One more moving to Brussels :)

[ShutterNutter]

Hi everyone! Found this site a few days ago and I see that some of you live in Belgium :-)

My husband has been transferred to Brussels for 3 years, which is great and we are looking to move early next year. We have 2 little girls 5 & 6 .
We have been in Brussels for 8 days now school & house hunting. I tell you it has not been easy. We just can't decide were to live. After looking at quite a few houses we have come down to two.

The first house we are deciding on is in Ixelles near all the shops, it has no garden (not even a little patch) and no parking which is a bit of a pain driving round and round trying to find one after a long day of work. On the plus side the house is near Tenbosch Park and another big play ground that I can easily walk the girls to, also all the restaurants and shops.

House number 2 is in Watermal-Boitsfort, it is bigger and newly renovated, plenty of parking but the nearest shop (which is 2 supermarkets) is 1.5km away. Not crazy far, but far enough not to make the area very exciting or have anything fun to walk to.
One of the things that appeal to me coming to Europe is the fact that you don't have to get into your car just to get milk. I really enjoy walking and was looking forward to be able to walk to the corner store to get milk or whatever. Also living in a quaint, pretty european style street is very appealing.
DH understandably wants it to be an easy commute to work (Auderghem) and back and to the girl's school (we are deciding between BEPS and ISB) and the Watermal house would certainly provide that. It also has a garden for the girls. The downside is that this house is just surrounded by big offices and buildings and some embassies.

So, after all that rambling ... having lived in Brussels for a while, would you go for the more lively location and walkable locations, but smaller house and no garden, or the bigger house with a garden but not very exciting surroundings but closer to work and schools?

I probably won't have car for the first 6 moths or so but will probably get one later. DH will have car and will be traveling quite a bit with his job. I'll be a stay-at-home mom.

Thanks for any input!!

Signed, indecisive Crazy Rambler ;-)

Natation thanks once more
Can you please tell me which is the difference between directly controlled Flemish community schools and town controlled schools? Is one better than the other?
I don't think we will choose a catholic school so we will choose one of the rest
What is the Don Bosco annex?
Unfortunately enrolling my kid now is out of the question since we are in greece and we don't have the chance to make a trip to belgium to visit the schools and decide. So I hope we will find a place when we move from september onwards. What kind of documents do the school require for enrollment?

There is virtually no difference between the 3 types of schools at all, just ultimately who controls them, appoints the teachers, sets the rules. The only practical difference is in religious instruction from teh age of 7 years. At Flemish Community controlled and communal (gemeente) controlled schools, religious instructions starts at st primary and there is a choice of Catholic, morals, usually a few more such as Islam, Protestant. The children are segregated for the obligatory religious instruction lessons. In the Catholic schools, the choice only Catholic. I think it would be a little unwise to reject the Catholic schools which make up around 50% of Belgian Flemish schools at kindergarten (kleuterschool) and primary (lagere school) levels and around 75% of schools at secondary (middelbare school) level. There is no religion taught at kleuterchool for under 7s, other than Sinterklas (Belgian Father Christmas) which you find in all schools. You are seriously narrowing your choice by rejecting the Catholic schools. Belgium is a Catholic country, both in majority and in the constitution, but it does not mean people choose schools according to being Catholic or not, and Catholic religious instruction is in the non Catholic schools too. Children of all religions or none attend Catholic schools, try and think of them as just another category of school. As a general rule the Catholic schools are indeed more popular, but that is a general rule, it differs from area to area.

Don Bosco has 2 schools in St Pieters Leeuw, the annex is the 2nd school.

If you are able to enrol now by email or phone, I would do it, you may find only 2 out of 7 with places for example, nothing stopping you enrolling in more than one school. Schools require initial proof of identity (passport or national ID card) for enrolment, eventually also a copy of Belgian residency card and health insurance card (called a SIS card).

