Need to make a mock-up of a budget

Thank you!  That is actually cheaper than I expected.  I won't be doing two.  Probably at least 3-4 uniforms per kid. I will lose my mind if I have to wash every day.  Right now, I have enough that we only wash once every two weeks (big long wash day).

Hug, kiss, and stroke those big beautiful American machines!  You’ll be doing wash everyday. 

Thank you everyone for all of your help! 

This is a great start to help me get all the numbers plugged in.  We know where we want to live (Malvern), and my  in-laws are in Birmingham and Coventry, so we can have them scout out town for us before we come.  We are also coming for a visit/reconnaissance over the Xmas holidays, at which point I'm going to engage an estate agent to start working on finding us an appropriate rental, and also talk to the secondary school at least.

If anyone has a lead on how much a house cleaner will cost, that would also be helpful.  Due to allergies, I have help come once a week in addition to cleaning myself in between.  I am willing to give up just about anything to keep having a cleaner, but I think we'll be able to afford it anyway.

Cleaners are cheap here but rates have bumped up to “normal” being £18-£20 an hour.  Still so cheap though.

You’ll find it VERY hard to secure a rental prior to being physically present and you should NEVER rent a house without smelling it.  Particularly if there are allergies and sensitivities. And schools/councils, they won’t talk until you have an address.

I thought you were going to be here for when school starts?

Cleaners are cheap here but rates have bumped up to “normal” being £18-£20 an hour.  Still so cheap though.

You’ll find it VERY hard to secure a rental prior to being physically present and you should NEVER rent a house without smelling it.  Particularly if there are allergies and sensitivities. And schools/councils, they won’t talk until you have an address.

I thought you were going to be here for when school starts?

We are coming next summer, and I'm hoping we'll be able to get them in for the last half term to get used to the system with 'no stakes' as school ends here a week before that starts.  I'm just gonna ask and try.  If they won't let them, I'm not sweating it.  That's why I want to talk to the schools.  I do plan to try and start looking as soon as I have applied for a visa to find a place, but I can send my MIL to look at  and smell places.  And I'm not opposed to coming alone beforehand to just get it sorted. My husband will have secured a job or a Xfer (his current job has offices in Tewksbury) before I apply anyway.

As for cleaners, I will pay a premium for them to do an exceptional job. Seriously, that is cheap and I pay half what I paid in the city right now!  My problem won't be employing a cleaner, it will be keeping one lol.
I asked my MIL and she was like 'people just clean their own houses' and I rolled my eyes, cause I mean, no ya don't.  You just suffer from horrific asthma and complain lol.  I can't live like that, and I certainly won't subject my family to that.

Home insurance - if renting is renters insurance a standard requirement?

I don't think renter's insurance is a standard requirement, but it might be a landlord preference.  At the first place we rented in London, renter's insurance was advised, but not required.  At the second place we rented, one of the requirements from the landlord was to have renter's insurance.  It was never an issue for us because we always had it.  My flat was robbed in the US when I was young, and I didn't have insurance at the time (being a silly young thing).  I swore to never be without insurance after that.

I do plan to try and start looking as soon as I have applied for a visa to find a place, but I can send my MIL to look at  and smell places.  And I'm not opposed to coming alone beforehand to just get it sorted. My husband will have secured a job or a Xfer (his current job has offices in Tewksbury) before I apply anyway.

You do need proof of accommodation for the visa but that can be with family providing it's not overcrowded.

We are coming next summer, and I'm hoping we'll be able to get them in for the last half term to get used to the system with 'no stakes' as school ends here a week before that starts.  I'm just gonna ask and try.  If they won't let them, I'm not sweating it.  That's why I want to talk to the schools.  I do plan to try and start looking as soon as I have applied for a visa to find a place, but I can send my MIL to look at  and smell places.  And I'm not opposed to coming alone beforehand to just get it sorted. My husband will have secured a job or a Xfer (his current job has offices in Tewksbury) before I apply anyway.

