Help this family of three decide where to live around Bath, England?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Bath itself is a really nice place.  There is a webpage called Numbeo that provides a wealth of data about a place; this link will take you straight to a comparison I've set up comparing it to New York; don't forget to check out the other comparisons it offers.

Apart from that, Bath itself is pretty rural, local roads can really snarl up; Bristol is the nearest big city, apart from that, it's small villages/towns.  If you have to get to Bath daily, then check out the places on Google maps, look for local bus and train service so you can avoid the road commute.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi Cynic,

Thank you for your reply. We would even be happy living in Bath if we could find a neighborhood that matched our criteria. Any you think might fit?

Thanks again!

Hi again.

First thing to do is speak to your Uni, I'm sure they will have joining information and details about finding places to live locally; details of perhaps a lecturer who is leaving for a secondment and is looking to rent out something to a nice family.  It's no good having nice houses with a coffee shop and a vegan corner shop if you can't afford the rents, or even worse there are no houses to rent.

You have a long list there; most of it is nice to haves except probably the most important, that being schools for your kids; this link will take you to a Google search that lists all the schools in Bath; you'll notice that some are rated higher than others.  I don't know who rated them, but generally, schools in the UK are pretty much allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, it matters not how close you live to it, if it's full you have zero chance of getting in.  Most schools will have a FB community page, so start using social media to find other mums/dads and speak to them on FB, then reach out to the schools (most are closed for the next week for summer vacation); find the ones with vacancies.

The local press today is talking about when schools do return, the older schools who have smaller rooms, access areas will have problems getting all the kids in; you may even find your Uni course has switched to on-line delivery.  Whatever, once you have answers to these questions, you will then refine your search to those place on the local train/bus line; these are the things that will actually dictate where you live, the rest of your list will be the things to find, you'll find them all on Google maps, it's a really clever tool.

Just to add, you mentioned Bradford on Avon.  The Uni site is in the east of Bath and Bradford on Avon is another 7 miles further east.  The commute (bus and train are an option) take an hour each way, so something else to factor in to your working day.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

So for us it will depend mostly on my husband's job but we will be able to afford up to 400,000-500,000 for a place. As for uni that will depend on his job primarily. We are hoping for him to get a job in bath or somewhere nice around there. The organic shop for groceries is less of a luxury and a requirement for my diet as I have several health issues and so must eat a strict diet.

thanks so much for your help!

Ah - then this puts a slightly different aspect.  I assumed you would be entering the UK on a student visa, with your husband accompanying you.

Your Forum information doesn't tell me much (it doesn't have to).  Not that it matters in the advice I gave you, but just so I have this right.  Your husband is a UK national with a current passport and is looking for a job in the UK; when he gets a job you will then all be moving to accompany him and at the same time, you intend to go to Uni. 

So, what would I now add:

For the price you are suggesting you can afford, then yes, you'll be able to afford something on a newbuild site on the outskirts of the city.  Bath itself is old, many of the houses in the centre are Victorian and are impressive and probably out of your price range.

Foods - it used to be that special dietary foodstuffs were only available on prescription from a doctor; luckily no more.  You can get gluten-free, special dairy products pretty much everywhere - even the Aldi stocks it.  We do have specialist vegan and vegetarian stores pretty much everywhere and supermarkets have home delivery to most places and Amazon have also started online shopping for groceries.  I just asked my wife (she's a nurse at our local doctor surgery) if that covered everything; apparently not, for those who need special boosts or stuff essential to good health that is not available locally, then your doctor may be able to help.  The point of all this; don't worry, you will not have to choose where to live based on your diet.

Jobs - this link will take you to a search I just created looking for the biggest employers in Bath.  If your husband has a special skill that needs specific qualifications (doctor, engineer, scientist etc), then he needs to ensure that his qualifications are current and recognised in the UK; best way to do that right now is to reach out on LinkedIn and find the other people who work in his field and see who's hiring and what the salaries are like.

Uni - if you're in a profession where it matters what school you went to, then Bath is probably not the best (it's 173 in the current rankings); that said, it's way above where I went, I mention it because, in some jobs, it really does matter and I've interviewed folks who really think it should matter.  If your choice is because it's a great place, then I wouldn't disagree with that.

The rest of what I said in the methodology is still extant; for 99.9% of Expats, our choice centres around our kids.

