matt0108

Hi,

I have a job offer in Wellington, start date 26 March 19.
I would like some recommendations on where to look for a place to live (rental) please!
The considerations are: we are a family of five (so ideally a 4 bed+); the childrens ages are 5, 9 & 11 so vicinity to schools is high on the list. My job will be office based at Customhouse Quay in Wellington so any commute times need to be kept reasonable.
The budget is flexible and we would like to manage with one car initially.
I appreciate that there are many suggestions on these forums akin to what I'm asking, but I'd appreciate some current advice.

Yours,
Matt

MrsFychan

have you been to NZ before?
If not I would suggest getting a holiday home for about 6 weeks on arrival to give you time to have a look round at areas and see what is on offer, visit areas at differing times of the day and look at commute.
Are you prepared to travel upto an hour or do you want to be nearer?

matt0108

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.
We haven't been to New Zealand before.
We will have temporary accommodation for 4 weeks on arrival.
Yes I could do an hour but that would be the limit, preferably less - and also if there are areas that have decent public transport into Wellington that would be good to know.

Matt

escapedtonz

I wouldn't consider commuting by bus or trolley bus but that's just a personal preference of mine. If you don't like the thought of using a bus then it'll rule out living South / South West / South East of the CBD (except Seatoun) and Karori as they are only served by bus.
The other public transport methods available to you are :-
train - 4 key lines (Johnsonville, Kapiti, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa)
cable car (Kelburn)
passenger ferry across the bay (Eastbourne & Seatoun)
I used the Hutt Valley line, Johnsonville line and the Kapiti line during my years living in Wellington and didn't have any issues with the train. As expected you can purchase weekly tickets or 10 trip tickets or monthly/annual passes to reduce the costs.
cable car is a neat way to commute but it's a touristy thing really and can have big queues / school trips / cruise ship passenger trips when all you wanna do is get home.
passenger ferry across the bay is also pretty cool but you gotta be able to stomach it in bad weather...if it's still running.
The Northern suburbs served by the Johnsonville line and the Kapiti line are fine. I've lived in Churton Park and Tawa and its all pretty nice. Also some really nice places to live in the Hutt Valley. The best thing to do is not stress about it now. Use the 4 weeks in the temporary accommodation to get a feel of Wellington, ask colleagues about where they live and why it is good for them, go and visit to get you're own personal experiences and you'll soon have a short list of locations to live.

MrsFychan

as escape says don't stress now, use the time in rental to have a good look around and ask questions. as you have an 11 yr old I would also look at secondary schools in areas. although they wont move onto college until they are 13yrs you may as well look at catchments areas now.

matt0108

Thank you both very much for the info, and likewise for the reassurance. We will bare in mind what you have said and have a good look around when we get there.

One concern I have is the time it might take from finding a place to rent and actually getting the keys. In the UK it can take months. If it's the same in NZ then we will have to factor in extending the temporary place. Do you have any knowledge of this? Do you think 4 weeks is realistic to get accustomed, find somewhere and move in?

MrsFychan

I personally think that you would need more than 4 weeks to actually find "the" place you want to settle. If you do think you find somewhere perhaps try and get as short a lease as you can - friends have found that if they want to break the lease and actually find someone to take it over they were still liable for their rent til the time their lease was up, so double bubble.
You could go onto some FB groups for local areas as lots of people put up their rentals on there

matt0108

Thanks again for the advice.

escapedtonz

We did 8 weeks in a fully furnished holiday home before we moved in to a more permanent rental. It was a traditional 3 bed kiwi cottage in Woburn, Lwr Hutt and then we moved up to Churton Park which was a brand new built 4 bedder. We were the first to live there. Lucky to rent direct from the owner so he offered it to us after we viewed even without checking or asking for references. Getting a more permanent rental can take a while through an agent. All the other homes we've rented have been through an agent and in general you can usually be in there within a month but it depends if there's still a tenant in there as they'll need to empty and clean up before it can be inspected prior to giving you the keys.

Charismatic

Above the level of a Tsunami or flooding, not on a hillside prone to slips in an earthquake and built to code. Basic, simple and common sense stuff.

matt0108

Thank you

Verdant

Funnily enough we move from Somerset to Kapiti at the end of Oct. We actually rented weekly with airbnb initially as it allowed us to move around the different areas easily and chat to the owners about the area. It was helpful but moving every week does have its downsides, and clearly wouldn't be best for a family with children.

It's not uncommon for agents/ landlords to get tennants to apply and then decide based on the applications they receive, which can make it a bit of a waiting game. It's best to field a couple of options just in case one gets away to ensure that you're not delayed. It was about 3 weeks until we moved into the property after agreeing to the contract, which wasn't too bad. We ended up in a really great cottage 500 yards from the beach. It's pretty idyllic and the neighbours are friendly. However the housing here is very much a mixed bag and even this cottage would be considered dated back home and costs us more than we ever paid in rent or mortgage. However, If you live near Bristol then the cost of renting shouldn't be too dissimilar but it was a noticeable jump for us living further south. I'd try and opt for a newish build with double glazing (fairly rare in NZ) as mould is a problem here and the weather gets colder on average than in Somerset during the winter months. Unfortunately, you have to take what's available but i would pay more for a newer build, where as it wouldn't have matter quite so much back home.

No main issues so far - except the driving here is awful (as expats often say), fresh food is delicious but expensive (everyone has their one item that irks them and for me that's the cost of sweet potatoes ) and the wine is great and cheap! Will we stay forever? Probably not, but early days and open minds. My partner's GP work is a lot more humane than what he was facing in the UK. He actually leaves at 5.30, instead of 8pm and has far less admin and actually gets to do minor surgery. I'm a little more missing the woods and lanes of Somerset, but the awesome bird life definitely makes up for that.

matt0108

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your tips. Sorry it's taken a while to acknowledge but we will take it all on board.

Our preparations are well underway now, with most evenings spent researching shipping, schools, homes, commutes etc.

Have a great New Year and wish us luck

​​​​​​

Fleks

This has been great to read as we are only a few weeks ahead of you. We have currently shipped all our belongings and are on our way to NZ. We are currently having a stopover in Dubai before the chaos begins. As for houses, areas and schools we have still to decide. We arrive in NZ on Friday and like yourselves have a rental property for a Month. We have a 13yr old so must look at secondary schools as well as primary. I will keep you updated with how we get on, but most of the areas suggested above are the areas we will be considering.

matt0108

Have a great journey over and best of luck when you land. It will be great to hear how you settle in.
We are a little in limbo at the mo as we try and put life into something that resembles order before the move.
Again, have a good trip and keep me posted.