2579

Hi everyone,

I have spent several days scouring through the web and various blogs on life in Riyadh. I realise that some of these have been answered but ANY additionla information would be greatly appreciated.

I am 34 yrs old, married, 2 kids (7 and 2). I have been offered a role in Riyadh for a listed Saudi company. The package is SAR 504K annum with additional benefits benefits being:-

1) Housing in either Sedar or Arabian Homes compounds (3/4 bed villa), does anyone live on either of ease or heard of the compounds before? I am very interested for comments here PLEASE.
2) Annual bonus SAR180k
3) Annual return flights for family

Schooling is unfotunately not included and neither is a car.

The salary is slightly higher than what I would recieve in the UK however, and am moving more for the tax benefits as well as job experience.

Is the salary fair and would my family be able to live a comfortable lifestyle? any change for saving?
Is it easy to leave the country for holidays?
My family may live their part of year as opposed to the full year? is that possible?...............

Mr Andy

Only you know if your salary is enough, as you havent stated what the role is.

Re compounds, Arabian Homes is probably the better of the two, it isn's as good as some of the others that are available tho (Kingdom, Arizona, Al Hamra etc) but these are much more expensive. But as you will read, securing compound housing is a must in many peoples eyes - mine include, I am on Arabian Homes.

Is the bonus guanrateed? If not can you check what proportion of max bonus has been paid in previous years?

I am not sure what school fees are at BISR but believe they are in the region of SAR50k per year.

Cars are whatever you want to spend bu budget SAR120k for a reasonable 4x4 ..... you'll want one when you see the driving!

2579

Hi Mr Andy, thanks for the feedback. The role is a Commercial Director postion which does vary considerably in earnings...I am more concerned about maintaining a similar lifestyle...(excluding obvious restrictions). I am very concerned about the compounds and there is very little information on either of them...I have however heard that Arabian Homes is the better. Both their websites offer little interms of updated photos etc. The company apparently homes a few homes in each compound so would not be problem in securing (according to the company). The bonus is guarnteed at 120K with the remaining 60K based on company performance.
I would need to pay school fees from my own pocket...

Do you any idea on whether a family is able to commute between the UK and Riyadh....?

Mr Andy

If you send me an PM with your email I will run round and take a few photos .... pools, gym, inside of a villa, street view etc or any other specifics that you want.

AH is 'OK', it has multiple small pools, the better compounds have large holiday resort style central ones.

It has tennis courst, squash courts, indoor 5 a side pitch, gym (don't confuse this with anything in the David Lloyd league), small supermarket, restaurant (pretty good) and usual amenities such as barbers, tailor etc.

As for commuting, unless the company has any restrictions on travel, which would be rare for families, the only issue is that the exit / re-entry visas run for 6 months at a time and they would need to be in Kingdom at renewal time. Other than that I don't see a big issue - schooling for a 7 year old might be a problem though.

2579

Thanks Andy, that would be great. I will PM once I am able to...(which should be after this post, apparently 3 is the minimum).

The idea would be for us to try a 6 months first, with the family coming over for UK school holidays (a few extra days added to make it worthwhile...) while I would be based in Riyadh.

MaserMan

Arabian homes is the better of the two compounds as the villas are better constructed, however they are smaller in size than some of the other compounds about. Seder are pre-fabs and not to my taste, however we have a number of guys living there and they really like it, although they are mainly South African, so there is no accounting for taste

Arabian homes is also a lot closer to the city centre as well.

What Andy has said is pretty spot on re school costs and cars.

Bob

No advice, but welcome to BE and good luck!

Hippacrocapig

http://www.britishschoolriyadh.com/a...structure.html

As long as you have British passports you'll get them in.
Arabian Gnomes have a lovely restaurant too!

Johnnyboy11

Only tax/NI free if you manage to work for a full tax year and limit your visits to the UK (See HMRC6, Section 8.5). Factor in the costs of your pension, accident cover, sick pay, medical cover etc. too.

I've been in Qatar for a couple of years whilst my wife remains working in the UK with the kids. We spend a lot more time together as a family than you might think (school hols, Eids, annual leave etc.). A lot of expats from the Uk Construction Industry are doing likewise (Hoping that one day the UK might get back on its feet).

[J]

Desert Dubliner

Is this a Freudian slip? If Arabian Homes compounds in Jeddah are anything to go by, the Arabian Homes are indeed for gnomes. Sierra has a good vibe though.

2579, be extremely careful when dealing with local companies. Put everything down in the contract and even then you can't be sure if you can trust anyone.

croydon_2012

Hi,
Arrived in Riyadh from London 2 days ago. A bit of a shock for me as I have never been in the region.
The salary sounds reasonable, and it is good that the company is providing you with accommodation. I have housing allowance and currently running around to find a decent compound. Finding a decent compound is the most difficult thing here due to acute shortage of compound properties.
Driving seems mad here, hence I have started to look for a driver. :-(
Andy - Yes you are right. Went to the British Embassy school yesterday, and they were happy to accept the application for my son, who will be arriving once my Residence permit(Iqama) is processed.

My advice from 3 days of experience in Riyadh is - Keep your expectations low!

Millhouse

It's a step up from Croydon though, no?

croydon_2012

Nope mate. No sure whether you have been to Croydon, but it has good(East) and not so good parts(West). I guess you are referring to West Croydon ;-)

Millhouse

I'm just kidding, I'm from Bromley...

flares

I may be able to help you out on the temp compound accommodation front...if you promise you aren't a Crystal Palace fan