I couldn’t afford to live in the UK as stay-at-home mum so moved to Mauritius – it’s so cheap and we have the dream life
A MUM-of-one who moved her young family to Mauritius for a “better lifestyle” has said that she’d “have to win the lottery to move back”.
Annabel Fenwick Elliott, 37, didn’t want to put her son Jasper, two, in childcare and quickly realised she could “never afford” her good lifestyle in the UK.
At the same time, her German-born husband, Julius Scholtes, 31, couldn’t get a British visa.
So, travelling over 6,000 miles to East Africa in September 2023 for a new life with less work and daily trips to the beach just made sense.
“I don’t think you can have a good life in the UK unless you have a substantial amount of money,” Annabel tells.
“You need so much to live in a decent house.
“I’d have to win the lottery to move back.”
The family lives in Poste de Flacq and pays a similar price for a four-bedroom house with a pool as Annabel did for her “tiny” studio flat in London.
The single-room home cost her £1,200 in mortgage and bills – and that was before the cost of living crisis kicked off.
Annabel moved out to stay with a friend in Essex after giving birth to Jasper and had “initially wanted to settle in the UK”.
But she had to move abroad when helicopter pilot Julius was unable to get a UK visa despite having a British-born son.
The family initially moved to Iceland in 2022 before moving to Mauritius in September 2023 for a job.
They then fell in love with their home and have never looked back.
“We have a big, big house,” Annabel tells.
“I never thought I’d be able to live somewhere like this.
“In England this would be more than a £1 million house.
What help is available to parents for childcare costs?
CHILDCARE can be a costly business. Here is how you can get help.
- 30 hours of free childcare – Parents of three and four-year-olds can apply for 30 hours of free childcare a week.
To qualify you must work at least 16 hours a week at the national living or minimum wage and earn less than £100,000 a year. - Tax credits – For children under 20, some families can get help with childcare costs.
- Tax-free childcare – Available to working families and the self-employed, for every £8 you put in the government will add an extra £2.
“Everything is so much cheaper.”
The cheap cost of living means she can afford to stay at home with Jasper – and work from home as a freelance journalist, while still renting out her studio flat in London.
“I didn’t want to have to put Jasper in daycare,” she says.
“All my friends had to put their babies in daycare at nine or 10 months old.
“The concept of working full time when you don’t want to be away from your baby – just to afford to bring them up – is wrong.
“I would have had such mum guilt.”
The average cost of sending a child under the age of two to nursery in the UK is £300 a week full-time – an eye-watering £14,030 a year.
For part-time tots in childcare, the average cost is £148.63 a week, or £7,210 a year.
Annabel feels being able to afford to bring up a baby “shouldn’t be too much to ask”.
She adds: “I don’t see how we could have a good lifestyle in the UK.
“I feel so lucky.”