# Need Help Dont know where to live!



## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hello,

Im debating whether to move to Liverpool,Chester,Manchester, i will be relocated for work in Dec and have to choose a location, I am a single mother and have 3 kids ages 10,9,5 and have lived in Dubai forever! need good schools walking distance from home and close public transport for me. Please can someone guide me to what areas in each city are safe and suitable for me? 

Thanks a million
Suzi


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Suzi 703 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Im debating whether to move to Liverpool,Chester,Manchester, i will be relocated for work in Dec and have to choose a location, I am a single mother and have 3 kids ages 10,9,5 and have lived in Dubai forever! need good schools walking distance from home and close public transport for me. Please can someone guide me to what areas in each city are safe and suitable for me?
> 
> ...


I think Chester is more of a town and doesn't really have a public transportation system.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

nyclon said:


> I think Chester is more of a town and doesn't really have a public transportation system.


Ouch!!! I hope no one from The beautiful City of Chester reads that.

Chester is a very old City with a lot of history and a good public transport system.

If I had to make the choice, It would be Chester without a doubt. Link Below.

Home


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

nyclon said:


> I think Chester is more of a town and doesn't really have a public transportation system.


Thanks


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Meant Chester in UK


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Need some people living in Liverpool, Manchester or Chester to comment please


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Any advise anyone??


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## LaraMascara (Oct 19, 2012)

Well, I have not lived in either Liverpool, or Manchester, but I have spent time in both places - a month here and there, several times, beginning 20 years ago and as recently as last year - they are both very nice places, with friendly people (compared to London anyway), so it really depends on what you want... Manchester has a great gay scene... Liverpool gets more tourists, I think... Beatles tour and all that jazz. 

Both have public transport. 

Can you maybe be more specific, so that I could try and assist you more, with some pointed information?


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2012)

Are you moving for work or looking when you get there? If you are looking for work I'd say manchester. Many more jobs over that way than liverpool & you would probably end up needing to travel to manchester of liverpool for work if you lived there. 

Chester public transport is terrible, liverpool much better & manchester comes top as they have trams on top of buses & trains, they also have lots of night buses. Both liverpool & manchester have loads going on for the kids & family, shopping better in manchester.

How old are the kids and what type of area are you looking at ie how much can you afford in rent, do you need gardens, size of houses? Because both manchester & liverpool have huge areas of terraces, no gardens and moving up from that means moving further from the city & paying more in rent. Chester, I think is lovely some beautiful homes, is far too expensive for me & too far from everything.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

LaraMascara said:


> Well, I have not lived in either Liverpool, or Manchester, but I have spent time in both places - a month here and there, several times, beginning 20 years ago and as recently as last year - they are both very nice places, with friendly people (compared to London anyway), so it really depends on what you want... Manchester has a great gay scene... Liverpool gets more tourists, I think... Beatles tour and all that jazz.
> 
> Both have public transport.
> 
> Can you maybe be more specific, so that I could try and assist you more, with some pointed information?


Thanks Lara and Shell for your reply.

My job will need me to manage a portfolio in the north west, so I shortlisted that to Liverpool,man,chester. I have 3 kids ages 10,9,5, I would need a 3 bedroom house with a garden in a safe neighbourhood, I came across an area called Allerton, looks nice,havent been there just on the net seen some homes. My budget would be 600 a month, but would need schools walking distance to home.

Also another question as I will be moving in Dec do you think schools will accept my kids to enroll for 2nd and 3rd term?? Im so worried that they wont. I need to decide on a location first then check all schools in area I guess.


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2012)

Allerton Liverpool? If so lovely area and loads of great schools. 
Schools will enrol the kids throughout the year so long as they have places.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

_shel said:


> Allerton Liverpool? If so lovely area and loads of great schools.
> Schools will enrol the kids throughout the year so long as they have places.


Great! Thanks then I'll just focus on finding a place with my budget over there. Another q approx what are utilities expenses for a month? I'm on a salary of 38k should that be ok for us? In Dubai there's no tax so we were fortunate but think I might be paying 40 percent there, right?


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2012)

No no, HM Revenue & Customs: Income Tax allowances Second table. You only pay 40% on anything over £34,370. From your personal allowance up to that you pay 20% 

38k should be plenty, we are on less than that and do fine and on much more than most! 

