if your income is restricted to a state pension and savings, they would go further in somewhere like Benidorm. Not an expert on benefits but there was a major shake up in the budget recently and I have never thought they were as easy to claim as the Daily Mail would have one think.

I agree it's a good idea to keep posting on here as you will gain from the sense of community that the site engenders.


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## Mame (Aug 8, 2008)

We made the move back to UK 13 months ago after 8 years in Spain. Have not regretted it at all. We have still not sold our Spanish property so are renting. We ended up in a small town in the Scottish borders rents here are very reasonable, 2 bed cottage £410 a month. We spent hours on the internet looking at property to rent ( rightmove ) used google earth to look around towns.
As we had never rented before we paid 6 months rent up front which did away with all the credit searches etc. The cottage we now have belongs to an estate which makes us feel secure in renting. To be honest when we do sell ( in Spain ) would not bother to buy at our age. As we still own property we can not apply for pension credits or help with rent and rates. I have filled in on line forms to see what we could get if we did only have our pensions and would qualify for help on all fronts. I work to pay our rent and live in hope that we can sell before I get too old to keep on working. I felt as you did and was becoming more depressed where we lived, in the mountains the social life was not great. I am now once again involved in women's groups. There is a theatre in the town and lots going on. Registering with Dr not a problem. Newcastle very good with advice. Good hourly ( free for us ) bus service via towns to Edinburgh or Carlisle in the other direction.We both now feel a lot better. Yes there are things we miss about Spain and do not regret our time there. pm me if there is anything I could help with.


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## Karen58 (Aug 1, 2012)

After reading your predicament I would not worry about returning to UK.. I returned after 8 years here did with my 12 year old son and stayed with my brother for 6 months and found work/accommodation without asking for a penny from the state. As pensioners you will find support systems in place & with anything in writing from your Spanish GP confirming your mental health issues, help will fall into place. If you can stay with either a family member or friend initially a CAB centre will point you in the right direction. The first year will be tough but once you have made your mind up to return UK services will certainly be more receptive to you than the Spanish system. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the luck in the world.


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## Katlady (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi Again. Many thanks for all your replies regarding going back to the UK. We are looking to go back, hopefully before Christmas but there are a number of hurdles to get over first. Mainly, we rent our flat here in a small village near Jaen and it appears that there are no house clearance companies anywhere near here. What do you do with almost (some of it will go back to UK with us) a flat full of furniture? There is no second hand market here that I can see anyway and I am not sure that our landlord would want to buy it so he can re-rent our flat as part furnished, although that will definitely be worth an ask of him I think. Also, do you get rid of your furniture first and then go back to the UK and hope a kind member of your family will put up with you for a couple of months while you find somewhere suitable or, do you find somewhere to live first and hope you can get rid of your stuff before either funds run out or your future landlord finds someone who can move in straight away? We will definitely not miss the weather here as where we are it is freezing in the winter and we boil in the summer months, there seems to be no in-between stage so the English weather will come as some relief for us - at least there are seasons of sorts there. I would appreciate hearing from Mame again though if that is possible as there are a number of questions I would like to ask her. Many thanks for your kind replies - my sanity will hopefully be restored once I am away from here.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

I suggest that you leave the stuff little by little out side the bins at night and I guarantee it will all be gone by morning. Good luck.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Katlady said:


> Hi Again. Many thanks for all your replies regarding going back to the UK. We are looking to go back, hopefully before Christmas but there are a number of hurdles to get over first. Mainly, we rent our flat here in a small village near Jaen and it appears that there are no house clearance companies anywhere near here. What do you do with almost (some of it will go back to UK with us) a flat full of furniture? There is no second hand market here that I can see anyway and I am not sure that our landlord would want to buy it so he can re-rent our flat as part furnished, although that will definitely be worth an ask of him I think. Also, do you get rid of your furniture first and then go back to the UK and hope a kind member of your family will put up with you for a couple of months while you find somewhere suitable or, do you find somewhere to live first and hope you can get rid of your stuff before either funds run out or your future landlord finds someone who can move in straight away? We will definitely not miss the weather here as where we are it is freezing in the winter and we boil in the summer months, there seems to be no in-between stage so the English weather will come as some relief for us - at least there are seasons of sorts there. I would appreciate hearing from Mame again though if that is possible as there are a number of questions I would like to ask her. Many thanks for your kind replies - my sanity will hopefully be restored once I am away from here.


As far as house clearance is concerned, the ayuntamientos usually have a large article collection service (fridges, freezers, furniture, etc)


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Katlady said:


> Hi Again. Many thanks for all your replies regarding going back to the UK. We are looking to go back, hopefully before Christmas but there are a number of hurdles to get over first. Mainly, we rent our flat here in a small village near Jaen and it appears that there are no house clearance companies anywhere near here. What do you do with almost (some of it will go back to UK with us) a flat full of furniture? There is no second hand market here that I can see anyway and I am not sure that our landlord would want to buy it so he can re-rent our flat as part furnished, although that will definitely be worth an ask of him I think. Also, do you get rid of your furniture first and then go back to the UK and hope a kind member of your family will put up with you for a couple of months while you find somewhere suitable or, do you find somewhere to live first and hope you can get rid of your stuff before either funds run out or your future landlord finds someone who can move in straight away? We will definitely not miss the weather here as where we are it is freezing in the winter and we boil in the summer months, there seems to be no in-between stage so the English weather will come as some relief for us - at least there are seasons of sorts there. I would appreciate hearing from Mame again though if that is possible as there are a number of questions I would like to ask her. Many thanks for your kind replies - my sanity will hopefully be restored once I am away from here.


