Moving to London

[MissDk]

Hi there,

We are a happy family of four moving to London.
We have 2 children of 1year and 3 months and 3years and 4 months. However it is quite hard having to decide
1: where to live - we need to be somewhere where theres room for the kids and room for my creativity - here I would love if someone could recommend areas? (Not absolute luxury expensive areas - middle to lower upperclass). We wish to live inside London if possible(Hubby working near Regent park(and I hopefully find a job as fashion apparel designer(is there a certain area for this industry?)

2: how does it work systemwise - I believe our oldest should go to preschool or ? And the little one in nursery or ? Could you recommend any? Cause it seems like its a jungle outthere.

3 should we already begin finding school?
I hope to hear from you

Where are you now? Not in the UK, I presume, since you seem uncertain about education and so forth.

Probably budget will be a deciding factor - although it's a few years since I lived there it's still the case that some areas are extremely expensive and others relatively affordable.

What do you mean by 'space for your creativity?' Do you need a big enough house to have a studio, for example?

I am a fashion designer therefore it would be nice to live in an area where e.g. lots of newstarters businesses such as fashion, crafters - as I would love to start up my own business ... so I am interested in what areas to look into.

Minor detail I should have mentioned - we are moving from Denmark to London.

You are absolutely right - money will solve the living issue however it is difficult to find the out where are the affordable areas combined with my wishes of maybe starting my own.

Are you willing to tell us your approximate budget for somewhere to live?

The thing is we do not know exactly yet but I am more interested in areas - Ladbrooke Grove, Fulham, Islington(seems far away?)

Does kids begin preschool at 3 or 4

They are all expensive areas. You need to decide a budget before you start looking. London is big place.

East London is very creative and cheap. (Lot of creative people because it is cheap!). I would look at your budget first, it will make a huge difference. Hackney, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch very 'trendy' areas as well as v poor - nice markets etc. Central London is very expensive. I would suggest coming here and renting a place for a few months while you decide where you would like to settle down as London is very large and very different areas have different ambience.

Children are entitled to 3 hrs free education from 3 years old. The school year (beginning Sept) that they will be 5 is when they go to school full time. Often the school has a 'Nursery' where children start the year before they start school, so your daughter could be in a school Nursery from very soon after she arrives here (though it is not compulsory). You can usually opt for mornings or afternoons.

Islington is what I would call central!

But yes, they are v expensive areas. Are you loaded?!!! Have a look at rightmove.co.uk and put in those areas to get an idea of prices.

Sorry, perhaps my bit about school wasn't clear.

Your daughter's birthday is in July/ August?

In that case, where we live she would have started pre-school in September or possibly in January as she will be starting school full-time next September (2011). If she is September birthday then it's different.

Will you be renting or buying property?

You really need to set a budget as areas differ vastly in hiw expensive they are. I second the poster who suggested the East End, if you're the creative type, unless you've got a huge budget in which case I,d head for Hampstead and the surrounding areas.

I am torn by the, at least in London terms, "middle to lower upper class" and creative (Notting Hill), along for room for kids and creativity (Richmond, Surrey borders).

If we take the middle to lower upperclass out of the equation, it is easier.

But again, it depends on the budget.

To give you an idea, in my old neighbourhood, we had houses costing £400.000 a small stones throw from houses costing between £1,500.000 / £2,500.000 ..... Prices vary a lot more than I expect they do in Denmark (Currently in Norway)

if you want your youngest to be in childcare, you need to be aware that childcare is not cheap in UK. A full time nursery would cost you about £1000 per month, whereas a childminder is probably £5 or £6 per hour in London.

And by the way, Islington is very central by London standards.

Will you/your dh have a car, or will you depend on public transport?