As for cleaners, I will pay a premium for them to do an exceptional job. Seriously, that is cheap and I pay half what I paid in the city right now!  My problem won't be employing a cleaner, it will be keeping one lol.
I asked my MIL and she was like 'people just clean their own houses' and I rolled my eyes, cause I mean, no ya don't.  You just suffer from horrific asthma and complain lol.  I can't live like that, and I certainly won't subject my family to that.

Good cleaners are VERY hard to find. And you’ll go through many regardless of they are good or not.  I’m sure you’ll find a great one that’ll last.

It would be best FLR your husband to come sort the accommodation as he will be the one who doesn’t need a visa and the one with recognised employment.  He will be able to sign the lease whereas you won’t be able to without your visa. Just something to kee in mind.

Usually takes 4-8 weeks for kids to be placed by the council to the school you’ve (hopefully) been able to accept. I would move at Easter and then they should be good to start after the half term.

Summer 2 is mostly exams (as they don’t do traditional grading here). Schools struggle with this as brand new students have to sit the exams without the whole year of prep and it kills the scores (as they teach to the exams here).  I’m a governor and it’s very eye opening.  I’d recommend trying to get on your schools governing board though it is a lot of work and you have to set your parent view aside.  Can be very hard!!!!  But it’s a great way to get to know the system.

You do need proof of accommodation for the visa but that can be with family providing it's not overcrowded.

Wait, you need accommodation for the visa but you need permission to be there (like a visa) to rent a place? Ugh.  I don't see how I'll be able to say I'm staying with family.  I have three kids!

Wait, you need accommodation for the visa but you need permission to be there (like a visa) to rent a place? Ugh.  I don't see how I'll be able to say I'm staying with family.  I have three kids!

- Renting- As KFD mentioned, you would have your husband, the UKC arrange the rental agreement in his name and have the landlord provide a letter that says they will give you permission to live there once your visa has been granted.

-Living with family. Would depend on the size of the properties your family have whether or not it would be possible with no overcrowding.
I'll find the guidance and add it. It's fairly generous though as they count public rooms as well as bedrooms.

-Temporary accommodation such as air B&B can be used. There is no specific mention of a minimum rental time but should be enough time to allow you to find another place, so realistically, several weeks rather than days.

.12.1 Residential housing
The Housing Act 1985 contains statutory definitions of overcrowding in residential housing. The ECO should bear in mind, as Pakistan 2004 UKAIT 000066 says, that adequacy of accommodation must be assessed on an individual basis. It is not enough to equate adequacy with overcrowding.

A house is considered to be overcrowded if 2 persons aged 10 years or more of opposite sexes, who are not living together as husband and wife, must sleep in the same room. The Act also details the maximum number of people allowed for a given number of rooms or a given room floor area.

Account is taken only of rooms with a floor area larger than 50 square feet and rooms of a type used either as a living room or bedroom.

Rooms such as kitchens or bathrooms are excluded.

Under the Housing Act, the number of people sleeping in accommodation must not exceed the following:

Number of rooms   Maximum number of people allowed
1   2
2   3
3   5
4   7.5
5   10
Each additional room in excess of 5   An additional 2 people
For the purpose of the Act:

a child under 1 does not count as a person.
a child aged 1-10 years counts as only half a person.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa--2#maa6-accommodation-general-requirements

Good cleaners are VERY hard to find. And you’ll go through many regardless of they are good or not.  I’m sure you’ll find a great one that’ll last.

It would be best FLR your husband to come sort the accommodation as he will be the one who doesn’t need a visa and the one with recognised employment.  He will be able to sign the lease whereas you won’t be able to without your visa. Just something to kee in mind.

Usually takes 4-8 weeks for kids to be placed by the council to the school you’ve (hopefully) been able to accept. I would move at Easter and then they should be good to start after the half term.

Summer 2 is mostly exams (as they don’t do traditional grading here). Schools struggle with this as brand new students have to sit the exams without the whole year of prep and it kills the scores (as they teach to the exams here).  I’m a governor and it’s very eye opening.  I’d recommend trying to get on your schools governing board though it is a lot of work and you have to set your parent view aside.  Can be very hard!!!!  But it’s a great way to get to know the system.

