Advice needed! Moving to London by 2010

[Laine]

Hello!

Looking for a bit of advice regarding moving overseas. After much debate and discussion DH and I have decided to go back to his home town of London. The pros indeed outweighed the cons of DS growing up here. DH is the main breadwinner in the family and we both believe he would have many more opportunities in the UK.

To be honest I can't wait to set up home again, DH will more than likely go over first an stay with MIL before DS and I fly over. We will be renting more than likely for about a year then looking to buy.

So what I need to know is, areas to live that aren't too far from London (close enough for public transport to get you there) and good areas. FIL lives in Borehamwood, we would be willing to go out as far as that. We have been looking at St Albans (well Hertfordshire in general) and also Epsom, Surrey. We have friends in Wanstead and Caterham, Surrey so kind of spread out! MIL is in Angel/Islington.

Due to the fact we are renting at first we may stay even closer to Central London so need to know some nice places there, we have been looking at Canary Wharf/Docklands etc..
Ultimately we want to end up just outside London with a 5bdrm 3 bath type set up!

Regarding shipping stuff over etc, has anyone moved all their furniture too (excluding electical goods)? What sort of costs would we be in for?

Also in terms of residency visas. DH has his temporary visa for Australia (we were married in Aug 07) and he applied when here, but does anyone know if it would be easier for me to apply from here for my spouse visa or go over on a visitors and apply from there? Also need to see about DS getting his residency too. If I understand correctly he will automatically be on what ever visa I am? :confused: its all very confusing!

Any hints and tips would be great. TIA :thumbsup:

Oh also has anyone flown pets (cat/dog) over? Sorry for the long post my head is all mush at the moment!!

[mummynow]

Hi Laine :wave: - Can I suggest you catch up with Harley (Sarah) in regards to shifting furnture etc. I know she came here from England and you are looking at going the other way, but she may have some helpful info just the same. She moved here in Oct 2006. I know they got a container and moved a large amount of furniture etc.

[kelly dodd]

this is the situation if you are australian and your husband is english. you need to apply for a settlement visa for a spouse. this can only be applied for while you are in australia. this was the error i made. i thought i would just sort it out in london. but you must get it in australia, and then there are a certain numbers of days in a period that you must reside in the uk. cant remember the details. but do it at a time when you know you will be staying in the uk for a long stint. check out the ukvisas.gov.uk http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1018721067257
you need the INF 4 form.

now your baby will need some kind of passport to travel.you could get the baby an aussie passport at the post office and entry into the uk would then be for a 6mth holiday visa. once you are in the uk you go to the postoffice for a passport application for the child. it takes about 2wks and currently costs about 50pounds and lasts 5yrs. if the baby's father is a britsh citizen at the time of the babys birth the british citizenship is the baby's birthright.you need a few documents to apply, like birth certs and marriage certs and fathers uk passport and the babys aussie passport. its easy.

good luck with the move. i'm just about to move back to australia after trying out family life in london. i want to chill out with my babies at the beach! london will be great for teens but im taking the toddlers home. on the plus side the parks and playgrounds in london are amazing. look on the map to see what areas have walking access to big woods and parklands. highgate woods and hampstead heath are great. also do a bit of research where the good schools are located and what the catchment areas for them are. all the best.

[kelly dodd]

if you eventually want to settle out of london then i could suggest oxford. its just an hour northwest of london. there are regular buses called the oxford tube that run all the time regularly. lots of people commute that way. its a beautiful town. lovely architecture, lots of young people, canals, but probably very expensive i imagine.

[Pixie]

I emigated backa year ago...just cooking dinner right now but I shall be back with some advice on suburbs etc :D

[Lastcenturymum]

Get yourself LOTS of warm clothes!! Canary Wharf is VERY central, and probably very expensive. Have you checked out rent prices on the internet?

Re shipping your stuff. It takes months, depends when a ship is leaving and whether you have a full container. If you don't you will have to wait for someone elses stuff to fill it before they load. Waiting times on the wharves can be long, add customs time. 2 lots of friends shipped stuff and it took 5 months.

