# Family of 6 moving from Australia to London



## Teesdo (May 17, 2010)

A very exciting time, but scary at the same time: we - a family with 4 kids - are moving to the UK in December this year. 

We have no clue where to start when it comes to areas to live in London. It needs to be tops 1 hour from London CBD. Furthermore we would like a nice village/town with both a primary and a secondary school (or all in one?) in walking/cycling distance. Furthermore the schools need to be good (obviously), co-ed and well... public or private, doesn't really matter.

We would appreciate your help tremendously!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Teesdo said:


> A very exciting time, but scary at the same time: we - a family with 4 kids - are moving to the UK in December this year.
> 
> We have no clue where to start when it comes to areas to live in London. It needs to be tops 1 hour from London CBD. Furthermore we would like a nice village/town with both a primary and a secondary school (or all in one?) in walking/cycling distance. Furthermore the schools need to be good (obviously), co-ed and well... public or private, doesn't really matter.
> 
> We would appreciate your help tremendously!!


We need to know your budget. A nice village/town within easy commute of London is probably one of the most expensive areas in UK to live in. A house big enough for 6 in such location will probably cost £2000 plus in monthly rent, plus utilities, but much depends on exact location, property type, interior fittings and presentation. Such area will have good/excellent schools, and will be terribly oversubscribed, so you may have to look for private schools. Standards vary, as are fees payable, but reckon a minimum of £10k a year (more for secondary, age 11+), double that for boarding. All told, you need a serious amount of money or a big salary (say £100k a year net). If it's much less, you have to lower your sight and look for cheaper areas (e.g. modern dormitory town like Harlow in Essex), cheaper housing (e.g. large suburban semi) and state schools.


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## Teesdo (May 17, 2010)

Thanks Joppa... that is a good question. Will get back with that. We are probably looking at buying a house, since this might be a more permanent move. So the question being: what is a nice area to live? What direction of London: south, north, etc? And in that area how much would a 5 bedroom house cost? 

We have looked a few years ago, didn't happen then, but the prices were shocking... the first 20 pages were only in the 10's of millions.... so many millionaires in England or just looking in the wrong area (can't even remember which area we looked)? 

Thanks again for your help!


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## Teesdo (May 17, 2010)

[Thanks Jessi. The move is not to take place before December, so there is some time to work all this out (our last move from NL to Oz was within 6 weeks... not so much time ;-))... 
Don't look forward to the "starting all over again" part of it.. but hey.. life's an adventure hey??? Hope my kids will agree with me ;-)

Again, thanks for your reply Jessi.


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## Anna6124 (May 17, 2010)

Teesdo said:


> A very exciting time, but scary at the same time: we - a family with 4 kids - are moving to the UK in December this year.
> 
> We have no clue where to start when it comes to areas to live in London. It needs to be tops 1 hour from London CBD. Furthermore we would like a nice village/town with both a primary and a secondary school (or all in one?) in walking/cycling distance. Furthermore the schools need to be good (obviously), co-ed and well... public or private, doesn't really matter.
> 
> We would appreciate your help tremendously!!


I've been living in Ealing in West London for around two years now. I've lived in other parts of London but there are some lovely areas in the West. Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common in particular are very nice - very green and safe feeling. Obviously there are areas that are nicer than others but 5 bedroom houses in Ealing Broadway start at around £700, 000 and get cheaper the further you move out of the center. This puts you about 30 minutes from central London by tube depending on how close you live to the station. As I said before, Ealing is very green with lots of parks and schools nearby. I sound like I work for the Ealing Council Tourist Board but myself and my friends really do love living there. 

Once you decide where you want to be, or even if you just want to see what you can get for your money, Right Move is a great housing website. I can't post URLS on here but if you type Rightmove into google you should find it easily. It allows you to filter property searches depending on what features you want, i.e. garden, garage etc and will tell you how far you are from the nearest station/schools etc. 

