Can this work? Moving to Cambridge from Australia

[SuperGlumFairy]

I currently live in Australia but my husband is from Cambridge and so I lived there for a short time some 15 years ago and loved it. We have since been back a couple of times, most recently in 2010.

My husband and I are now separating and he wishes to return to Cambridge. I am considering going too. We have 3 children and I don't want them to not have a relationship with their father, I don't feel like I have much left here in Australia anyway, no job, no family and just a few friends. I have a British passport so no dramas there.

I won't qualify for any JSA payments, Income Support, Housing Benefit as I will likely have too much in savings from the sale of our house here so hope to live off that for the first 1-2 years while I let my current back injury heal more. I believe I would get Child Benefits and Child Tax Credits so about 200 a week there plus husband's CS etc

Is 500 a week enough to rent a nice 3-4 bedroom house plus gas,water, electric, house insurance, groceries, council tax and TV license? It's a rough budget but I am looking at either going to Cottenham, Swavesey or Ely if anyone has any thoughts on those schools/villages? I don't drive and for me Ely would be perfect but I know the Community College there seems to have had some issues. My Miss 13 is very bright but also very shy and not sure how she will cope with the change even though she wants us to go. Cottenham Village College and Swavesey both seem to have excellent feedback also.
Ideally I would like to be walking distance to both a secondary school and primary school for my 8 year old twins, as I don't drive..which also means I need a village that has everything I need..ie Dr, corner shop, dentist, post office etc
Am I asking too much? I prefer to be in that general direction mostly because my In-Laws are based out that way and we'd like to be close to them for the children's sake.

If anyone has any thoughts I would love to hear them and any info on what I can expect utility price wise or with trying to get the children into schools there. I am not even sure what Yr level they would go into!? I am a bit confused with the way it works.

Sorry for the epic post..so many questions in my head.Thanks so much for reading.

Look on Rightmove.co.uk at rental prices in the areas you mention. Should give you an idea.

I think that budget is doable
Personally I wouldn't go for Ely - its a bit isolated if you don't drive - I don't know what the school is like - although compared to other I don't think it has a good reputation
Impington/Histon would be worth looking at in my view - its a big village - nearer to Cambridge than Cottenham and Swansey and IVC is fine - although rents are quite high
Milton might be an opition too - and might be easier to get a primary school place - as lots of schools are but - there is a school bus to to IVC - are you well enought to cycle - we cycle from Milton to Impington a lot

Thanks Sponkle and Another, looking around at rightmove the prices seem okay for rent if I allocate 200-250 a week I should be able to get something nice which is a relief.
I think it's more the cost of utilities that had me worried as my husband has always taken care of the bills so no idea what to expect in the UK in that regard. I do hear there is more competition with energy companies there though so better prices and you can change easily between providers if needed so will need to look into who the local Cambridge suppliers are.

Utility bills are incredibly high at the moment, but you can, as you say, get reasonably good deals. You're lucky you don't drive with the price of petrol

I live in Ely and love it. I don't find it isolated at all. The train links are excellent so you can get, pretty much, anywhere you want. Ely Community College isn't the best, but again not the worst. I do know of some children who are very bright getting on well there and the new head is doing well at getting it turned around. It is possible to get children in to Soham Village College from Ely so you could look at that. A bus is provided. There are also some children who go to Impington Village College too (but this is not anywhere near the norm). If you are thinking of Ely it would be worth giving the schools a ring to see how much space they have. The local primary schools are all fairly short on space so you may not have much choice where your twins go. I think both Ely St John's and the Lantern are good with St Mary's falling a little behind. PM me if you want more information about Ely - I am definitely a fan of my city .

Pesky - I do love Ely. I actually brought my wedding dress in Ely some 15 years ago and when we last came to the UK for a holiday we stayed in a holiday house in Ely on Lisle Lane. Absolutely loved it, went to the French markets there, some beautiful walks and the kids are still raving about the food they had from Allans Fish & Chips shop! :)
I like with Ely that it seems small enough to walk to most places but also big enough to have everything I would need with supermarkets, clothes shops, dental, dr, newsagent, chemist etc etc
Another big plus is the train link to Cambridge which also goes through the village where the in-laws live which would be very handy too. I am just really put off by the College from what I have heard is all.

