# Relocation to Gibraltar



## dannybbbus

Hi

I am considering moving to Gibraltar and would like some advice from all you good people out there.
The move would be with my wife and 2 kids (under 2).
I have a secured job there so no problem with that however what I would like to find out is:
- Can anyone give me a rough estimate for an apartment with 3 bed rooms?
- Average cost of living (i.e. electricity, water, an average shopping cart for a family of 4, etc...)
- Car price + monthly running costs
- Etc...

The above, I hope, will help me assess whether the deal is worth while going for.

Thanks,
Dan


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## jojo

dannybbbus said:


> Hi
> 
> I am considering moving to Gibraltar and would like some advice from all you good people out there.
> The move would be with my wife and 2 kids (under 2).
> I have a secured job there so no problem with that however what I would like to find out is:
> - Can anyone give me a rough estimate for an apartment with 3 bed rooms?
> - Average cost of living (i.e. electricity, water, an average shopping cart for a family of 4, etc...)
> - Car price + monthly running costs
> - Etc...
> 
> The above, I hope, will help me assess whether the deal is worth while going for.
> 
> Thanks,
> Dan


I had a bit of a look at Gib a while ago and apartment prices with three bedrooms were around 1000 - 15000€ a month - which is quite expensive compared to Spain, but then space is of a premium in Gib. Cost of living is around about the same as the UK altho, the "council tax is cheaper (in fact if you rent it'll probably be included in the price). Food could be cheaper in Gib cos they dont charge tax there, but I found that the shops know that and load it on a bit anyway, so in general things arent that much cheaper - altho cigarettes, booze and petrol are. Alot of expats and Spanish drive to Gibralter to get cheap stuff!!! I dont know what sort of things you buy or how you spend your money on a weekly basis, but I guess if you exclude booze and ciggies, your weekly food bill maybe a little less than the UK - maybe 10%??????

I cant tell you how much it will cost to run your car, but as I've said, petrol is cheaper than the UK

You need to come over to Gib and have a look around and find out dont you!!!!!


Jo xxx


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## jimenato

dannybbbus said:


> Hi
> 
> I am considering moving to Gibraltar and would like some advice from all you good people out there.
> The move would be with my wife and 2 kids (under 2).
> I have a secured job there so no problem with that however what I would like to find out is:
> - Can anyone give me a rough estimate for an apartment with 3 bed rooms?
> - Average cost of living (i.e. electricity, water, an average shopping cart for a family of 4, etc...)
> - Car price + monthly running costs
> - Etc...
> 
> The above, I hope, will help me assess whether the deal is worth while going for.
> 
> Thanks,
> Dan


Consider living in Spain. A three bedroomed house in Jimena de la Frontera (with communal pool etc) would be about 600 Euros per month. You can live anywhere from Estepona to Tarifa and many places inland. Getting in to Gib every morning is a bit of a pain but the quality of life etc.............


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## sparkplug

jojo said:


> I had a bit of a look at Gib a while ago and apartment prices with three bedrooms were around 1000 - 15000€ a month - which is quite expensive compared to Spain, but then space is of a premium in Gib. Cost of living is around about the same as the UK altho, the "council tax is cheaper (in fact if you rent it'll probably be included in the price). Food could be cheaper in Gib cos they dont charge tax there, but I found that the shops know that and load it on a bit anyway, so in general things arent that much cheaper - altho cigarettes, booze and petrol are. Alot of expats and Spanish drive to Gibralter to get cheap stuff!!! I dont know what sort of things you buy or how you spend your money on a weekly basis, but I guess if you exclude booze and ciggies, your weekly food bill maybe a little less than the UK - maybe 10%??????
> 
> I cant tell you how much it will cost to run your car, but as I've said, petrol is cheaper than the UK
> 
> You need to come over to Gib and have a look around and find out dont you!!!!!
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


Fuel is loads cheaper!
IIRC it was about 65p a litre in august....


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## lizzielie

jojo said:


> I had a bit of a look at Gib a while ago and apartment prices with three bedrooms were around 1000 - 15000€ a month - which is quite expensive compared to Spain, but then space is of a premium in Gib. Cost of living is around about the same as the UK altho, the "council tax is cheaper (in fact if you rent it'll probably be included in the price). Food could be cheaper in Gib cos they dont charge tax there, but I found that the shops know that and load it on a bit anyway, so in general things arent that much cheaper - altho cigarettes, booze and petrol are. Alot of expats and Spanish drive to Gibralter to get cheap stuff!!! I dont know what sort of things you buy or how you spend your money on a weekly basis, but I guess if you exclude booze and ciggies, your weekly food bill maybe a little less than the UK - maybe 10%??????
> 
> I cant tell you how much it will cost to run your car, but as I've said, petrol is cheaper than the UK
> 
> You need to come over to Gib and have a look around and find out dont you!!!!!
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


Hi Danny,

I hope I can help a little with some of the answers:

- Food is more expensive in Gib, although no VAT it is import duty of 10%. Plus as there is no competition to Morrisons, you do not get the fab deals you get in the UK. There was a recent survey done by the Chronicle, and UK was quite a bit cheaper than Gib. Most would shop in Spain as you can save quite a fair bit.

