Dubai - While some are worried about crashing property prices, others say it has made them rethink about their plans on moving back to their home country.
Published: Sat 19 Jan 2019, 9:43 PM
While the whole world awaits to see what happens on March 30 with increasing possibility that Britain will leave the European Union on March 29 without a plan, British expatriates in the UAE are still a bit unsure about the implications it would have. While some are worried about crashing property prices, others say it has made them rethink about their plans on moving back to their home country.
Working mother Laura Morgan, 31, who has been a UAE resident for five years now, said:
"We were planning to buy a property back in the UK but the Brexit deal has made us reassess and hold fire until after March. If there's a dip or crash in the property market we don't want to buy at the wrong time.
Asked if Brexit issue affected her family's future plan of moving back to the UK, Laura said: "Yes, potentially this has made us rethink our return to the UK and it may now not be as close as we were initially planning. I think it would be important to understand the job market etc before leaving the UAE and our current jobs here."
Talking about the state of mind of her friends and family back home in the UK, Laura said: "My sister is looking to get a mortgage on her own this year so she's hoping it will positively affect her. I don't think my friends feel it will affect them, other than perhaps, hoping the cost of living will plateau or go down."
Dubai resident Aleena Khan, 17, who is in her A levels and moved to the UAE over seven years ago from England said her plans of going back to her home country were not much affected with the Brexit deal or no-deal.
"Brexit hasn't changed my aspirations of attending a British university in the coming years, although I am wary that it will affect my travel within Europe and hence makes non-European holiday destinations more appealing to me. I plan on staying within the UAE until I finish my A Levels next year but after that I will be looking to move back to England. Brexit doesn't change this plan of mine because England is where the majority of my family is.
"A lot of my friends have changed their university plans to consider American colleges and universities outside Britain (the Netherlands, France etc)," Khan added.
British expat Sarah Wright said staying in the UAE, she doesn't feel the Brexit deal will much affect her life. "I feel while being here in Dubai, we do feel slightly more distant and it's not a genuine worry at present. At the moment, it feels like chaos and the impact of actually leaving is unclear, just have to deal with the embarrassment of the UK government. I feel Brits living in Europe are more at risk than us, living in the Middle East"
A friend of Wright, who has recently moved by to the UK from Dubai, said: "Generally everyone is cautious about buying property in Europe and the housing market in the UK is practically at a standstill. Nobody understands what the implications will be as there is no real information but only squabbling between ministers. To be honest everyone is sick of hearing about it. The cost of coming to an agreement is at the expense of everything else. It seems the Brexit agreement is a full time job."
Charlotte, a Dubai resident for four years, said although she is making the most of the weak pound, she is worried about the property prices. "For sure, I am reconsidering my investment property purchase at the moment in London. My parents are trying to sell our family home but anticipate a reduction on the price they would like and what it was worth before the Brexit crisis."
saman@khaleejtimes.com
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