Move back with my English Husband and kids to UK

[HesitantDubaiMum]

Hello Lovelies,

I am born and raised in Dubai and married to a lovely English expat in Dubai and have two kids 7 & 4 yrs.

We are thinking to move back to the UK sometime soon and we have no clue of good areas in the UK. Husband been away from UK for along time! we have a lavish flat in Palm Jumeirah but work pays for it. We understand that won't be the level we are looking at in the UK but we want a decent area for families with access to good schools. SAFE most important!!! I have fears because of all I hear and watch on the news.

We DON'T need to be too close to London!

A big city, safe and maybe within 1.5-2 hrs trip to London is fine.
We have family in Turnbridge Wells but we thought the renting prices a bit high!

Does anyone suggest Bournemouth? Poole?

Any help will be great :)
Thanks

Parts of Poole are some of the most expensive in the country! Along the south coast there's plenty of lovely spots to live is coastal is your preference, also look at the Kent coast - i would avoid cities like Bournemouth and Portsmouth though, there are nice parts but also rougher areas. West of Poole there's lovely sleepy coastal villages, very safe but you might find a bit pedestrian!

I live on the Somerset coast and it's really safe, walk around late at night alone etc not cheap to rent though, £1500 2 bed apartment near the marina but we are very close to Bristol for when you want a city

Ok, if you thought rental prices in Tunbridge Wells were high you might not like other parts of the South East!

But have a look at:

Bournemouth/Poole as already suggested
Winchester
Guildford
Haywards Heath
Cambridge
Oxford
Birmingham?
Bath?

Some of these are towns rather than cities but will give you an idea of what’s available.

Bournemouth and Poole have some lovely areas (and some not so nice) but won't meet your criteria of "a big city". They are small town(s) with not that much going on if you are after a city experience.

Cties will be Manchester, Bristol Oxford.

It depends what you're really looking for. Most of the UK is very safe. Sometimes there's an odd estate you might not want to live in but I'm imagining at your income that wouldn't be an issue.

Do you not have a relocation assistant? Do you need private schools? Large house? Etc.

The uk is a safe place to live.

Are you going to be renting or buying?
What is your budget?
How many bedrooms do you need?
What are you going to do about work? Do you need to be near a certain place or close to an airport?

As an aside, it's really difficult to get a visa when you are living and working out of the UK. I know because I had to go through the process with my own dh.

Thank you. We are still figuring out all the options.
Regarding the visa, I'm fully aware of the difficulty. We are both resigning jobs we we live and have spoken to a lawyer who thinks we will be fine through the savings path.
What is the best way to tackle this? I really hope not the worst scenario of my husband and kids need to move back first then I should follow?

A few questions OP

But first welcome to MN.

1. Are you, your husband and your children Muslim? If so do you want to be in an area with a Muslim community?

2. Will you be able to work in the UK or will you have to rely on your husband's salary?

3. What type of school is your 7 year old at (and the younger one if they are in education) if you want an international school you won't have much choice outside London.

4. for high school do you want access to grammar schools? Do you prefer single sex education for your children? There are quite a lot of 'faith schools' to the point it can be your only choice.

5. Do you need / want to be near an airport with links to Dubai / ME?

6. Do you like rain?

I couldn't believe how hard it was because we had been married for thirteen years at the time, dh had lived here in the UK for over a decade before we left, our children were born in the uk and we still had a house here. But none of that mattered. Nor did how much my dh earned on his job in Australia.

If you have savings then you will be fine as far as I know, it was seven years ago when we did it so it won't be the same. If you have however much the savings amount is - then you will be ok.

We looked at living apart for six months but it wasn't viable. It would have cost a fortune to run two homes for a start and nobody wanted to be away from the children and nobody wanted to be with the children and working whilst settling the children and themselves in to a country they hadn't lived in for a decade.

I think Tunbridge Wells sounds like a great location for you. Anywhere nice like that is going to have higher rental prices, especially within commuting distance of London.

Sevenoaks is also lovely, Guildford, Dorking. All nice. And also all near Heathrow and Gatwick.

Are you Emirati? Could you come on the ETA while you get the proper visa sorted?

Worth taking a look at South Bucks - Amersham, Chesham & High Wycombe. Close to London, great primary, secondary and grammar schools and lots of green spaces...

Have a look at Winchester, Romsey, areas of new forest if you're looking for coastal (ish) areas.

Winchester is the only city out of them but has some good schools as does Romsey.

Or the other way and Chichester.

Just reminder if you choose a coastal place like Bournemouth and Poole they can get very busy in the summer.

Winchester not so much but it's 35-45 minutes from the coast. Easy to get to London and Tunbridge well by train or motorway.

Norwich is a lovely city and safe as cities go. Under 2 hours from London by train, plus the gorgeous N Norfolk coastline nearby. Cheaper than Bournemouth too.

Winchester is one of the most expensive places in the country at the moment, is lovely though.