I like this site to calculate take home pay...
UK PAYE Salary Wage Income Tax Calculator 2012 UK. Updated for 2012/2013 inland revenue tax year. Calculate wages pension national insurance and student loan repayments online.

If you know the postcode your council tax will be found here, usually paid in full or spread of 10 or 12 months. But the ad may say what band it is on which is shown on that council web site.

How much is my Council Tax? - Liverpool City Council

Schools to look at near allerton which I know are good, Greenbank Primary, Sudley, King David, Dovedale. And from next year one of the most prestigious private schools becomes a state funded academy Liverpool College. 

Admissions, but you can not apply until you are here and have an address School admissions Liverpool - Liverpool City Council


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

You've seriously made my day! thanks so much! Was getting so stressed out with the financials and tax, the sites you sent thru are perfect wish me luck have my last interview to go this week and by next week should know for certain when I'm coming


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

_shel said:


> No no, HM Revenue & Customs: Income Tax allowances Second table. You only pay 40% on anything over £34,370. From your personal allowance up to that you pay 20%
> 
> 38k should be plenty, we are on less than that and do fine and on much more than most!
> 
> ...


My budget is 600GBP a month, do you think it will be easy to find a house with a garden close to schools in Allerton? I looked at some sites but didnt find anything,is there other close by areas you would recommend with my budget?


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2012)

Wavertree, Broadgreen, Aigburth, Mossley Hill, Greenbank Park & Sefton Park. Look on rightmove they have map view so you can see what schools etc are close. You might able to afford a little more than £600 on 38k. Are you british or will you be on a visa?


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Ya I'm British, I see below my monthly expenses for a monthly salary of 2300(after all taxes):
Rent: 600
Grocery: 700
Council tax: 150
Utilities(tel,gas,elect): 300
Transport: 200
Entertainment/outings: 200

Total expected expenses: 2150
Savings: 150

Does the above look correct?

Thanks
Suzanne


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2012)

So you will be entited to child benefit for the kids. £20 for first child & £13 each for the others per week. You may also get working & child tax credits (not sure on this as its based on income) google 'entitledtoo' and input your details & it should tell you what you might get. 

And if there is no other adult in the family home you get 25% reduction in council tax. 
Grocery looks way to high, look on tesco or asda online shopping, fill a trolley and see the cost. 
Transport, is that fuel or bus passes? Look on merseytravel to see prices for the different passes.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Suzi 703 said:


> Ya I'm British, I see below my monthly expenses for a monthly salary of 2300(after all taxes):
> Rent: 600
> Grocery: 700
> Council tax: 150
> ...


Some other expenses:

Water
TV Licence which is about £12/month
Cable
Internet
Mobile Phone


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks for the information, been online for hours and u were right about the online shopping by the way what are your thoughts about the Wirral?


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

If your transport costs include a car, the costs to factor in include:

Motor insurance: £300 approx per year (fully comprehensive)
Annual road tax: £0-£300 per year or thereabouts (hybrids are £0 - high gas users up in the £200-£300s)
Annual MOT: £50-60 per year (test mandatory on vehicles over 3 years old)
Servicing: approx £300-£400 per year
Fuel: £45 - £75 per tank refill.
Recovery/breakdown insurance: £80 - £120 per year (optional)
Any rental or purchase costs

These costs are _very_ approximate as they will vary on the type, size and age of vehicle, but I thought I'd mention them in case you were thinking of budgeting for a car as part of your transport costs. I own my car outright and only fill it with fuel once a month, but it is a larger car (2.0 litre with a £240 tax bill) and so my monthly car budget thus works out at £170 per month to run.


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2012)

Wirral is lovely & very mixed from millionaires, huge country parks & farm land, beaches to scum estates lol. Areas to avoid (I worked with young offenders there for 12 years) rock ferry, noctourm, Liscard, and New Brighton & Moreton. 

Oxton, heswall, wallasey, neston, brombourgh & spital all lovely. 

Good public transport and not far from Chester and Liverpool for shopping, days out etc. Wirral has grammer schools still so if any of your kids are particually bright  rents would be less there too & may be nicer for the kids living in a town rather than a city.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

The budget for my transport was for public transport as I will wait 6months to settle down before I buy a car I think.

Thanks for more suggestions to live I will look them up 

How do you go around getting caretakers for kids? I might have to be in London once a month for work .