Use TFL (google search 'Transport for London') for information on travelling in London. It has maps of all the tube lines and a journey planner so you can put in the nearest station to your house and then another London station (or the post codes of both locations) and it will tell you exactly how long it will take you to get there by public transport. This will enable you to see how long it will take you to get from areas you may be interested in living in to the center of London


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## Teesdo (May 17, 2010)

Anna6124 said:


> I've been living in Ealing in West London for around two years now. I've lived in other parts of London but there are some lovely areas in the West. Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common in particular are very nice - very green and safe feeling. Obviously there are areas that are nicer than others but 5 bedroom houses in Ealing Broadway start at around £700, 000 and get cheaper the further you move out of the center. This puts you about 30 minutes from central London by tube depending on how close you live to the station. As I said before, Ealing is very green with lots of parks and schools nearby. I sound like I work for the Ealing Council Tourist Board but myself and my friends really do love living there.
> 
> Once you decide where you want to be, or even if you just want to see what you can get for your money, Right Move is a great housing website. I can't post URLS on here but if you type Rightmove into google you should find it easily. It allows you to filter property searches depending on what features you want, i.e. garden, garage etc and will tell you how far you are from the nearest station/schools etc.
> 
> Use TFL (google search 'Transport for London') for information on travelling in London. It has maps of all the tube lines and a journey planner so you can put in the nearest station to your house and then another London station (or the post codes of both locations) and it will tell you exactly how long it will take you to get there by public transport. This will enable you to see how long it will take you to get from areas you may be interested in living in to the center of London


Hi Anna,
Thank you so much for your information. Ealing sounds like a great place and even closer than I thought possible (being green, family friendly and all). So even better!!! 
I appreciate your time and help! And I will definitely have a look at the websites your mentioned. 
Hope you have a wonderful day!


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## clfernan (May 4, 2010)

*Ditto*



Teesdo said:


> A very exciting time, but scary at the same time: we - a family with 4 kids - are moving to the UK in December this year.
> 
> We have no clue where to start when it comes to areas to live in London. It needs to be tops 1 hour from London CBD. Furthermore we would like a nice village/town with both a primary and a secondary school (or all in one?) in walking/cycling distance. Furthermore the schools need to be good (obviously), co-ed and well... public or private, doesn't really matter.
> 
> We would appreciate your help tremendously!!


Hey, we have just done the same trip, arrived on the 18th of May! We moved from peavy Hawthorn to Borough, in the SE. The place is sanwiched between Elephant and Castle and London Bridge. We got our 3 bedroom Georgian terrace ia Rightmove and it ended up being everything we hoped for and more. We were lucky as our second son was already living in London for the past 2.5 yes so he eyeballed the places we short listed. 
We have 2 sons living with us and the youngest is the only one needing school. He is almost 16, which means A levels in September. Selecting a school has been a headache as our son was focused on attending a state school. This has proved too difficult and we have now short listed 3 schools, 2 private and a local 'Acamedy' college. We arranged for our son to do a 'taste test' at each school, the first of which 
happens this Friday. Depending on the ages of your children, you will need to consider the September start of academic year. 

Good luck with everything and let us know if u have any specific Qs. 

Cheers


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## Teesdo (May 17, 2010)

clfernan said:


> Hey, we have just done the same trip, arrived on the 18th of May! We moved from peavy Hawthorn to Borough, in the SE. The place is sanwiched between Elephant and Castle and London Bridge. We got our 3 bedroom Georgian terrace ia Rightmove and it ended up being everything we hoped for and more. We were lucky as our second son was already living in London for the past 2.5 yes so he eyeballed the places we short listed.
> We have 2 sons living with us and the youngest is the only one needing school. He is almost 16, which means A levels in September. Selecting a school has been a headache as our son was focused on attending a state school. This has proved too difficult and we have now short listed 3 schools, 2 private and a local 'Acamedy' college. We arranged for our son to do a 'taste test' at each school, the first of which
> happens this Friday. Depending on the ages of your children, you will need to consider the September start of academic year.
> 
> ...


Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. The schools are going to be the major problem, and unfortunately we will not be able to move in September. So January it is.... 
Doing a "taste test" is a good idea. We will probably fly to London somewhere in Spring (Southern hemisphere spring that is) and check out some spots we might like. 
Thanks for your help and I will definitely let you know if I have any q's. 

Cheers!
Teesdo


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