citybanklondon

Hi Folks,

As someone planning to settle in the Hutt Valley can anyone with knowledge of the area comment on:

* Jobs in the area, Upper/Lower Hutt /Wellington in the area of student services

* Housing costs, areas to avoid etc.

* Good Schools in the location

* cost of living in the Hutt Valley

* Average cost of rentals and property prices to buy

Many Thanks

MrsFychan

tradme and open2view for property both rental and purchase.

cost of living is going to depend on the family unit and what you need to pay out and what you want to pay out with whatever is left.

sorry don't know about the schooling in that are as I'm north of Wellington but I would seriously consider this when you are deciding on an area as most places are zoned.

britsinnz

Hi there, the Hutt Valley is basically split into Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt, they are very different areas. Lower Hutt is busier, more cars, more shops etc., and I personally only go there for shopping at the Queensgate Mall occasionally and Bunnings.

Upper Hutt is comprised of many areas but some of the 'better' ones are Mangaroa, Emerald Hill, Mount Marua to name a few. There is a great school in Mangaroa, decile 10 and if I had small children that's where I would send them. Approx 120 pupils with it's own swimming pool, and I hear great reports about it.

There is a mall with plenty of shops, and many other good shops all in the space of a few long streets. But the shopping here is very different to the UK and it's really nice to pop into the pet store for example where they know your name and stand and chat. It's all a bit 'slower' here but so much better for it.

The housing is very varied, but you can get some great properties here, the lifestyle properties are a tad cheaper than other areas nearer to Wellington. It all depends what you want from a property. If it's land and space then Mangaroa, Akatarawa, Whiteman's Valley, Kaitoke are a few that have many lifestyle properties for sale and sometimes rental. Mount Marua is a really good housing development with it's own tennis court for the residents use and it is a gated community. We lived there for 2 years and it was great with wonderful views. But many of the houses there have small 'gardens'. For small read postage stamp size.


There is a lot more 'space ' in Upper Hutt than Lower Hutt and there are plenty of walks, bike rides, dog walks etc., but that is probably the case in NZ as a whole.

I don't know about the job market here as my OH works in Lower Hutt but the trip is only 20-25 minutes a day rather than the 3 hours he spent travelling on a good day in the UK.

I really enjoy living in Upper Hutt, I'm so glad we chose here rather than Lower Hutt, the busyness of Lower Hutt is just not for me. Anything else you'd like to know please pm me.

MrsFychan

please note about schools the decile rating just means the amount of money it gets from the Government. the higher the number the less they get. Should make an indication of the area as the parents are then requested to make up the difference by "voluntary" donation, so higher the number the more affluent the area is meant to be. It does not have relation as to how well the school performs, you can check out school reports here: http://schoolreport.stuff.co.nz/2013/index.php

ellenarosemary

We live in Upper Hutt, our three children go to Mangaroa School and as said above its great, a small country school, but decile 10 with a wide mix of children, irish, dutch and even some Japanese.

Upper Hutt has good and not so good areas, Mangaroa (where we live) is great, Whitemans Valley, Blue Mountains (if you don't mind the harepin bends to get there), plus some nice areas in town itself. Depends on what you want really, town life or more rural.

As expected there aren't that many jobs in Upper Hutt itself, although some, and most people who work either travel to Lower Hutt (Seaview mostly) or Wellington, again it depends on what you do. Manufacturing for example is mostly Lower Hutt (Seaview), with Wellington being a more CBD area etc.

Wages will vary, you get paid more for example for 'office' type work in Wellington than you do say in Upper Hutt, but then you don't have the expense of travelling.

Personally I have just got a job in Wellington and travel by train each day, much cheaper than driving and paying a horrendous price to park and the monthly ticket is a lot cheaper than either paying daily, or getting the 10 fare price.

Shopping in Upper Hutt isn't bad, you can get most things, either in the main street or the Mall, otherwise as previously mentioned go to the big mall in Lower Hutt or for a good days shopping go to Wellington.

Lower Hutt has some areas which are almost purely rentals and unfortunately don't have a good reputation - so just be careful if you rent there.

pm me if you want any specific info and I will try and help, particularly when you have an idea where you want to live and work etc.

Good luck

citybanklondon

Then I believe Trentham is probably a lousy area with crime and poor schools?

luvwelly

But busyness is relative. Compared to London, Lower Hutt and Central Wellington are not busy at all and Upper Hutt is rural.

I'd research schools including secondary and then decide rental based on that. All are commutable in any direction I would have thought.

luvwelly

Yes true but this is a politically correct view in that we all know that low income families tend to struggle more than well-off ones.
I look at FSM % when I choose State schools in UK and balance it against the added value exam results.
Decile is the NZ equivalent. It would be naive to not take it into consideration especially at secondary level. It is a shorthand way to avoid putting your child in an economically struggling environment.
I remember one poster(turkey logo) who has now returned to UK had his child in a lowish decile school in Petone (outside Wellington) and it did cause him some anguish.

MrsFychan

I mention it because I have my kids in a decile 10 school and am very disappointed with the lack of actual education they are getting. It may be a deal breaker for us remaining here if when my daughter moves onto college and the standard of education does not improved.

Snap Shot

I had a feeling that might just be the, 'last straw' for you.

pippalonghorn

Well I think everyone knows my situation with the decile 10 school in my area. I'm currently home schooling.

pippalonghorn

We are a low income family and my daughter is not struggling with her education at all. She is a bright young girl who has very good manners. you cannot judge an education system on the income of the families children that attend the school.

It's all about the teachers ability to teach well.

Snap Shot

as this thread is about to go postal !



For Pippalonghorn, well it's the weekend

pippalonghorn

Only the one bottle!

MrsFychan

don't really want this thread to fall into another negative thread just wanted to make sure the OP understood that the decile number really doesn't have any relation to the ability of the school.