- Petrol is now around 81.9p a litre

- Cost of renting in Gib can be high, but bargains can be found if you know people. Having said that, if you require Gib ID, you have to be careful that the owner is not using the address as their official address or it is Government housing that is sublet. All depends on if you are planning to send your kids to school in Gib or you are happy to use Spanish school.

- Car depends on your choice of country. Cars in Gib are cheap, quite a bit cheaper than Spain and no road tax. Spanish cars, I am sure you have already figured out, are pricier.. 

- Queues at the frontier can be bad, so if you chose to live in Spain, do as most do, park in La Linea and walk/ take the bus to work.

Hope that helps


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## xabiaxica

lizzielie said:


> Hi Danny,
> 
> I hope I can help a little with some of the answers:
> 
> - Food is more expensive in Gib, although no VAT it is import duty of 10%. Plus as there is no competition to Morrisons, you do not get the fab deals you get in the UK. There was a recent survey done by the Chronicle, and UK was quite a bit cheaper than Gib. Most would shop in Spain as you can save quite a fair bit.
> 
> - Petrol is now around 81.9p a litre
> 
> - Cost of renting in Gib can be high, but bargains can be found if you know people. Having said that, if you require Gib ID, you have to be careful that the owner is not using the address as their official address or it is Government housing that is sublet.* All depends on if you are planning to send your kids to school in Gib or you are happy to use Spanish school.*
> 
> - Car depends on your choice of country. Cars in Gib are cheap, quite a bit cheaper than Spain and no road tax. Spanish cars, I am sure you have already figured out, are pricier..
> 
> - Queues at the frontier can be bad, so if you chose to live in Spain, do as most do, park in La Linea and walk/ take the bus to work.
> 
> Hope that helps


can you really send your kids to spanish state school in spain if you live on Gib:confused2:

or state school on Gib if you live in spain?:confused2:


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## jojo

xabiachica said:


> can you really send your kids to spanish state school in spain if you live on Gib:confused2:
> 
> or state school on Gib if you live in spain?:confused2:


I believe alot of people live in Spain and work in Gib, and no they legally cant send their kids to school in Gib unless they have an address in Gib, but they do - I guess they get around it by using a phoney address. I dont know if it can be done the other way around?????

Jo xxx


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## lizzielie

xabiachica said:


> can you really send your kids to spanish state school in spain if you live on Gib:confused2:
> 
> or state school on Gib if you live in spain?:confused2:


Thanks Xabiachica

My bad, should have made that clearer... 

If you want to send your kids to school in Gib, you need to live there unless you wish to pay £1000 a term. They are checking now if you actually live there (unannounced), so a risky road to take to use a friend or relative's address. 

And my statement was really meant to say if he is happy to send his kids to Spanish school, Danny would be better off financially to live in Spain. 

Hope that clears it up


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## xabiaxica

jojo said:


> I believe alot of people live in Spain and work in Gib, and no they legally cant send their kids to school in Gib unless they have an address in Gib, but they do - I guess they get around it by using a phoney address. I dont know if it can be done the other way around?????
> 
> Jo xxx


that's what I thought

you'd need to be on the padron in Spain to get your kids into state school, which I suppose could be arranged.............


We were once asked by someone if 'someone they knew' could use our address for padron purposes

we refused, though I don't know what ramifications there could have been


our landlord wasn't exactly pleased that _we'd_ signed on the padron


wonder why


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## xabiaxica

lizzielie said:


> Thanks Xabiachica
> 
> My bad, should have made that clearer...
> 
> If you want to send your kids to school in Gib, you need to live there unless you wish to pay £1000 a term. They are checking now if you actually live there (unannounced), so a risky road to take to use a friend or relative's address.
> 
> And my statement was really meant to say if he is happy to send his kids to Spanish school, Danny would be better off financially to live in Spain.
> 
> Hope that clears it up


£1000 a term??


would that be private school or would that be paying to send your child to Gib state school?


either way it seems considerably less than private international/british in Spain


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## lizzielie

xabiachica said:


> £1000 a term??
> 
> 
> would that be private school or would that be paying to send your child to Gib state school?
> 
> 
> either way it seems considerably less than private international/british in Spain


Gib state school I'm afraid...