Oxford is nice, but it has traffic restrictions. Its not cheap to travel in and out to London either. Cost me 44 pounds on the fast train! Booking on line is cheaper.

I'm not in Uk, but not far away! I'm sure someone who has done it with little ones will be more helpful (like Kelly's info)

[Pixie]

I live in the west End so pretty central rent isn't cheap. But whatever lol There is LOADS of SAHM's in this area so that's why I love it and it's only 30 mins for my DH to work.

Docklands has some really nice apartments, but the crime there is quite high I knew a couple who lived there and recently moved as it was driving them a little batty.

My sister and her DH live in Kent that's 45mins on the train to Say St.Pauls.

Shipping we use "Kent removals" they were good, our stuff took 2 months and then we paid for storage for another 3 I think. We also shipped our car. It cost all up $4000 including the car, we didn't bring any furniture except our bed we gave everything away, and set up again as it wasn't worth the shipping costs for the price of what we had so we did it that way.

My DH is Aussie, apply for you Visa in Australia it's easier and quicker we got his within a week. And it's indefinite entry it runs out in like 40 years or something crazy lol.

Your DS will need his own passport as his father is British born you can get him a British passport I did the same for my DD he doesn't need a visa.

No idea about pets. HTH

[Manxie]

Hi

Good luck with the move. I moved out here from the UK in 2001.

Is DH going to try and get a job organised before you return? They may even help with relocation costs. Also it would be handy to knowwhere abouts in the City he will be working as this will influence where you want to commute from.

I loved Surrey, lived in various parts of a number over a number of years but the drawbacks are that its expensive and you can also have long, long commutes into town. It used to take me an hour and a half each way on a good day.

St Albans is nice, we looked there. We lived in Harrow for a long time (North London) which was on a tube line so perfect to get into the city. I wouldnt be keen on having kids in that area though unless I had a lot of money.

Places in Essex are cheaper and have good commute lines into the city. There is a bit of a snob factor against living in Essex, it certainly dosent have the same image as Surrey but if you do some research there are some lovely little "villages".

I personally wouldnt stay in Canary Wharf. The places in the city are like ghost towns especially at weekends.


I would let DH go over, find out where he is going to be working and get advice from the people he is working with about where is best to rent. They are the ones who will have the best knowledge about day to day living in these areas and commute times.

Sorry I cant answer any of your other questions. Good luck with it all I am very jealous:D At least you wont have to worry about heatwaves like this one in the UK:laughing:

[SPC]

Hello! I'm a Londoner, migrated to Melbourne a year ago and my first thought is ARE YOU CRAZY??!! But then again I chose to come here and I'm very happy. London kids are hard and growing up in London is hard. The problems with drugs and violence in schools, even in Surrey, are very different from here. I have so many London friends migrating to Australia for just these reasons. Drugs are expensive here. In Brighton you can buy ecstacy for £2-3 a pill. And those long, dark, wet Winters...
That having been said, I'd recommend Kent over Surrey and Sussex over Kent. Rural Sussex is lovely and relatively accessible, towns like Chichester and Horsham. St Albans is OK, Brighton is fabulous, [I was there for years], but the commute can be hard as the train line floods. And the schools are shocking, which is why my my ex and I moved to Bath. Bath is 1.5 hours from London and gorgeous and safe and the kids are kids, not hoodlums. If you want 5 beds you'll probably need a newish estate, someting like Great Notley, although I wouldn't really recommend Essex. http://www.dwh.co.uk builds nicely designed houses.
The BBC has local news coverage, which is good for checking out areas. Rightmove.co.uk is probably the best estate agent website and upmystreet.com will give you more detailed information. I moved my stuff with AngloPacific and they were good. Metro.co.uk is the local free paper for London, and also has spookily accurate horoscopes...

[Laine]

Thank you so much guys for your replies!! Very helpful :goodvibes: I am going to mull over what you have all said and ill be back later probably to ask more questions! Gotta head out now!