Hello everyone,
Can I have some feedbacks about AR Crommelinck and ecole communale de Stockel for the kindergarten (2eme maternelle), please?
We will move in July in WSP from abroad and these are the only 2 maternelles where I could find a place for my 4 yo son.I visited both, they looked ok with many extra activities.between the 2 , without knowing anything else about them , I would prefer AR due to its location ( closer to the apt we found), the fact that it will be fully renovated this summer and also because the number of classes from kindergarten ( only 4 compare to 10 in Stockel).
Many thanks

AR Crommelynck is the least popular school in the area, but hard to define why, possibly because it is so near the most popular school Mater Dei but also because the attached secondary is the most UNDERsubscribed of all the local secondaries. The plus points are that I believe classes do not get above 20 children, the fact there are only 4 maternelle classes making it very small, the fact that it has a lovely playground, the children swim I think from 1ere maternelle since the swimming pool is across the road, there are also stages during the holidays run by Melting-Sport which are free only for children from the school. The minus points are that the maternelle is right next to the secondary which is quite large and the playgrounds whilst separate, are right next to each other, the fact it is not a popular school, the fact that there are an awful lot of Japanese children (could be as many as 40% of maternelle children) meaning 2nd language interference in the playground, the fact that alot of the children there do not live nearby and therefore few of the children where you live are going to be attending this school.

EC de Stockel is indeed a much bigger school with 22 classes in the French school, perhaps 10 classes in the Dutch school, but as there is no secondary, in fact there are less overall children there than at AT Crommelynck. It is very well regarded and children in the locality go to this school. Playground again is good. They have a full-size gymnasium, plus a smaller gymnasium for maternelle classes. Again, there are holiday stages at the school run by IDEJI. Children go swimming at Sportcity from 2e maternelle. Again a few after-school activities are run here, just like the majority of local schools.

Have you enquired at Don Bosco and Jean 23 Parmentier? Both schools have great reputations? I know already SC de Stockel and Mater Dei have quite long waiting lists. Or Joli-Bois, ths school should definitely have places?

Uau, Natation, thank you for such helpful comment.I was in Brussels only for 2 days this week looking for an accommodation and kindergarten and it iwas easy taking the decision about the neighbourhood but very difficult about the school.Your comments help me took a decision for now and for sure starting Monday I will make the necessary phone calls to the other kindergartens you mentioned.For the time being I will register my son to EC de Stockel to secure the place and after that will see.
One more question, is there any good private kindergartens ( except Montessori) in Woluwe St Pierre?I couldn't manage to find any on the internet.
Thank you a lot

Private kindergarten? Do you mean a creche 0-3 years or a maternelle?
If you mean a creche, there are at least a dozen options in WSP, I'd tell you the names if you could be a bit more precise as WSP is split into roughly 5 areas.
If you mean a maternelle, there are 11 publically funded maternelles and one private and fee paying (ie non publically funded) maternelle called Montessori House Brussels next to Montgomery. The next nearest fee paying maternelles are the 5 International Montessori schools in Vlaams Brabant, BSB, St Paul's, BJAB, BISB, BEPS, ISB, Acacia, BICS, Deutsche Schule. Very few locals would use a private maternelle, unless they are after English or German. If you are after French, then local is the way to go.

here there are exam papers from previous years. I believe there is a diploma for completion of secondary school studies. My dd is only in first Primary, so I haven't gone through any of this yet. Natation or Longtime should know more details...

Wrong thread!

I meant privates maternelles and you answered about them also.
We' ll go for a public one , as French is the language we are after:)
Thank you once again for your extremely helpful comments.

After writing a nice and explanatory post I pressed a wrong button and I lost it..anyway here we go again. Our move to belgium was postponed for January maximum beginning of February. My husband will move first and me and our 4 years old son will follow as soon as he finds a house that will fit us. My question this time is about several areas where I usually find cheap and nice appartments while searching at immoweb. These are 1745 Opwijk, 1750 Liedekerke, 1785 Merchtem, 1850 Grimbergen, 1861 Wolvertem, 3001 Heverlee, 3010 Kessel Lo, 3200 Arschot. I am also looking at areas from the Zaventem side although I don't know if the noise from the airport will be a probelm. Since we have a kid I would like to know if these areas are green, safe, if they have parks and if I could find kid's activities for my prince or at a nearby area. You see we try to familiarize ourselves with many potential areas for renting since our final choice will be affected by schools we will find that will have a place for our kid. Fortunately my husband's job is on the technical field so the location of his work will vary from time to time. At the beginning though his company has taken a very big project in Brussels so for a long period of time he will have to commute to brussels on a daily basis.

