Live in nanny central London - what do they cost?

[Boobz]

I am currently living abroad and have 2DC under 3. I am pregnant and DC3 is due in March. When I return to the UK in September next year, I will have a 6 month old, a 2 year old and a 3.5 year old (god help me).

I am hoping to go back to university to study midwifery and thus will need flexible child care whilst I'm studying and doing placements at the hospital (I will be expected to work long shifts and overnights etc). So a normal nursery for all 3 isn't going to cut it and I think the only way to go is to have a live in nanny.

But how much do they cost? We will be living in Streatham, so not the poshest part of London, but still pricey I imagine. She will have her own floor - the loft conversion and en suite shower / bathroom that we are planning to do to our 3 bed house when we get back. Is this enough space for a live in nanny?

I was thinking about the au pair route, supplemented by nursery / reception when the oldest starts in the following September, but from what I've read, this pushes the boundaries of what an au pair can do / can have sole care for, so I think I need to do the nanny thing.

What do people think? I am hoping to bring back my nanny from here (Sudan) but it's not 100% that we can do this yet.

Thanks for any replies!

Hi there
We have a brilliant young live in nanny - she has her own double bedroom and bathroom on the top floor of our house. We pay her £360 net a week (and we live in Shepherd's Bush).
I think you're looking at anywhere between £300 - £390 net depending on experience.

Thanks for the advice guys, it's helpful to get ball park figures.

Yummy - why would you advise us not to bring our current nanny? She's been with us for a year and since my youngest was 5 months old. She's fabulous, the kids love her and she knows our routine, although I accept this will be different when we get back. With starting a new degree and having a new baby, I would have thought keeping the same nanny would have been helpful as there is already going to be so much change for everyone...

But it all depends on paperwork anyway to be honest,

Loopey, where did you find your nanny? Do you pay gross pay to the nanny and then keep the tax and NI back for the tax man? £1300ish a month doesn't sound nearly so bad compared to nursery fees for 3 kids!

Ah I see!

Hello Boobz - I am just employing a nanny at the moment and i am going to engage a nanny payroll service (nannymatters) - they cost £220 per year for all your payslips etc

but i have just gone thru the process of working out the payments Net Pay + Employers NI - Employers NI can be quite alot per wk

For example i am paying £256 pw Gross approx £220 pw NET / Live out Nanny = £8.00 gross per hr for £32 hrs per wk - cheap compared to london i am in Glasgow

But on this i have to pay £16.60 PW for Employers NI = approx £70 pm, additional £800 across the yr approx

The key thing is to contact payroll services for nannies they can send you thru easy spreadsheet with Net Fee + Paye, + NI + Employers NI - so you what your costs are per month and quartley to the goverment

"Google nannymatters or Nannytax both established companies

Thanks rainbowrosie - that is very helpful indeed. £256 gross sounds like a good deal!

I used an agency called Tinies and they were brilliant they are UK wide - so not sure what other people think of them -

This nanny wages survey reckons the average for a full time live-in nanny in Central London is £380 net, which is a gross annual salary of just under £26,000.

Use www.mranchovy.com/calc to have a play with figures and budget sround £200 on payroll for basic costs. Then you'd need to factor in kitty and the costs of living in, which you're familiar with to a certain extent anyway.

Do you have a place for midwifery already? If nit the it could all be a bit academic and bringing your nanny back is less economical.

Thanks Rita - scary numbers indeed.

Boobz
When we first employed a nanny we used Nannytax to do the payroll stuff, totell me what I owe HMRC etc who were fine but expensive. I've sinced moved to PAYE for Nannies who are excellent - and at £115 a year so much more reasonable. Lots of people on MN recommended them and i'm another name to add to that list!
I set up a DD every month into a separate account so that when I have to pay HMRC quarterly, I'm not caught short. £360 net is about £24k gross p.a. but to that, you need to add Employer NI etc.

We tried everything in terms of finding our nanny - a lot of the agencies charge a fortune and are RUBBISH. They do little more than repeat your ad and put it on Nannyjob. If you're thinking of going direct, Nannyjob is a v good place to start and somewhere professional nannies look. Or you can sift through a lot of hopeless applicants in the hope of finding a gem via Gumtree.

Agencies I liked are Nannies of St James and Swansons (the latter is v local though to West London). Thought Kensington Nannies were v good but WAY too expensive. Eden are ok. Occasional and PErmanent were awful. In the end, we got a superstar nanny through Norland and because technically she was still training, the fee was a lot more reasonable.
Hope that helps. Good luck!

I think you'd be looking at £350 pw net so cost to you £491 pw

Thanks for the all advice so far - MN is a goldmine for stuff like this, isn't it? Have got a spreadsheet going with all your info, and have done some searches in the archives and found some other useful info. Thanks all.

Fraktious, no I don't have a place yet, but have heard from 2 of my choices so far and both have offered me interviews. I hope to have a place secure at King's, my first choice, by mid December. But even if I didn't get a place, I still think it will be cheaper to bring my nanny back, and better for the kids, than have 3 nursery places + childminding on those days when I would have to work late (as I will go back to work if I don't get into midwifery).

loopeylu - if you are still there, can I ask whether your star nanny was a "probationer", residential, and thus £240net per week? I assume residential means Live-in? And she works 60 hours per week for this, does she?

Sorry for all the questions!

Hi Boobz
I'm hopeless at keeping up with mumsnet stuff and am frantic at work - sorry for being so unresponsive. Ace nanny now in 3rd year with us but yes, she started out as a prob. We thought she was hands down better than the other fully qualified nannies 10 years older than her who we interviewed. Hope she'll be with us for ages (if we can still afford her!).

Good luck

Fingers crossed for your place boobz!

Hi I have 3 dc the same age as you so can empathise. I have a live out nanny which makes life so much easier and prob not much more expensive than nursery for 3 kids....
My next door neighbour has a live in nanny in central London who gets 350 npw and works 8-6.30, does 2 nights babysitting per week and often works a bit of the weekend if mum has dd during the week at all.
I think if you can afford a nanny with 3 dc that age then go for it. Shouldn't be more expensive with 3 kids than with 1 as they are paid for the family not for the number of kids. But do get someone with lots of experience of looking after 2-3 children together in that age group as you yourself know it is demanding!!!!

Thanks cherub59 - I am hoping and praying I can bring back my amazing super nanny I have at the moment here in Sudan (she is Filopina) as she has been with the kids since they were 4 months and 1.5 yo (and will meet the newborn in March!). The kids love her to death, and they will have to cope with so much change (moving to Kenya, then back for the birth in the UK, then back to Kenya for a few months before moving back to the UK in August when hopefully I will start my midwifery training). The idea of not having her through all of that and having to start afresh with a new nanny is making me weep a bit.

£350 npw is too much I think, unless DH goes to Afghanistan for a year and gets paid bucket loads (which is an option...) I'm very much liking Loopeylu's suggestion of Norland nannies that have them starting on £240 npw - much more affordable!

And thanks for the luck fraktious!