Moving to London!

[Tamagotchi]

Limehouse was by far the best for me. Lived right on the marina. Almost no traffic, DLR 5 minutes walk. Canary wharf close by. And yes, I used to work a stones throw away from st paul's. I think used bank station, not sure anymore.

 

[BCO]

What about the brewery?

 

[luxe]

Thanks everyone - some really great info so far.

Jim - I'll check out all those areas you mentioned, appreciate it.
Ros - Our budget is around there for 2 bed, thanks for the tip
Verde - thank you, will look at it now.
BCO - business as usual, I just manage it from a different place.

 

[SoulTax]

To be sure there are some shocking state schools in the UK but if we are trying to compare apples with apples here, then try comparing those shocking state schools with the rural township schools in SA where there is one bathroom for 100's of kids, roofs that leak and no textbooks to speak of.

Now try to compare the better upper middle class state run schools in the UK (Note these are still free) with the upper middle class semi privates in SA, like KES or any of those (that you pay a fair amount for. And you will find the SA schools are still lacking vs their counterparts.
This is not even including the good grammar schools in the UK that are a notch above that and still free.

Then when you reach Private schooling, the level of schooling and education that can be found in the private sector in the UK far outshines anything that SA has to offer.

SO yes, there are some terrible schools in the UK and even some less desirable ones. But if you are living in the equivalent of Brackpan or Alex and expect to find a good school in your catchment area, then you will be sadly disappointed.

 

[luxe]

There seems to be a lot of flats in Isle of Dogs - is this just coincidence?

 

[Rosaudio]

There seems to be a lot of flats in Isle of Dogs - is this just coincidence?

Most are ex-council properties regenerated to try and cash in on the workers at Canary Wharf.

 

[gregmcc]

I'm currently paying £1500pm for a two bedroom flat in North Greenwich.

The proximity to Canary Wharf (where I work) puts the price up but that's about what you'd expect to be paying.

Damn. I knew rent was expensive in London but ouch! I'm living in Manchester, a 4 bedroom house is costing me just under £1000.

 

[Rickster]

Enjoy the weather!

 

[bwana]

Enjoy the weather!

lol - we all know no one goes to the UK for the weather. Oddly enough though I noticed that for the three weeks we were there last month the kids spent more time playing outside, often largely unsupervised, than they did over the summer holidays - and the weather was [typically] crap!

 

[Dave]

Damn. I knew rent was expensive in London but ouch! I'm living in Manchester, a 4 bedroom house is costing me just under £1000.

And just outside Newcastle upon Tyne a 3 bedroom house with front and back gardens costs me £600 a month .

lol - we all know no one goes to the UK for the weather. Oddly enough though I noticed that for the three weeks we were there last month the kids spent more time playing outside, often largely unsupervised, than they did over the summer holidays - and the weather was [typically] crap!

It's not even summer yet and we've had a really good weather the last few weeks but still getting really chilly as evening comes in, they are forecasting good weather for the next few weeks as well.

But I agree, even when the weather is really awful the kids are generally still out and about playing (unsupervised) on the grassed areas around the estate. My son grew up walking to and from the 7 a side pitches around 2 km away up to 10pm-11pm without any incidents.

 

[SoulTax]

It's not even summer yet and we've had a really good weather the last few weeks but still getting really chilly as evening comes in, they are forecasting good weather for the next few weeks as well.

But I agree, even when the weather is really awful the kids are generally still out and about playing (unsupervised) on the grassed areas around the estate. My son grew up walking to and from the 7 a side pitches around 2 km away up to 10pm-11pm without any incidents.

Yep, it is that trade off. People in SA like to put in snide comments about enjoying the weather. But sunshine means nothing if you cannot be outside. 3 Years for me now and I am completely happy with the trade off of bad weather.