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2012)

There are childminder co ordinators based in the childrens centres run by the council. When you know where you are living find your nearest and pop along. They will give you a list of qualified & registered child minders to ring around.

Childrens centres are great for free activities for kids up to age 5 & for you to meet people. They will also have info about local family & child services and events run by other organisations for the older kids.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Sounds good thanks


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi there hope you all doing well. My situation has changed and now been offered a better job in West London, Brentford. Does anyone know what areas I should be looking at for houses?


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## mamasue (Oct 7, 2008)

Brentford is a good place to be.....Nice areas close by are Chiswick, Ealing, Richmond.
Not so great is the area heading west....Isleworth, Hounslow.... although they're cheaper than Richmond etc.
You'll be very close to some lovely parks...Richmond Park, Syon Park, and Kew Gardens ... and within easy access of central London.... and very close to the river.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks for that, what about Slough or redding? I need an area with good schools close by. With a salary of 65k do you think it's good with 2 kids ?


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## LaraMascara (Oct 19, 2012)

Do you mean Reading? 

Personally, I would not live in Slough or Reading, but it depends on what a person likes... Slough is very diverse, which is good in my eyes. Aside from that, I cannot really think of anything good about Slough - But I am sure many people live their happily, so, no offence! 

Reading is just... Reading. There is a university there. My American friend lives there and she hates it with a passion. Her Brit hubby likes it there. Reading is seemingly not very diverse. 

Both areas would be way too suburban for me. 

I agree with the above post: "Brentford is a good place to be.....Nice areas close by are Chiswick, Ealing, Richmond."


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

LaraMascara said:


> Do you mean Reading?
> 
> Personally, I would not live in Slough or Reading, but it depends on what a person likes... Slough is very diverse, which is good in my eyes. Aside from that, I cannot really think of anything good about Slough - But I am sure many people live their happily, so, no offence!
> 
> ...


I personally find Brentford, well, characterless and dull. Part industrial/commercial (lots of warehouses along A4/M4), part surburban, the only redeeming feature being the river Thames that flows just to the south of it, with attractive redevelopment called Brentford Lock. But will be cheaper than Chiswick, Richmond or Kew.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi there everyone Im moving to London in March and need some help in short listing a few good areas to live in by west London please, anywhere that has good close links to the tube and will get me into central in 30 min or so, also a place where is safe for kids and good schools close by,, would a budget of GBP 1000 -1300 be enough??

Really appreciate your advise

Thanks
Suzi


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

Hey Suzi, we just moved over from the US a couple of weeks ago and are in Kew for a couple more before we move to our house. We looked in Richmond, the area is fabulous, but were unimpressed with what we could get for the money. Our original budget was £1500 and then we were willing to go as high as £2000. The houses were small, not terribly charming and were either off main roads or beside the railroad tracks with itsy bitsy gardens. You could conceivably get something small (2 bed?) for £1300, but I'm not sure. We also looked at Ealing. Ealing Broadway has excellent transport into the City and everywhere else for that matter. It was a nice area, but we ultimately ended up in Rickmansworth. For £1600 we got a 4 bed/2 bath with a huge garden, garage and off street parking. The schools seem nice, it was recommended by my husbands boss... Our boys are 11, 8 & 5 - so the massive garden and bigger house were the deciding factor. We also decided to purchase a car, so that made living farther out doable. The tube from Rickmansworth takes 40 minutes to Bakerstreet and a full hour to Kings Cross, but we have very easy access to M25... If you can or want to buy a car you could potentially live places that have easy access to the motorways. We also considered Maidenhead, but the cost to commute in was about the same as paying for car ins and petrol, so we opted to be closer in. Is your work still going to be in Brentford?


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi Natalie

Thanks so much for sharing your experience I'm so lost! My office is in hammersmith however will be working most from home but need to be able to access clients in central london. Need to decide on a place ASAP as I need to register kids to a school for the third term. Do you know a good real estate u can recommend? Or shall I just continue to look online? My salary will be 2700 per month after tax deductions do u think that will be ok for a family of 3 kids and myself?


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Suzi 703 said:


> Hi Natalie
> 
> Thanks so much for sharing your experience I'm so lost! My office is in hammersmith however will be working most from home but need to be able to access clients in central london. Need to decide on a place ASAP as I need to register kids to a school for the third term. Do you know a good real estate u can recommend? Or shall I just continue to look online? My salary will be 2700 per month after tax deductions do u think that will be ok for a family of 3 kids and myself?


