My husband and I are expats who have been in London for nearly a decade. Until recently, we never seriously considered buying a house; though our plan was to remain long-term, we never felt settled enough to make such a permanent commitment. Now that we have citizenship and two small children, however, we feel foolish continuing to rent in central London, and I'm beginning to think more about our long-term future as a family. Alas, we have nowhere near enough saved to buy a three-bedroom house in St Johns Wood, where we currently live, or in Belsize Park/Hampstead, where most of the schools we've applied for are located. We could possibly buy in a few years if we buckle down and save more, but in the meantime, we've outgrown our small two-bedroom flat, and it seems silly to spend more to rent a larger flat. Ultimately, I'm tired of the competition for schools and the ridiculous price of housing, and I'm afraid we're being unrealistic to think we can stay put here. Most of those I know in the area are expats here for a few years, or the uber wealthy. That being said, I worry about feeling isolated in a less transient, more 'English' suburb, and frankly I don't even know where to begin looking. Are there any more affordable areas, further out, that would still be within an hour's commute of Canary Wharf, where my husband works, and that has good independent schools for boys and girls? Have other expats moved further out, and if so, have you felt isolated?
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Join the discussion and meet other Mumsnetters on our free online chat forum.
Chat
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.