[Laine]

Hello! I'm a Londoner, migrated to Melbourne a year ago and my first thought is ARE YOU CRAZY??!! But then again I chose to come here and I'm very happy. London kids are hard and growing up in London is hard. The problems with drugs and violence in schools, even in Surrey, are very different from here. I have so many London friends migrating to Australia for just these reasons. Drugs are expensive here. In Brighton you can buy ecstacy for £2-3 a pill. And those long, dark, wet Winters....

Am I crazy? Probably :laughing: but in our situation we may never be settling permanently anywhere! We will try it all out and hopefully get DS into some good schools and if not MIL and FIL are both teachers :D The drug problem is rife everywhere, I am aware that it exists but this can't be a factor in our decision making. We will do the absolute best we can to protect our son and any other children from it. Even if it does mean moving back to Oz. DH would prefer to live as far away from London as possible so we will have to negotiate something, id love to live in the country but realise we need to be in commuting distance to London for DH and his work prospects! Thanks so much for your help, ill check out the websites too!!

[Laine]

Hi Laine :wave: - Can I suggest you catch up with Harley (Sarah) in regards to shifting furnture etc
Will definitely have a chat to her about it too, thanks hun!

this is the situation if you are australian and your husband is english. you need to apply for a settlement visa for a spouse. this can only be applied for while you are in australia. this was the error i made. i thought i would just sort it out in london. but you must get it in australia, and then there are a certain numbers of days in a period that you must reside in the uk. cant remember the details. but do it at a time when you know you will be staying in the uk for a long stint. check out the ukvisas.gov.uk http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1018721067257
you need the INF 4 form.

now your baby will need some kind of passport to travel.you could get the baby an aussie passport at the post office and entry into the uk would then be for a 6mth holiday visa. once you are in the uk you go to the postoffice for a passport application for the child. it takes about 2wks and currently costs about 50pounds and lasts 5yrs. if the baby's father is a britsh citizen at the time of the babys birth the british citizenship is the baby's birthright.you need a few documents to apply, like birth certs and marriage certs and fathers uk passport and the babys aussie passport. its easy.

Thanks for all that info :) I think I will have to go to Canberra to sort it all out by the looks of things too. I hope it isn't too hard to do, I hate visas!


Get yourself LOTS of warm clothes!! Canary Wharf is VERY central, and probably very expensive. Have you checked out rent prices on the internet?

Re shipping your stuff. It takes months, depends when a ship is leaving and whether you have a full container.
Yup I have many many mountains of warm clothes lol, no problem there! Also been checking out prices for flats too, yep Canary Wharf is very expensive I would prefer to not live in Central London whilst we are renting either, but DH thinks it would help with finding work. So will see what happens! I may also rethink the shipping of stuff and maybe just sell everything. Thanks!! :D



Docklands has some really nice apartments, but the crime there is quite high I knew a couple who lived there and recently moved as it was driving them a little batty.
My sister and her DH live in Kent that's 45mins on the train to Say St.Pauls.
Shipping we use "Kent removals" they were good, our stuff took 2 months and then we paid for storage for another 3 I think. We also shipped our car. It cost all up $4000 including the car, we didn't bring any furniture except our bed we gave everything away, and set up again as it wasn't worth the shipping costs for the price of what we had so we did it that way.


Thanks for this info Pixie! I will check out Kent Removals! It would be lovely just to pack up and go and have DH have everything ready there for us. We will see what happens, lots more planning to do. Im dreading it! Also I suggested Kent to DH, I may keep on about it. I used to be an aupair in Greenwich and loved it there too.

Hi

Good luck with the move. I moved out here from the UK in 2001.

Is DH going to try and get a job organised before you return? They may even help with relocation costs. Also it would be handy to knowwhere abouts in the City he will be working as this will influence where you want to commute from.

I loved Surrey, lived in various parts of a number over a number of years but the drawbacks are that its expensive and you can also have long, long commutes into town. It used to take me an hour and a half each way on a good day.

St Albans is nice, we looked there. We lived in Harrow for a long time (North London) which was on a tube line so perfect to get into the city. I wouldnt be keen on having kids in that area though unless I had a lot of money.


