Household costs questions - West of London

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by mamacubed

Thanks for the info jlms. We're ok financially, but certainly not wealthy. I don't think the 'most expensive in the South East of England' is for us. The reason we are looking for a 5 bedroom, is that we have 3 kids and we are expecting to have a lot of visitors while we are there. If that isn't reasonable, well then, we'll just have to adjust. We're pretty flexible.

I have some another questions. When I look at rental listings (thanks for the web site Michelle) they say "c.p.m." I was thinking this meant something 'per month' -- what is the something, or am I totally off base?
Do people lease cars in the UK? Here it is common for people to lease a new car for 1 to 3 years rather than buying one. Is that something that is done there?
-mamacubed

"p.c.m" stands for per calendar month i.e. the whole month and not weekly.

Although people do lease cars, it is probably not as common as in the USA. Most people tend to buy cars on credit over say 5 years.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

Regards

Michelle

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by jlms

It is not only prices that will sock you, when you see the size of the properties you will be even more shocked. Honestly, I have seen reception "rooms" in middle-class US houses that are as big as full middle class's UK houses. So beware. If you really need 5 bedrooms you are up for a bigger shock, most family houses will have 3 or 4 bedrooms at most (children are expected to leave home at 17 or 18, so having to provide a room for each child is not the norm), 5 bedroom is for people wealthier than most, which you may be, that depends on your means. If you find something that is too good to be true it actually may be (perhaps in a not so good area or one that lacks amenities).

Hi Jlms, I was surprised to see you stating that most 17 or 18 year olds are expected to leave home! I have never known this to be the case in the UK, unless they go to University and in most cases, many families have loft conversions and extensions so that their off-spring have more space......Statistics show that more and more children are staying at home until their 30's because of the cost of living alone is impossible.

Michelle

[jlms]

Originally Posted by MichelleAlison

Hi Jlms, I was surprised to see you stating that most 17 or 18 year olds are expected to leave home! I have never known this to be the case in the UK, unless they go to University and in most cases, many families have loft conversions and extensions so that their off-spring have more space......Statistics show that more and more children are staying at home until their 30's because of the cost of living alone is impossible.

Michelle

Since many kids go to Uni they have to leave.

I said they were expected to leave, not that they did. The increase in people staying at home is true enough, but the expectation and social pressure is that you get out of the parental home at around University age (unlike Latin countries, where you stay at the parental home pretty much until you get married, or unlike Asian families who often vacate a room in the house for a son and his wife, but even Asian families are succumbing to the "get out to Uni" mentality even if there is a perfectly fine Uni locally).

[jlms]

Originally Posted by mamacubed

Thanks for the info jlms. We're ok financially, but certainly not wealthy. I don't think the 'most expensive in the South East of England' is for us. The reason we are looking for a 5 bedroom, is that we have 3 kids and we are expecting to have a lot of visitors while we are there. If that isn't reasonable, well then, we'll just have to adjust. We're pretty flexible.

I have some another questions. When I look at rental listings (thanks for the web site Michelle) they say "c.p.m." I was thinking this meant something 'per month' -- what is the something, or am I totally off base?
Do people lease cars in the UK? Here it is common for people to lease a new car for 1 to 3 years rather than buying one. Is that something that is done there?
-mamacubed

There are other towns in the South of England that are not as expensive, also property prices are going down here at the moment, so maybe your dream house is more affordable than what it would have been one year ago.

Good luck.

[mamacubed]

You guys are awesome. It's wonderful to have someone 'out there in cyberspace' who is willing to help us out. - mammacubed