Do you need a big house to have an au pair

[Bubbza]

We are considering getting an au pair. We have 3 children, two boys 5 and 9 and a 2 month old. My partner works away during the week and the baby is quite high need so it's a struggle with them all on my own.
I'm just not sure if our house would be big enough. We have a 3 bedroom bungalow. The two boys share a room and the baby is currently in with us so the third bedroom could be used as a room for an au pair. It's not massive but is an okay size. We only have one family bathroom.
We are a really relaxed family and live in a great area with loads to do so think we could offer a lot to an pair in terms of lifestyle and experiences. But do you need to have a huge house so that they have plenty of space? We would put a TV in their room so they have their own space away from the family if they need it.

An au pair only needs to have their own bedroom and a family that realises they are not a servant.

We had an Aupair when there were four of us in a 3 bed. It can work but is tough.

Your biggest problem will be there are hardly any aupairs available since Brexit. Also legal changes likely to happen soon basically mean that they will likely need to to be paid minimum wage with a small reduction for housing costs. It won’t be so much a school leavers cultural exchange any more but a job like any other.

I posted too early.

To add to my previous post, it may be that employing a live in junior nanny may work out a similar price.

You don't need a big house, but it's unlikely to be a popular placement choice for the au pairs. They will look for more space and at the moment there is a real shortage of au pairs so they can pick and choose what they want. You will be up against families offering them their own bathroom/floor/living room etc.

It's possible but you'll need to make it an attractive position in other ways.

It's possible but you'll need to make it an attractive position in other ways.

I'm hoping that we can offer a lot in terms of experiences. We do a lot of outdoor sports such as rock climbing and surfing and windsurfing, so can teach them things like that, and where we are we have places to do that on our doorstep. We also have a campervan that I'd be happy to put them on the insurance for so they could go and explore other places and go on their own adventures on the weekends we aren't using it.

Definitely not looking for someone to be a servant, I've worked in people's homes myself and been treated that way so definitely wouldn't do it to someone else. I just could really do with an extra pair of hands as I don't have family or anything living nearby and have a baby that goes ape if she gets put down at all.

With Brexit and covid, where are you going to find an au pair?

I’d spend the money on getting a local, live out mother’s help to do a few hours a day.

How would you advertise?

We had an au pair in a larger house (4 bed, a separate shower room) and it worked ok from that POV. We paid 50% more than what was the going rate at the time as we were in a tight spot and needed someone quickly.

I think as long as you are upfront about what’s on offer you’ll be ok. Luckily for us our second AP had a boyfriend in London and she spent all weekends with him. It worked for us as it gave us space and it worked for her as it was a full Fri to Mon time off.

Are you rural then? That may be less attractive than a city location. As pp said au pairs are like gold dust right now.

No harm in trying but I would also look at other solutions. For example after school club or a mothers help (live out). Do you have any colleges/universities nearby as students may want some part time work, especially in the holidays?

I have had au pairs in my not very big 3 bed house. Children in one room and au pair in box room in a single bed. All sharing bathroom.
Worked out fine.
I suspect much harder to get an au pair these days though with Brexit which is a shame.

In terms of actually finding one, in all honesty I hadn't actually thought about the impact of brexit so will need to look into that.

We're not entirely rural, we're not far from a big city but in a town on the coast so we're near to a city where there's lots to do nightlife wise but also by beaches and lots of outdoor things (which was why we moved here) so hopefully if there was someone quite adventurous who is looking for that kind of thing then we might appeal to them?

For example after school club or a mothers help (live out). Do you have any colleges/universities nearby as students may want some part time work, especially in the holidays?

This could also be something to look into. We aren't too far from a couple of different unis/colleges. I had liked the idea of an au pair for the children to learn from someone from another place, hear their stories about their home, maybe develop an interest in another language, etc, but if it's not possible then a live out mother's help could be the next best thing.

I don't think you need a huge house - a lot of au pairs want to spend time with the family to learn English (and if you are happy for then to join you with all your family activities that will attract some au pairs). I suspect your issue may be the shared bathroom - this may not be too attractive to au pairs and may also cause logistical issues (like many teenagers/early 20s our au pairs seemed to spend half their lives in the bathroom getting ready to go out!).

If they need to drive to get out and about, you need someone over 22 anyway for the insurance. There really area very few au pairs at the moment - the only nationalities who can come are Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders, plus au pairs who are already in the county.
I honestly don't think you'll get anyone. I'd just advertise for a mother's help a couple of days a week.