If you really like Ely then I would seriously start looking at getting your DD into Soham. Obviously there is The King's School Ely, which does have scholorships and bursaries but may well be just too much. I seriously think that the Ely school will improve hugely soon. The demographic of Ely is changing, at my DD's old school most of the parents are professionals and middle class and would expect their children to do well at school. I therefore think that due to this change in the type of families going to Ely Community College things will improve. That of course is just my view and I don't know if it is accurate.

The schools in Ely are really dodgy. If that's an issue for you, just don't. Cottenham's a much better choice, and I would imagine 500 a week would be survivable for a 3 bed.

You cold also try Girton, Impington and Histon. Impington Village College has an excellent reputation and does the IB if your DCs want to go back to Oz for uni.

Seriously. Sorry - can't stress this enough. We've thought tons of times about moving to Ely because we could have a proper family home there for the price of our hovel in Cambridge. But we just can't because DS would have to go private, even for primary, and we can't afford it. Ely schools are bad.

My first choice would be Impington,if not you need a small town to provide what you want eg St Ives or Sawston. Swavesey is now on the guided busway and would be OK but won't have dentist etc Cottenham might perhaps have more facilities than Swavesey.

Contact the LEA re school admissions

My monthly bills estimate for you is as follows
Gas/electric around £100 pcm; water £35; council tax £100; TV £10; food between £200 and £800 (average around £400-£600??) depending on what you want to eat and how good at budgeting you are; house insurance will be covered by your rent although not your own belongings of course

I am sure the primary schools are ok in Ely Don - at least my friends are very pleased with the one their DD goes to
OP Well worth looking at moneysavingexpert website for hints on how to save costs
Also is the village that your inlaws live in between Ely and Cambridge because I am only aware of one place that the train stops at - or is further out from Ely?

School admissions here
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/education/parents/admission/schoolyear/

Thanks for the links everyone, very helpful and I will be looking into them more as I have only had a chance to skim them at this point but found them very helpful already.

EFA- Thanks for the monthly bills estimate, seems I was pretty spot on with all of my guesses which is reassuring to see and I have found some other threads here on MN that talk about monthly expenses too.

An0thername - The village the in-laws live in is between Cambridge and Ely so yes, that would be the one stop on the train on the way to Cambridge which is really handy to be honest.

I might look more into Impington and the school/ village there..thanks for the tip. Always good to have a few options for such a big move. It's quite daunting at the moment.

We moved from Australia to Cambridgeshire last June (moving back this July as job placement was only for a year). I really like Ely and would quite fancy living there -- I think it's really pretty and seems very walkable. Am guessing it wouldn't be such a bun fight for schools as it is in Cambridge city as well. As others have said, the trains here are great.

My big concerns would be the schools and the weather. To be frank, our kids have suffered here with the weather. In Australia, they are able to be outdoors all year round and they're shut inside here for half the year with the cold/rain. After living in the sub-tropics, it's miserable. We looked very carefully into Ofsted ratings and so on and the 'excellent' school we picked is just average in my mind. Of course, there are still plenty of average schools in Australia, it's just that there seems to be so many more schools to choose from -- private isn't as expensive, there are Catholic schools, more independent schools etc.. Also miss the private health system.

As for cost of living, I think it's cheaper here than in Australia, especially if you won't be having a car (omg the price of petrol here!). Groceries are cheaper, so is eating out. Housing is less expensive for sure (unless you're in London...). Home loans are amazing compared to Australia! Holidays are really inexpensive (let's be frank -- everywhere is a long way from Australia).

Good luck with your decision!

Housing is less expensive in the Uk than in Australia? Really?

Probably depends on what you're looking for, but for what we'd want in both places, yep, definitely. And we're not even from Sydney...

Adelaide girl here and looking at rentals in both places there isn't really a lot of difference over a month in terms of price, though having to pay the Council Tax is a bit cheeky and certainly bumps the price up pcm.

