Dubai advice please

[GlobeTrotterUK]

Hello,
What advice would you give someone contemplating moving to Dubai? DH has been offered a job there and we might relocate next year but there is so much to do and to know that we don't know from where to start.
What is something you wish you were told before going to Dubai?What are the best neighbourhoods for families (regardless of nationality) to live in. Is it better to rent furnished or unfurnished? Which are the best British schools and nurseries out there? Is it easy to apply for a place or are there waiting lists? When is the best time to apply for a school? Also, what about the move, any company you recommend? Is it better to move as much stuff as possible from here to there or would it be best to buy once there?
Any advice welcome!
Thanks

And sorry for all the questions!

GlobeTrotterUK hello! so many questions and the answers to most of them really depend on where your husband's job is based. Traffic is bad here so you want to be located in a point that's reasonably close to work and schools.

What are the best neighbourhoods for families (regardless of nationality) to live in.
Completely depends on where the job is.

Is it better to rent furnished or unfurnished?
It's standard to rent unfurnished here.

Which are the best British schools and nurseries out there?
There's absolutely loads, again, it is wise to choose near work and home. Be warned, they are all private and all expensive. How many children do you have? Is their schooling included in your husband's package?

Is it easy to apply for a place or are there waiting lists? When is the best time to apply for a school?
Completely depends on the school. We've seen swathes of people leave Dubai in the last year due to horrendous cost of living, so waiting lists are nowhere near as bad as they used to be.

Also, what about the move, any company you recommend? Is it better to move as much stuff as possible from here to there or would it be best to buy once there?
Bit of both - and is this covered by your husband's job offer or company? if they are paying to ship a container then you might as well being stuff. Be warned it will take three months and can't be released until you get your residents visa.

Please do PM me with any more questions!

I've been here for almost 12 years and love it. ignore the Dubai naysayers, there are many of us here living lovely, simple, normal lives...

Make sure accommodation, school and health insurance for everyone is included in the package. It used to be the norm but isn't anymore.

@soberfabulous thanks for the info! Just PMed you with loads of questions

@JessicaPeach school and health are included but NOT accommodation :( that is really getting me thinking...

My DHs work rented us an apartment in a hotel when we were there until we knew if we were staying long term or not. Poster above probably knows more but rent usually has to be paid annually in advance, some let you do 4 cheques but it's a big chunk of cash regardless, so make sure if you do have to pay yourself then his work has some provision to do that, I think the norm is that work pay then deduct it from your salary. Rent is a LOT of money, could be upwards of £30k a year, a 2bed apartment would be (conservatively) about £20k a year, and that's before bills, electricity in the summer months can be about £1k a month. It's not a cheap place to live at all. Cost of living is insane, I used to be open mouthed in the supermarket at how much some things cost. Having said all that though, I would have made the leap for the right money, so if we had the opportunity again I'd be costing it up very carefully. Also job security isn't great either so you'd need to factor that in.
There are two good fb groups, british mums Dubai and real mums of Dubai that you could join to get more info

Hi @JessicaPeach and thanks a lot for your post and all the useful info. As you explained, DH's employer will pay the rent and deduct it from his salary. They will pay for accommodation for only the first 4 weeks. And YES the rent is sky high indeed and I envy the people whose job package includes accommodation .

I would say dont get too hung up on the contract not including rent - it could just be the way the salary is divvied up. For example, say my salary in my previous job was Dh1,000, it was divvied up as Dh600 salary, Dh100 car, Dh100 mobile phone, Dh200 rent. Whereas in my current job, it is simply Dh1,000 and divvied up as Dh600 salary, Dh400 'additional allowances'.

I agree with a lot of what other people have said - that the cost of living is high, regardless of how much you earn. School fees are a huge factor and even if you get an education allowance, there's a good chance it won't cover the full amount. Also check if your husband's contract covers flights for the whole family - a couple of trips back to the UK each year soon add up.

Rental prices are falling - in my opinion, housing and utility bills are one of the things here that are quite reasonably priced. We live in a lovely community with lovely pools, parks etc and our house has 3 bedrooms, a big playroom, laundry room etc and we pay Dh125,000 a year - thats around 26,000 GBP a year, so just over 2,000 GBP a month, which is a loooooot less than we were paying in London for somewhere much smaller.

You didn't mention (I don't think) if you work or not but part time work/flexible work isn't really a concept here. So if you do work, you will still need to think about things like school buses and wrap around care.

Feel free to shout if you have any more questions - we've been living and working here for 10 years and both my kids (3 and 1) were born and are being raised here.

Hello @PrimeraVez and sorry for this late reply; I've just read your post. Thanks a lot for your input. I'm glad to hear you like it there; hopefully we will too...although there's something I know I will never get used to, HUMIDITY! I simply hateeeeee it.
Cheers!