I ditched the UK to live in South Africa – cocktails cost pennies, rent is £450 and I can work by the pool

LAYING on a sun lounger beside a private pool, surrounded by lush tropical foliage, Plum Leigh reaches for her laptop to start work.

But the 27-year-old, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, is not on a working holiday - she’s ditched the UK for life in South Africa and says the cost of living leaves her quids in.

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“I pay £450 a month for a two-bedroom garden cottage with a pool. I can work from the pool or the beach,” secondary school tutor Plum tells The Sun, from her home in Johannesburg. 

“I teach students in Britain and I am tens of thousands of miles away. I am saving thousands a month from fleeing England.

“I’m doing a postgraduate degree in teaching. It’s costing me £1.5k instead of the £10k I’d pay back home. It is a no brainer.

“I can run my business from my cottage, enjoy great weather and eat out for a fraction of the price back home.

“Cocktails cost £4 quid here instead of £15 in London. I am saving double what I did in Britain. 

“I will be able to put a deposit down on a house next year. In England that would be impossible.”

£1,000 saving on rent

Last year, 33,000 Brits chose South Africa as a holiday destination and 125,000 more visited in the first quarter of this year, as the weak rand ensured low prices. 

Over 200,000 ex-pats have made it home.

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From her Johannesburg cottage, Plum is just 90 minutes away from a Plumari Reserve, where safari lovers can see rhinos, lions, elephants, giraffes and buffalo in the wild.

Single Plum left university with a £50k debt and worked as an economics teacher at a local secondary school.

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“I went straight into work as a teacher and loved it. Working in secondary school is hard and challenging but I thrived. I want to teach, and I want to put in the hours,” she says.

But in November 2022, Plum decided I wanted to get a Postgraduate Degree in Education and was stunned that it would cost her another £10k.

“The thought of upping my student loan to £60k was heartbreaking.

“That amount of student debt was overwhelming. I’m a dedicated teacher but without a postgraduate degree I wasn’t going to be able to achieve the teaching goals I wanted.

Cocktails cost £4 quid here instead of £15 in London. I am saving double what I did in Britain 

Plum Leigh

“The cost of living was terrifying me. I didn't see a future here in which I’d be debt free or even able to buy a house until I was in my forties.”

Plum, who has friends and cousins who live in South Africa. and has holidayed there several  times, decided to take positive action and move away from England.

“I wanted to stay here but there were no incentives. My rent on a two-bedroom felt was £1,400. I couldn’t save money.” 

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Costly medical care

In January 2023, Plum upped sticks and moved to Johannesburg.

“Many of my friends told me I was crazy but I knew I had no other option,” she says.

It’s a decision Plum doesn’t regret.

“I have a great little cottage. It's £450 a month including electricity, water and Wi-Fi. It has a private pool and the area is amazing,” she says.

“It's in a secure area. If I want a cleaner and housekeeper for a day, it costs £15. In Maidenhead that would most me £150.

“The rent here is £1,000 cheaper than it was in Maidenhead and it includes all my bills.

“Britain has a shortage of teachers. I wanted to get my post graduate degree in teaching but for that privilege I had to pay £10,000.

“In South Africa it’s only £1,500. For a twenty-something like me that saving of £8,500 is huge.  It’s half a house deposit. It was one of the reasons I knew I had to leave Britain."

Plum was also frustrated with the failing healthcare system in Britain - although medicine in South Africa is far from cheap.

“I pay £120 a month for private medical insurance,” she says. “I recently had to have surgery but there was no waiting list, it was free due to my insurance. It saved me time.

“I don't have to wait months or years for a dentist appointment.  Living here means I won’t be living with dental poverty like so many people are back home.”

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Ten pound feasts

According to Plum the cost of food in the supermarkets in South Africa is about the same as in Britain.

“The cost of living here does affect groceries but eating out is so cheap and the food’s amazing.

“A lush restaurant serving bottomless sushi for an evening meal costs a tenner here. In Britain it would be three or four times that.

“I eat out most nights. On the weekends my friends and I enjoy £4 cocktails instead of the £10 to £15 back home.

“I can go out and not have to use my credit card. That's a huge relief.”

However, Plum admits some things come at a premium - including buying a car.

“I paid £5.5k for a fourteen-year-old Honda,” she says. “The Vehicle Import Tax in South Africa means even second hand cars are expensive. The cost of fuel is high too but road tax is just £20 a year.”.

Plum, who is now part way through her post-graduate course, runs a ‘side hustle’ tutoring business to cover costs.

“I can still tutor students back home and I have students in Johannesburg. I can grow my business and not worry about the huge debt I was incurring in England."

Plum has now paid off £1,500 on her credit cards and is starting to save for her first home.

“That would have been impossible with the astronomical cost for rent I was paying. I see a future,” she says.

“I do miss my friends and family in Britain. But I feel less anxious, less stressed and happier living in the southern hemisphere.

“The weather is great. People are friendlier and more open. It’s easier and cheaper.

“Many people worry about crime in South Africa. I am lucky I haven’t encountered any issues. There are no-go areas here as there are in Britain. It is about being sensible.

“I know many people will tell me I didn’t put the effort in back in Britain. Others will tell me I think the grass is greener. 

“That’s not the case. I researched moving here. I visited and I did the numbers. 

“I am a proud Gen Z member who wants to work, to better herself and to grow a business. 

“I am not moaning. I decided to take radical action and move out of Britain.

According to the Office of National Statistics, ONS, data in 2023 more than half a million or 532,000 people left the UK to live overseas.

South Africa is the number eight destination for people looking for a new life overseas.

Research by Postgrad, a postgraduate education marketing company revealed half of Britons have considered leaving the UK for better opportunities abroad and two out of five don't think the UK is a good place for young people to live.

The 2024 survey found most people are worried about houses costing too much, not getting enough pay and having to pay too much in tax.

One in three believed they could earn more money if they worked in another country. 

 “I am one of those people,” says Plum. “We’re leaving Britain to better ourselves overseas because the future in the UK is too bleak.

“I tried to make it work but there wasn’t the support we needed.

“We’re being forced out of Britain by rising prices, the cost of education and a failing health care system.

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“I worry the ‘Gen Z brain drain' will leave Britain lagging behind the rest of the world.

“For me the grass is greener. I love the fact I am living in South Africa but still tutoring students in Britain. I haven’t forgotten I am a teacher first and foremost.”

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