Hmm All something to think about.  I won't take them out at Easter, as they'll want to finish the school year.  As I said, if I can't get them in then I can't.  I'm not worrying about it.  I thought exams were closer to the beginning of summer term, so if it's just exams for a bunch of crap they don't know, then we'll skip it anyway.  I still wanna have my rental at least a  month in advance of us coming there (gotta get some cleaners in, maybe some essentials delivered that we won't have with us right away).  All of this was very helpful. Thank you!

Since returning we have been using Molly Maid for the past 4 years and have been very pleased indeed with them. We have the house cleaned every 2 weeks and it costs £90 each time. Two cleaners come to do the house, usually the same 2 so you have a chance to build a good relationship with them.


https://www.mollymaid.co.uk/

Wait, you need accommodation for the visa but you need permission to be there (like a visa) to rent a place? Ugh.  I don't see how I'll be able to say I'm staying with family.  I have three kids!

Basically whoever is sponsoring you needs to sort accommodation.

Family visa, the spouse needs to sort accommodation
Work visa, the employer sorts accommodation
Student visa, the university sorts accommodation

Basically whoever is sponsoring you needs to sort accommodation.

Family visa, the spouse needs to sort accommodation
Work visa, the employer sorts accommodation
Student visa, the university sorts accommodation

Sigh.  This basically means we'll both have to come.  I can't leave that up to him.  Maybe with video chat while he's touring places.

Sigh.  This basically means we'll both have to come.  I can't leave that up to him.  Maybe with video chat while he's touring places.

Do you have any friends or family members you could ‘stay with’ to meet the accommodation requirement for the visa?

You don’t actually have to live there once you get the visa, you just have to show that you have suitable accommodation available to you once you arrive in the UK, to meet the requirements.

If you have 2 kids over 10 and 1 kid under 10, then your family will count as 4.5 people for accommodation purposes... and say, for example, you were to live with your inlaws and there are 2 of them already living there, then that’s 6.5 people in total... which means you would just need a house with a total of 4 rooms over 50 sq. ft. to accommodate all of you: 3 bedrooms and 1 living room.

So, say your inlaws have a 3-bedroom house, then you could use that to meet the visa requirements... you would just need their Land Registry document, latest mortgage statement (if they have a mortgage) and a letter from them giving you permission to live there and stating the home has at least 4 suitable rooms and therefore won’t be overcrowded.

Or, if you have a UK friend with enough rooms in their house, who is happy to let you stay with them (again you wouldn’t actually have to stay there after getting the visa), you could use their place for the accommodation requirement.

Then once you have the visa, you can find your own rented place to live instead.


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Do you have any friends or family members you could ‘stay with’ to meet the accommodation requirement for the visa?

You don’t actually have to live there once you get the visa, you just have to show that you have suitable accommodation available to you once you arrive in the UK, to meet the requirements.

If you have 2 kids over 10 and 1 kid under 10, then your family will count as 4.5 people for accommodation purposes... and say, for example, you were to live with your inlaws and there are 2 of them already living there, then that’s 6.5 people in total... which means you would just need a house with a total of 4 rooms over 50 sq. ft. to accommodate all of you: 3 bedrooms and 1 living room.

So, say your inlaws have a 3-bedroom house, then you could use that to meet the visa requirements... you would just need their Land Registry document, latest mortgage statement (if they have a mortgage) and a letter from them giving you permission to live there and stating the home has at least 4 suitable rooms and therefore won’t be overcrowded.

Or, if you have a UK friend with enough rooms in their house, who is happy to let you stay with them (again you wouldn’t actually have to stay there after getting the visa), you could use their place for the accommodation requirement.

Then once you have the visa, you can find your own rented place to live instead.


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This is the problem.  Although everyone lives in 3 bedroom houses, they are all packed in like sardines. Although I suppose where my MIL lives with my adult niece and nephew and nephew-in-law in a house that has two lounges.  I guess that counts as 5 rooms and therefore we wouldn't exceed the limit with 8.5 people.  The only trouble is we don't have anywhere in Malvern that could claim us except a couple of acquaintances. They might be willing, though. Fam are all in Coventry and Birmingham, and some up in Yorkshire.
We do have a close friend all the way out in Skegness who has a large house and it's just him and his Mum.  They would def help.  lol that is so far, though.