# Moving from London to Dubai



## London_Expat (Jun 14, 2014)

Hi All,

My husband has been offered a job in Dubai and we are moving there in August - very exiting! 

We'd really appreciate it if you could help us out with a couple of questions:

- SHIPPING: We're looking to ship some furniture and household bits from our London flat to Dubai, can anyone recommend any reasonably priced shipping companies? 

- RENTING AN APARTMENT: We'd really like to live in the Marina, our budget is 120,000 AED per year - is this likely to get us a 2 bed apartment in the Marina and can we negotiate to pay the rent over 4 cheques rather than 1 or 2? 

Alternatively, are there any other areas similar to the Marina that are a bit cheaper? 

We are in our early 30s with no kids, and are looking for quite a lively area with restaurants, bars, gym, community feel etc. Not fussed about being close to the beach, although this would be an added bonus!

- GETTING A CAR: we are looking to ideally lease a car rather than buy one outright - is it quite easy to lease a car, or easier / cheaper to buy a car? 


Thanks so much!


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## londonmandan (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi,

You are best off reading the stickies to get more information re apartments etc however regarding shipping take a look at GFS, International Courier Service, Express Shipping Worldwide and Overseas Express Delivery - GFSExpress.com seemed quiet cheap when I was looking to bring some stuff over, not used them though just thought prices were reasonable. 

Look at JLT area which is other side of SZR

When you get here you will need a visa to buy so look at renting or leasing, loads of people I know rent or lease as it's easier for them. I don't have a car as taxis are cheap enough but if I do we rent one for the day.


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## bonk (Jun 13, 2008)

London_Expat said:


> Hi All,
> 
> My husband has been offered a job in Dubai and we are moving there in August - very exiting!
> 
> ...


1. Don't ship furniture unless it's really important to you. If it is you should be more worried about how good shipping company is than how much it costs.

2. Maybe but probably difficult, rents seem to be a bit all over the place at the moment. After all stories I heard of big increases I was surprised that my rent stayed the same when I questioned my landlord's attempt at increasing it.

Yes 4 checks possible. Depends on how much of an ass the landlord is and your negotiating abilities.

3. Consider TECOM. Or Downtown Dubai if you have more money.

4. Yes, no. I would lease or rent, at least for the first 3-6 months you're here. AED 1500-1700 should get you a Toyota Corolla or smaller.


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## London_Expat (Jun 14, 2014)

thanks Londonmandan and Bonk for your replies.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

There are loads of good shipping companies.
We used Clark and Rose, but there are loads of reputable firms from UK to UAE.

Shipping a 20ft container will be around £3500, door to door, including packing and unpacking.


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## JTG (Apr 20, 2014)

We just moved here from Florida 2 months ago. The company will cover our shipping costs but we decided to move without first to secure our apartment, figure out what we need, what we really don't need, so will be shipping over a few pieces of furniture.

I agree rents are weird lately. Will Expo 2020, the news says that rents have increased 25% in the last six months or so, but we were surprised to see how varied the prices really are. There are a few good classifieds sites out there to check out.

We looked at the Marina, and though it's beautiful the traffic is increasingly a pain and the construction really makes getting around by foot quite treacherous in certain places. We opted for Downtown/DFIC area on SZR. Close to the metro, which we use daily.


We don't have a car yet - once you have your residency visa you can't drive on a British license - you have to get your Dubai license. The husband just got his yesterday so we're looking at cars this weekend. We will definitely be leasing for awhile.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

The best and simplest way to figure out what an apartment costs is to use the RERA rental calculator for a given area, (which reflects actuals with a degree of time lag) and then add a bit more to the total.

As the RERA people probably get their data from Ejari, its likely that the figures they have are on average, half a year out date, so you could add say 10% and be not far out - on average.

120k won't get you as much as you might hope for, but probably a lot more than you would get in London.


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## Johnmason (Mar 31, 2014)

I work in real estate and 120k is fine for 2br in Marina or JLT but for shipping, if the cost is around 3500£ One way so its 7000£ = 44000 AED then you should consider buying new furniture for 2br it will cost you no more than 25000 AED then you can sell them before you go back.
Leasing car is actually better than buying a car so you don't have to worry about insurance and maintenance and get the latest model every year.


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Here is my 2p worth...

I wouldn't live in JBR.
Most of my work colleagues do and to get something reasonable you'd be looking upwards of 140k - in the last 6 months rent has jumped from 120-ish to 140-ish for something decent(ish) with no signs of slowing down, let along dropping despite the "crash" predictions.
Then you've got the traffic, I try to avoid going over there unless its absolutely essential.
Then you've got the noise, my mate lives on the 12th floor of a building and at 9am the other morning we trying to have a discussing and were so annoyed by the noise we left for the office to continue. He reckons he's regularly kept awake and then woken very early by the construction work going on.

Bringing furniture over? - why?
Why bother unless the company have agreed to cover the cost to bring it here - and back again.
Furniture is cheap if you don't mind using Dubizzle to get started. 

It also depends where you're going to work, if you live in JBR and work up north then its a bit of a hike sometimes if the SZR is busy.


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## Maestroeg (Nov 2, 2010)

120k is good for Marina or JLT but my advice is to go for JLT as traffic in Marina is a nightmare just choose a building near the metro so you can walk to the Marina.


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## Mulben (Jan 11, 2009)

We used a relocation company called Diamo and the lady helped us find a property, sorted out car hire and eventually car purchase, and moved all of our furniture over. Was all pretty straightforward and they were really helpful.

The number I have for them is +971 50 944 8609 and the website www.diamogroup.com.

Hope that helps


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