Novelist can I ask how old your children are and how they have found the experience? My kids are 13 and twins 8 yrs so I am worried the "glamour" of living there will wear off quickly. Snow won't stay "fun", cold dark mornings will be hard to get them out of bed for school etc. Saying that I am sitting here sweltering in 34C with broken down aircon and personally I despise summer.
They are aren't huge outdoorsy kids, they prefer to sit and draw,read, PC games, board games, write stories etc so not sure if they will care what the weather is like to some degree.

They are currently in a private school but it's a cheap one if that makes sense? Nothing exclusive but they are doing really well there and getting good support and have friends there. This is such a huge decision and I just don't know what the right thing to do is. I wish I had the money to come over and see the different areas and get a feel for everything before making the choice but it's just not do-able.

Hi SuperGlumFairy,

What really pushed the price up for us was not the rent so much, but the furniture rental (we're only here for a year, so didn't bring furniture), which included appliance rental. Still less expensive all up than what we were paying in Brisbane for just rent, but only just (and we are in a three-bedroom apartment here).

The kids have actually adapted really well (8 and 5), though they do go a bit stir crazy not being able to be outside so much as they love going to the park and it's just too wet or too cold for at least half the year. Is very hard to take your kids out of a school they are doing well in, though, I'll tell you that much! Has been quite painful to take my daughter out of her lovely private girls' school and stick her in an average co-ed school that doesn't suit her nearly as well. We were used to quite a bit of homework in Australia and here we get spelling words if the teacher can be bothered this week. To be fair, however, this is partly teacher-related. My son's homework is more regular and it was great to get him into school early because he was ready for it.

Are you planning to move long-term, or just for a short work placement?

Planning to move long term so would be bringing furniture etc across with us in one shipment and then splitting stuff up with ex when we arrive, open new bank accounts and get our own places etc. He will be staying with his brother initially but I will need a place to go into with the kids (possibly rent a holiday place for a few weeks even) so we have a base to start with.

My Miss 13 is doing so so well in her school, she is really shy and I don't know how she will cope with trying to make new friends, plus I think while she is in Yr 8 here..she will be dropped into Yr 9 (her birthday lands on the first day of the new school year in Sept so she'd turn 14) and I wonder if that will be hard for her to adjust to. I could stay here in Aus...but that will leave as a fulltime single mum with no family here at all for me or the kids, which is really daunting.

Been looking at Huntingdon area as well as housing seems good value in that neck of the woods too.

When you say you are a full time single mum does that mean you work full time or are a sahm?

SAHM since my eldest was born.

I just wanted to bump this thread rather than start a new one along the same lines.

I just wondered...how hard is it to get into schools? I can move to anywhere at this stage but have certain schools in mind for the kids but how do I know if there are positions available at the schools? It seems like I can't apply to schools without having moved into the area first but I don't want to move into an area if I can't get them into the school I want in that area. It's a bit of a catch-22. All I seem to read is horror stories of kids going to schools miles away from where they live but I don't drive so it's not really an option.
How do I know if school buses operate and which route they take? Even if they go by bus what happens if they are sick and I need to pick them up during the day if they are miles away and I don't drive!?
Sorry I am such a numpty on all this, it's a whole new area for me. Here in Australia the catchment school MUST take you..so to hear there may not be room for my kids in the schools I want is really concerning me.

I recommend you chat to the Local Education Authority for advice on this SGF.

Why not learn to drive - unless you live in Cambridge or maybe Ely it will be isolating and inconvenient not to drive - and also highly unusual.

Presumably your in laws and your dh would be quite well placed to advise you on all this stuff though?

My friend has her Dd in Soham school and she is doing fabulously. She is a very shy girl too. Also 13.

Soham isn't the most glamorous place and has a 'history' due to some child murders 10yrs ago, but there is everything there, and DH and I have considered moving there as housing is very reasonable and the secondary school is so good.

Sorry what is SGF?

Oh duh, sorry SGF is me. Trust me when I say it's been a long day in getting garden stuff done to sell this house

Thank you, I will try contacting the LEA and see what they have to say, I really don't know how this is all going to work but I am thinking I really feel like I need to do this move, have a fresh start, new surroundings and get my life back on track without disrupting the kids relationship with their father.

I am hoping to learn to drive eventually but it may be a wee while off yet and will depend on money, I hear fuel and car insurance is really exxy in the UK even though cars are cheaper to buy than they are here.