Lujam

Hi everyone.

We are a family of 4 seriously looking into emigrating to NZ. I have so much homework to do regarding such a big move, but, one of the things I'm trying to look into at the moment is the cost of renting property in the surrounding areas of christchurch. I'm just wondering if you could offer your opinions on decent areas with good schools. I have a 7yr old and a 1yr old.

I am sure I will be back with lots and lots of other questions

Jan n Neil

do not look east of the city centre as they had a lot of quake damage and most of the lower quality housing is on that side, Everywhere else is pretty good

Neil

Woodlea

Allow a cost of approx $120 per week per bedroom and pick rentals/areas carefully, look at the other threads on cold houses, be aware there are some dodgy areas out west too!

GS.83

In my opinion the best areas to be reasonably handy to the city are (in no particular order):- Spreydon, Somerfield, Riccarton, Hillmorton, Merivale..... Papanui is decent as well but a bit further out.
You would be looking at anywhere between $380-$550 a week depending what you are looking for.

If you are not too bothered about being close to the city there are some nice areas a bit further out, Banks Peninsula (Governors Bay, Cass Bay, even Diamond Harbour etc) or Rolleston, Prebbleton. The cost of housing out there is varied but you can get better value as there is less demand (and in my opinion nicer spots), hope this helps...

Charismatic

In my view most of the nicest places are well beyond the city limits, like Lincoln is nice as is Governors bay, Diamond harbour, Port levy even Akaroa. New Zealand just doesn't do cities (most are very same-ish and dumpy) well but with such nice countryside and villages, who cares?

Matelot

The key words here are "catchment area". Probably the best 2 areas are Fendalton and Burnside.

Stormer999

We rented for 1 year in Burnside 3 bed bungalow with heat pump nice for $400 per week. We liked the area so much for travel into the city by bus (3 different routes within 1k walk) cycle (safe and off road for much of the way) wife works at Canterbury Health Lab opposite main hospital that we have bought a house here. TC1 and school catchment does push up the price though....good local Rugby club and local watering hole has real pints for $5 (happy 2 hours daily) not far from the Waimakariri salmon runs.....what else....

Lujam

Thank you everyone, let the homework commence

Tom1983

Linwood
Richmond
Phillipstown
Aranui



I'd personally look at Rangiora, Kaipoi etc. Be within a commuting distance to Christchurch. You'd get a lot more for your money than what you could probably get in the city

Kiwikaye

Ummmm - what was that list referring to? Or were you being sarcastic and I just missed it.

IMHO (and others may differ) but I have spent a lot of time in Christchurch and I wouldn't go anywhere near any of those suburbs. There are reasons the rentals are cheap, particularly post-earthquake. They are also about to be severely affected by the schools reshuffle.

We used to live in Huntsbury/St Martins which was lovely. Both St Martins and Beckenham Primary are good schools. A lot depends on where you are going to be working and what you like to do. Near the hills is great for mountain biking, walking tracks, etc. You have the river (not for swimming though!). And you're still only about 5-10ks from what passes for the CBD these days.

Good luck with the move and hope you enjoy Christchurch.

Snap Shot

We used to live in Linwood, Worcester Street to be precise from March 2011 to June 2011. I thought it was an ok suburb, despite the earthquake damage to the shops.

Phillipstown is next to Linwood, ok, not everybody's cup of tea but hey.

Richmond. I walked there once from Linwood and discovered the New World Supermarket and the park opposite. I didn't see a great deal wrong with it, just don't expect the earth.

Aranui - um don't know. We drove through it once on the way to a shopping mall, The Palms, I think. The high street shops had taken a hiding from the earthquakes. When I worked in Christchurch I worked with someone who lived in Aranui he said the damage to the high street shops make the place look bad.

Mark Smith

Yes - Tom was having a little giggle.

Beckenham, Cashmere, Huntsbury all very nice - just make sure your rental isn't prone to flooding. Same for Mairehau and St Albans. Recent torrential rain and stuffed stormwater pipes flooded quite a lot of houses.

Merivale, Fendalton, Papanui, Bishopdale, Avonhead etc worth looking at.

Mount pleasant, Redcliffs, Sumner. Lovely views but not such a great commute into the city for a while.

Some eastern suburbs are less appealing to some, but variety is the spice of life.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/bus...n-Christchurch

Rents are still going up across the city. You will also come across 3 bed rentals for $1000 a week. Aimed at people having their houses fixed for the short term. Lovely people making a quick buck at the expense of the insurance companies - correction other policy holders premiums.

jjg

I agree Redcliffs and Sumner can be a difficult commute at rush hour but Mount Pleasant is usually only 15mins to the CBD as it is just across the bridge.
One advantage of these suburbs is that it is unlikely the traffic will get any worse as there will be no big subdivisions being built there.

The sooner they extend the northern motorway the better, going out north is a nightmare at times.

RedDragon2008

KK what suburbs would be comparable to Armadale or Malvern?

We are looking at a large land holding in Wanaka, how far would this be from Christchurch in real driving time?

Woodlea

5 hours if you stop for a cuppa in Geraldine