Hi Manxie! DH will probably set up everything there first and get settled then we will come over. If you don't mind my asking what were your reasons to come here? You are in Adelaide aren't you? Yeah the heatwave isn't helping my wanting to stay here lol! Do you have plans to go back?

We are going over in December to have a look around and spending Xmas there so I will look at all the suburbs you lovely ladies have suggested and see if any stick out for me. Thanks all so much for the information!

[Pixie]

Greenwich is lovely and if your DH is a city guy he can get a ferry or train across the Thames.

Kent were great they came packed the entire house in the day. I just sat around lol but you do need to go through every thing. You also need to write down all the seriel numbers of anything important and get insurance which was another $2000 for us I think or close to that amount!

[Lahri]

Hi

I know this thread was started a short while ago but thought I would pop on and send a message anyway.

My DH and I (both English) moved over to Australia 16 months ago and don't look back. When people tell us they want to move to the UK we think they are mad. It is all down to personal preference though and I know there are loads of Australians there who love it.

I am sure to get your DS British Citizenship you need to prove at the time of his birth that his father is a British Citizen. That should be about it, but I would apply for anything linked to passports or citizenship here because they have major delays in England.

I grew up in Hastings, East Sussex and commuted to London every day for a few years. It takes about 2 hours on the train but you are out of city life and the towns in England are nothing like here. I lived in Surrey, Worcester Park for about a year with my DH and loved it there. That only takes about 25 minutes to Waterloo on the train as well.

Prices in the South East are more expensive than most other parts of England (excluding London and the suburbs of course) but I would always choose to live there over the Northern side.

There are plenty of expats living here that will try to convince you not to move to the UK, there are so many of us leaving for good reasons. You have to give it a try and make your own decisions and we wish you all the best with that move.

I am sure you will love it and you have to take these opportunities when they arise. If you ever want more information about places to live or to consider feel free to pm me. We were back over there in July (their summer) to get married and the weather was so bad we had flooding and torrential rain instead :laughing: at least I can laugh now!!

I think you have to be married for 2 years to be able to gain British Citizenship for yourself, I am not sure whether that involves living in England for the 2 years. I am pretty sure it is 2 years in general, and then you should be able to go down that route if you so choose.

Anyway, that is enough otherwise I am going to say really negative things and that isn't my intention. I am sure you will love it there, I miss my family so much and miss the familiarity of things. Luckily there is such a large Aussie community there if you ever need that familiarity or support. I personally chose when we moved here not to have that with expats otherwise you don't integrate.

Anyway, byeeeee :wave:

[BlessedWithBlue]

Hey Nat,

well you know my thoughts regarding this lol!!!
Go for it will certainly be an amazing opportunity for you,dh and H. I will ask sil about what happens regarding the visas and will get back to you as soon a i talk to her. She should hopefully be able to point you in the right direction with that.
Never know i may just join you ;)

[susmamma]

I have a couple of UK friends who had babies out here. They found that you have to apply for the UK passport for your babies FIRST and then apply for the aussie passport SECOND otherwise the UK wont give citizenship to the baby.

I'm an Aussie (by bonking on the head of citizenship fairy when I was 6) and I hold a UK passport as was born there. My children, both born in Australia are entitled to a UK passport and citizenship as their mother (me) is British. However, I must get the British passport done first for that to happen and the Aussie passport done second. It's some sort of fine print in the UK wording that requires it.

Make sure you get them done in that order (the Australian's dont care which one you get done first, so dont worry about that!)

[littlemissmoi]

Actually, in paternal Britian, it's different if the father is the citizen.

If citizenship comes from the mother, the child born outside of the UK has to be registered as a Brit Cit and then passport can be got. If the child is not registered by the age of 18 years, then that person must first get right of abode, live in the UK for 4 years, before applying to be naturalised.

If citizenship comes from the father (as it did for me), you can get a passport anytime, however, you need to have your parents marriage certificate (I hope I never lose my passport! what a pain to track down mum and dad's marriage cert). I had an Aussie passport for 10 years, then applied for a British one with no problems.