So, how do most people do this; look for an area like I suggested, then find an Airbnb in that area for the time it will take you to find a house.  If you're going to buy outright and have the cash, then no problem.  If you want a mortgage, you may find that your lack of a credit rating in the UK will be a massive hurdle that some US citizens have failed to get over.

The only negative thing I can think of in Bath is that the surrounding areas have been suspect to flooding recently; the cheap houses are generally on the flood plain.  Some places can't get house insurance because of this - so be careful where you choose.  This link will take you to the local authority website with some details that may assist.

If you have any further specific questions, then please come back to us.

Hope this has helped.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you SO much for your reply! You gave me so much food for thought and some awesome suggestions.

When you mentioned about Bath not having a good uni that made me pause. I want to go into academia and do research at a uni. And so I would like to go to a uni that is one of the top there really now that I put more thought into it. Are there any good universities in that area? Or should I try, say, for Cambridge? My husband went there and loved it and we visited last year and it's a lovely campus and a lovely town. But he said that the city is very pricey. But in your opinion, do you know if it is much more than Bath in terms of price? Or could we commute in from a nice satellite town outside Cambridge that is walkable and has those organic food options etc?

Really we would be happy anywhere in the south of England if it meets the requirements in my original post. We need good uni and descent high school.

So many things to think about!

Hi again and good morning from a very wet North Yorkshire.

The top Uni's maybe don't involve you leaving the USA.  MIT, Stanford and Harvard are probably the world top 3; very closely followed by Oxford and Cambridge.  Here's a link to a list of the UK top 10.

The problem with unis worldwide is that the best tend to attract the best, who tend to get paid more, which tends to put the prices up for everybody.  How to find out, use the Numbeo link I gave you and use it's Comparison feature to compare 2 different places; here's one (link) that compares Bath & Cambridge, which tells you that Cambridge is a bit cheaper than Bath; further, here's a link to a start page where you can put in your own; word of warning, be careful when selecting Towns/Cities, they exist in many countries, for example, did you know that Ontario in Canada has a town called London (as has Kentucky)?

Any particular reason why you prefer down south; for example, Scotland has an excellent Uni in Edinburgh and it's a lot cheaper than Bath?  I went to Huddersfield Uni, way down the list, but the area is stunning (Yorkshire Moors, Peak District, Lake District), costs are very reasonable; I guess it's down to how important is the academia badge that you aspire to in comparison to where you live.

High schools - it varies across the country.  We moved here from the Netherlands, we could have lived anywhere in the UK/Ireland (my boss was paying), we chose Yorkshire mainly because we'd never been here before - 25 years later, it's all worked out fine; when we arrived, our kids were different, they spoke funny, it was a bit fraught for the first couple of months, but it got resolved and they have all thrived here; I suspect your kids will experience a similar environment, but you get that in every country, it's not a unique UK matter.  You may find it frustrating if you chose a place for your studies, only to find no vacancies in the high school of your choice; hard choices for you to make.

While looking around for things that may help you, I stumbled on the fact that some Uni's offer High school education one that gives US education credits; I guess aimed at the kids of mature international students like yourself.  Oxford is one such place; here's a link to it.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks so much again for your reply! I sorry for my late one. Thanks so much for all your wonderful info. So appreciated.

So as my husband is from Scotland we have thought about Edinburgh. And that Uni seems great and has programs that would fit perfectly with my PhD. The only thing that turns me off is that on some survey people in Edinburgh were said to be the most unsatisfied in life and miserable. My husband isn't sure if it's because the Scottish just like to downplay happiness or because it's actually rubbish/depressing up there . At any rate, we would be close to family there and that would be nice. But their food selections up there are real slim when I visit in terms of natural products. But housing is cheaper I'm sure than Cambridge or Bath. But the weather seems dreary (although I've heard Edinburgh isn't much worse than the rest of England?). We do like the idea of the south of England but we aren't married to it. We just need to weigh all these options.

As for Uni's here in the States, we have a lot of good ones, but only if you are willing to shell out 60k. It's crazy.

Thanks so much again for your two cents here!

Hi again.

That made me smile; the Scottish factor is a common influence in many things in this country.  Scotland is a lovely place, that is if you don't mind the incessant rain, the midges and the miserable bastards that live there (joke - please pardon my French).