Estate agents are neighborhood specific so you need to decide on a couple of areas and then look for estate agents. How many bedrooms are you looking for with 3 kids? Your expenses other than rent will include council tax, tv licence, gas, electric, water, phone, broadband, mobile, commuting costs. Somewhere between £350-500/month as a rough guess. Plus food and clothing. The kids will need uniforms for school which can be found pretty inexpensively, I think.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Would need 3 bedrooms, I think I should forget looking in London and focus on areas outside however with good and close transport into central. I really don't mind a commute of 40 min max. Another question for you please is that was it easy getting your kids in school middle of term??


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

So, in the US we have one big listing, called the MLS, for houses for sale & rent. Here every agent has their own list. Websites like RightMove and such have houses that aren't even on the market anymore a lot of times. That said, we did see our house on RightMove, lol. Each letting agent only covers a certain area and they only show the houses that are listed with them, but houses can be listed by multiple agents too, apparently :/ it is only slightly nutty and exasperating  What I ended up doing was going on RightMove and looking at the areas we were considering (Richmond, Kew, Chiswick, Ealing, Beaconsfield, Rickmansworth) and then going to the websites for each letting agent that had houses listed in the area. Also, RightMove shows how long a house has been listed on their website, the shorter period of time it has been listed the more likely it is still available. You will see houses on each agents site that aren't necessarily listed on RightMove. 

http://home.rm.com/SchoolFinder/Default.aspx

This is a website for checking out schools. You can compare schools too. I found it really helpful. I am not sure how much you know about schools over here, but good schools are oversubscribed sometimes and the closer you are the better chance you have of getting in. We are still working through this ourselves... You have to apply to the local Council and they will determine which school you child is sent to, from what I understand. 

Here is the budget I put together for us. We have a little more to work with each month, but also feed & cloth 2 adults rather than one... Also, I haven't determined if his will all work out the way I planned it yet, so take it with a grain of salt:

Rent £1600
Council Tax. £ 200
Renters ins. £ 20
Gas/electric. £ 150
Phone. £. 20
Internet. £. 30
Water. £. 50
TV tax. £. 15
Netflix £ 5
Food. £ 600
Life ins. £. 65
Storage £. 25
Car ins £. 100
Spending. 
Petrol. 

I was told previously that I overestimated on some of these. But, your mileage may vary... We eat a lot of meat and fresh veg (think Paleo or traditional diet type eating) so I plan on spending more for food. I also plan on getting fruit & veg boxes delivered to he house, so we will see how this all turns out  

As was pointed out to me, a lot of people in the UK make it on a lot less than that... You just have to figure out what is worth paying more for (or less) to you...


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

Oh, how many bedrooms were you hoping for? 


Hammersmith is really well connected on the tube. So, a lot of places are straight shots from there. Have you looked at the tube maps. Would be a great place to start.


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

We haven't actually gotten the kids into schools yet. We found our house late last week and are still waiting on all the paperwork to come through. I have checked out the application on the council website, but we are also still considering homeschooling. 

All our boys have summer birthdays and we put them in kindergarten when they had just turned 6 rather than just turned 5. That means here they would be a year behind... Our middle guy also has some attention issues and reading difficulty. Plus, it would really make travel easier with not having to wait for school holidays. But, it is a tremendous amount of work and lot of effort to make sure they still have social outlets... So, we still have about a week to decide...

They will find a spot for your kiddos, it just may not be at your first choice school and it might not be the most convenient one... 

Oh, flat or house with a garden? You could easily find a 3 bed flat in the £1000 to £1200 range in Ealing. Remember, you offer lower than they are asking... We offered almost £100 less than they were asking, but I don't know what the average is on that. There is a thread about Ealing on here where someone goes into the nicer areas vs dodgy areas of Ealing. There is also another expat forum that has a lot of good info - ukyankee. I don't know a whole lot about the different areas yet. 

There is an app called London Transport that you should get if you have a smart phone. It will tell you how to get from one station to another and how long it takes, just not the price (I don't think).


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## Arturo.c (Aug 15, 2010)

I lived in the Greater Manchester area for 14 months between 2010 and 2011 (I'm in Scotland now). Rented a cosy house in the Hale suburb of Altrincham city and commuted by tram to Manchester City centre every day. Enjoyed quiet neighbourhood, beautiful parks and very good schools for my daughter and my (special needs) boy. Also very close to Manchester Int'l Airport.

