June 17, 2008 06:55am

Poms rush for paradise

Jenny Rogers

14Jun08

MIGRANT Peter Evans is at the forefront of a Pommie invasion.

The former Welshman, wife Sue and son Andrew, 22, recently traded in their chilly London home for the warmer climes of the Gold Coast.

They are part of a massive wave of British migrants who have decided to chase the great Aussie dream.

Brits are now second only to Kiwis in the number of migrants choosing to make the Gold Coast home.

The 2006 Census reveals more than 30,000 Gold Coast residents were born in the United Kingdom and that figure is growing by more than 500 every year.

Mr Evans said he and his family, like many Brits, had begun to despair of how the United Kingdom was heading.

"The UK was not a very nice place to live any more," he said.

"All the new immigrants coming in brought a lot of crime and other social problems with them and were taking many of the jobs.

"The cost of living was so high you were going to work just to survive and, of course, the weather is horrible."

Mr Evans said the family first stopped in Brisbane while waiting for their immigration papers, drove to the Gold Coast for a visit, and fell in love.

"Everything is so green, especially up in the Hinterland and around Mount Tamborine, it reminded us of some parts of the UK.

"We also like that we are just a few minutes from the mountains, a few minutes to the beach and there are plenty of golf courses, which is great for me.

"But the weather was the clincher. For us it's paradise, our oasis, we have been loving every minute."

Despite the recent surge of the Australian dollar, one British pound also still buys just over $2.

With the average home in England and Wales costing £240,000, this means British residents can sell their home and have a war-chest of about $500,000 to spend on their new Australian home. The Evans clan loved that exchange rate.

"We lived in what Aussies would call a duplex, or semi-detached house (in London)," said Mr Evans.

"It was built in the 1930s and had three bedrooms.

"We sold it for £300,000."

Converting to about $620,000, that left the family with a nice purse for their Down Under purchase.

They bought at the Highland Reserve estate in Upper Coomera and are building a two-storey, five-bedroom home with a pool.

Mr Evans, a building site manager with Villaworld, said they were astounded at the number of Brits they had discovered who had moved to the Gold Coast's booming northern corridor.

"In the estate where we're building there are six other English couples," he said.

"Many of our friends back in the UK are thinking about making the move."

Stockland home finance specialist Clayton David said he was coming across more and more British migrants who were hunting for property in Australia.

"I was recently invited to a barbecue and when I arrived I found about 20 English couples there, all looking at buying in Australia," he said.

Mr David said most UK migrants had a high net worth and the capacity to earn high wages in Australia.