Large house & independent schooling

[Yumyummyyum]

Hi,

If you are able to afford both these things comfortably could you tell me where you live? We are both high earning professionals but we currently live in cramped London housing and can’t see that we will be able to move up the properly ladder here. We would like to be able to afford a decent sized house 4/5 bed semi or detached and good (private) education for our children. Ideally somewhere that is diverse/cosmopolitan. Obviously lots of other factors to consider but I would love some pointers so I can look at whether we might have opportunities in other places that might offer these things. Thanks!

Dubai (I'm a lawyer) but it will depend what type of law you practise. You won't need to requalify.

If you want to move out of the profession, it will depend entirely on what you want to do but Dubai isn't somewhere it's easy to establish a new career path. The costs of recruitment from overseas means employers tend to be cautious and want people with experience.

You'll need 800k plus for a 4 bed, much more in some areas.

On your salaries you can easily afford a 4/5 bed house plus private school in the east mids. You can either commute down to london or work in one of the cities here (although legal salaries are obviously lower than in london).

I should clarify that we don’t live in central london. Hopefully that’s apparent from our house price! We are in the suburbs in South West London with a half hour train into a London hub station. Up until recently we thought we would be able to afford the bigger house around here but with interest rates going up and prep school fees going up with inflation and potentially VAT when Labour gets in, it all makes me a bit nervous. I think 800-900 is probably more comfortable but that seems unrealistic unless we compromise on being in a not so nice area.

Look at Kent. Less than an hour to St Pancras on the fast train.

Luxembourg. If you're willing to live in a village and drive

Do you want to move to another country for this or is your preference to achieve it in U.K. with London based careers?

I think even a move to outer SE London would get you closer to what you’d like

@Lalanana Have suggested the Middle East to DH after someone he interviewed for a 40k role was offered a 120k in Qatar. We also have family in Dubai so wouldn’t feel completely isolated. However he thinks everyone in the ME is obsessed with designer labels and it’s an unhealthy environment to bring children up in.

@MarshaBradyo Open to either really. If it’s somewhere outside London it has to be somewhere diverse. Several years ago we looked at places like Leatherhead/Ashtead in Surrey and the lack of diversity in the schools meant it was a no no for us.

@Yumyummyyum you would get that kind of house/salary in the ME (Dubai anyway, you wouldn’t be able to buy in Qatar I don’t think) but be aware the schools there whilst private aren’t comparable to private here. There are some really good schools but more on a par with a good state school here than a good prep

It’s tricky for house and private all near a city.
we moved abroad, nice 5 bed house now. There is an international school about 45 mins away, but we are still 1 hr from nearest city and 5hrs from the capital.

If we lived near the capital it would be unaffordable. But private school is cheap here, about €1500 a term so much more reasonable. However Ds goes to local nursery and then will go local school so he learns local language and local friends. If you move abroad and only go private it can be harder to immerse

as a singaporean, the best schools are state run and have very few places for foreigners. Most kids at the best schools would also learn Mandarin/Malay/Tami as a first language. There are international schools for expats which are ranked highly in Singapore but the London privates are definitely better!

I know it says independent on wiki but its not independent in the British sense. In Singapore, independent means the school is at discretion to charge fees and to develop their own programs but in practice, state is still in charge of selection process and in reality, everyone who can't afford the fees gets some sort of bursary/scholarship i.e. the academic grade for the scholarship is lower than the mark needed to get into the school!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffles_Institution
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Chinese_School_(Independent)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffles_Girls%27_School_(Secondary)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwa_Chong_Institution

Also a semi detached house is much more expensive In Singapore than London. only 5% of the population live in semi detached houses and you need to be a citizen to buy it. If you are high earning, you would probably have no issues getting citizenship but would need to renounce british citizenship.

@socialmedia23 Thanks for that info. So in Singapore expats would be looking at either an apartment or a small house not dissimilar to London? If so will let DH know so he can cross it off his list.

Slightly tongue in cheek response here but we live in Leeds in a 4 bedroom house and pay for our daughter to go to Kings inter high which is a global independent school so very cosmopolitan. However neither the house costs or the school costs are not what some would pay for a brick and mortar school.

@DominoRules That’s really interesting. In what ways would you say the private schools aren’t on par with the ones here? Is it the teaching, academic standards, extra curriculars?

My DH and I are lawyers and both WFH. We left london c.10 yrs ago for the Home Counties. We can still commute to London easily whenever needed, but can afford a decent house here and there are plenty of independent schools nearby. Plus beautiful countryside, nice towns/villages, family-friendly communities, etc.

Have you considered a set up like this? I understand the appeal of moving abroad but that seems like an extreme option unless there are specific reasons for doing it (other than affordability).

‘Tell me somewhere I can live which is really diverse where I will also be able to send my children to school with a really small percentage of the population.’ 🤣🤣🤣

Oh, the irony.

If I were you, i would move to radlett or st albans. I couldn't find a semi detached in St Albans in your price range but I am sure I have seen it before, perhaps its just slow around christmas time. Both towns have quick commuter links to London and are nears Habs (which was quite diverse even 30 years ago, so i am sure it is diverse now). Also other options like north london collegiate.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129460610#/floorplan?activePlan=1&channel=RES_BUY

We are in Worcester.

4/5 bed detached will cost £550-700k +. Private School fees are around £12k for primary and £15k for secondary per child. There are two competitive schools to choose from and a few smaller schools that aren't academically selective. There are also 3 boarding schools in the outer area which are around £35k a year.

Very easy access to Birmingham. Regular trains to London. On the M5.

We moved from Cheltenham as house prices and school fees were much more expensive there.

A lot of north london would fall into that description! Ethnically diverse but a lot of private schools.

But it is very expensive house wise. you would live in a flat or terrace unless you have £2 million.

Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Manchester, Leeds spring to mind.

Look for a regional university town (diversity) that's not commutable to London .

Condo with swimming pool, tennis court and other facilities. Also there are no 'small houses' the way there are in London. Most houses are 2500 square feet or bigger; i grew up in a house which was 5000 square feet (equivalent floor area of 5 Victorian terrace houses) but did live with my grandparents as well. I actually didn't know it was possible to have such small houses until I came to London! Its either government flat/executive condo (citizens only), private condo (anyone can buy it) or house (citizens but foreigners can rent it, i think).

Its a completely different lifestyle though, much lower taxes i.e. 20% top rate, excellent healthcare, being able to afford to eat out everyday, being able to get a live in domestic helper. All things that you wouldn't be able to get in the UK even if you lived in the middle of nowhere in a castle but somehow earned a London salary!

I mean, I moved away because I prefer London to singapore, but even i would agree that singapore life is 'easier' in many ways particularly if you are a career woman working long hours but still wanted kids.

Depends where you are in London. In Harrow you can get a 4 bed semi for around £800k and there are lots of good private schools in the area (St Helens for girls, Merchant Taylor’s for boys for example). If you’re currently central London that will look much more affordable.

My experience of London prep schools isn't what I'd call diverse either tbh (were south London, maybe other areas are better). Would you consider state until 8 if you want genuine diversity?

@socialmedia23 Interesting! DH actually spends a lot of time in Malaysia and really loves it but I don’t think it would work for me career wise. I think he was looking at Singapore as an alternative as I could work there, but it’s obviously not the same thing.