Moving from abroad- need some general guideance

[sspencer1]

Hi, I'm a mother of 2 and my husband and I are potentially moving to London. He will need to commute to Liverpool Street and we have 2 primary school age children. I'm looking for suggestions of neighborhoods where we can access good public schools (as in state run schools- not sure if it's the same terminology), and where we can get a proper house to rent for up to 5000 pounds per month. (We want at least 2500 sq ft, 4 br, garden). We are open to commuter towns as well, as long as the total commute stays at or under 1 hour. Any suggestions/guideance/basic info welcome! For example, in areas like Wimbledon and Richmond, are there good public schools? Are they difficult to access, or just based on where you are zoned? Any advice definitely welcome!!!

The terminology is different in the UK. Here a "public school" is a fee paying, independent school.

You will need to apply to the local authority where you will be living. You can't do that until you have a confirmed address in the area. You will be able to name your preferred school. If it has places available they must offer them to you. However, the chances are that the schools with the best reputations will be full up already, in which case the local authority will offer you a place somewhere else. This will usually be the nearest school with places available.

There is no automatic right to a space in your nearest state school in England. Places are allocated each year for the Reception class (4-5 year olds) and there is a maximum class size. Lots of state schools are church schools whih can complicate things. If you want to get into a good state school outside the normal admissions time, you may be better off further out of London. If you were able to trade some of the house money for school fees then that may give you more options.

You need to know that houses are smaller in England! We don't think about sq ft particularly. And in London it's rare to find a detatached house - majority will be semi detached or terraced for your money - and because that's just how they are. However, Wimbledon, Richmond, Putney, Barnes in sw London may have the type of housing you are looking for. Also in north London - Hamstead, Belsize Park, Golders Green or further out even to somewhere like Totteridge.

What you need to do is get a train map including the tubes and the mainline trains and see where you can get to. The tube is slow and it takes a good hour to get across London on some routes. Conversely, you can get from somewhere like Amersham in Bucks to Liverpool Street in about an hour. The mainline trains are faster but more expensive. However, if you look out of London, you will get a much better house for the money. The mainline trains out of Liverpool Street go to Essex (eg Colchester) and the trains out of Moorgate (literally 5 mins walk from Liverpool Street) go to Hertfordshire.

It depends what you want from your time in London - is it short term? What do you want your children to have from the experience? If you are planning on seeing lots of England while you are here, it may be easier to be outside London where you can get to motorways quicker. If you want access to an expat community, you are better in London ... lots to weigh up.

Just wanted to thank you both for your thoughtful and in-depth answers. There is a possibility that my husband's company will pick up school fees, so maybe independent schools would work for us also. In terms of what we are looking for though, we have lived in New York City for 15 years and are ready for bit quieter pace, which is why we were considering trading living in London proper for more space and peace and quiet outside of London. I'm not worried as much about expat communities, as I don't particularly find Americans more interesting than Brits! (I mean, they are not LESS interesting- just the same in my estimation and equally compatible to me- hopefully).

I have been looking more at SW London (Wimbledon, etc.) and North London (Hampstead, etc.) and it looks like a decent fit at first blush. However- can you tell me- is it close to impossible to get seats in state-run schools at this late date? For that matter, will we face the same difficulty with independent schools, just b/c of the timing of this? We will need one seat in reception (4-5) and one seat in kindergarten (?) (5-6).

Thank you!

Shenfield in Essex is a short commute (half hour?) direct to Liverpool St and has a posh area with places like this to rent

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-25768109.html

Think schools are v good too. School years work like this
Reception for children who turn four before 1st Sept that year; they then go on to Yr 1 (age 5-6), Yr 2 (6-7) etc.
Reception is more like Kindergarten in switz for example.

If your DH is going to be working near Liverpool Street Station, you could also look at trains arriving at Cannon Street Station, which is just a short walk south of Liverpool Street and has trains going south (Kent and Sussex). There are lots of lovely places to live in Kent. House to rent in Sevenoaks, where there are lots of great schools, both state and private.

I live in richmond and dh works in Liverpool street...Richmond is lovely and you could get what you want housing wise but it is a bit of a nightmare commute - going in is ok but wait for a tube home can be long!. Try looking at chiswick though - teeny bit further in but also lively and transport links better! schools in Richmond are very oversubscribed so I would doubt you'd get a place at a good one. Although there are some fab private schools if work will pick up the tab! Pm me if you want more info.

How about Weybridge? It offers fast train connections into Waterloo, then you can get the Waterloo and City line up to Bank underground station. Liverpool Street is a 10 min walk from there, but I somehow doubt that your husband's office will be in the train station. (The trains that go direct into Liverpool Street are mainly from the East i.e. east London and Essex). Also weybridge has some very good schools, in both the private and state sectors.

Basically much of SW London and Surrey is nice, as is places like Hampstead.

However getting into good state schools is very difficult everywhere unless you "booked" your oldest child's place by living at a suitable distance from the school a year before your child was due to start school.

try browsing for rental property on this site as it will give you a good overview. Expect to be able to agree a deal at somewhere between 85% - 100% of the asking price. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/Weybridge.html?minPrice=2500&maxPrice=6000&minBedrooms=4&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&radius=1.0&index=10

Depending on what part of London your DH is working Ealing could fit the bill, but only really if his company will stump up for private school fees as all the state schools are bursting at the seams!

How about this?

If you live West London you will probably have to commute in via the 'Waterloo & City' line, which can be hell. If you can it's better to get a train direct into the city rather than try to combine train & tube.

If you are looking for a reasonably 'comfortable', civilised, middle class area with trains direct to the City I'd suggest Sevenoaks or Bishop Stortford - both towns are very popular with professional types moving out with young families. Both have fast and frequent trains in (Sevenoaks go to Cannon St or Charing Cross)

Sevenoaks has a massive shortage of state 'grammar' (academically selective) opportunities but has recently been given permission to expand selective places so the problem should have gone away by the time your children reach yr7. Sevenoaks private schools are very popular and have good reputations. Not sure about schooling in Bishop Stortford TBH

If you want to get your kids in for this September you will struggle to get them a place - especially in anywhere good. You may find it easier to put them in Pre-prep for now and give yourself time to settle.

In case you are confused, private school education is divided into 3 different school groups, whereas state is 2: Private is pre-prep (Yrs 0-2), Prep (yr3-8) and senior (yr 9+); state is primary (yrs 0-6) and secondary (yrs 7+). You can switch between the two although places can be quite limited if you try to switch at times different from the 'normal' starting age. State secondary schools can sometimes be academically selective (grammar), but it depends on the area. Grammar school areas can be pants if it turns out your DCs aren't super bright.

When looking at your budget, you need to factor in train season ticket fees (which can be horrendous) and be prepared to trade some of your house budget for school fees. As it stands though your budget is a good one for most areas.