Without knowing whereabouts your husband will work in Brussels, I wouldn't want to recommend any of those gemeenten - closest to the northen edge of Brussels is Grimbergen, but not a good choice if work will be on the south side of Brussels. Kessel-Lo would require crossing Leuven, it really is quite far away to live. The Brussels ring road has particular blackspots for traffic, this is also why it is useless recommending somewhere without knowing where your husband will be commuting too. They are all suburban to rural. You will find children's parks and activities everywhere. Zaventem is the worst blackspot for traffice on the Brussels ring road, any commute should ideally avoid the ring road at this point. The worst plane noise is not in Zaventem, it's in Stockel, the most popular place in east Brussels to live, it doesn't put people off living there, it's only a problem there for a minority, plus it's only sporadically a problem as the airport has several runways so you only get airport noise on the days the runway flying over Stockel is being used. Do bear in mind that choosing a cheaper area to live in often costs as much as choosing a more expensive area, once you factor in the extra costs of perhaps a 2nd car, more fuel for even the 1st car. You may spend a lot of time travelling too to activities or even school, if you choose a less accessible area. As a family, we live in a far too expensive house but we save by having all the children's activities within either walking distance or a tram / bus ride away, no need even for a car, but then I suppose if we lived rurally, we'd possibly spend less on children's activities as we'd never be able to get the children to them!

Hi there natation and thanks once more for your reply. I will be checking immoweb for areas in Brussels as well. Any suggestions? I see a lot of areas in Brussels but I don't know which are better and which are worse. Should we worry more about criminality if we decide to live somewhere in Brussels? Is there a certain side in brussels which is better? From what I have read schooling in brussels can be tough since we will have to find a place for our son in the middle of the school year. So our worry is that we might find a very nice place to rent but then no place in the nearby schools or find the other way round.
What you say about renting costs is very correct. For example we might find an amazing house in immoweb but then when we check it at google we realize that it is in a very small village very far away from everything. As soon as my husband has more details I will come back. As far as commuting is concerned what we know so far is tha even when he will be working in brussels he will have to commute to all sides of brussels.

Well for a budget of 700 euro in Brussels, you would get in the most expensive areas a decent 2 bed apartment of 70-80 m2, must watch out for "charges" though, some include things you'd pay for anyway such as water and heating, some include payments for maintenance of shared space, so you need to "take out" of those charges, how much you would have to pay for bills, whether living in an apartment or house, and add on to the monthly rent the charges only for the shared extras. In the cheaper areas, you'd get either a more luxurious apartment or a small house even, or more metres, perhaps 90 m2 instead of 80 m2. The difference between the "poorer" areas and the "richer" areas is less than you might think.

The most sought after areas of Brussels are in the east and south - WSP, WSL, Auderghem, Etterbeek, W-B some of Schaerbeek, the least desirable in the west and north - Molenbeek, Anderlecht, St Josse Ten Noode, some parts of Schaerbeek. The more sought after areas are very French dominated and the Dutch schools are heaving with French children. The west and north are more Dutch, but still in the minority to the French speakers. One lovely area of the north however is Berchem Sint Agata, also not bad in some parts of Laeken and Jette, even some of Anderlecht.

The beauty of Brussels is that commuting by car is NOT DESIRABLE and public transport might be quicker and cheaper. You really don't need a second car, unless you are averse to public transport or walking or cycling.

If looking at Brussels, a very very good idea to choose a rough area, find a school, then narrow down the house search once you have at least one school place. Also you'd need to choose language, French or Dutch for Brussels.

But does your husband not have an office where he is at least going to be based part of the time? It would make sense to live an easy commute route from the office.

www.immoweb.be/en/Rent.estate.cfm?idbien=3350801&ongletactif=2&jpgnameinp=3350801_1.jpg&xincludedetail=2&xgallery=gallery&mycurrent_section=Rent&xbg=N#onglet

I have a feeling this apartment might be the renovated conversion of a townhouse we lived next to until recently, it's near to the metro and 1 minute from the tram in Stockel, one of the most desirable areas of Brussels. It's only 700 euro per month, ok so expensive, but in fact considering it's completely all new and in such a sought after area, it's really not a bad price at all, you'll find places in several of the local schools still, French or Dutch, although not the very best schools, still really decent ones.

I live in Zaventem commune and it is clean, has lovely park and pool and is not stuffed with criminals ;-) Easy to get into Brussels by public transport. Can't comment on the others. As natation says, they swap the runways at the airport so you don't get noise all the time. I don't notice anymore.