There are some other interesting communities around Manchester worth exploring, such as Wilmslow, Timperley, Didsbury and Cheadle. There you can enjoy the quiet life and still commute easily to and from the town.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Natalie u r so sweet thanks u been a great help!


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Arturo thanks for sharing I'm actually going to work in Lindon and looking for a home close by, I didn't get the last job that was going to be based in The north east wish I did rents so much better there!


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi Natalie, what do you think about Uxbridge??


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## Zom12 (Feb 11, 2013)

Chester is much safer


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

I need to be close to London


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## DPK (Nov 11, 2011)

You are moving to an expensive area!

West London is brilliant for transport routes all over the country, easy to get to Gatwick/heathrow.

River and all the water based sports close by, great parks and all the amenities of central London close by with both tube and overland trains.

Property is pricey!

Chiswick and Hammersmith may be out of your budget range.

Osterly could be worth looking at.
Ealing W13 should be affordable.
Ealing W5 pricier.
Acton possibly, area variable

Greenford cheaper, bit further out, check transport links.
Ruislip ?

Have a look south of the river as well. 

Good Luck I hope the move goes well. Exciting times for you all.


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks DPK very exciting and stressful too as kids leaving their friends here. I'm comming over next week for viewings and hopefully can find something suitable, what do u know about uxbrridge? Hillingdon? Affordable nice houses there that I saw on rightmove, yes Rusilip also should be fine I think.


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## DPK (Nov 11, 2011)

I do not know Hillingdon or Uxbridge very well. I would describe them as typical "suburban" areas.

Ruislip I know a lot better as I have very good friends that have lived there for 30 years.
Again it is suburban, family area. Good Transport links. Very easy access to central London on M40, easy to pick up M25 and M4 from there. Close to Heathrow.
Close to Rickmansworth which earlier poster rec.
Huge open spaces of Ruislip common.

Rightmove is often not up to date with the properties listed on there.

Have a look on "Primelocation" as well


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks a million! I'm looking for a quiet family area will check on other site now!


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

Hey Suzi, we moved this weekend so I was a little out of the loop, sorry! My husbands coworker lives in Uxbridge. He told us there are some nicer areas and some dodgy areas... But that could really be said of most areas of anywhere. I haven't been to any of them personally. I have heard that Ruislip is a bit nicer and Hillingdon has an American school there that charges something like 10k per year - so I would guess it has some nicer areas as well  Hillingdon also has Brunel Univ there which could mean a more university atmosphere. Ruislip seems to have a slightly better commute time, per London transport app. Are you thinking of using trains for commute only or for all travel? If you want to have a car as well (to haul kids) you also might consider proximity to the motorways. Also, maybe frequency of trains - every 10 mins, 15, 30... I have had to wait on a platform for an hour in the cold because I just missed my train, then took my time picking which train car to get on and the doors closed on me  I won't make that mistake again, lol 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf

Check out this tube & overground map. You can see from Hammersmith you need to be somewhere off the Picadilly or District lines for a direct/easy commute. I would focus in on areas that you have positive reviews of (or at least no negative), have affordable housing and good commute times. Then look at schools. I don't remember if I posted this website previously, but it is really good for comparing schools. It even shows how many openings a schools has vs how many pupils - of course I have no idea how up to date it is on the numbers. 

http://home.rm.com/SchoolFinder/Default.aspx

I found the street view on RightMove very helpful. I was able to get a better feel for some of the areas and weed out houses that were on six lane highways. I would contact some of the letting agents for the areas and have them email you what they have that is in your budget. Make arrangements to view houses once you are here. They may not be available anymore if it is too long before your visit before, but it will at least give you an idea of what is out there. For us it came down to what we could get for for the money in the area. In Richmond we would be paying £400 more for almost half the space, a smaller garden and no garage than what we got in Rickmansworth, but the commute is slightly longer. We also love the area. You may find that you have a preference once you see the areas too. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, but I am pretty new at all this too


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## Suzi 703 (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi Natalie hope the move went well and u settled in thanks for all the info but now thinking about Surbiton know anything about there? Guess only way to get a feel of all areas to come and see for myself which I'll do next week so wish me luck xxx


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## Natalie2b (Aug 11, 2012)

Hope everything is going well on your trip! Let us know how it turns out for you!!


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