I have to admit, last time I looked into all this, it was 4 years ago, but that's how it stood then. I have two friends who have missed out on British Citizenship because their British mothers did not register their birth with the British Embassy in Australia before their turned 18.

As for applying for a visa, it's much easier in Australia. In the UK, you're lumped in with EVERYONE from EVERY COUNTRY who is trying to bring their spouse to the UK, so there's a lot more questioning and suspiscion. In Australia, you're mostly dealing with people in your situation who just want to move back to blighty.

[littlemissmoi]

oops meant "patriarchal"

[Hector]

I have not looked into this in huge detail yet as my daughter is only 2 but I think they've made some changes to the citizenship rules in regards to babies born to UK parents outside the UK - I think it is to do with making it fairer - same rules apply whether it was your mum or dad who came from the UK. Best to check - Immigration & Nationality Directorate or local consulate. Don't hold your breath for a personal response though!

[mum_I'm_hungry]

I'm not sure if they've changed the rules again, but I applied for my British passport a few years ago and could only get it because my father is British, not my mother (I was born in Australia). A bit rude, I thought!

[susmamma]

hmmm that's really interesting.
i found this also

There was an amendment in the nationality law in 2003 to allow those born abroad of British mothers to claim citizenship, but only for those born between 1961 and 1982. Even if your mother qualified under this rule, she would be British citizen by descent so unable to pass on her nationality to her children born outside of UK, i.e. you.
You can get ancestry visa because of your grandmother's British birth. After 4 years living and working continually in UK, you can apply for further leave to remain, and after 5 years from your arrival you can apply for indefinite leave to remain. After a further year you can then apply for naturalisation as British citizen. If you marry a British citizen, you can apply sooner.

[susmamma]

Ok well just to contradict my above post.
DH just called the British Consulate in Australia and they said our girls are eligable for a passport because I was born in the UK.

Think will get my skates on and get everyones passports sorted out in case the rules change again!

(sorry to hijack thread!):wave:

[kiwibird27]

hope u don't mind me jumping in...anyone else with ideas on relocating furniture?? We got quotes to Rotterdam of $8000 but that is to take everything in a 20 ft container, we would have no outlay for furniture over there at all....UK is close to Rotterdam port so has anyone had any good experiences )or bad) with companies???

[kitty1kat]

Hi Laine, you've prob worked all this out now but I'm in the same situation as you - DH is english, baby was born in Aus and we moved back to London a few months ago. Baby obviously had Aussie passport first, but it was no problem getting him a UK passport as soon as we got here - in fact it took less than a week. We did need our original marriage certificate and his Australian birth certificate.

We used King & Wilson removalists and they were amazing - would highly recommend. It was the same cost shipping 30 boxes and some furniture to the UK as it was shipping the rest of our stuff down the VIC coast to my parent's place!

Rents are dropping dramatically by the day in London as all people who bought houses are having trouble selling them and are now renting them out, and are estimated to keep dropping for a while, so it's actually a pretty good time to be renting!

If you've got friends in the UK, I would recommend living close as possible to them, as it can be kind of hard getting around in the traffic with kids etc and therefore potentially isolating. I live within walking distance of my two besties and their babies and it's fab! No beach, but plenty of coffees and trips to the great parks.

[Laine]

Wow thanks guys for all this information, its been very helpful!

A bit of an update, we are moving over sooner. Infact next year. We are going over in December for a holiday, I will be coming back but DH won't. We will go over once he sets up a place there, so definitely in the market for a rental. Kitty1kat thanks for the tip!

Thanks again guys, will update again soon!

Maman loves Lexieboo - You ever thought of going back?

[PunkyDiva]

My DH flew to Canberra for a day to sort out our passport stuff. (we were in a hurry though)

I sponsored my DH and kids and after 1 year in UK they got Indef Leave. It was exxy.