Prior to my retirement, I had a depot in the central belt; that's where the majority of people tend to live, if you imagine a belt 50 miles wide, between Glasgow and Edinburgh, then extend it out to the coastline, that's where a significant number of Scots people live; of course, there are a few exceptions (Aberdeen and Inverness being 2).  The good news is because of the above, there are some beautiful towns around with not many people there.  The east coast towns in Fife are magnificent and they have an excellent uni at St Andrews (link); it's 100th in this year's rankings and has/had a significant (41%) cohort of international students.  In view of your family ties, it's certainly worth consideration (almost forgot, our future King and Queen are among its alumni).

Scots food has a reputation for being unhealthy, but that's nonsense, there's only one person responsible for what you put in your mouth and it's not the cashier at the supermarket.  Of course, like everywhere else in the modern world, there is choice in Scotland, the butcher will cut meat to your liking if you ask him (even in the supermarkets), a carrot is a carrot, there are no special apple or orange trees for people with strict dietary needs; if it's genuinely not available and is a health issue, you can almost guarantee you're not the first person to have it and your local GP/district nurse (I'm married to one) will probably have an opinion that will help, sometimes even when you don't ask for it.  Ask your family, reach out to local FB groups, use LinkedIn etc - there are so many ways to communicate and ask questions.

There is, of course, a downside; after a few years, your kids will talk like your husband and have grown red hair everywhere!

I've seen your post in our Scotland Forum; I'll keep an eye on it to see what kind of response you get.  The advice I gave previously for England is still relevant; communication is key.

As ever, I hope this has helped.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks so much for your reply. Yeah, so I always wonder how much worse the weather is there. So my husband is more north of Edinburgh and he said it rained a lot. He said they would look across the river and see sun in Edinburgh all the time. A friend of mine from northern England (I'm sure more rain than the south) said it's not any different from where he grew up. I wonder how depressing and rainy Edinburgh is. It is hard as I do enjoy sunny days and constant rain does depress me. Yeah St. Andrews is very lovely. The town is cute but somehow whenever I visit it always feels so small. But maybe I haven't explored enough of it when we visit with my in-laws.

And yes, I'm sure our teen will pick up a little of the accent ! That would be cute haha.

Thank you as always. I always appreciate your advice. I'm sure I'll be back on here as we sort of navigate this decision.

LOL - your husband sounds like a bit of a romantic, look across the river and see the sun in Edinburgh indeed, to quote his old grandfather - pish.

It's a geographical fact that the further south you live, the warmer it is; hence you expect to sunbathe in Spain, while you would be wearing warm clothing while running away from polar bears in the Arctic regions.  So it's finding that happy medium; the whole of the UK has higher than average rainfall, it's a small island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, you can't really expect anything else.  Some years it's fantastic, others it's not; climate change is definitely having an untoward effect on the climate here.  So you need to look at the geography and pick a place that has natural protection from the predominantly westerly winds that come across the UK and is a few hundred feet above sea level and not near the sea or a river.  I'd like to pretend that's what I did, but it was more luck than judgement, I've just had the luxury of having 25 years to wonder why it very rarely snows or floods where we live and why our heating bills have gone down and we haven't used the electric blankets in our beds for 15 years.

I think I can add something to this discussion...

Firstly, about doing a PhD in the UK. A PhD is essentially your own research, with only minimal coursework. So you need to choose a university and probably a specific advisor who is an expert in the precise area that interests you. No good choosing a university that has a generally good reputation if they do not have expertise in the area that fascinates you.

Since coursework is minimal, you do not need to live near your university (although it helps). Many PhD students live 200 miles from their universities.

And about food: there are wholefood/organic cooperatives more or less everywhere in the UK. So your dietary needs are unlikely to be a major factor in choosing where to live.

What is likely to be a major constraint for you is the cost of living, and the cost of property. And of course Bath is among the most expensive places to live in the entire country. So consider carefully your choice of Bath, and whether you really need to live there.

About schools: there are good schools throughout the country. The government agency that inspects schools is called OFSTED: you can find their reports on-line and so get some idea about the schools throughout the country. Do be careful since your values may not be the same as those of the people who write OFSTED reports.

You might consider Lancaster, the place where I currently live, The economy is depressed and so housing and living costs are much lower than elsewhere in the UK. The local university is among the best in the country. The town is full of coffee shops and there is quite a culture of organic food.