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Melanie McKinnon has decided to move back to her native Adelaide to be close to her family after 26 years, but she was left "stunned" when she started investigating property
12:03, Mon, Feb 23, 2026 Updated: 12:04, Mon, Feb 23, 2026
A woman planning to move Down Under has warned Brits to "let go (Image: Getty Images)
A woman preparing to leave the UK for Australia after 13 years transforming a property has issued a warning to Brits about abandoning one particular expectation. Melanie McKinnon has dedicated more than a decade to renovating a Grade II-listed country residence in Nottinghamshire, but is now planning to relocate Down Under to reunite with her family.
Melanie reports that she and her British husband David, with whom she has three children, find themselves in a "good financial position". Indeed, they expect their 6,500 sq. ft, seven-bedroom property in the village of Carlton-on-Trent - complete with Venetian fireplaces and "luxury leisure facilities" - to command an impressive £1.2 million. However, upon researching property values in South Australia's previously "bargain" city, she was "stunned" to discover the family would be compromising on a four-bedroom property offering merely a quarter of the space and a third of the land.
Melanie has decided to move back to her native Adelaide (stock) (Image: Getty Images)
She told The Times: "I would tell any Brits thinking of moving to Australia to let go of the idea that it's going to be cheaper. Australia isn't really cheaper for anything anymore. We'll definitely be downsizing. I've already made more than £5,000 by selling our furniture on Vinted."
"But there are still huge upsides. Sunshine is fantastic. Life is lived outdoors. And in terms of politics, I always think of England as a massive ocean liner and Australia as a tugboat - it changes direction much more easily."
Melanie said that costs have now surpassed even notoriously expensive cities like London and New York, highlighting that Adelaide is projected to experience property price growth of up to 14% in 2026.
In October 2025, reports surfaced revealing that Australian house prices were climbing at their swiftest rate in nearly four years, with Brisbane overtaking Canberra as the nation's second-most expensive market, according to Domain data.
Melanie was "stunned" by local property prices (Image: Getty Images)
Sydney remained the priciest, with a median house price of $1,751,728 (roughly £918k), followed by Brisbane ($1,101,114/£577k), Canberra ($1,100,392/£576k), Melbourne (£1,083,043/£567k), and Adelaide ($1,048,773/£550k).
It comes after a woman who used to live in London and relocated to Sydney shared a warning to other Brits considering a similar move.
Emily, TikTok user @thediariesofemdownunder, had been sharing videos discussing her new Australian life, but admitted in one clip that she would wonder "What the hell" she was doing there.
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She said: "Anyone else who's moved to Australia just think 'What the hell am I doing here on the other side of the world?' on a daily basis?".
Emily added: "I've been here a month and a half now and honestly, that is the thought that crosses my mind every single day."
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