Cost of living Norwich v London

[Norwichbound]

Hi,

We are thinking of moving form London to Norwich. There is a job that my DH wants to apply for, that is the same salary as he is on now, but 2 levels of responsibility higher than he is doing in London.

Our housing costs will definitely be lower, but I was just thinking about day to day things like travel. We are naively assuming they will be lower, but don't actually know! My DH is originally from Norwich but moved out 15 years ago. And when he was there, he lived with his parents ( who have also moved away) so he had no concept of paying mortgages etc.

Also, while Im here, there seem to be a lot of Infant school and Junior school type systems when I look on Rightmove. I have a DS going into year 3 next year and a DS who will start reception next year. How do you manage 2 children in 2 different schools? is there a staggered start?

Hi - there are some Primaries in Norwich but you're right that in most cases it's Infant School, then Junior School from Yr3. In my experience, the start and end times are staggered so you'll have time to get from one school to the next in the mornings and at pick up (assuming the schools are close together - but I can't actually think of any Infant School in Norwich which is any distance at all from a Junior.

In terms of transport - have a look here. Most buses are First - they have a 10 trip ticket for £18.50, as an example.

Thanks Hassled. That would make sense. I've been looking at Cringleford, which has a primary school, and also Thorpe St Andrew and Sprowston but was a bit concerned about infants and junior situation. Those bus prices sound good. How far away is everything? Is it easy to get from West to East, for example? The job is at Norfolk County Council near Carrow Road .

Norwich is really pretty small - there's an inner and outer ring road, which can get clogged up but it's not bad in London terms. Certainly from Thorpe to Norfolk CC is no distance - and both Sprowston and Cringleford would be fine. With the latter two, you'd probably need to change buses in the City Centre though.

Thanks! I'm really excited about it, it's just the practicalities of moving with 2 school aged kids that is freaking me out a bit! DH might have to go first and apply for the schools before we go up ready for next academic year.