Newbie - thinking of an aupair

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We have two young children who are in school and part time nursery. My husband runs a business from home which I also work in part time around the kids. I’d like to start studying my MA. So thinking of getting an aupair.

We live in London, zone 4. What’s a reasonable amount to pay and what is reasonable to ask of them? Trying to figure out if it would make life easier or harder, and if we can afford it.

Ideally they would
Help out with morning routine
Be mostly free during the school day with a bit of housework e.g
Put away children’s laundry
Load/unload dishwasher
Pick up toys
Then play with the children after school/nursery perhaps do some reading practise with the eldest
Help out at bedtime
Babysit 2 nights a week

Here is a good link for advice and pay etc www.aupairworld.com/en/au-pair-programs/uk/general-conditions#:~:text=According%20to%20UK%20Government%20guidelines,and%2085%20GBP%20per%20week.

It says you should pay about 70-80 a week for an aupair.

It also says most duties should be related to the care of the children.

Aupairs are entitled to two days off per week, one of which should be Sunday. And also that Au pairs should have the possibility to attend an English language course. Usually, au pairs pay for the cost of such courses themselves. The host family should help to find an appropriate course within their area if possible.

30 hours per week is the appropriate workload.

Current rate of pay is about £85 week plus a phone, travel card or gym membership.
The norm is 25 hours for that rate plus 1 evening of babysitting. The hours will include all time spent cleaning / doing household chores even if the children aren't there (i.e. if you want them to clean in the day you reduce childcare hours or pay overtime).
Au pairs aren't normally left in sole charge with children under 4, I think an exception would be a 3 year old in full time nursery.

It's a great solution for younger school age children to be in a home setting.
Be warned that brexit means no new au pairs can come to the UK from Jan, so you'll be looking for someone already in the UK with right to remain in place or someone from Aus/NZ. This may mean salaries have gone up as it's a much smaller pool.

Central (1-2) London rates are at least £100 per week and travel card.

Good luck. We’ve loved having our three au pairs.

do you have to set up NI/all of the accounting the way you do with a nanny for an au pair?