Moving back to UK - MNers I need your help!

[abroadandmisunderstood]

We are 99% certain that we are returning to the UK now. DH will have a new job that requires him to be near Heathrow.

I've all my family in Kent, so would love to be hear them and friends again after so long. Thing is, I have no idea where to start.

I have two DSs, one is 5.5yrs, so he's in Kindergarten here but needs to be in school back in the UK.

God, I've not had any experience on schools, how to get children into them or anything. This is terrifying, and I know we've missed September start.

OK, so does anyone have any advice on nice areas to live from, say, Tunbridge Wells area up to Heathrow? We're considering Surrey too, and of course the town or village needs a good school. How do I even find out if they would take DS1 on?

I'm beginning to ramble now as I've millions of panicky questions running round my head. I must get on property websites now and see what houses are for sale...

Any help or advice on areas to live, schools, school systems when returning to the UK,would be so gratefully received!

TIA

Once a child is above school starting age admisions are dealt with by the school directly. This website is useful for finding schools.

We've never relocated from abroad but did multiple relocations in the nineties. The last one involved moving 300 miles with a severely disabled ds1 & a toddler ds2, so it was hard to house hunt from a distance.

The only bit of advice I can give you on the house front is not to jump in blindly as we did. After spending a couple of fruitless weekends househunting, dh went to look at a few houses, called me up to describe one of them as "fucking fantastic", I said, ok, buy it (for half a million quid which was a lot of money in 1999), as I was desperate to get the children into school in the September (this was late June)bought it and loathed it on sight. It took me 5 years to get used to it and we couldn't move because we'd have had to pay £80k in moving costs (the company always paid for relocations but not local moves).

So the upshot of this is do not EVER be tempted to buy a house until you've really checked it out. Don't even think about buying anything. Rent somewhere first would be my advice.

Re. specific areas of kent/into London, you should post on MN local (at the bottom of the talk list) for local info.

My dh works near Heathrow, btw and we're on the West side of London (near Henley on Thames) which would be an easier commute for your dh but I appreciate the wrong direction if you want Kent!

Does he need to be in the Heathrow area every day, or is it just that he needs access ?
The journey round the M25 from T Wells (much as it's lovely there) would be a killer everyday - DH used to only do 2 junctions on a daily basis in that stretch and it was horrendous.

I think I'd look at Fleet/ Hartney Whitney area as that gets you on the M3 very quickly, and friends in that area who work in Sunbury find it an OK commute

Not a lot you can do about schools until you are here tbh - you can phone them and find if they have places, but can't get on a waiting list/bag a space until you have an address. If you can do private, then it's a different matter as they don't mind where you are living

Yes, I would say west of Heathrow easier for your DH. Windsor?

Tunbridge wells too far from Heathrow unless your DH wants to spend 3 hours a day stuck on the M25. Surrey is doable.

Do you want village or town or city (Guildford obvious choice, or west London)

Do you want state school - look at OFSTED reports or private - look up the Good Schools Guide (has some state schools too)

You can phone schools directly (if anybody is there at the moment) and the local authorities but you need to have a UK address to get a place at state school you can't find a school place then look for somewhere to live but of course you can for private.

I would not look at buying a house (would take at least 2-3 months for a transaction to go through) but renting near a good school/work/relatives.

Thank you all so much already! So, I have to contact schools directly. Is it possible that if DS1 can't get into a school, that I would have to home Ed him until September 2011 (see how clueless I am)?

DH would be using the airport really very regularly, twice a week maybe. CMOT - thinking back to when I lived in Kent, that stretch of M25 was a right old pain. I'll look into M3 area now.

Don't I need a permanent address in order to get DS1 into a school? It's OK to rent while we find our feet and buy somewhere?

It doesn't need to be permanent - no problem with a rented house.

The LA will have to find your DS a place at a school - but it might not be one you'd choose, or convenient. And a place might not come up at one you'd like, but some areas have more movement than others

Hmmmm. Right, I'm almost dismissing Kent now as an option. If I look at Surrey direction, it's still closer to my family in Kent than being in Germany!

Urgh...headache. DH doesn't want a new build - he's looking for something older, detached etc. Looking about, my first impression is we aren't going to get that. Headache.

Yup - you are going to be pushed out further if he wants that.