Sorry, I'm in the Are you Mad!! lot too. Four years in UK made me appreciate life here a hell of a lot more, just sooo expensive there.
So many people I meet who go back only to return to Oz again as their memories were clouded with emotion rather then the realities of day to day living over there.
Going on hols first sounds good as you can check out jobs, housing etc. Good Luck with it all. :hugs:

[Laine]

Sorry, I'm in the Are you Mad!! lot too. Four years in UK made me appreciate life here a hell of a lot more, just sooo expensive there.
So many people I meet who go back only to return to Oz again as their memories were clouded with emotion rather then the realities of day to day living over there.
Going on hols first sounds good as you can check out jobs, housing etc. Good Luck with it all. :hugs:

No I totally understand, we wouldn't move there if it were not for DH. He is really isolated here and is unable to drive and get around. Over there he has the public transport system. The one in Adelaide sucks lol. He has also found it majorly difficult to find a job been unemployed for sometime and is just not happy here, no close family or friends here. So I have given him the ultimatum, to try over there and see what happens. If it doesn't work, we will come back. We won't be selling our house here and my mum will be using it when we go :thumbsup: so thankfully we have options! I admit the, "Are you mad" crew have me a little worried :laughing: but I have been before and have an idea on what to expect. When we go in December, we will be doing extensive research!

Kitty1kat - What visa did you need to get over there, was it easy to obtain?

I am slightly worried about getting my spousal visa, by the looks I need to go to Canberra (or Melb) is it a complicated process or pretty straight forward?

[tahm563]

No I totally understand, we wouldn't move there if it were not for DH. He is really isolated here and is unable to drive and get around. Over there he has the public transport system. The one in Adelaide sucks lol. He has also found it majorly difficult to find a job been unemployed for sometime and is just not happy here, no close family or friends here. So I have given him the ultimatum, to try over there and see what happens. If it doesn't work, we will come back. We won't be selling our house here and my mum will be using it when we go :thumbsup: so thankfully we have options! I admit the, "Are you mad" crew have me a little worried :laughing: but I have been before and have an idea on what to expect. When we go in December, we will be doing extensive research!

Kitty1kat - What visa did you need to get over there, was it easy to obtain?

I am slightly worried about getting my spousal visa, by the looks I need to go to Canberra (or Melb) is it a complicated process or pretty straight forward?

I am from AUS, and DH is Brit. After we got married, I moved to Central London to join him. I didn't like it at all. The only thing I miss is public transport there. Hopefully you will settle in really well.

Re spousal visa, it's really easy. You can just download the form from the net, fill it out, print it, gather all relevant docs, post it. Mine was done within 3 days. It was very quick.

You need to show you have sufficient accomodation in the UK, my FIL wrote a letter saying we can live at his house free of cost. Also, you need to show DH has sufficient income, DH provided payslip. And your marriage cert. That's it really I think.

Good luck.

[kitty1kat]

Hi - yep, I got a spousal visa. And it must have changed because it certainly wasn't easy or quick. In fact, it was a bit of a pain. Was able to do in in Melbourne and yes, forms downloaded from internet, but then you have to wait for them to be mailed to you, then go into the high commission and have your fingeprints done, then send off the docs (with LOADS of evidence, documentation and a VERY hefty cheque) and wait. And wait. And wait. Do NOT make the mistake I made and leave it til late and then spend the last few weeks of your time in Aus sweating, praying that it would arrive in time!! Two days before we left....phew! I think it was about six weeks in total.

And I know lots of you think we are mad, but I've got to say that I am LOVING living here. It's so fun and exciting to live somewhere else, and yes, it is absolutely FREEZING at the moment, but we've got DS a gorgeous sheepskin bag thing for his pram and we hit the streets in the cold and blue skies - gorgeous. PLUS, we've been to Portugal, Spain and Italy this year and have trips planned to Austria, Italy and France for next year - hare to beat!!

I work in Canary Wharf - not a great place to live. There are heaps of other places close to town that would be far more fun and child friendly for a short-term rental (IMHO!)

Hope the planning is going well - if you're heading over here for Chrissy, make sure you pack a woolen hat and some gloves!! It's minus two here tonight...

[Purplebird]

Another ex-Londoner here!

