Expats refuse to come home

Financial advisers, tax planners and investment managers will be interested to learn that their expatriate client base is set for long term planning.

As many as 15% of British expats have called off their plans to return to the UK. Home economy blues, neighbourhood safety concerns and a reduction in the quality of life, are the three main reasons given, according to Lloyds TSB International.

According to the bank's research, this worldwide community is also shelving plans for a return to the UK at all. The proportion of expats who say they now plan to live away from the UK indefinitely has risen by 13% in the last 12 months to 69%.
 
What expats are refusing to give up is the increased quality of their new lives abroad (appreciated by 74%), healthier finances (enjoyed by 64%) coupled for many with a lower cost of living (52%) and safer neighbourhoods (51%).  

“From economic woes to August’s riots, the UK has faced a catalogue of bad news in recent months. Coupled with expats’ view that the quality of life is higher and they are financially better-off abroad, it’s not surprising that so many have cancelled their plans to return to the UK,” says Tony Wilcox, Managing Director, Expatriate Banking

The survey drew on the opinions of more than 1,000 British expats based in the 10  most popular expat locations during September. The countries were Australia, Spain, US, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, UAE, and Hong Kong.
 
“Considering longer-term trends, I think expats’ increasing happiness with life overseas also reflects that large groups of people in the UK are gradually becoming more outward-looking with increased global travel, more international business and many people generally coming into more contact with other cultures,” added Wilcox.

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