Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Large house & independent schooling

119 replies

Yumyummyyum · 19/12/2022 11:35

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!

OP posts:
wildseas · 24/12/2022 08:41

I know it’s closer to home than some of the other suggestions but have you looked at Oxford ?
You’d be able to find a decent sized 4 bed house for your current budget, it’s easily accessible to London, has an international/diverse feel and lots of good private schools which you could easily afford on that income. Lots if nice leafy suburbs and a pretty safe city centre for as the children get older.
The downside is that you’d need to research schools carefully - they won’t all have the diversity you’re looking for.

Glindara · 30/12/2022 13:34

Yumyummyyum · 19/12/2022 12:51

@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.

I have friends who live in Lancashire - NW of Manchester. Their DCs go to Bolton School which is v highly regarded and runs from prep to 6th form - also a boys and girls school on the same site. Their school fees were about 2/3 of ours (SE) and their house is huge - double the size of ours and 1/2 the price. They have Manchester on their doorstep, Liverpool a little further away for shopping and culture - as well as being in beautiful countryside and only 1.5hr drive from the Lake District.

They have tons more disposable cash than us …. although we have benefited from house price growth in SE (but there area has taken off in recent years).

Glindara · 30/12/2022 13:35

And yes NW is pretty diverse.

Randomuser9876 · 14/03/2023 23:02

Surely Yorkshire!! Leeds is fab for legal jobs or commute to Manchester, GSAL and BGS great schools and you could get a decent home for the money.

I went to private school in W Yorks and was really diverse (still not sure why your DH demands private though!!!!)

UK is not just London.

londonmummy1966 · 14/03/2023 23:35

North Somerset? £800K should get you a nice 5+ bed house with a decent garden and there are plenty of independent schools in the area and you are in easy reach of Bristol and Bath (and even Cardiff).

Wetnovember · 15/03/2023 20:18

@londonmummy1966 where in north somerset? A 4 bed detached house with a decent garden in Bath or in a nice village near Bath will cost upwards of £1m

nannyl · 15/03/2023 22:14

We live in West Yorkshire, on the edge of the peaks

6 bed grade 2 listed farm house buidling with an acre of land in the country side and send our children to private school.

Huddersfield / Leeds / Bradford and Wakefield are accessible from here which all have excellent independant schools

Wetnovember · 16/03/2023 11:38

@londonmummy1966 I’ll give you the Nailsea house, but beyond that….I’m going to assume you’ve never strolled along midsomer Norton high st or been to oakhill? The OP wanted somewhere diverse and cosmopolitan……all the houses you linked to (except the nailsea one) are in the middle of nowhere with pretty limited independent schooling choice, unless the OP wants boarding. Diverse and cosmopolitan they most definitely aren’t. None of them are close enough to go to day school in Bath or Bristol (except the Midsomer Norton one-again, stroll along the high st before putting an offer on that one) and in Castle Carey your indie school choice is either millfield or Kings Bruton.
They are beautiful houses, but as per my previous post a 4 bed detached house with a decent garden in or around Bath is going to start at £1m

londonmummy1966 · 16/03/2023 13:24

@Wetnovember - my understanding of the (now disappeared) OP was that she wanted somewhere in reach of cosmopolitan life not necessarily in the thick of it - in which case any of those houses are in easy enough reach of Bath and Bristol for a night out. There are a lot of independent schools in the area although many will require longish commutes - but then that is usually the case in London too. My advice would be to pick the school and then find a house in budget although if it were me I'd probably go for Wells as the school and then try and find a house between Wells and Bath/Bristol.

panacheofveg · 17/03/2023 09:41

It sounds as if the husband needed to feel like he was doing something 'exclusive' for his DC wrt schooling. With many places abroad there is no exclusive nature to private schooling, as all expats go privately! It's not comparable to the English system at all.

Bridgegeek · 18/03/2023 23:37

Have you considered Calgary? Housing is less expensive and there are private options (Calgary French and International is good I think) and a diverse population. I live in Edmonton AB which is also nice, but very few private school options as the state schools are great and have bought out some private schools that have started (for me this is a point in Edmonton’s favour!, but not what you asked for). Calgary has easy access to the mountains and a good airport - also lots of lawyers!

user1477391263 · 18/03/2023 23:42

BabyFour2023 · 19/12/2022 11:41

Just outside Sheffield. Between Sheffield & Derbyshire. Sheffield is very diverse, Derbyshire not so much.
4 good private school options in Sheffield & 1 a little further out.
We have 3 DC in private school ( 2 in school, 1 in their nursery but will be joining them next September)
5 bed detached.

Most of the families I know in the posh end of Sheffield just use the excellent state schools; among those who use private schools, the kids’ A-levels and university destinations are no different to those who used the state schools. It’s lovely in the west end of Sheffield, but EXPENSIVE. Unless the OP is a millionaire, I’d use the state schools after buying a house there!

user1477391263 · 18/03/2023 23:52

HappyOnions · 19/12/2022 13:51

@Yumyummyyum I’m not saying that international schools are less good. My point is that not all private schools are the same, and that includes international private schools. Your husband is set on private education but more than that you need to think about the sort of school you want. Moving half way round the world simply so you can afford private schooling without any sense of what the particular school is like would be a bad idea. I’d add that my experience (as a former ex pat) is that schools full of ex pats have high turnover- would that bother you?

If you want private, there is something to be said for living somewhere with a range of good, varied private schools, so that you have a choice.

As someone who lives overseas, international schools are absolutely less of a known quantity.

They are drawing on a much more limited pool of candidates, so they cannot really selective. And the teachers come and go and so do the students, so it’s very hard to have a lot of accountability: you may have kids at XYZ school getting great A-level/DB results but many of them many have done most of their education elsewhere, meaning that their great results are not fully reflective of the quality of XYZ school; other kids may attend XYZ school and move elsewhere, before any gaps or weaknesses in their education become apparent. Some schools may also spend a lot of time working on the English of kids who come into the school with gaps in their English and need lots of help, and the overall level of the class may be lower as a result.

Most ISs I know are perfectly alright, but they are are not on the level of a highly selective London private school IF that is what the OP’s husband has in mind, yet the fees will be even higher than the highly selective London school in most cases!

Crispynoodle · 19/03/2023 00:02

Ok I'll bite! In Northern Ireland a 5 bed detached with huge garden just 5 miles away from blue flag beaches and loads of outstanding grammar schools (yes there are private but the education system over there is second to none) will set you back around £350K. Oh it's also still in the single market plus being in the UK

KickAssAngel · 19/03/2023 00:10

I live in SE Michigan, sort of near Detroit. You can have diversity, private schools and a huge house easily for the money you have. You also get freezing winters and I'm not sure how you'd get visas etc

Aria999 · 19/03/2023 00:16

Pittsburgh

Beautiful city, lots of healthcare and tech, property very cheap comparatively as this city was much bigger when it was a manufacturing center, not too far from New York.

DS private school is $16k so not comfortable exactly but could be worse. We get a discount.

Large house & independent schooling
Aria999 · 19/03/2023 00:20

Oops zombie thread

FelicityFlops · 27/04/2023 11:47

Several decades ago I used to work for an insurance broker. In those days it was possible to take out policies that covered school fees from 11 to 18 or 13 to 18. As I no longer live in the UK, I do not know if this is still possible, but would it be an option for you or would grandparents be able to help?
Have you considered Devon? There is Blundell's at Tiverton (fast trains to London from Tiverton Parkway) and Exeter School or The Maynard School - both in Exeter.
Alternatively Wiltshire, Bristol or Gloucestershire?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page