If you are only fixed by his need to get to Heathrow, then he has to decide on how long he wants to take to get there, and how he wants to balance that with his wishes for an older house - and with your budget

Does it need to be Heathrow ? You can pick up a lot of european flights from Gatwick, which would move you back into more reasonable prices (a good tip is to look for the areas without a fast train into London - we used to live in East Grinstead, and prices were far cheaper than Haywards Heath as the train took an hour to London), and then it's an hour to Heathrow if leaving in the early morning. Which is OK when it's less than once a week - and I used to do that.

can he fly from gatwick or does he need to be near heathrow? tun wells is fine for gatwick

They will find your DS a school somewhere but it may be far from your rental home or the worst school in the area. There is alot of movement so places often come up mid year and often pupils don't turn up on the first day of term with no notice that they aren't going to.

I would not even think about what sort of property your DH wants you may only rent for 6/12 months does it matter? What budget would you have for a house? If you want a large, detached, older house commutable to heathrow/london you may not get much change out of £1m.

There's no "may" about it Fiddle

What's your budget for buying? MNers love nothing more than a spot of vicarious property porn!

the commute from tunbridge wells to heathrow will be hideous!

we're in crawley (west sussex, next to surrey), so further round than TW and dh goes to heathrow fairly regularly and nearly always takes the train/coach because the journey is such a hassle

Our budget is 500k max. We need a 4 bed house, preferably detached.

DH has checked out the flights he will need regularly and unfortunately Gatwick doesn't fly often enough to his destinations, or to them at all in some cases. He wants to be about 30 mins from Heathrow.

So....let's forget Kent. Maybe the M25/M3/M4 corner.

BTW, we hear today if he has the job for certain. It's like waiting for a baby to be born. I may return soon with a very excited SQUEEEEEAK!

Yes, I miss home.

Look at a property search engine, such as www.propertyfinder.co.uk. You can put in your requirements and it will give you a list of what is available.

TBH, you may be struggling to get what you're looking for at £500k. The cheaper areas in the M40 corridor would be High Wycombe (not a nice town but some nice villages around it), or Slough (ditto).

That's assuming that you don't go for a newbuild.

Another cheapish area is Wokingham, which would involve A329M, then M4, and I think one stop up on the M25. With Wycombe or Slough you're on the M40 so no need to go on the M25.

What about Kingston on Thames, Esher, East and West Molesey, Walton on Thames? Easy trip to Heathrow and easy to get onto M25 to visit your family. Easy to get into London too. But don't think you'd get a detached house for your budget. Lots of open space, river, Hampton Court palace, very child friendly. Good schools.

Other cheaper areas - Woking, Frimley, Camberley. You may be able to get something in Guildford suburbs (just) in Burpham/Merrow good state primary and secondary schools and countryside on doorstep. That is a very small budget for 4 bed detached house in this area of the south east.

We're in Epsom and Heathrow is about 30 mins away especially early in the morning which is when DH normally goes (say 8am-ish flights).

500k would get you something like this

www.globrix.com/property-details/26026492-hamilton_close-epsom-kt19-4_bed-semi_detach edhouse?fromresults=1&hit=134

It won't get you a period 4 bed detached anywhere close though. I think you'll have to compromise - it would get you a 4 bed modern detached possibly, or a 30s semi.

If it were me, I would work my way around the M25 to see if there is anything promising.

For example:

J14 - not really residential

J13 - Staines/Egham/Windsor/Shepperton - lots of possibilities for £500k, with nice neighbourhoods (and gritty bits); schools OK for primary, not so for secondary.

J12 - M3, so leading into Sunbury and out to Bagshot, Frimley, Camberley - lots of potential - bigger houses outside M25 on newish estates. Typical Surrey schools

J11 - Chertsey/Addlestone (cheaper) and Weybridge/Woking/Byfleet (will struggle to get everything you want for £500k but might get lucky - you have to be close to catchment for the better schools, but independent options

J10 - Cobham/Guildford - pretty expensive

J9 - Leatherhead/Epsom - possibilities but you have to get lucky to find something that ticks all the boxes.

etc etc etc.

Thank you everyone. It's bedtime for me so I'll look at all your suggestions tomorrow morning.

DH didn't get the job confirmation call today, hope he gets it tomorrow. I can't wait to return.

Thanks again.

I was going to say you can get something for £500k bed detached in Chertsey/Addlestone/West Byfleet/Woking but yes research the school first as a shortage of places as Surrey have shut lots of schools recently but loads of independent schools.

I'm a teacher and will tell you that any decent school will be oversubscribed, you need to be careful where the local authority place him, the worst schools will all have places, you must refuse them at all costs. There will be places at the start of the year in the good schools but they normally just take them from the waiting list. Be prepared to appeal - your local authority have to tell you how to do that - persistence really pays.