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## ThePhantom

*I live in La Linea and work in Gibraltar*

Hi Dan

The wife and I both work in Gibraltar and we have been working there for just over a year and a half now. We looked at renting a three bedroom house / flat when we first moved up this way but the prices were too steep. Most of the properties we looked at (4 in total) had a damp problem and the rent was 1,000 pounds plus a month. I have heard that many of the properties in Gib have a damp problem unless you go for one of the new developments.

We decided to live just outside Gib, in La Linea now. We rent a 4 bedroom flat for 600 Euros a month. We were living in a three bedroom house in Alcaidesa for the past year and that cost us 780 Euros a month. Quite cheap for where it was.

The cost of living in Gib can be expensive. I am not sure what price gas and electric are but we are told they are dear. Morrisons has the market sewn up in Gib and can be costly so we only shop there for essentials, (sausages, ****, booze and so on) the rest we get from Lidl, Dia and Mercadona. We are now a family of 4, my eldest son has moved out and now lives with his girlfriend and their beautiful baby in Cadiz and we spend on average 130 - 150 Euros a week on food and ****.

I had a Mitsubishi Pajero (yes, I know what it means! :eyebrows 2.8 Turbo Diesel up until a few months ago when the engine blew up and we were spending 50 quid a week on diesel when living in Alcaidesa, now we commute through the border on my Honda CBR 600. That only costs me 10 quid a week from La Linea.

Unless you are going to be earning roughly 400 - 500 quid a week from that new job, I would forget about living in Gib, La Linea will be cheaper for rentals and the cost of living is cheaper.

If you need any help in finding a place in La Linea, I can recommend a couple of English / Spanish speaking estate agents.

Good luck with your new job and I hope you manage to get things sorted out.

All the best,

Darren.


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## xabiaxica

lizzielie said:


> Gib state school I'm afraid...


ouch


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## ThePhantom

*I couldn’t believe it when the wife made enquiries about sending our daughter to school in Gibraltar and was told it would cost us a £1000 a term.

Even though we both work there and pay our income tax and social insurance they still wanted a £1000 a term. Bloody cheek!*


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## jojo

ThePhantom said:


> *I couldn’t believe it when the wife made enquiries about sending our daughter to school in Gibraltar and was told it would cost us a £1000 a term.
> 
> Even though we both work there and pay our income tax and social insurance they still wanted a £1000 a term. Bloody cheek!*


I've heard of people using their office addresses as their "home" address to get their kids in and get around the fee issue - obviously not legal and I'm sure it would be easy to get caught - how embarrassing would that be! LOL

Jo xx


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## ThePhantom

*jojo*


> I've heard of people using their office addresses as their "home" address to get their kids in and get around the fee issue - obviously not legal and I'm sure it would be easy to get caught - how embarrassing would that be! LOL
> 
> Jo xx


*Yes, it can and has been done. We were considering using a friend/colleagues address in Gibraltar but then thought twice about it. It would not be fair if we got caught out and our daughter was made to suffer so we gave that thought up.*

*Besides that, the Gibbos are not that bright.*  *Did I really say that? *


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## lizzielie

ThePhantom said:


> *jojo*
> 
> *Yes, it can and has been done. We were considering using a friend/colleagues address in Gibraltar but then thought twice about it. It would not be fair if we got caught out and our daughter was made to suffer so we gave that thought up.*
> 
> *Besides that, the Gibbos are not that bright.*  *Did I really say that? *


Happy New Year to all

For anyone thinking of doing that, be aware they are checking it more now than ever before.. My friend moved to Gib from the UK and were still waiting for the ID card when the school started. She had to pay the £1000 fee so her son could start school. Having called to see if there was anything she could do to speed up the process, she was told no, she had to wait for the home inspection before the ID card was issued. 

As this inspection is unannounced, you best be at home or you could be in for another long wait. 

Also worth noting, when the ID card was finally issued, she did not get a refund for the period already lapsed between son started the school and when the papers were finally in order

It used to be easier to use a friends address but now they are cracking down on it . Even if you have a legit address, but you don't seem to live there full time for example, or if you have a studio and a family of 4 is supposed to live there...


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## ThePhantom

*Hi lizzielie and Happy New Year to you too.

I wouldn’t advise anyone to try using someone’s address so they could get their child into a Gib school. My daughter enjoys her school in La Linea, she has been fluent in Spanish for more than five years now and to be honest, I wouldn’t want her to go to a school in Gibraltar.*


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