All I wanted to say was why would you pack warm clothes when the shops are so brilliant over there and so cheap - especially with VAT now reduced too!! Oh I miss the shopping (but not much else) :)

[artsilove]

Hi There! :wave:

Im planning on going to the UK myself in 2011-2012 to do a year or two teaching so ive really enjoyed reading this thread... some great info!

I have two sons i'll be bringing along... my eldest who is now 8 is fortunate to be of the human variety so there is no issue arranging his travel needs. My youngest who is now three is of the furry four legged variety so that becomes a little more complicated. But my babies are my babies and no one can be left behind :no:

i read in your initial post you also have offspring of the feline variety who needs to travel so this website might be handy for you...

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/regulation/eu_regq&a.htm

good luck with it all! :shakehands:

[jaq]

Hi Laine,

We moved back from Twickenham to Oz in 05. Didn't bring back any furniture, only personal effects in a dozen or so boxes, and it cost about GBP500. Would have loved to bring more stuff, but it simply wasn't affordable.

As to suburbs, if you are interested in Surrey, I'd recommend Kingston. It's close enough to London to be commutable (30-40 minutes to Waterloo, dependent on the train) and has a lovely town centre, on the Thames. (It's very historic once you get away from the horrible modern shopping centre.) The big attraction are the parks locally - Richmond Park, lies between Kingston and Richmond, and on the other side of the river is Hampton Court Palace and a big park surrounding that. Lots of bike tracks linking them all together - its great for recreation stuff.

Surbiton nearby is quite pleasant, and lots of villagey towns around the place are cute also. But hard to beat Kingston and Surbiton for connectivity, while still being far enough out to have access to the countryside.

Um, re your 5 bed, 3 bath house ... I hope your hubby is in banking or something. Anywhere as close as Kingston or Twick, you are talking millionaire territory there, I'm afraid. Though my info is probably out of date - the market collapsed immediately after we sold our flat, so property might be more affordable now.

Somewhere that I know a lot of people commute from is Guildford (Surrey). Supposed to be quite nice, and lovely walking and riding country around it.

Even so, the whole idea of comfortable suburban living just doesn't seem to exist anywhere closish to London - even the "big" houses aren't a patch on Aussie ones, usually. It's one of the main reasons we came back to Australia - so the kids could have a garden to run around in, and the sort of weather they would want to.

[Laine]

Hey all,

Bit of an update:

Am currently living in Ealing, London and have been since July 09. We are moving flat next week though as our lease expired here and we didn't want to extend it here due to numerous issues I won't go into. Still going to be staying in Ealing as I am studying at Met Film School which is based at Ealing Studios.

We have decided to move back to Australia however and will be moving back in November when our new lease expires (requires minimum 6 month stay and 2 month cancel notice). I finish study in July.

We are building a house in Australia as we have decided that IS the best place to raise our family for us. The weather, the climate, house space and room to grow.

In terms of living here for a career, well I hope to still be able to do what I am studying to do (directing, writing, producing films) it will just mean I will travel more often then not for it but I will also know my son and husband are comfortable at home. I also intend to make the most of my time over here on this side of the world, I will be going to Cannes for the film festival in May, followed by Germany and then onto America for a holiday and to source out career options after my course in July.

I used to be under the impression that Australia was so far away from everything, and it is but its not that difficult to work around!

I looked at a recent listing on worlds best places to live and Australia came in 2nd, with the UK bottom of the list at 25 taking into account climate, crime, cost of living, housing etc.

So thats me updated lol, after all that am coming back :australia-flag-06:

[TheCatsMeow]

This thread has been really interesting!!

I actually fall into the "mad" category, as DH, DD and I are planning on moving to the UK at the end of this year! We're actually moving up to the North (around Leeds) because that's where DH is from!

A quick question,

How long did it take you ship stuff and/or sell anything that you didn't want to take with you? Did you plan any kind of timeline?

I've also heard that immigration rules have now changed. I was thinking of getting my spouse visa through one of those companies that helps you, though I don't want my money going down the drain if they are not worth it!

I'm actually looking forward to moving :p I fell in love with the North... not a fan of London and all that is down south... sorry!