I reckon you wouldnt have too much difficulty disposing of your furniture. Are there no local rastros? If you approach a store holder he might give you a price for a job lot.

Other then that you could find a man with a van locally and get the lot moved in a day.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Granada/Jaén Community*

If you have a search on facebook for Granada/Jaen Community there are one or two buy,sell and swap sites where you might be able to advertise your furniture etc; but in all honesty I would have a price in mind and stick to it as you will always get people who will offer you ridiculous money if they think you are desperate to sell.Agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the weather especially inland and people in the UK honestly don't believe when you tell them.They think you live here all the time in shorts,T shirts and flip flops.I know here the other day there were a couple of tourists in the village and they could not understand why the Spaniards were amused at their dress sense.They were dressed as described and it was bloody freezing.By the By.Like I said I sincerely wish you the best of luck.Have a look on facebook as it's not going to cost you anything.Regards.SB.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

soulboy said:


> If you have a search on facebook for Granada/Jaen Community there are one or two buy,sell and swap sites where you might be able to advertise your furniture etc; but in all honesty I would have a price in mind and stick to it as you will always get people who will offer you ridiculous money if they think you are desperate to sell.Agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the weather especially inland and people in the UK honestly don't believe when you tell them.They think you live here all the time in shorts,T shirts and flip flops.I know here the other day there were a couple of tourists in the village and they could not understand why the Spaniards were amused at their dress sense.They were dressed as described and it was bloody freezing.By the By.Like I said I sincerely wish you the best of luck.Have a look on facebook as it's not going to cost you anything.Regards.SB.


Hahaha!
Another weather comment!
See this thread from 8 until the end if you don't know what I mean 
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/149659-newbie.html


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hahaha!
> Another weather comment!
> See this thread from 8 until the end if you don't know what I mean
> http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/149659-newbie.html


Pesky Wesky,please accept my sincere apologies I hadn't read the thread but there again I have more important things to do with my life than sitting here reading every post.I was just trying to offer a little bit of advise to the OP here and commenting on what she said about the weather.Ah well it takes all sorts.


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## ecomagic (Apr 9, 2013)

So very sorry to hear of your situation. /SNIP/. 
Take care. 

Paul.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

soulboy said:


> Pesky Wesky,please accept my sincere apologies I hadn't read the thread but there again I have more important things to do with my life than sitting here reading every post.I was just trying to offer a little bit of advise to the OP here and commenting on what she said about the weather.Ah well it takes all sorts.


What????????

I think you may have misunderstood my comment!

There was no hidden sarcasm or complaint in my post. I was just saying that there were a lot of comments about the weather which, as I said in the other thread, is something that British people like to do.

I _am_ wondering if your really apologies are sincere though, 'cos that seems a bit sarcastic - possibly, or perhaps I didn't understand ??

I think sometimes things are misinterpreted because we're writing at a distance and not speaking face to face, which is a shame. So please, go ahead and make what ever posts you like to offer advice and help to others and hope we can avoid any more misunderstandings


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Have you thought of donating to your local Caritas branch? When we had good furniture we didn't need in the UK we contacted our local Church and they sent a nun plus large van. Everything, including carpets, was gratefully received.
Many people in Spain lack the essentials for a 'normal' life.


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## murof (Apr 8, 2013)

What people always forget, though (and it comes back to bite them in the bum) is, that as well as rent, there are things like Community Charge (average of about £100 on top of rent) Water Rates adds something like £30-£40 on top again
So you are looking at something in the region of £530+ *JUST* to get a roof over your heads.
Benefits are a minefield at present, and are getting less and less favourable for those that have any amount, pension and savings wise that one would consider an existance only can be gleened from said pension etc would find themselves disqualified by virtue of them having too much. My BIL who had to retire early through ill health lost his Incapacity Benefit (now called something else) because his somewhat meagre occupational pension wiped the means tested part of it cleam away. He then found himself unable to qualify for any housing benefit whatsoever as, again, his pension amount disqualified him completely. His pension, BTW was (is) less than minimum wage.
So, dont go banking on anything from "Team GB" and if you *DO* get anything then, see it as a bonus, but dont bank on keeping it for too long, before the next round of "we are in this together, chaps" comes around
Like has been suggested by others, Looking for another part of Spain to hang your hat...even if its for a few months could be the best option for you. You obviusly moved to "the boonies" so you could be with family. Now move somewhere for yourselves.
How well up on speaking and understanding Spanish are you, BTW?
Knowing a little bit more each day could well be the key to easing the problems faced, even out in the sticks. The locals, for one thing appreciate the fact, for one thing.
And you wouldnt feel a "them and us" situation either

Murof

Murof


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

The OP has already stated they will go back before Christmas
Its the same in Spain, btw ..... local council tax, water rates etc etc and you dont get any help with that at all here


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