Hi everyone,

Have been looking at this super site for a while now trying to suss out costs etc. I have used the search facility but could not find any exact figures to answer the questions I have so if anyone could help it would be appreciated.

We are a family of 5 intending to move to Dubai from the UK in August. Accomodation will be paid for, as will schooling. We are hoping to rent a 4/5 bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches but have no idea of what our utilites and food costs are likely to be. It will be my husband and myself plus 3 kids aged 10, 11 and 12. I understand that DEWA is the electric and water costs, do you have gas there or is it just electricity? What are the DEWA costs likely to be?

We would also need to lease 2 cars, an SUV and a 4 door saloon. I have looked on the net but have come up with vastly differing figures for this. Would buying be cheaper than leasing? We would not mind cars that are 2 or 3 years old. How much would leasing cost?

I have looked at a couple of property rental sites. Are villas normally rented out at the asking price or is some bartering allowed? If so how much can you know them down by? We thought that we would be able to rent a 5 bedroom villa on A/Ranches for around AED350k but they seem to have gone up to around AED425. Could we knock them down?

If anyone can help with an indication of these costs it would be much appreciated. Many thanks.