700 euros would get you this

Take a look at this great looking 2 bed house, for the price of 700 euro. It's a terraced house in the centre of Tervuren, only 100m from a very popular school, 2 more schools in walking distance. You are walking distance to the 44 tram which goes into Brussels, the bus stop to Leuven, the swimming pool, sports centre, Tervuren park, shops, restaurants, you couldn't get more convenient in Tervuren. If I were after a 2 bed house, I'd snatch it up straighaway.
www.immoweb.be/fr/Rent.estate.cfm?idbien=3413942&ongletactif=2&jpgnameinp=3413942_1.jpg&xincludedetail=2&xgallery=gallery&mycurrent_section=Rent&xbg=N#onglet

Oh and the school 100m away is Mariaschool, plenty of non Belgian and Dutch second language children at this school. If no places here, then there's KA Tervuren "de Kattensprong" or GBS Tervuren.
mariaschool.sgzonien.net/
www.kattensprong.be/
www.gbs-tervuren.be/

Natation we have checked this house and it is really a catch
I found the following today...I don't know the area of the first ad but love this house. When checking google earth I saw that it is in the middle of nowhere...too bad
www.immoweb.be/en/Rent.estate.cfm?idbien=3416394&ongletactif=2&jpgnameinp=3416394_1.jpg&xincludedetail=2&xgallery=gallery&mycurrent_section=Rent&xbg=N#ongletphoto
Your info especially for schools is valuable...I will be back with more details this time

Good afternoon and a happy new year to you and your families.
My husband is finally coming on 15/02, he will start looking for a house/apt and then my son and myself will follow. As I have already told you he will be working in different areas of Brussels. The office of the company though is downtown in 1000. He will have to visit it from time to time. He can commute to the place he will be working each time either by himself or by arranging to meat with his colleague who will have a company car. Therefore we are looking in many different areas even as far as Leuven. From what I am reading Leuven although far away from Brussels has good connection by transportation means. I saw today at immoweb this house www.immoweb.be/en/Rent.estate.cfm?idbien=3510412&ongletactif=2&jpgnameinp=3510412_1.jpg&xincludedetail=2&xgallery=gallery&mycurrent_section=Rent&xbg=N#onglet
but I don't understand why its price is so low. Firstly I thought that it might be a shared house but no such thing is mentioned on the description. Any guesses?

I am just posting the link of the ad again
www.immoweb.be/en/Rent.Estate.cfm?IdBien=3510412&xgallery=gallery&xpage=1

Not sure why it would be so cheap. However, if you are looking for an easy commute for your dh to downtown Brussels, I would avoid Overijse. The only way in really is via the E411, either by bus or car, and this motorway is packed in the mornings. We have friends who do the commute and they are sick of it.

I would think that was a mistake - it says one bedroom, so presumably they have mixed up 2 listings.....I agree with Longtime - avoid the E411 (and the Ring) like the plague! The E40 isn't TOO bad, but can be very slow in the evenings.

Commuting from Overijse or Leuven by car to Bruxelles 1000 is really not desirable. Leuven to Bruxelles 1000 is feasible by train.

Is there a particular reason you are looking at Overijse and Leuven?

The cheapest and tiniest 2 bed house in Overijse is likely to cost you 800 euro, in Leuven it's a little cheaper, 700 euro for an equivalent house, but the choice at that price is very very limited. Leuven doesn't have as much rented housing as Overijse and Overijse has an abundance of housing over 1500 euro a month which mainly families at BSB and ISB rent. Public transport in Overijse is pretty poor.

Perhaps it is worth taking a general map and putting it on the floor, mark on it where work will be, avoid E411 and R0 from Waterloo to Antwerp turn-off. Look at de Lijn and STIB websites at public transport routes in combination with the general map and look at the best areas.

I have met so many people who have ended up in the wrong area for their needs. If you end up moving as a result, you could end up losing a lot of money to break a rental contract. It's better to try and get it right first time.

As for that advert, I would expect that size house (it's listed as 3 bed and 200m2) for closer to 1500 euro so the description is correct, the list price belongs to another property.

this one in Kortenberg is 5 mins from the E40, or on the bus route - 351 plus another I think. It,s not the prettiest house ever but the space looks good. It won't be under the flightpath either.